America: Still Talking About Race
by Joseph C. PhillipsAccording to the website CNN.com, some of the criticism of first lady Michelle Obama is driven by partisan politics. However, “others say the attacks are rooted in white resentment of the “uppity Negro.” Two things quickly come to mind. The first is that no one other than Harry Reid uses the word “Negro” anymore. Second, that it is the 21st century and yet there are those who continue to talk about race as if it were 1955.
Last February, in a speech to honor Black History Month, Attorney General Eric Holder remarked that Americans of all colors should stop avoiding an honest discussion of race in America. Said Holder: “Though this nation has proudly thought of itself as an ethnic melting pot, in things racial we have always been and I believe continue to be, in too many ways, essentially a nation of cowards.”
I disagreed with Holder at the time and still do. Americans are not cowards when it comes to discussions of race, neither are they dishonest. Rather, I believe Americans are simply bone-tired.
The American conversation on race began more than two centuries ago and frankly, we have talked of little else. The topic permeated the discussions during the drafting of both our Declaration of Independence and our Constitution and continues today, with a black man sitting in the white house.
Not cowards, just exhausted and so very, very eager to move on!
This was the great “hope” for Barack Obama. The great tide that swept Barack Obama into the White House was not the hope of a hard left social and economic agenda. Americans were eager to move on to a new and more uplifting conversation about their nation and their lives as citizens. And one of the things they wanted to change was the conversation on race.
In fairness, changing America’s racial conversation may have been a bit too much to ask of one man. Although for a man who promised that his nomination as a candidate for president would be remembered as the moment the planet would heal and the oceans would calm, such expectations were perhaps not so outrageous. Nevertheless–his ability or inability to calm the tides notwithstanding–he is only human.
And early on, there were signs that it was all too good to be true.
There was the revelation of his 20-year association with the reverend Jeremiah Wright, pastor of the universal church of “get back whitey.” This eye-opener was followed by several editorials introducing voters to the new “racial code.” We discovered, for instance, that talking about Obama’s elitism was code for saying he was “uppity” and to point out his inexperience was to call him a “boy.” Alas, this was all a harbinger of what was to come.
This administration has attempted to marginalize its opponents by labeling them as racists; movements have been slandered with charges of racism, and principled disagreement is suddenly seen as evidence of bigotry. It all seems a bit surreal. As a nation, we seem to be talking about race now, more than we have in a very long time. As far as leading this nation into a post racial era, the election of Barack Obama can only be seen as a bust.
But perhaps I have misread the tea leaves. It may be that what we are witnessing is race- as-we-have-come-to-know-it in its death throes. We might also be seeing first hand the birth of a new paradigm of race in America—one that will carry us into the next generation.
This past March, in a deliberate attempt to provoke a racial incident, members of the Congressional Black Caucus marched through a large crowd of angry, mostly white, ObamaCare protestors. But the trick failed. The fire hoses didn’t appear; neither did the attack dogs, or the white racists shouting the N-word. Sure, the left claimed it happened–that these noble black heroes were spat upon and called ugly names as in days gone by–but the lie failed to gain traction.
Representatives Charles Rangel and Maxine Waters have claimed that race is behind investigations into their behavior, as opposed to the possibility that they have been unethical and dishonest. There was a time when such charges would have been greeted with seriousness as opposed to the snickering these recent protests have garnered.
The new left media is hard at work attempting to prove racial animus. Increasingly, however, their charges seem to read like a laundry-list of falsehoods and rather mundane annoyance: Scrutiny of the first lady, for instance.
It would be difficult for Americans to witness the cynical, dishonest, and hollow way in which race has been at issue over the last two years and not sense that something is afoot. Indeed, it may be that this nation is moving in a new direction on race. Sure, there will continue to be those who cling to the outdated view of black-white relationships, but increasingly they must be seen as out-of-step with the times. If true, it is both reason to celebrate and to shake Mr. Obama’s hand.
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89 Comments
Oh, Joseph. You and Sowell are so not authentically black.
Obama and Holder are absolutely right – there IS racism in this nation. Unfortunately for them, the racism they exposed was their own. Worse, they also exposed those who colluded with them.
For that, I am truly grateful.
