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Are black Americans being oppressed by The Man?
The position taken here is no.
Are black Americans struggling socially and financially?
Yes. But the position taken here is that black Americans aren’t struggling socially and financially because of “systemic racism” and “white supremacy.” Nope, the position taken here is that black Americans are struggling socially and financially because of poor decision-making, and that decision-making is actually being reinforced by progressive supremacy.
I will now attempt to defend the above positions, beginning with the very topical subject of police killings.
Do Police Kill Blacks More than They Kill Non-Blacks?
If we look at police killings by population numbers alone, it does appear that our police are more lethal toward black Americans than they are toward white, Hispanic, and Asian Americans. Black Americans are 12 percent of the population but account for slightly more than 26 percent of the people killed by police annually.
| Race or Ethnicity | Percent of Population | Percent of Police Killings |
|---|---|---|
| White | 61.0% | 50.3% |
| Hispanic | 18.0% | 18.7% |
| Black | 12.0% | 26.4% |
| Asian | 5.0% | 2.0% |
Source: Socialogy Toolbox
Those above numbers look bad. But here’s the rub. Our police aren’t going around randomly shooting innocent civilians who are just walking down the street. Police killings invariably take place within the context of official police activity. Police either witness a crime or are called to investigate a crime and a confrontation takes place between them and a suspect.
So maybe black Americans suffer police killings disproportionately more than other groups, not because of their skin color, but because they interact with police disproportionately more than other groups. In other words, it’s a numbers game. Take enough emotionally-charged situations fraught with uncertainty, add testosterone and guns, and a civilian is inevitably going to wind up dead—regardless of what the civilian’s skin color might be.
To test this theory, I calculated the number of police killings per 100,000 arrests for our four groups. Here are the results.
| Race or Ethnicity | Killed by Police | Arrested by Police | Killed Per 100,000 Arrests |
|---|---|---|---|
| White | 517 | 4,271,280* | 12.1 |
| Hispanic | 192 | 1,191,334 | 16.1 |
| Black | 271 | 1,972,421* | 13.7 |
| Asian | 21 | 92,737 | 22.6 |
Sources: Sociology Toolbox, Reuters, FBI Crime Statistics, and U.S. Census Bureau
Now, if arrest data are a good proxy for group interaction with police, anti-black bias by the police almost completely disappears. Black Americans only suffer 1.6 more police killings per 100,000 arrests than white Americans. The groups that have a beef here are actually Hispanic and Asian Americans.
But let’s take this further. I could be wrong, of course, but I got to believe that violent criminals are more likely to resist their arrests with fists and gunfire than non-violent criminals. If that’s the case, and our police are anti-black, black Americans should suffer considerably more police killings when we control for police killings based on violent crime arrests. Surprisingly, however, this isn’t the case. In fact, it’s just the opposite. Black Americans suffer considerably FEWER police killings.
| Race or Ethnicity | Killed by Police | Arrested by Police for a Violent Crime | Killed Per 100,000 Violent Crime Arrests |
|---|---|---|---|
| White | 517 | 156,871* | 329.6 |
| Hispanic | 192 | 83,441 | 230.1 |
| Black | 271 | 136,721* | 198.2 |
| Asian | 21 | 6,102 | 344.1 |
Sources: Sociology Toolbox, Reuters, FBI Crime Statistics, and U.S. Census Bureau
By no means am I suggesting that our police don’t need to improve. For every 100,000 arrests, our police kill 13.3 civilians. That may represent an ominous trend. Or it may not. Regardless, better training and tactics—and better efforts to identify and weed out rogue cops—will surely lower that kill ratio.
But make no mistake, if we’re basing police attitudes toward black Americans on the number of police killings per 100,000 arrests, I can happily report that our police are hardly anti-black.
So how do we reduce the number of black Americans killed by the police? Having better police would help a little, of course. But an even better way to reduce the number of black Americans killed by the police is to reduce the number of interactions black Americans have with the police. And this can be accomplished in two ways.
First, our politicians can help matters by reducing the number of bullshit laws. Remember Eric Garner? Eric Garner died in a confrontation with police that he escalated by resisting arrest. What was he being arrested for? Selling loosies. What are loosies? Single cigarettes. And why would people buy loosies from Mr. Garner on the street and not from a shopkeeper? Because New York City made it illegal for shopkeepers to sell loosies. If loosies were legal, Mr. Garner would have never created his black market for loosies, and the police would have never arrested him for selling loosies.
