this is a great article, thanks.
"Part of the problem is that most white people, save the best educated -- and this is borne out by studies as well; it is not simply class snobbery -- will not accept the fact that racism continues to stymie black progress. They blame all of black America's problems on the breakdown of the black family; as a cause, rather than a symptom."
See, this really caught my eye. Much of america is in denial. I can't tell you how many times a con or libertarian poster says we shouldn't have affirmative action, or federal civil rights laws (it's not part of the consitutional enumerated powers!!!), and that we should simply all strive to get along and be color blind. As if soothing messages from ron paul about colorblindness is an actual solution to the near term problem.
Wrong. Racial inequality and economic stratification is here to stay, at least for the forseeable future. Whatever modest tools we have to address that inequality is well justified, assuming they are applied in a fair and judicious manner.
Side note: the comments on economic stratification caught my eye too. And I suspect that its not only working class and poor blacks who are faring poorer in the post reagan, "supply sided" economics era, but also working class and poor whites. This is the fact-based assertion I gave that caused superfreak to have a meltdown about, and again it turns out that I was right!
I, too, thought it was a very good article. I don't deny that racism exists today. Although, unlike the University of Delaware and the author of this article, I believe all human beings tend to be racist. We're all narcissistic. It is just plain human nature.
But that is besides the point. However, I disagree with what you say here:
Whatever modest tools we have to address that inequality is well justified, assuming they are applied in a fair and judicious manner.
If the goal is to right the inequities then we're fighting an unwinnable war. We can never, ever right the inequities of slavery or even the hundred years of "freedom" blacks suffered under after slavery was abolished. It is impossible especially since all of those who were directly affected by slavery have now moved on to their eternal homes. But, I don't think the goal should be just to right those inequities. The goal should be to eliminate racial hatred for the future.
How can we accomplish this with a government that promotes racial hatred which is exactly what Affirmative Action does? Affirmative Action does nothing to address the underlying issues behind racial hatred. Rather it builds them up. I don't honestly have an answer for how to change thousands of years of racial hatred over night. I wish I did. We do have laws against discrimination, but they like most of our laws (including Affirmative Action) are pretty much ineffective. What else can be done?
Like I said, I don't have an answer to how to bring the races together so that we can all sing "Kumbaya" in one big, happy circle. But instituting racism via Affirmative Action is not going to accomplish this either nor will it ever right the wrongs of slavery or racism of the past. In fact, I believe that AA only makes the matters worse. It only breeds more hatred. If it did anything at all to help everyone see that the other guy is not so bad afterall, I'd be for it, but it does exactly the opposite of that.
I'm all for laws that end discrimination. I believe discrimination is wrong, but, I just don't see AA as accomplishing the end of discrimination. Maybe AA goes to righting the wrongs of the past, but if it only makes things worse for the future, it defeats the goal that I believe to be more important.
What always gets me though is that some people seem to think that only whites are racists. Sure, if you are talking about "institutional racism" that cannot be denied, but to me racism isn't just institutional. Racism is the hatred of other people for no other reason than the fact that they have a different colored skin than you do. It is epitomized by skinheads and The Uhuru Movement alike.
Affirmative Action does nothing to get to the root causes of racial hatred. The author of this article highlights several issues that affect racial hatred:
while no liberal would argue that cultural patterns inside communities of color do not have an effect -- including particularly absentee parenthood, the lack of positive role models in ghetto communities, and the glorification in rap music of anti-social behavior
to that I would have to include (but maybe this is more a result of the above than one of the above) lack of educational opportunities, which is a result of racism I am sure, but is still one of the problems. It is these things we should be addressing first and foremost. Before you make the claim that AA addresses education opportunities, let me state that although this is true, there are many other ways to address this rather than making it a racial issue, especially because it is not only a problem for minorites, but rather for the poor regardless of race.
Racism extinct? Hell no it is not extinct. It is alive and well and thriving on our hatred for each other and our government is feeding it.
Immie