Thank you for writing this, Mr. Phillips. I'm in my 30's, and I've always noticed that the generation before me was so traumatized by the issue of race that they either can't take comfort in the progress of present relations, or they insist on holding on to the past as it keeps their moral purpose charged. But for someone my age, it would require the energy of a political zealot to cling to a past they never experienced. Unlike our parents, we grew up knowing that it's no longer 1959, and we can accurately discern not just when the race card is played, but when it's dangled out there as a distraction from legitimate criticism. The generation before us is instinctually frightened of it.
I think there's going to be some ugliness for a while as pent-up resentments from white people will be expressed as the MSM becomes unable to control such speech anymore. It will look like white racism is on the rise, but it is just the frustration of being called racist for 50 years.
I remember Clinton's invitation to an allegedly long delayed 'dialogue' on race–and of course it was the thousandth monologue on white racism–and I can't imagine Holder wanting anything other than white people confessing to racism and apologizing, and making amends with various legal preferences and what not. He doesn't want honesty or bravery any more than he is honest with us and himself.
Continued: I give black liberals I argue with the same advice I give my beloved sons: Be a man, take responsibility, achieve. I believe the victim thinking and racial paranoia that keeps most blacks on the liberal plantation hurts them worse than the white racism that exists today–a prison built in one's own mind. My libertarian conservatism does not recognize racial distinctions as valid, and I believe that telling a man he needs special treatment–a lower standard of morality and achievement, for example–diminishes him as a man. I hope that more blacks will abandon the fetters of victim thinking and fully embrace the frightening and rewarding notion of being a man standing on his own two feet.
This is the other half of the racial 'dialogue', and until it is heard with the same regularity as the litany of historical racial injustices, we will not move on to 'post racial'. For the first time since I adopted the 'I have a dream' speech as my vision of a color-blind america, I think this is starting to happen.
Continued again (that size limitation is awfully small):
Thanks Jo for your thoughts, and Sowell for his voice in the wilderness, studiously ignored by the MSM and black community. If one has trouble expressing what they think is wrong with obama, read Sowell and let him say it all so well. And of course he saw it before the election, like many of us did.
Evil begets Evil. The stain of Slavery corrupted the Civil Rights movement from the very beginning. African Americans have traded the slavery of the plantation for the ideology of the Democratic party, and as a result of their own bitterness and weakness they are kept lower down the status chain.
That's the core of this. The true inheritors of the White mans racism have been black people.
It has nothing to do with the first family's color that I object to their recreational behavior. It's that they live life like they're the filthy rich on par with the celebs, pro-athletes, and the wealthiest entrepreneurs in monetary status. The president's annual salary isn't even 500K, so who do they think they are living life like they're Oprah Winfrey all the time. They don't make that much. And I don't think anyone would care all that much if times in the country were good, but they're not, many are suffering, and they are carrying on like the super rich on the taxpayer dime.
Execellent article, I could not agree more with your view on the racial issue. It's been a great leap forward in the topic of race relations under the Obama administration. If their was not an African American President who also had near absolute political power in combination with a Democratic Congress, we would not be able to see how race-baiting is a hollow futile argument to make in modern America. Obama has no excuses; he was handed the keys to the kingdom and has repeatedly allowed the race card to be used to shield him and his party from being held responsible for their actions.
Also, I'm glad Obama has had the political clout and fortitude to bring to fruition 50+ years of left wing socialist legislation in one fell swoop. Now the American people can see for themselves the true face and consequences of the socialist reconstruction we have been edging towards piece-meal for decades now. Due to Obama, we are actually having a real dialogue developing on fundamental ideologies instead of the illusionary debates of the two-party system.
True color blindness will come when 40% of African-Americans vote democrat, 40% vote republican, and 20% decide once they get inside the voting booth.
There is lots of racism, and there always will be. I believe white americans are the only people on earth who actually make an effort to be less racist–maybe some europeans. Thing is, I believe if the black community listed the top 10 things that were holding them back, victim thinking would be item 1, and racism item 10.
Very well put. I do think this is the death throes. I think those currently in power are a bit shocked at how little outrage their false allegations of racism are eliciting. They won't give up easily. Watch your back. Democrats don't like people to disagree with them, particularly when they come from groups that are supposed fall in line like good little sheep.
Is it safe to come out now, or is Eric Holder still rounding up us white folk?
Black on white violent crime is 400% higher than the reverse, and been like that forever. Interracial crime used to be very low and vvirtually the same for over one hundred years until civil rights, then black on white skyrocketed. Sad.
