"Hey, don't forget all the great things racists did throughout history! Why, you can be a racist and still be intelligent!"
Racism is an exclusively negative trait. It reflects nothing good about someone's character. Racism, like religion (very muchlike religion, actually) usually comes about through exposure to and absorption of racist attitudes (from, say, one's parents or social circle). Now, a racist can get a great education and have a high IQ and be full of great ideas, but until that person can acknowledge that racism is based on ignorance (which honestly shouldn't be hard to do if they're really that smart) and change their outlook, they'll still be ignorant. Intelligence isn't an all-or-nothing thing. Racism is a sign of stupidity, regardless of how intelligent a person may be in all other aspects of their life. And when a mature discussion is taking place about race-related issues, guess whose opinions are the least valuable? That's right, the people who are alreadychoosingan ignorant perspective on race.
Is it fair that someone can be right about something and not be taken seriously because they're a racist? Probably not. You know what else isn't fair? Racism. So I guess there's some kind of poetic justice there.