Second, black Americans can help matters by becoming more lawful. I know this is a radical concept, but if black Americans committed fewer crimes, they would have fewer interactions with the police, and they would suffer fewer deaths at the hands of the police. And the best part about this option is that it doesn’t require help from others. The police don’t have to change, and our politicians don’t have to change.
Check it out. If the black arrest rate merely equaled the white arrest rate, the number of blacks killed annually by the police would drop a whopping 58 percent.
| Race or Ethnicity | Population Count | Arrest Count | Arrests Per Million | Black Lives Saved Annually If Black Arrest Rate Equaled This Group's Arrest Rate | Percentage Drop |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| White | 200,080,000 | 4,271,280* | 21,348 | 156 | 58% |
| Hispanic | 59,040,000 | 1,191,334 | 20,178 | 162 | 60% |
| Black | 39,360,000 | 1,972,421* | 50,112 | NA | NA |
| Asian | 16,400,000 | 92,737 | 5,655 | 241 | 89% |
Sources: U.S. Census Bureau and FBI Crime Statistics
Leading Indicators of Societal Oppression
Black Americans are surely victimized by criminal cops. Black Americans are also surely victimized by criminal non-cops. And some of the crime black Americans suffer is no doubt racially motivated.
But the same can be said for any group. White Americans are also victimized by criminal cops. White Americans are also victimized by criminal non-cops. And some of the crime that white Americans suffer is also racially motivated.
Being the victim of a crime—whether it’s racially motivated or not—doesn’t automatically mean you’re being oppressed. Oppression is a little more complicated than that.
To show what I mean, I devised 11 benchmarks for oppression. For each benchmark a group finds itself on the wrong side of, its members must contend with an undeserved hurdle or double-standard that has been artificially imposed and makes their path to self-actualization more difficult (i.e., they’re less free). I then applied my benchmarks to three groups—black and white Americans in America today and Jews in Nazi Germany. Black and white Americans thus represent the experimental groups in my exercise and Jews represent the control group (i.e., they categorically define what yes/no answer puts a group on the wrong side of a benchmark). Here are the results.
| Blacks in America Today | Whites in America Today | Jews in Nazi Germany | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. Can be legally discriminated against? | No | Yes | Yes |
| 2. Are giving preferential treatment to artificially boost their representation in the country's most influential schools, institutions, businesses, and legislative bodies? | Yes | No | No |
| 3. Commit more violent crimes against their historic foe than vice versa? | Yes | No | No |
| 4. Benefit from immigration laws and policies that turbo-charge their population growth and thus enhance their political and cultural power? | Yes | No | No |
| 5. Are the official villain of big education, big journalism, and big entertainment? | No | Yes | Yes |
| 6. Can be called out in mainstream society for their self-destructive behaviors? | No | Yes | Yes |
| 7. Can be called out in mainstream society for their socially unacceptable attitudes, particularly racism? | No | Yes | Yes |
| 8. Are morally obligated to have the same passion for the rights of other groups as they do for their own? | No | Yes | Yes |
| 9. Can legally start and run any lawful business, providing they abide by all applicable laws and regulations? | Yes | Yes | No |
| 10. Can legally pursue and perform any lawful trade or profession, providing they acquire and maintain the applicable certifications or licenses? | Yes | Yes | No |
| 11. Can be stripped of citizenship and sent to death camps because they have the wrong skin color or practice the wrong religion? | No | No | Yes |
Now, assuming for the moment that my chosen indicators of societal oppression are fair, a neutral observer of life in the United States today would rightly conclude that white Americans are the ones being oppressed, not black Americans.
Do I think white Americans are being oppressed? No. Being on the wrong side of indicators one through eight is troubling and could easily metastasize into something far worse if we’re not careful. But the reverse-Jim Crow, or better yet, Progressive Crow practiced in America today is largely self-imposed (i.e., it’s whites hurting whites) and nowhere near as harsh as the Jim Crow practiced in America prior to 1970 and the Nazi Crow practiced during Hitler’s reign. Moreover, being on the right side of indicators nine through eleven means a lot. It means that white Americans are still in control of their destinies. Any white American who thus takes care of his or her own poop and abides by my self-governance checklist (see below) is going to do fine.