I nearly laughed out loud when I read that the Reverend Al Sharpton was promoting a "Reclaim the Dream" rally on August 28th in honor of Dr. Martin Luther King. I'm not sure what dream needs to be reclaimed. Now that white American has elected the first black president of the United States, what will it take for the Reverend Sharpton and his ilk to realize that maybe the dream has been fulfilled?
Any of the cards – race, intolerance, phobic – when played should be jammed right back into the faces of those who try to play them.
Just an FYI, President Obama and Michelle Obama collectively rake in 5.5 Million dollars a year.
I think it's fair to say they are extremely wealthy.
I confess: I am sick of race, race, race — the omnitopic. The black race-hustlers — and they seem numberless, infinite! — insist that whites should be thinking about race (and THEM, of course) at all times. 24/7. Expiation, etc. Well, I don't. I refuse. Of course, because I refuse to think about race all the time I must be a racist. Nobody wins this game. Least of all America.
What needs to be reclaimed is another installment of Al's 15-minutes.
Great article.
We have moved past this and are tired of hearing the "rules for radicals" playbook for socialization by dividing the nation. The problem they didn't see, the rhetoric spouted by MSM surrounding this matter can only sustain itself for a very short time before the masses go "ENOUGH, this is bullchit, quit promoting it".
I used to be an optimist, until this particular President took office. The trust has walked out the door long ago.
PT – you are quite right. The black community does overwhelmingly identify itself as a victim. But victim of what? The answer is racism. If they're poor, it's because of racism, if they don't get a diploma, if they're depressed, sell drugs, have bribe money in their freezer or don't pass the test for a firefighter in New Haven, Conn., it's all because of race. Almost never are their problems defined as the consequences of their actions but overwhelmingly the actions of others. In short, 'victim' is simply a new word for 'racism'. A fact which, again, I am grateful to Obama and Holder for revealing.
Leaving their race out of it I resent that Obama and Holder are twits.
The one thing this may of done is finally desenseitize people to running in panic when the race card is played. If every single criticism is supposedly racist then it sort of ceases to matter.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WFY2kJ96jNY http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x8oHq2Nj-hk&fe...
Obama's Black Ya'll… bliggety black…
LOL
"I hate white people" "I wanna kill cracka babies"-was that person white or black? The "us of KKK a" "nonono, not god bless America .God Damn America"-was that a whiteperson? "the only solution is to kill all the white people"-white or black? Didnt the hip-hop mogul Russell Simmons(some expert he is) say something about the USA "deserving" 9/11? Whos a bigger racist-Dr Laura or Van Jones?(that should be easy). Eric the AHole(der) has little room to talk race. He only knows how to be a hatemongering racist.
Fat Al(not so) Sharp Tons (of bs). No wonder they want him on BSNBC.
Then if they want to carry on like the rich folks they are, they need to pay for it themselves. I dont' begrudge them the occasional vacation on my dime, but all the time?
Probably all from the Saudi royal family or the communist party USA. I wonder how many mosques Moochelle visited during her "vacation" in Spain.
I fail to see why there was such an uproar from people about Mrs. Obamas vacation. Let's be honest. The Obama's are rich. They can afford to take a trip wherever they want, however they want. It's not about race. If we condemn them for their vacation plans we would do the same to anyone else in the entire world who does as well. And in a capitalist society I wouldn't want someone else dictating where and how I vacation.
Those who call on the President or First Lady to "set the example" are simply wrong. Take care of yourself. If the President had to sell most of his assets to pay for said trip I would begin to think you have a valid point. But he didn't. And he's wealthy. Let him do whatever he wants.
Let me be clear. I disagree with much of what President Obama stands for, but I couldn't care less where or how he vacations.
I was kinda hoping for 80% voting for the best candidate and the other 20% going back to the sand box.
Excuse me, but the Obama's are telling US to sacrifice, while they are purposefully DESTROYING our economy. "You just can't go to Las Vegas anymore….." or how about this, "There is some point when you've made enough money….." (I'm paraphrasing from memory). They deserve all the criticism they are getting because they don't give a good god-damn that this country is failing because of him. Keynsian Economics don't work, have been proven many times in the past not to work, yet, because it's the Obama's doing it, it's the correct thing to do? What a laugh. The guy is an out and out Marxist, is an enemy to our way of life, the FREE-MARKET Capitalism that made this the greatest country the world has ever seen. No one would continue with what he is doing without knowing that it is destroying our economy. It is purposeful and they take VACATIONS patting themselves on the back while business are too afraid to try to grow and HIRE Americans who would desperatly love to have a JOB because the small businesses KNOW this president intends to punish them with taxes or more regulations.
