Government III: Racism in America

First the disclosures: I am white, male, protestant, American, and my politics are libertarian. That alone brands me as a racist in the eyes of some people, and that is sort of the point of this essay. Also, please note that although many minorities, racial or otherwise, are subject to discrimination, this discussion is limited to racism against black people. Finally, some of you will probably object that I do not use the term “African-American”. I don’t like the term because any hyphenated modifier in front of “American” suggests to me that the person is somehow not a complete American. We are all Americans, just plain Americans, no hyphenations required or desired.

My first experience with actual racism came in 1961 when I left my home town in Maine for the University of North Carolina. The university had peacefully integrated several years before I arrived, but segregated toilets, water fountains, doctors’ offices, etc. were not uncommon in the surrounding communities, and the civil rights movement was in high gear all around us. When I could catch a ride, I liked to go and watch the civil rights demonstrations – it was history in the making and I wanted to see it (in retrospect, I’m ashamed that I didn’t actually participate, but that’s the topic of another essay). Like many of my classmates, I was a strong supporter of civil rights and the Kennedy/Johnson “great society”. My friends and I thought that poverty would soon be a thing of the past, and our grandchildren wouldn’t have a clue about race, because by then so much intermarriage would have taken place that everyone’s skin would be shades of tan. Sadly, the racial harmony we envisioned remains elusive.

The extensive and wide ranging civil rights legislation enacted in the late 1960s provides ample proof that the civil rights movement was largely successful. By the end of the 1960s, white Americans were mostly on board the integration train (still are). A majority of American white people, including southerners, thought that America was well rid of racial discrimination and the Jim Crow South. Ok, there were still plenty of northern and southern white folks who would have strongly disagreed with that contention, but their numbers were shrinking. Schools, public facilities, college dormitories and other formerly white enclaves were well on their way to being integrated, and many businesses and agencies were also on board. Yet, here we are, 40 years later, and we still have inner city black ghettos with a high drop-out rate, a huge percentage of young black women that are poverty stricken single mothers, and black kids joining gangs and then going to prison. So, what happened?

Few would disagree that the assassination of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. was a prime factor in the derailing of the integration train. Most of us were shocked and saddened by the murder of Dr. King, but black people were devastated, demoralized, and furious. Make no mistake, black people were justified in being furious, but I think that Dr. King, the purveyor of peaceful resistance, would have tried to quell the anger and replace it with a measured response. Instead, the immense void created by his loss was filled with an emerging breed of angry, bitter, hate-filled black leaders, and it was they who changed the course of the civil rights movement in America.

Men like Malcolm X, Stokely Carmichael, and Eldridge Cleaver, to mention only a few, led the civil rights movement away from integration and chose instead “black power”. That term is rarely used today, but the devastating effects of the black power movement still pervade. Black power sought to discard the racial harmony that Dr. King had so painfully struggled to develop, and instead celebrated racial discord. Instead of striving to integrate into America’s proverbial “melting pot”, black people were urged to segregate themselves. Many black civil rights groups no longer welcomed white people, universities formed Black Student Unions who insisted on black dormitories – even the Congress formed a Black Caucus. This was and continues to be segregation, prompted not by whites, but by the black leadership.

Look at where it has led. Although many black families have comfortably melded into middle class America, the press and media are still rife with problems in black communities, particularly in the inner cities. Black children learn early to distrust and not to associate with whites, to dismiss school as a “white thing”, to flunk and drop out, and to speak in ghetto dialects; black parenthood is displaced by gang loyalty; black people hurl racial epithets like “honkey” and “whitey” at white people and call each other “niggers”; black rap music is filled with vile racial slurs, is horribly demeaning to black women, and provokes violence and criminal behavior. And the results: a huge and growing percentage of poverty stricken single black mothers, growing ghetto slums, a burgeoning number of black prisoners, and increasingly insular segregation of black communities.

Furthermore, black leaders continue to exacerbate the problems by convincing black people they are victims who deserve to be “taken care of”. Jesse Jackson, Al Sharpton, Andrew Young, Jeremiah Wright and other so called “civil rights” leaders, continually extol the plight of black people as victims. They are quick to play the race card and seek every opportunity to identify so-called “victimization” of black people. Much of the loudest victim rhetoric comes from black Christian clergy, some of whom even preach the poisonous hatred called “black liberation theology”. They are too busy casting blame on white people and America to preach the actual Christian message of reconciliation. And many progressive white people are complicit. At every turn, well meaning progressive black leaders are abetted by well meaning progressive whites, all of whom are dedicated to “taking care of the disadvantaged” – terribly misdirected good intentions.