The Self-Governance Checklist
- Shower
- Make your bed
- Exercise
- Work—either to garner more money or to garner more knowledge and wisdom
- Save—either by funding an important saving goal, reducing debt, or honing your frugality muscles
- Don’t smoke
- Avoid self-sabotage—don’t take education for granted, don’t procreate irresponsibly, don’t commit crimes, and don’t fool with drugs or marinate your liver in alcohol
- Avoid refined carbs and sugar
- Be kind to strangers
- Be loving to family and friends
Now a question. If white Americans—who are on the wrong side of eight out of eleven indicators—aren’t being oppressed, are black Americans—who are on the wrong side of zero out of eleven indicators—being oppressed? I don’t see how. And that’s the point of this exercise. Black Americans suffer far less “oppression” than our misguided (or corrupt) professors, journalists, entertainers, corporate CEOs, and politicians would have you believe. And just like white Americans, black Americans are surely in control of their destinies.
No one is stopping black Americans from doing anything socially or financially constructive. The sad truth is that black Americans do less well than white Americans—and Hispanic Americans, and Asian Americans—because far too many black Americans have embraced a subprime culture (i.e., they don’t take care of their poop and don’t abide by my self-governance checklist). And when you embrace a subprime culture—whether you’re black or not—you’re going to experience subprime results. You’re going to struggle socially and financially.
Quick aside: Two great books that prove culture is more important than “oppression” are The Unheavenly City Revisited and Wealth and Poverty. The former was published in 1970 and the latter was published in 1981 and they’re the only books I remember that make a distinction between census data and comparable data when comparing group income results. Census data are just the sum of incomes of a particular group’s members divided by that group’s household count. Progressives love census data because they prove that black Americans are being “oppressed.” After all, according to census data, black households make less than half of what white households make.
But census data don’t account for a group’s behaviors. Comparable data on the other hand do. And when the authors of the above books compared black household income to white household income and controlled for just three variables—age, education, and marital status—the gap between black household income and white household income almost disappeared. In other words, a black married couple in which both spouses were 30 years old and high-school educated made the same household income as a white married couple in which both spouses were 30 years old and high-school educated. And this happy phenomenon is alive and well today in the form of Nigerian Americans (see here, here, and here). Yep, when you take care of your poop and abide by my self-governance checklist it doesn’t matter what color you are. You’re going to kick ass in America.
Progressive Supremacy
The biggest impediment to black advancement other than black people themselves is progressive supremacy.
For the purposes of this post, progressive supremacy is defined as follows:
Progressives dominate the five most influential culture-shaping institutions in American life: big education, big journalism, big entertainment, big tech, and big business. And through this dominance, they tell Americans which thoughts and behaviors are permissible and which aren’t. And anyone who dares challenge this progressive hegemony isn’t just wrong; he or she is evil and worthy of social and economic destruction. Finally, our progressive overlords enforce their hegemony in two very effective ways. First, they demand ideological purity at the institutional level (see James Damore). No uppity conservative will ever be welcome in their workplace. Second, they have loosed on the general public the fiercest defenders of party dogma since Mao’s Red Guard: the college-educated SJW. And this merry band of non-binaries relishes the task of bringing ruin to the perpetrators of wrongthink.
Okay, we have our foil, but in what way do progressives keep so many black Americans mired in a subprime culture?
First, as already noted above, progressives have wrongly identified the root cause of black problems. It’s not systemic racism and white supremacy; it’s the same problem that afflicts just about every single struggling non-black in pre-pandemic America: bad decisions chronically made over many, many years.
Second, progressives have propagated three very powerful mental diseases that make it all but impossible for the typical black American to stop tilting at windmills (i.e., white supremacy) and focus instead on the true cause of his or her woes: the guy or gal in the mirror.
Here are those three mental diseases.
The Disease of One-Quarterism
When you’re judging the quality of a group’s environment and the opportunity afforded to that group, you need to consider four things:
- The amount of mistreatment the group receives from other groups.
- The amount of mistreatment the group does to itself (i.e., self-sabotage).