I'll let Charles Barkley chime in on this. (I'm sure Richard Pryor covered the topic too.)
"Well, when I went off to college, the guys I used to hang with were pumping gas and voting Democrat. Today they're still pumping gas and voting Democrat. Guess the Democrats didn't do much for them."
You can lead a man to water but you can not make him fish. The DNC has been dishing out fish bones since Barkley went off to college and they have been keeping the fillets for themselves. We all know the saying about the fish stinking from the head.
All Americans. It's time to learn how to fish again. Right after we chop the head of the old fish off first. Political revolution!
What is so patheticaly humourous about Obama critics being called racist is that Bill and Hillary got ten times the criticism as the Blamer in Chief. So those who have been closely following politics for years know there really is no basis for the claim that Obama is being treated unfairly.
The article just states what is obvious to every body.
But there are problems, huge problems, the author of the article would never touch, IMHO
And if the most powerful man on earth, the president of the united states, elected by mostly white people, is failing, that is racism as well.
Criticizing the jet set lifestyle of the president is silly in the context of the security needs of a president. Its just that the democrats and liberal media started this by criticizing bush's working vacations to his ranch.
The american people are for the most part sheeple, because they get upset when the president's wife costs a million or so on vacation, while they are quite content to let trillions of their dollars be stolen from them in the form of bailouts.
Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day. Convince a man he will never be able to fish, and you have his vote for the rest of his life.
I think the essence of capitialism is not so much to begrudge a man his wealth, but rather begrudge the taking away of one's own wealth.
Nor you, apparently.
You do realize that both of these people, like almost every major politician and/or family member thereof elected in most of our lifetimes, were ALREADY "rich" before they were elected, right?
I saw that, "Reclaim the Dream" too. Old Al is in search of relevance, he'll never achieve.
Obama isn't using his own $$ to take these lavish trips. George W. Bush did — he went to either his own ranch or his family's place in Maine for his vacations. The Obamas are not spending their own money. But then, leftists never do.
And, yes, it matters where he and his vacation. It costs us millions, he demands frugality from us and takes and takes and takes to fill the government trough. Every single dime of our money he spends on his personal entertainment matters.
Can't argue with that. One of these days it WILL happen, and it will be a sight to behold. I don't know where, when, or who will make that come to fruition, but I predict it will happen. Then society will be shocked, and hopefully those cards that you mentioned will be retired permanently.
We the American taxpayers are paying the freight here. If this is on HIS and HER dime, fine. As POTUS he and his family are supposed to set some kind of example, it goes with the territory.
To the American Left, being politically black is more authentic than being actually black.
It is not silly when it is NOT his money and he has no respect whatsoever for where it comes from. I was responding to Larry's dismissal of the righteous anger at the Obama's living life on the high-hog on taxpayers money. It is obscene. I don't think anyone is CONTENT with the theft of the bailouts, that started this obscene ball rolling. This response, however, was to the above.
I apologize for calling it silly–especially as I consider myself to be among like-minded people here. I do suggest that what he does as president in terms of wars, bailouts, wealth equalizing, and marxist economic policies, costs us millions of times more than his expensive lifestyle.
He has paid poltiically for being tone-deaf to appearances, and I suspect all these vacations are an attempt to get his head back in the game, as I believe he is as overwhelmed by the job as anyone would be who has never been responsible for anything before in their lifes.
Were we to be appraised of the total cost of maintaining the president in a royal lifestyle, I am sure the vacation itself would seem like small potatos. Also, we don't want obama assasinated under any circumstances. Don't want to have a JFK were a mediocre liberal president becomes a saint for the next 50 years.
Amen to that. Maybe conservatives should start claiming "racism" at any ridiculous opportunity just to speed this process up. If you don't pass a test, say the test was "racist." If you have to wait in line at Wal-Mart, blame it on "racism."
Sorry, I don't care who is paying for Obama's vacations, I have a right to complain. He is not a private citizen; he is the president of the United States. I don't think it is asking too much to expect the president to put down the golf clubs and get to work. If I were president, I would be working 18 hour days / 7 days a week. This is our country, for crying out loud.
