Friday, April 11, 2008

Racism in America

Article: A Brief for Whitey by Patrick J. Buchanan
Posted: 03/21/2008

How would he pull it off? I wondered.

How would Barack explain to his press groupies why he sat silent in a pew for 20 years as the Rev. Jeremiah Wright delivered racist rants against white America for our maligning of Fidel and Gadhafi, and inventing AIDS to infect and kill black people?How would he justify not walking out as Wright spewed his venom about "the U.S. of K.K.K. America," and howled, "God damn America!"

My hunch was right. Barack would turn the tables.Yes, Barack agreed, Wright's statements were "controversial," and "divisive," and "racially charged," reflecting a "distorted view of America."But we must understand the man in full and the black experience out of which the Rev. Wright came: 350 years of slavery and segregation.Barack then listed black grievances and informed us what white America must do to close the racial divide and heal the country.

The "white community," said Barack, must start "acknowledging that what ails the African-American community does not just exist in the minds of black people; that the legacy of discrimination -- and current incidents of discrimination, while less overt than in the past -- are real and must be addressed. Not just with words, but with deeds ... ."And what deeds must we perform to heal ourselves and our country?

The "white community" must invest more money in black schools and communities, enforce civil rights laws, ensure fairness in the criminal justice system and provide this generation of blacks with "ladders of opportunity" that were "unavailable" to Barack's and the Rev. Wright's generations.What is wrong with Barack's prognosis and Barack's cure?

Only this. It is the same old con, the same old shakedown that black hustlers have been running since the Kerner Commission blamed the riots in Harlem, Watts, Newark, Detroit and a hundred other cities on, as Nixon put it, "everybody but the rioters themselves."Was "white racism" really responsible for those black men looting auto dealerships and liquor stories, and burning down their own communities, as Otto Kerner said -- that liberal icon until the feds put him away for bribery.

Barack says we need to have a conversation about race in America.

Fair enough. But this time, it has to be a two-way conversation. White America needs to be heard from, not just lectured to.This time, the Silent Majority needs to have its convictions, grievances and demands heard. And among them are these:First, America has been the best country on earth for black folks. It was here that 600,000 black people, brought from Africa in slave ships, grew into a community of 40 million, were introduced to Christian salvation, and reached the greatest levels of freedom and prosperity blacks have ever known.

Wright ought to go down on his knees and thank God he is an American.

Second, no people anywhere has done more to lift up blacks than white Americans. Untold trillions have been spent since the '60s on welfare, food stamps, rent supplements, Section 8 housing, Pell grants, student loans, legal services, Medicaid, Earned Income Tax Credits and poverty programs designed to bring the African-American community into the mainstream.

Governments, businesses and colleges have engaged in discrimination against white folks -- with affirmative action, contract set-asides and quotas -- to advance black applicants over white applicants.

Churches, foundations, civic groups, schools and individuals all over America have donated time and money to support soup kitchens, adult education, day care, retirement and nursing homes for blacks.We hear the grievances. Where is the gratitude?

Barack talks about new "ladders of opportunity" for blacks.

Let him go to Altoona and Johnstown, and ask the white kids in Catholic schools how many were visited lately by Ivy League recruiters handing out scholarships for "deserving" white kids.

Is white America really responsible for the fact that the crime and incarceration rates for African-Americans are seven times those of white America? Is it really white America's fault that illegitimacy in the African-American community has hit 70 percent and the black dropout rate from high schools in some cities has reached 50 percent?Is that the fault of white America or, first and foremost, a failure of the black community itself?As for racism, its ugliest manifestation is in interracial crime, and especially interracial crimes of violence.

Is Barack Obama aware that while white criminals choose black victims 3 percent of the time, black criminals choose white victims 45 percent of the time? Is Barack aware that black-on-white rapes are 100 times more common than the reverse, that black-on-white robberies were 139 times as common in the first three years of this decade as the reverse?

We have all heard ad nauseam from the Rev. Al about Tawana Brawley, the Duke rape case and Jena. And all turned out to be hoaxes. But about the epidemic of black assaults on whites that are real, we hear nothing.

Sorry, Barack, some of us have heard it all before, about 40 years and 40 trillion tax dollars ago.

Okay, we don't all agree with Patrick Buchanan, but he begs a salient question.... how long do we have to suffer for the sins of our forefathers? No other nation in history has done more to right the wrongs of our past and yet we are still viewed as a racist, segregated nation.