- The amount of mistreatment the group directs at other groups.
- And, finally, the amount of kindness the group receives from other groups.
Let’s now look at these four variables in the context of black America.
1. Are black Americans mistreated by non-black Americans?
Without a doubt. There are roughly 288 million non-blacks in America. Not one of them is an angel. And every now and then, one of these fallen souls will fail to control his or her inner demons—and black America will be the worse for it. Here’s one horrific example:
Dylann Roof Is Sentenced to Death in Charleston Church Massacre
2. Do black Americans engage in self-sabotage?
Yep. Roughly 70 percent of black children are born to unwed mothers. The average black SAT score is 290 points below the average Asian SAT score and 181 points below the average white SAT score. Black Americans are 12 percent of the population but commit 50 percent of the murders. These three things—procreating irresponsibly, taking education for granted, and committing a ghastly amount of crime—are serious roadblocks to black advancement. And they’re all self-inflicted wounds. No one is stopping black Americans from delaying childbearing until they’re emotionally, culturally, and financially strong. No one is stopping black kids from opening an algebra book or creating a Khan Academy account. And no one is stopping black Americans from treating their fellow Americans with respect.
3. Do black Americans mistreat non-black Americans?
Yep. There are some 40 million blacks in America. Not one of them is an angel. And every now and then, one of these fallen souls will fail to control his or her inner demons—and white, Hispanic, or Asian America will be the worse for it. Here’s one horrific example:
Murders of Channon Christian and Christopher Newsom
4. Do black Americans benefit from the kindness of non-black Americans?
You bet your sweet bippy. Here’s an example from personal experience.
When I was a public servant, I had a black co-worker who I’ll call Mike. Now, for reasons I won’t get into here, Mike’s only ride to work was his brother-in-law. When Mike’s brother-in-law took time off, Mike was stranded and he would have to use his own PTO (i.e., vacation time, personal time, or sick time). And if Mike didn’t have any PTO left, which was sadly quite commonplace, he would lose pay.
When I got word of Mike’s situation, it bothered me. I knew he had issues. But I also knew he was trying to turn his life around, and losing any pay would make that struggle even harder. So I graciously volunteered to become Mike’s back-up ride.
But here’s the rub. Whenever I became Mike’s ride, it added an hour to both my morning commute and my evening commute. More importantly, it also jeopardized my company car. I was only allowed to use my company car to commute back and forth to work and to facilitate any official municipality business that required travel. I wasn’t allowed to use my company car as a benevolent taxi service. If I got caught using my company car for an unauthorized purpose, I would have lost a benefit that easily saved me a couple of thousand dollars annually in gas and maintenance expenses.
Putting my company car on the line for Mike was the opposite of a hate crime. It was something I like to call a love legality—an act of being kind to someone of a different race or ethnicity.
My guess is that for every anti-black hate crime in this country, there are at least 1,000 pro-black love legalities. But tragically, this happy state of affairs is something very few black Americans are cognizant of. For reasons we’ll discuss shortly, they’re acutely aware of all the hate crimes they suffer but wantonly ignorant of all the love legalities they reap.
Black Americans are also wantonly ignorant of all the systemic kindness they reap. Yep, they know all about “systemic racism,” but if you asked them to name one example of systemic kindness, they’d be dumbfounded. They, like all Americans, just aren’t conditioned to think of something such as universal public education as an example of systemic kindness. But make no mistake, systemic kindness is very real, very widespread, and very much due to the efforts of white Americans.
To show what I mean, I spent a few minutes contemplating all the white-created programs and policies that provide assistance to black Americans, whether directly or indirectly. Here are the results:
- Every elite college in the country has lower admission requirements for black applicants.
- Every elite college in the country spends millions annually to make their black students feel welcome.
- Every S&P 500 company has diversity programs and policies designed to hire and promote more black Americans.
- Publicly funded K-12 education
- Pell Grants
- Student loans
- Minimum wage laws
- Roth IRAs
- An IRS standard deduction of $12,400 for single tax filers and $24,800 for married tax filers
- Earned Income Tax Credit
- Temporary Assistance for Needy Families
- Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program
- Public Housing
- Medicaid
- Medicare
- Obamacare
- Social Security
Now I have some questions for you.