I would suggest a slight edit (although in-line with your general sentiments): Give a man to fish and you feed him for a day. Give a man a fish everyday, and you have his vote for the rest of his life.
This is why I think that a lot of conservatives are, unfortunately, deluding themselves if they think blacks, particularly inner-city blacks, will ever vote for the GOP in large numbers. If you go into many inner-city neighborhoods, you will find that the majority of the population is getting free housing, food stamps, medicare, and welfare checks. They are completely taken care of and never have to lift a finger. They know who is promoting these policies (Democrats) and they aren't going to get off the gravy train.
The Left uses every difference that they can to fragment and weaken We The People. Skin color is one of these devices and it is used in such a way so as to try to force anyone who has legitimate opposition views to justify themselves in a totally unrelated area, which serves to deflect the criticism.
Classic deceit; similar methods have been in use since The Garden of Eden.
We can thank Obama for playing the race so often and so well that its spector can't scare us anymore. I reject his policies, not his skin color, and hope he fails miserably and is hounded out of office. As for the first lady, if she gets into the fray, she's got to expect criticism.
Bull- Of course, thanks to the good Lord, I don’t have to write articles.
I guess many of us would rather go for the old- ‘’silence is gold’’ wisdom.
The accusations of racism from the liberal media shows the small and lazy minds they possess. It also allows them to avoid having to accept any kind of responsibility for the failures of their philosophies, they just blame everything on racists.
I'm 60 years old (boy, I hated admitting that!), and have been hearing this "racist" crap for nearly 40 of those years. I'm sure there are millions of others who are just as sick of it as I am. All these charges are doing is further polarizing society, but the conservative movement is building strong enough (especially as a result of Breitbart and other similar people) that it will be the libs who suffer from these charge, not us conservatives.
Most whites got over racism many years ago and in the process gave special privileges to blacks. Now, while many blacks are rightfully aware of their equal status as Americans, others still expect those special privileges, including getting their own way, whenever they throw a tantrum and holler RACIST!
The NAACP and Black Panthers are no different than the KKK, just a different skin color. They are a bunch of fools who cannot make it on their own merit so they inject themselves into the fringes of real Americans hoping to gain status by shouting RACIST!.
So… what about those who continue to insist on special treatment because of their skin color? Someday we need to stop potty-training and treating them like children. STOP caving to their demands every time they throw a tantrum!
The Black Tea Party… Are you tired of the NAACP, Black Caucus, Black Panthers and all hollering racist at the Tea Party and conservative Americans? Check this vid for a refreshing view.
The Black Tea Party… http://usataxpayer.org/htm/vids.asp?A=26077572
Racist! http://usataxpayer.org/htm/racist.asp
…. and this post is on the 'hollywood' site…why ??
Loved the Sunday talk shows discussing how the continuing decline in Obama's approval ratings, over the last 18 months, was because of underlying racist feelings. Funny, most of us noticed he was Black, way back in 2007, yet he still got elected.
Yeah it's the book royalties. His first book bombed and then he became the Dem Darling, which got him another book contract, got him elected to the Senate and ……..well, you know the rest.
It's not just about voting Dem vs. Republican. Keep in mind, they did the same thing in the Primaries. It was all about voting Black. Dare I say that qualifies as Racism?
To paraphrase Dr. Laura, during her so-called "rant" – to keep crying racism when there is a black President, is hilarious.
You might have something there. Then claim is was "culturally insensetive" when the test is dumbed down in general and the line is cut……….
I pray you are right, Joe.
Color blindness isn't the same as having no idealogical preference (neither the fact that 90% of blacks vote Democrat or 90% of Cubans vote Republican is evidence of racism).
Are you basing that claim off of anything concrete? Star Parker recently talked about a January 2010 Gallup poll which indicated the opposite.
—-
http://townhall.com/columnists/StarParker/2010/07...
Now, of course, we should be talking about racism if this is what is driving black unemployment. But is it?
I don’t think so. Nor do most blacks.
In January of this year, well into our recession, and well into the emergence of the Tea Party movement, the Pew Research Center surveyed black attitudes.
