Wednesday, March 19, 2008
Anyone up for a discussion on Race
Where to begin. This primary season has been an interesting one to follow and it certainly has taken a sad turn lately. When Geraldine made her comments i was a little torn because on the one hand i think she has a bit of a point, but what bothered me was that her statement basically boiled him down to one attribute:race. Then there was the endless loop of Pastor Jeremiah Wright's sermons. And everyone seemed excited by the potential fall of barack obama. Then he gave his "A more Perfect Union" speech. I was with a client from work at Dunkin Donuts and it came on the TV and I couldn't help but watch. After he was done it gave me chills in a good way. In my life time I have never heard anyone talk about race in such a way, especially from such a platform. It was like being back in college talking about the complexities of the racial divide in our country that has been smoldering under the surface. I encourage you to watch the speech in its entirety and not just the sound bites. A More Perfect Union One of the things I appreciated was the way he didn't simply sever ties with Pastor wright. In or country the way to deal with problems is to distance yourself from the trouble issue and then act like it never happened. What barack's speech did was instead of trying to get away from the issues he stopped to try and start a national discussion. He acknowledged how horrible Wright's comments were and then proceeded to talk about how they reflect an issue in our country that we have never really dealt with. The civil rights movement was only a generation ago and we since that time we have tried to pretend that everything is fine now there is nothing to work through. Racial issues in our country are so complex and so embedded in our national fabric thats why it has been such a hot button. I am curious to hear from you guys how the speech was received in your local areas and what has been the discussion afterwards. Also what are your perceptions of how it has affected the national media. I know barack is a flawed candidate but after hearing that speech he just excites me in the way that he can lead the country in national discussion towards reconciliation. Those same values can lead us to more productive discussions in our foreign relations and in domestic issues such as health care and education. I started this post as a chance to talk about racial issues so I am curious to hear what has been on people's minds lately. i dont know i have been a bit out of sorts lately. The sports radio station I listen to is really conservative and they have just been ripping barack to pieces and totally dismissing that there are still issues of race to discuss in our country. It goes beyond just electing him. I feel like he could be a pivotal person to help our country grow and move forward. thanks guys. I also liked this article.
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11 comments:
I just watched Pastor Wright's clips on Youtube. Entitled "Anti-American and Racist Obama's Pastor" or something like that. I noticed a couple of things:
-Some white people in the congregation when he was talking about the country being run by rich white men and white oppression of blacks. They weren't crying or looking hurt. They probably agree with me that this is historically true.
- Wright does say some crazy stuff
-However, for the most part, he talks like an Old Testament prophet. I would understand why this rubs some people the wrong way, but it shouldn't bother anybody who finds the Bible to be true on some level. Talk about people of privilege having a responsibity for mistreating the marginalized did make Bill O'Reilly's head explode though, judging from the clip on Youtube.
- This makes me realize how much of the Bible is "Anti-American", or could be construed as such, simply because, to a Christian, patriotism is not first priority.
I didn't talk a lot here about race specifically, but in summary: This whole controversy was not that controversial to begin with to me, but I see where it freaks out average American who feels our country is spotless and above reproach. Obama's speech was both eloquent and very clear. I got the chills too when I read it at work last week, Micah.
While I understand that Wright said some very inappropriate things I don't understand why this particular case is such a big deal. Why are we not also talking about all the other pastors/leaders out there who also say crazy inflammatory things? Is it because many of them are WHITE?
Saying that rich white men run the country while black people are oppressed isn't racist - it's TRUE!
Also, I'd like to discuss Micah's race, if at all possible. Micah, why don't you start us off?
Also, this whole thing reminds me of the Dean Scream. Can you believe it? That guy had to drop out of the race because he yelled really loud once.
Alex i laughed out loud when I read your dean comment. he did look like a bafoon though. First of all I think that it is interesting your point about Wright sounding like an old testament prophet. Christians have always identified themselves as Israel in old testament stories and as a "Christian Nation" I think Americans have ofter seen themselves as a proverbial Israel. And the prophets were always calling Israel out for their sins and the consequences of those sins. But I think our stance toward foreign policy had a lot to do with 9/11 that doesnt mean we deserved it no innocent person deserves that.
Americans are not very good at handling criticism. That brings us to the conversation on race. America is not very comfortable looking at its past let alone admitting guilt. Two examples are the native americans and african americans. Both were given the shaft and now we want to just move on and say yeah that was in the past and it was terrible, but lets move on. Things like that have a tendency to linger though. In the Bible they talk about a family being cursed for generations. That is what is happening today. Todays generations are still living with the sins of our country.