First, how do progressives approach the above four variables regarding black America—especially those progressives found in big education, big journalism, and big entertainment?
If you answered they harp on variable one and downplay or ignore variables two through four, you get a gold star.
Second, if you aren’t black, how do you suppose you’d feel if you were and you were fed a constant information diet of one-quarterism (i.e., variable one)?
- Every time you consume news and there’s a story about racism, the perpetrator is white and the victim is black.
- Every time you consume news and there’s a story about black underachievement, the cause of that underachievement is never self-sabotage. It’s always discrimination.
- Every time you consume news and there’s a story about a black person mistreating a non-black person, the races of the people involved are never mentioned. And if an explanation for the mistreatment of the non-black person is ever given, it’s never racism. It’s always poverty or mental illness.
- And every time you consume news and there’s a story about something cheerful, it’s never about interracial comity. You never get to see the countless examples of white people going out of their way to help black people.
I could be wrong, of course, but I got to believe that a black person fed a constant information diet of one-quarterism would eventually catch the disease of one-quarterism—that is, he or she would suffer a severe lack of trust, self-awareness, humility, and optimism. I mean, how could it be otherwise? Every day our progressive overlords tell him or her that black people are saintly and whitey is out to make their lives miserable.
One-quarterism leaves far too many black Americans with a severe case of hopelessness. This isn’t good. No group mired in hopelessness is apt to be big on self-improvement, and no group lacking a fondness for self-improvement is apt to discard its self-destructive ways.
Quick aside: I categorically reject the progressive definition of systemic racism. For example, government employees who go out of their way to mistreat black Americans aren’t following official agency policies or guidelines. They’re not behaving badly by design. They’re failing to control their inner demons and going rogue, committing serious offenses if not crimes. There’s nothing “systemic” about their actions.
Labeling crimes committed by government employees as “systemic” is an affront to logic. To better understand why, let’s consider some government employees who behave badly other than cops. Every year, over 500 school employees commit sexual crimes against students. And those are the ones we know about. I imagine we would recoil in horror if we knew the actual number of sex crimes committed annually by school employees against students. But would any progressive describe these crimes as “systemic rapism” and demand that our schools be defunded? Of course, they wouldn’t. And for good reason. No school board in the country says it’s alright for administrators, teachers, and staffers to sleep with students. Using the term “systemic rapism” when discussing, say, sexually abusive teachers would be highly unfair and highly inflammatory. So why are progressives so level-headed when it comes to criminal teachers but so hyperbolic when it comes to criminal cops? Is it because progressives are bigoted against cops?
The Disease of Privilege Envy Syndrome
Progressives are great at making the non-guilty feel guilty and the guilty feel self-righteous. One ingenious technique they use to bring about these twisted outcomes is as follows:
Define a crime in such a way that everyone is guilty of it and then only prosecute the people you don’t like.
To show how this technique works, let’s consider the crime of “privilege.”
Progressives define privilege as follows:
Any unearned advantage a person receives.
Okay, based on this definition, who in America doesn’t have some form of “privilege?” Being born with great looks or great athletic ability is an unearned advantage. Being born into a two-parent household is also an unearned advantage. Heck, being a black-owned business in a neighborhood designated for sacking by the BLM crowd is an unearned advantage as well.
Defining privilege as any unearned advantage not only makes everyone guilty of it but also muddies our moral compass. Real privilege is an unearned advantage that comes at the expense of someone else’s rights. A perfect example of this is affirmative action. Colleges have lower admission standards for black, Hispanic, and legacy applicants than they do for white, Asian, and non-legacy applicants. Yet, according to our progressive overlords, we shouldn’t make any distinction between a rich black kid who got into Harvard because of his or her skin color and a working-class white kid who came from a two-parent household and got into Harvard because he or she got a perfect SAT score. They both have “privilege.”
But of course our progressive overlords would never smear a black kid who got into Harvard because of his or her skin color as “privileged.” Nope, the privilege smear is rather selectively used. It’s only reserved for white people or men.
I completely understand why progressives find their twisted definition of privilege so appealing. It allows them to torment the groups they have little regard for—white people and men. And it allows them to be the final arbiter of which white people and men are good and which aren’t. White people and men who renounce their “privilege” and grovel for forgiveness are good. White people and men who tell progressives to shove it are bad.