In answer to the question, “When blacks don’t make progress, who or what is to blame?”, 52% of blacks responded that “blacks” themselves are “mostly responsible”, and 34% said “racism.” This is the reverse of how blacks responded to this question just 15 years ago, when 56% said that racism was the impediment to black progress.
—-
He'll always be a media darling for the same reason the New Black Panthers are (a love of saying incinderary, nonsensical things) but I agree with you that he's won't have any power beyond what those are foolish or cynical enough to talk to him give them.
Exactly. Its not like the public greeted the Clinton's health takeover plan with open arms.
The people that call for a dialogue on race desire only a monologue issued by them. There will always be prejudice: people have been finding reasons to dislike each other for centuries. But the Democrats/Liberals/Media NEED victims — a select group of victims — to exist and gain power. Without victims, the D/L/Ms will not exist.
I believe the less he works, the better it is for the country.
Anne coulter was talking about how the publishing industry is a conduit of wealth to liberal politicians. The process of an outrageously large advance on a book they know will not sell much.
Look at the vicious and petty criticism the left constantly levelled at bush II. He pandered to the left a lot and received nothing to show for it.
If you look at the numbers, were the black voters to stop overwhelmingly voting democratic, the democratic party would almost never win an election and would become irrelevant.
For them, playing the race card and keeping a lock on the black vote is not a luxury, it is critical to their survival. They will never stop playing the race card–they simply can't.
As a libertarian, republicans and democrats only differ in the rate at which they implement statism. Those of us who wish to reduce the size of government, not simply slow its rate of growth, are truly the radicals, and perhaps we should be adopting some of the techniques of alinsky's book which has been so successful in bringing marxism into the american mainstream.
PY – excellent. Have you by chance read Clarence Thomas' "My Grandfather's Son"? His Daddy – his grandpa – raised him to deal with the hand he's been dealt instead of being a victim.
Because mr. Phillips is an actor.
I have great respect for Thomas and his judicial conservatism, and I resent his 'high tech lynching' during his supreme court confirmation hearnings–black conservatives pay a very high price for their beliefs. I have not read that book, but I should take a look at it.
Am I just suppose to pretend the Black Faces on my evening newscast commiting murder, rape, and robbery on a daily basis is just a figment of my imagination, Bad Boys Bad Boys what's you gonna do when they come for you ?
One notion that has been put to rest by the current availability of video cameras and video footage is the question of just who is commiting the vast majority of crime in America. For years we were told it was only police racism to explain the high numbers of Blacks in prision, but I think we all know now they are in prision because they commit the majority of serious crime.
Well, I agree with you there. But still, the fact that he sees no problem taking vacation after vacation while millions of Americans are out of work shows his mindset.
Is he the Old Spice guy?
I agree with those who observe that politically black is not really about skin color at all, its about groups with shared world views–sometimes called culture.
Yer right Joe, even you sound tired of it.. I know I am, bone freaking tired.
The single most exciting thing I have witnessed in the past two years is the number of conservative blacks coming out of the closet. It helps that the tea party activists have openly embraced these young black leaders that the Republican party has been ignoring, more from their youth than anything else. A new day has dawned and the minority community is beginning to discover that the rants against America as being racist were all lies. I'd be willing to bet that Obama didn't get anywhere near 90% of the black vote, he only got 90% of the exit polls.
November is going to be an exciting time for America.
Best regards,
Gail S. http://www.backyardfence.wordpress.com
Complete intellectual dishonesty. Colorblindness was progressing naturally in the 80's and 90's. Now what Barry and Holder don't seem to understand, is that if you keep picking at the scab, it will surely become infected. As community organizers, they know how to agitate, and folks are angry. It's lazy to yell racist, because the root causes are too difficult to explain in 30 second soundbytes.
Two of the scariest men in America! and guess what? They are in charge!!:)
Somewhere out there is someone just itching to call anyone who isn't black and who doesn't see blacks as terribly mistreated in 2010 the dreaded "R word". Used to be we whites cringed if the "R word" were flung at us, but now many of us just shrug and consider the source. Calling someone a Racist is childish and silly and no longer has the sting it used to. Unfortunately, there are people who are bigoted and by painting all of us with the word destroys its use against those who are truly racist.
Slavery was wrong, discrimination was wrong, but apparently both were a wrong that cannot be undone. That, to me, is the ongoing racial discussion we ought to be having. Just exactly how many generations does it take to atone? How many years of Affirmative Action, Racial Quotas and Peferences will it take? Give us a number. If this is a forever thing, say that, too. We'll abide by it. We're just tired as one of the posters above said. Bone tired.