The great thing about the speach was that it did not point the finger at any one side but rather looked at what feeds the problem from both sides. I remember in college living in East Town and being amazed that our neighborhood was all black. How could it be that 50 years after the civil rights movement there were neighborhoods that were "segregated" Sure people can choose to live wherever they want, but when you think about white flight and the ways in which african american jobs and lending were limited a generation ago it makes since that the majority couldnt make it out. And it just so happens that those schools are the worst ones so those kids are getting a worse education. I know because I use to volunteer at one in GR and I subbed at one in fall river. It is a wonder any of those kids can add or read. The schools are freaking crazy. The complicated things is that blame is not singular. Families in those neighborhoods have to take responsibility, but white america has to realize we helped create those situations. and as a whole we have to make it better. Better schools, better services for those neighborhoods, after school activities, and lots of responsibility and cooperation.
The other thing is that is only one aspect racial issues are getting even more complicated in our country with immigration and such, but its good that we are talking about it again.
I wanted to leave a couple of other articles that I thought were thought provoking and from a perspective I dont have. Jason Whitlock is a sports writer from the Kansas City Star and he is one of my favorite journalists. He wrote these two articles on race I thought you might like.
This one is about the death of Sean Taylor:
http://msn.foxsports.com/nfl/story/7499442/Taylor's-death-a-grim-reminder-for-us-all
And this one is about the recent cover of vogue with Lebron James and Gisele:
http://msn.foxsports.com/nba/story/7955740/Am-I-supposed-to-be-mad-about-LeBron?
I think we have to be careful that we do not try to look at going into situations as saviors. I think I have a tendency to want to do that. We are cooperative partners.
Here are those links again.
http://msn.foxsports.com/nba/story
/7955740/Am-I-supposed-to-be-mad-
about-LeBron?
http://msn.foxsports.com/nfl/story/
7499442/Taylor's-death-a-grim-
reminder-for-us-all
OK, Jeremiah Wright. He has lied to his congregation to advance a political agenda and a culture of victimhood among the black community. The CIA did not invent the AIDS virus to kill off blacks, nor did it introduce cocaine to this country to harm the black community. While we may disagree on the war in Iraq, we are trying to kill terrorists, not innocent civilians, so I do think our foreign policy is different than Al-Qaida's. I will also prefer to say "God bless America" (and the rest of the world) instead of "GD America." It disturbs me that Obama would take his family to this church.
While discrimination certainly exists, the problems of the black community, in my opinion are mostly due to the breakdown of the black family. In the 30's, only a generation removed from slavery, 31% of black children were born out of wedlock. Now it's around 80%. Racism has not gotten worse since the 30's. Household income of blacks lags whites because white households are more likely to have a husband and a wife. Studies have shown that whites, blacks, and Asians who work full time and have similar education and IQ have very similar incomes. The poverty rate for black families where a husband and a wife both work is 2%.
As far as schools (while I don't know this to be true everywhere) in Chicago a year or so ago, Jesse Jackson showed a TV crew a beautiful white H.S. and a decrepit black H.S. The white H.S. had a nice pool, the black H.S. had a pool, but it was filled with junk. Later it was revealed that each school gets the exact same funding per student. The schools suck because the kids (largely from single parent homes) don't behave and it's difficult for the teachers to create a good learning environment.
Of course, I lack first hand experience being a minority, so please share how blacks are being oppressed.
Another thought: everyone seems to think Obama will be this great uniter. He can't even unite his own party - why would you think he could unite the country? One of the reasons that McCain now leads him by 10 points is that most Americans are disturbed by his association with Wright and are beginning to see how liberal he is.