But in what way does their twisted definition of privilege help black America?
Well, if black America wants nothing more than to torment white America, the progressive definition of privilege helps black America a lot.
However, if black America wants to do something a little more noble than tormenting whitey and finally rid itself of the rampant dysfunction in its homes, schools, and communities, the progressive definition of privilege is a curse.
How so?
Simply put, the progressive definition of privilege engenders a lot of privilege envy syndrome in the black community. And lest you aren’t familiar with this blog and have never come across the term privilege envy syndrome before, here’s the definition:
When a person is so rattled by the fact others have more that he or she becomes blind to the fact that he or she has enough, he or she is afflicted with privilege envy syndrome.
Black America has all the resources and talent it needs to build a wonderful success story. But it’s never going to realize that wonderful success story until it resolves to take advantage of its good fortune.
A people steeped in privilege envy syndrome, however, are unlikely to muster the resolve necessary to take advantage of their good fortune. After all, taking advantage of good fortune requires focus, and that focus is lost when you’re fretting over another group’s allegedly better fortune.
Nope, a people steeped in privilege envy syndrome will direct too much effort toward securing government-help and too little effort toward habituating self-help. And here’s a dirty little secret that our progressive overlords don’t want you to know:
Trickle-down government is just as ineffective at spreading wealth as trickle-down economics.
Black America is free, of course, to seek a government solution to the scourge of “privilege.” But how exactly is the government supposed to reduce the privilege gap? Cap the number of white couples who can marry and thus increase the white out-of-wedlock birth rate? Force Google to block any educational content from reaching the browsers in white households? Enlarge the footprint of progressive crow and forbid white Americans from opening a Roth IRA?
And let’s suppose that the government miraculously manages to reduce the privilege gap in a constitutionally lawful manner. How does a greater number of self-destructive white Americans help black America? Will struggling black Americans suddenly find child-rearing, school, and the labor market considerably less demanding?
If black America wants to advance, it need only do two things: make sure more black Americans 1) take care of their own poop, and 2) abide by my self-governance checklist. It’s as simple as that. Tilting at “privilege” is nothing but an exercise in extreme folly.
The Disease of ATES
Ever argue with a progressive?
It’s tough. Progressives have the answer to everything. Consider black Americans and education. Here’s how an argument with a progressive typically goes.
Progressive: We need education reform. Our public schools are shortchanging students of color, particularly black students.
Naive Schmuck: How so?
Progressive: School funding for one. Studies show that states devote a smaller percentage of their budgets to education than they did a generation ago. And this lack of investment in education is hurting black students the most.
Naive Schmuck: I’m confused. Just because states devote a smaller percentage of their budgets to education doesn’t mean they’re spending less on education. The feds devote a smaller percentage of its budget to defense than it did a generation ago and it’s spending more on defense than ever. Are states really starving our public schools?
Progressive: They are—once you consider all the added burdens they’ve placed on schools. A lot of our schools are now food banks, mental health clinics, and after-school daycare centers. And don’t forget, state spending on education gives you the macro picture. When we turn to the micro picture, things are even worse. Did you know that majority-black schools have less to spend per pupil than majority-white schools?
Naive Schmuck: My understanding is that the funding disparity is relatively small, around 10 percent. Is spending $1,500 less per pupil really enough to tank black learning outcomes? And how does that funding disparity explain the group differences within school districts? Why do Asians in majority-black schools do better than their black classmates, and often do better than their white counterparts in majority-white schools? The lack of funding doesn’t appear to be holding them back.
Progressive: It’s complicated. You gotta also consider things like how schools discipline students. Black students are twice as likely as white students to be suspended or expelled.
Naive Schmuck: That’s not good. Are black students committing more egregious offenses than their white counterparts? And didn’t the Obama administration issue new guidelines to fix the disparate impact of school disciplinary measures on black students?
Progressive: First, studies show that even when you control for the severity of the offense black students are still suspended and expelled more often than white students. Second, the Obama administration did issue new guidelines on school disciplinary measures and those new guidelines have helped. But here’s the problem. The majority of public school teachers are white women and white women just can’t relate to black students. They see the normal rambunctious behavior of the typical black student as a threat—to both their persons and their authority. White women have a lot of implicit bias.