I suspect, however, the new goal is reparations . A massive transfer of wealth from men and women who never owned a slave or even had an ancestor who did to those who never were a slave and probably didn't have an ancestor who was.
No question blacks were brought here against their will, therefore, reparations, are not out of the question. However, said reparations should be paid only in African currency on a monthly basis for so long as the recipient is alive, and only on condition that he or she return to and live in an African country .
In this way descendants of slaves would receive remuneration for the suffering of their forefathers but conditional upon their returning to their homeland. This would benefit both America and Africa in that America would no longer have a large group of people seething with resentment and Africa would have the benefit of the the educational advantages many American blacks enjoy. Think of all the good a massive infusion of black teachers, doctors, lawyers, professors would do to a continent full of countries struggling their way into progress.
Reparations paid former American blacks would automatically elevate them to the highest classes of African society. Win-wins in my view.
But somehow I don't think there'll be many takers for my suggestion and to those who refused to accept the conditional reparations, I'd say, "Welcome home"
Joseph, what will it take for the racial animosity to finally be over? Will it take a TRULY post-racial man, a black man (like you, or Thomas Sowell, perhaps) who has the cojones to stand up to ALL people and declare the race war OVER? I have been waiting for YEARS to hear a black man speak out to the black community about the bad choices they make that result in their being mired in poverty. Bill Cosby tried to be that man, and then they tried to destroy him. Is it that the media will not exalt a black leader who TRULY wants to lift ALL people out of squalor? Who truly believes in the freedoms afforded by the great country and who will lead people to get out of their own way? To throw off the shackles of race pimps like Jackson and Sharpton?
I am distressed when educated blacks people I know and like call me a "European." I don't know where their ancestors came from (they probably don't either) but I am an American, and they are too. Where is the leader who will bring us the rest of the way?
Race relations in this country are pretty awful. But it's deinitely a two-way street. In many parts of the country you'll almost certainly be made to feel uncomfortable for being white or black. As a young white man myself, it was pretty obvious that many blacks hated me automatically simply based on my skin color. But the good news is for every racist black person I've met, I've met an equally decent black person who proves that not all blacks are racists. I'm not exactly sure how to best deal with this issue, but one thing's for sure; black racism, homophobia and sexism definitely needs to be put under the same microscope that white bigotry has been put under for decades now. It seems to me that blacks are not only getting a free pass on the issue of bigotry, but it's actually being openly supported by the white left.
Just look at the last presidential election where blacks proudly admitted to supporting Obama purely based on skin color while the liberal media gave them the thumbs up. That's a very dangerous pandora's box for the left to reopen. Because due to a very basic defense mechanism; if people feel that they're up against an opponent who's voting purely based on race, then they will as well in order to prevent their own race from being systematically discriminated against and taken advantage of. I honestly wouldn't be surprised if whites, even left-wing whites, voted for their next candidate based at least partially on race due to a backlash from the last election. So much for Obama improving race relations…
" I'd be willing to bet that Obama didn't get anywhere near 90% of the black vote, he only got 90% of the exit polls"
Yeah, he actually got about 95% of the black vote. I guess blacks are lying to pollsters on the phone, too, because Obama's approval rating amongst blacks is still around 90%.
If anything, we resent the excuses made for the guy who stole the nomination from a qualified woman who had been hard at work for decades, honorably mastering the Nation's challenges, LISTENING to voters and studying Diplomacy on her free time. Many of us can do two or more things at once. We're WOMEN who were stiffed by this pompous, sexist ass. He accused HRC of holding "tea parties" during her White House years. What an ironic bust on his arrogance that the tea parties are presenting him with the calling card of those of us who respect our Constitution and embrace the challenges before us. Who's not tired of the lame excuse about all he has on his plate and inherited from W? Maybe if he was QUALIFIED for the job, he would be appealing to our strengths and greatness instead of constantly dragging us into the mud of his own racist obsessiveness.
ditto … the challenges to the economy could be figured out by any reasonably intelligent person in the position he's in, with the access he enjoys to the resources the Nation affords. If he just worked at it, we could all get behind it. We recognize a poser when we hear all his excuses…constantly changing the subject to race just conveys the limits of his attention span.
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