Enough! Poor people of any color do not need to be taken care of! They simply need to be given the means to escape their poverty. They need encouragement, exhortation, education, and, yes, a little help. But they need a hand up not a hand out. They need to learn to stand on their own two feet, to accept personal responsibility for their lives, and to take care of themselves and their families. Instead of supporting generational welfare and warehousing of black families in public housing, why don’t black and white leaders try to motivate poor black people to get an education and escape the ghetto? Some will claim the government is already doing that with its financial assistance and support for schools and teachers in black neighborhoods. But throwing more money at the problem is not the solution. Good schools and teachers are necessary but far from sufficient.

How about reaching out to the kids themselves? How about fostering a sense of dignity and personal pride by celebrating individual effort and the accomplishments of the many black people who have worked their way out of poverty and joined the American dream? How about successful black leaders acting as real role models and teaching black kids what they have to do to get out of the ghetto: stay in school, learn to speak proper English, don’t join a gang, dress appropriately for work, and don’t have children until you get married. Convince the kids that, if they do these things, they will be able to get a job and advance like anyone else. Why not reassure them that America is ready and willing to accept them as it has so many others? Why not prosecute so-called “gangsta rap” musicians and record labels for race crimes and inciting violence? Try walking up to a cop and calling him vile names or walking into a public building and exhorting people to rape women and shoot cops – you’ll soon get a close up view of a cell. Yet many rappers get away with doing those things every day, and kids idolize them. Worse, today’s black leadership condones destructive gansta rap and blames the disintegration of black communities on an “uncaring America”. Oh, and let’s not forget the progressive white people who extol the virtues of “black music and black culture”, and encourage more government expenditures, all in an effort to appease the “white guilt” that racks their souls. Oh, please! Will we ever stop flailing ourselves and end this madness?

For the first time in history, America has a black President and a unique opportunity to deal with this seemingly intractable mess. President Obama once semi-jokingly said, “... the brothers got to pull their pants up.” I beg him to do much more. I beg him to look at black youth and say, “Look at me, at Oprah, at Clarence Thomas, at Bill Cosby, at Denzel Washington, at Tiger Woods and Michael Jordan, at Condoleezza Rice, and look at the black doctors and lawyers and tradespersons and businesspersons and countless other successful black people – look at the way we speak and dress and interact with others of all races. We achieved success in America, and you can do it too. Boys, pull up your pants, lose the ghetto/gang dialect, work hard, get an education, and you will be able to compete in the American workplace. Get a good job, then find a nice girl, get married, learn to be a good husband and father, and raise a family. Girls, learn to speak and dress properly, stay in school, don’t have kids before you’re married, don’t get married until you’re 21, get a job with a future, and aspire to greatness for yourself and your children.” That’s what we need to hear from black musicians, sports figures, entertainers, movie stars, clergy, and politicians. They need to lead their people out of poverty and into the most productive, successful, and open society on earth: America. They need to celebrate, not blame, America.

Instead, the progressive left cries for ever more government intervention. Government is not the answer, folks. It wasn’t in the 60s and it isn’t now. We don’t need more government. We need real leadership. We don’t need to take care of poor people - we need to teach them to take care of themselves. Individual pride will trump government largess every time.

Look, I know it’s not that easy. There are huge hurdles to overcome, and cultural shifts are extremely difficult to accomplish. Some will properly and proudly argue that inner city blacks have a right to their form of English, and a right to dress in accordance with their own cultural norms. Fair enough, but the cost of exerting those rights is painfully high. You certainly have a right to speak ghetto/gang dialect, dress like a gangsta, and tattoo and pierce your body to your heart’s content. But you cannot do those things and get a good job with the prospect of advancement. Like it or not, workplaces have their own cultural norms. They cater to the expectations of their customers, clients, patients – whomever they service, serve, or sell to. Virtually all organizations and businesses have dress and behavioral codes. There are few good jobs available to someone who looks and sounds like a gang member. President Obama and Oprah dress and speak like most Americans. There’s a reason.

Changing black cultural norms will not be easy, but it has to start somewhere - if not with black leaders, especially the President, then who?