Naive Schmuck: So maybe the answer is for black students to be more proactive and not leave their education entirely up to the schools. The internet is a wonderful resource and the Khan Academy is free.
Progressive: That’s problematic. Many black families lack the money to buy computers and internet service.
Naive Schmuck: Why?
Progressive: Too many single mothers. Single mothers just have enough money for the basics—if they’re lucky. Expecting them to augment the efforts of our public schools is terribly misguided and cruel.
Naive Schmuck: So maybe black Americans need to reconsider marriage. A household with two working adults will have more money to spend on computers and internet service than a household with one working adult.
Progressive: That’s very judgmental and racist. I have a good mind to expose you on Twitter and get you fired from your job.
Yep, our progressive friends have a severe case of ATES—the Answer To Everything Syndrome. It allows them to win every argument (yea!) but solve nothing (oh, well). And that’s why we’ve been fretting over the achievement gap between black and white students for at least 56 years now (see the Coleman Report).
But wait, it gets worse. Not only have our progressive friends succumbed to ATES but they have also managed to infect a majority of black Americans with ATES. And why is this bad? Think about it. In what way are struggling black Americans helped when 1) they’re supplied with an ample number of ready-made answers (i.e., excuses) for their bad decisions, and 2) they’re encouraged to reach for those ready-made answers whenever their bad decision-making is challenged?
If you answered that struggling black Americans aren’t helped at all, go straight to the head of the class.
ATES is the bane of self-improvement. After all, if you can explain away any culpability you might have for your dismal circumstances, how likely are you to take on the arduous task of changing your behaviors and attitudes? Simply put, ATES gives way too much comfort to the lazy and fearful. It condemns those with a subprime culture to always having a subprime culture.
Final Thoughts
Okay, groovy freedomist, that’s all I got. If you’re a normal person, I would love to hear your feedback—whether you agree with me or not. And if you’re an SJW, feel free to commence with your Two Minutes Hate. Twitter greatly appreciates your formulaic spasms of outrage. REEEEEEE…
* Hispanics aren’t a race, of course. According to U.S. Census Bureau data, roughly 88 percent of Hispanics are white. The remaining 12 percent are mostly black. This posed a little bit of a problem because FBI crime statistics don’t disaggregate Hispanic white and black arrestees from non-Hispanic white and black arrestees. In other words, the white and black arrest data include a lot of Hispanic arrestees. To get a reasonably accurate arrest count for our four groups, then, I subtracted 88 percent of the Hispanic arrest count from the white arrest count and 12 percent of the Hispanic arrest count from the black arrest count. Oh, and just so you know, if we don’t disaggregate Hispanic white and black arrestees from non-Hispanic white and black arrestees, the small disparity between black and white police killings per 100,000 arrests becomes even smaller. Black Americans only suffer 1.01 more police killings per 100,000 arrests than white Americans (13.9 versus 12.89).
My father, a career Marine, summed it up thusly:
Give a person an excuse to fail —– and they’ll fail.
He also observed that most people want someone else to wipe their butt for them.
Well written – thank you
I remember a quote from a friend:
Be wary of arguing philosophy with an ignorant* person…they’ll just make a martyr out of you.
*not to imply the person is stupid/dumb; only that he/she just doesn’t have enough facts and context
But interesting thinking. It’s considered anathema to suggest people try….especially among the progressive camp.
This is SOOO much better than hearing about the Bison..
This long a** blog post is racist as hell. You better consider yourself lucky someone like AJ responded to your nonsense. And to think, I landed here from your rather good article about emergency savings.
Signed,
A Black woman.
Hey, L. Name-calling isn’t an argument. Please tell me how this post is racist. I welcome thoughtful criticism. It makes me a better thinker and person. Cheers.
L., I just have to respond. Not everything in this world is racist just because someone is offended by it. The definition of racist is “a person who shows or feels discrimination or prejudice against people of other races, or who believes that a particular race is superior to another.” In this post, Mr. Groovy pointed out some bad habits that some blacks engage in (perhaps more than other people) and that in turn leads to less success economically and socially than others. For example, statistics aren’t racist when he points out that unwed parenthood has contributed to a lot of the problems in the black community. Statistics that show more crime in black communities is not racist.