How much "equality" must we endure? When do racial quotas become "reverse discrimination"? This is 2008 and even in the South, race is no longer a limiting factor. Laziness, ignorance and "self-entitlement" are the only barriers to success that remain in our society.

Monetary reparations for slavery? What a ridiculous concept. At some point, we ALL need to let it go.

Forthright

9 comments:

Anonymous said...

Forthwrong, why don't you post the speech Obama gave, rather than the spin of that speech by Pat Buchanan, a far right ideologue?

Pat says, "Second, no people anywhere has done more to lift up blacks than white Americans. Untold trillions have been spent since the '60s on welfare, food stamps, rent supplements, Section 8 housing, Pell grants, student loans, legal services, Medicaid, Earned Income Tax Credits and poverty programs designed to bring the African-American community into the mainstream."

Going by the numbers, all of these items help many more whites than blacks, so really white America has done a lot for white Americans. And Pat forgot to mention the Tuskegee experiments, the separate but equal school systems (a system that is still in place in Greenville today), the lynchings, the beatings, the firehoses and attack dogs, as other wonderful things white America has done for black America.

Forthwrong says: "No other nation in history has done more to right the wrongs of our past and yet we are still viewed as a racist, segregated nation. "

That's not really true, is it Forthwrong? Just off the top of my head I would say South Africa and Germany have done much more to absolve the wrongs of their past. And why shouldn't America be viewed as a racist, segregated nation? We are. Or do you not live in Greenville?

Finally, why is reparations a ridiculous concept? A lot of white people, especially in the deep south, got rich off of slavery. The descendants of those families inherited the wealth that was generated by slaves. Why should the descendants get to keep that wealth while the descendants of the slaves, the people who actually did the work, get nothing?

Anonymous said...

Well I am not one of those people.

Anonymous said...

To be fair...here is Obama's speech. I would have copied and pasted it too, but it is way too long for comfort...I think everyone should read it in its entirety and them make their own judgement call of comparison.

http://my.barackobama.com/page/community/post/samgrahamfelsen/gGBbrc

TeacherMan said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Unknown said...

Before I criticize, I will say that Buchanan (and Forthright in the comments below) DO bring up some worthwhile points - there is a huge problem of motivation in the black community, and in some black communities - entitlement.

BUT, I would argue that these too are wisps of emotions and events of the past. Would you be motivated to work hard if you were raised by a parent or grandparent who constantly reinforced the idea that you shouldn't be, because when they grew up, they weren't allowed opportunities? Most white children grow up in a supportive environment where their parents tell them constantly that "you can be anything you want to be". Well for the (current) parents and grandparents in the black community... that wasn't always true....You can't blame them for teaching their children what they have known to be true.

So, I do agree with Buchanan that there are specific things that the black community must overcome, themselves, before they can completely move on from the past. But I think it is unfair to blame that completely on them.


The one thing that REALLY bothers me about his speech:

"First, America has been the best country on earth for black folks. It was here that 600,000 black people, brought from Africa in slave ships..."

Exactly. Remember when we brought you people here to be our slaves? THAT was the best thing on earth to happen to you. Shouldn't you be thanking us to have hauled and packed you onto those ships so that we could own you? Buchanan has to be kidding. Anything he said after this particular statement was tarnished in my eyes....

Unknown said...

(oh and the deleted comment was me, someone else had been logged into this computer and I didn't notice until after I posted that someone else's tag was up there)

Anonymous said...

Going along with what Anna wrote, historians estimate that somewhere between 10 and 20 million Africans were killed during Middle Passage, making it one of the greatest acts of genocide in world history.

Anonymous said...

LET IT GO...it is 2008 and neither myself, my parents nor my grandparents were slave owners. At some point, we all have to move forward and stop dwelling on the past. I work as a medical professional and I can tell you that I have many black, white, filipino, hispanic and asian colleagues. They all got there the same way I did - hard work, determination, and sacrifice. Say what you want, but the only thing holding people of ALL colors back is their own poor choices and lack of motivation. I am SICK to death of hearing this bull. I don't care if you are purple polka dot, you can still make a life for yourself in America if you have the drive. Enough of the racial mumbo jumbo. And, as for Obama - I think a lot less of him since he has defended just last week Rev. Wright. There is no good exucse that anyone should accept about such behavior no matter what color you are and what your beliefs are. Preaching hate and negativity only produce more. Positive words go a lot further with all of us.

Anonymous said...

We the people in the delta are the only ones that can it it this away. If only the people in the US could see it this away the world would be a better place!!