I doubt matching for education matches for potential. An American who drops out of highschool is not the same as a malnourished African who never had the chance
I think that is exactly what you would want such a study to detect, not something that you would be trying to control for.
It is a matter of what the hypothesis being tested is. If your hypothesis is that racial inequality is due to ongoing discrimination on the basis of skin color, finding that the cause is a difference in potential undermines that hypothesis.
If the difference in outcome is due to different potentials, not skin color, you can ask why are the potentials different.
I think this is the interesting and most relevant question.
Why are outcomes so different for a black person born dirt poor in the US with immigrant parents compared to a black person born dirt poor with slave ancestors?
This Cuts directly to the heart of why racial inequality is so persistent in the United States.
It is a matter of what the hypothesis being tested is. If your hypothesis is that racial inequality is due to ongoing discrimination on the basis of skin color, finding that the cause is a difference in potential undermines that hypothesis.
If the difference in outcome is due to different potentials, not skin color, you can ask why are the potentials different.
I think this is the interesting and most relevant question.
Why are outcomes so different for a black person born dirt poor in the US with immigrant parents compared to a black person born dirt poor with slave ancestors?
This Cuts directly to the heart of why racial inequality is so persistent in the United States.