I doubt that anyone would argue that there is a gene that makes one racial group more committed to marriage than another. So it seems that the next place to look is in the environment. The environment in the inner city and impoverished areas has more to do with the break down of the family than race does. But due to America's history those areas also tend to be inhabited by minorities. A history that includes hundreds of years of slavery, then over a hundred years of "separate but equal, Jim Crow laws. Then a tumultuous civil rights movement just a generation ago and things did not change overnight nor have they gotten perfect. A history that includes white flight, if a person of color moved into a white neighborhood they left. A history that limited jobs and money lent to people of color. People of color were economically hamstrung for quite some time in this country. As a result the children growing up in those situations were not afforded the same opportunities as their white counterparts such as the extra money to go to college. When I think about the situation you bring up about the black family it makes me think of the children I worked with in california. They had all been abused and neglected the chances were most of them would one day grow up to repeat the offences that were committed against them. True some of them made it out I knew a few, but for some of them the scars went too deep. and despite all the counseling, therapy, medication, and love in the world they still messed up. Some of them sexually abused each other, they hit each other and they were angry. I think this applies on a larger societal level. If one group has been singled out marginalized and abused those scars run deep and often result in maladaptive behavior. America has to own up to creating that situation and accept that it still exists. The fear is that this will enable minorities and feed into a culture of victimhood. The truth is Africans were victims. Americans did capture them, drag them over here force them to work for nothing abuse them set them partially free and then ask them to get their act together in a couple of years. Victims have to rise above their victimhood on all levels individual and societal, but that doesn't mean they haven't been scarred. You hear black advocates calling for black families to come together to stick together to be good role models. They have to follow through with that. America has to help provide them with opportunities for improvement. Schools are a perfect example. maybe jesse's schools did get the same money, but that is not always the case. At the school i worked at there funding was related to how well they did on their standardized testing. as you said the children's behavior got in the way of their learning. Instead of throwing up your hands saying its their fault and letting those kids fall behind and then become the next generation of undereducated and poor kids. Why not decrease class sizes by increasing teachers. Why not help out with after school programs. Why not make improvements to facilities. Otherwise the problem seems destined to repeat itself.
You also asked about blacks being oppressed today. One example that has gotten a lot of attention lately is the discrepancy between the sentencing between crack cocaine and powder cocaine. Not to advocate the use of either but the stricter laws on crack does indirectly target blacks as being in general less affluent and more prone to use crack and white middle class using powder cocaine. The sentencing guidelines were based on 5 grams of crack to 500g of powder. with the sentence being 5 years for 5grams of crack as compared to 500 grams of powder. In 1994 the United States Sentencing committee put out a report that said 2/3 of crack users were white or hispanic, but 84.5% of people convicted of crack possession were black. It was still about 85% in their 2002 report. It wasnt until dec 2007 that the supreme court ruled that federal judges could have the discretion to reduce the sentences for crack cocaine. I am by no means advocating or defending drug use but you can see how this discrepancy in sentencing targets one group over another putting more of one into jail for longer for similar offenses. Another way that minorities are targets of oppression is the frequency with which they are pulled over and ticketed for the same traffic violation as their white counterparts or the discrepancy with which minorities are in jail. I realize that they still are committing the crimes, but they are often prosecuted more severely and singled out. Oppression happens subtly everyday. A friend and i were talking the other day about an experience he had where a black man came in for an application and the manager said yeah right after he left and threw the application out. No one saw that, it wasnt on the news, but it still happened.
I think racism and oppression are more prevalent than we are comfortable letting on. And America has to own up to the situation it has contributed to. All racial groups are different parts of the same problem.
A lot of interesting points Micah. I definitely agree that things need to be done to help the less fortunate, as the disadvantaged, whatever their race are obviously less likely to achieve.
I disagree that most of the disparities are due to a legacy of slavery or discrimination. A century after slavery, in 1960, out of wedlock births were very similar between whites and blacks. Then well meaning people started the "war on poverty." Out of wedlock births skyrocketed in the black community. After welfare reform in the mid 90's this trend began to reverse and black poverty began to decline.
No doubt white people left neighborhoods because of racism, but they really left in droves after the race riots of the late 60's when they realized that certain neighborhoods weren't safe for their families and businesses.
As far as crack/cocaine, while it appears racist on its face, the actual reasons for the disparity are that crack is a far more dangerous drug - it's more addictive and results in more social and behavioral changes. It is also associated with far more violence. Prison sentences tend to be based on damage to society. Crack does more damage to society. Also, I don't see how it hurts the black community to keep the people who are destroying it in prison.
You conclude that if there's not a genetic reason for the out of wedlock births, etc. the difference must be environment. I think you're close. Culture might be a better answer. There is a different culture in urban communities. One that does not value education, saving, or marriage as much as more affluent cultures. African immigrants have much higher levels of education and income than native born African-Americans.
And as far as anecdotes, I could also give you stories about white people being passed over by less qualified applicants to increase diversity. On loans, if blacks were systematically being denied loans on the basis of their race, they would have lower default rates than whites, because the more qualified borrowers (blacks) would be passed over for less qualified (whites). However, the opposite is true.
What's to be done? Continue to reform welfare to encourage people to work. Reward schools for performance, not failure, but consider the baseline. Allowing people to take their $8-12k per student to private schools would force schools to compete, breeding excellence.
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