I don’t totally agree with all of the points in this article. I think education is not the same quality for all kids and we can do better in giving all kids the best foundation for a quality. Wealth will always give someone an advantage but that doesn’t mean others have to settle for crap. To address this, we have to get the best teachers and provide resources, but we also need parents who believe that education is the key to their best life. When parents don’t adequately provide for their kids, stress the need for hard work, respect for others, healthy habits for optimal health, etc. or set a good example via stable relationships, responsible decision making, eating right, respecting others and showing one can engage in respectful debate, that child starts out at a disadvantage. I only wish that people would tackle the issue not only from what can society as a collective do, but also what can individuals and their communities do to promote better living for everyone. Don’t be bitter about things but actively find ways to make life better, one person at a time. Peace.
Hey, Pat. Thanks for jumping in. I really appreciate it. L’s comment is a perfect example of progressive supremacy and progressive privilege. All a progressive has to do is to declare someone or something racist and the debate’s over. A progressive needn’t bother him- or herself with the rigors of actually using reason and logic. I don’t blame L, of course. I blame our education-industrial complex. We spend a trillion dollars a year on education. And for that princely sum, we get far more haughty name-callers than critical thinkers. Sigh.
Greetings! I appreciate your point of view on this topic, and although it is well-supported, it is racist. My only goal of this comment is to point out the racist points of your argument, as your racism leads to logical fallacies which then invalidate your argument. Also I don’t know what SJW stands for, so I can’t say if I identify as one or not – sorry. I hope you take the time to at least read my argument, just as I took the time to read yours.
1. Your thesis is the following: “Black Americans are struggling socially and financially because of poor decision-making, and that decision-making is actually being reinforced by progressive supremacy.” Saying Blacks make poor decisions is racist. If a Black person said, “Whites make bad decisions,” that is also racist. If an Asian American said, “Blacks make bad decisions,” that is also racist. If a White person said, “Asians make bad decisions,” that is also racist. Your thesis is racist, so that doesn’t get your article off to a good start. Nevertheless, I persisted because you recognize that Black Americans are struggling socially and financially, which not everyone admits.
2. You suggest that Blacks should just “[become] more lawful.” Why haven’t they tried that in the past? Shouldn’t they know that committing crimes doesn’t lead to success? You’re not implying anything good about the character and intelligence of Black people.
3. What is subprime culture, exactly? Your flippant definition in parentheses isn’t going to cut it for me, and your self-governance checklist is too unscientific for me to get on board with. Once again, saying that “far too many Black Americans have embraced a subprime culture” is racist.
4. Your idea of “systemic kindness” isn’t exactly racist, but you have compiled an exhaustive list of ways that our society has tried to make up for 400 years of Black oppression. I don’t know that it’s kindness so much as reparations. And if your argument is that Blacks aren’t oppressed, can you clarify when exactly they stopped being oppressed?
5. You say in your second “Quick Aside” that systemic racism “[labels] crimes committed by government employees as ‘systemic’.” I think you should recheck the progressive definition of systemic racism. See the article I linked below for a more thorough explanation.
Conclusion: The same as Jesse’s. Just trying to provide a different perspective.
Resources:
A video demonstrating white privilege and systemic racism: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4K5fbQ1-zps
An article: https://scholar.harvard.edu/files/mdesmond/files/what_is_racial_domination.pdf
If you read, thanks! If you didn’t…keep on keeping on.
Hey, AJ. Thank you for your spirited counterarguments to my post. I will try to answer them. Here we go.
1. I disagree with you here. Saying black Americans are struggling socially and financially because of poor decision-making is no more bigoted than saying Americans are struggling with their waistlines because of poor diets. I’m just looking at a problem that bedevils a large percentage of a group and ascribing the cause.
2. Black Americans are arrested 2.5 times more often than white Americans and Hispanic Americans. Black Americans are arrested nearly 9 times more often than Asian Americans. So, yes, black Americans need to be more lawful. And so do white Americans and Hispanic Americans, for that matter.
3. My definition of a subprime culture is rather simple: If you chronically repeat actions that produce immediate joy but engender long-term pain, you have embraced a subprime culture. Sexual promiscuity, goofing off in school, preying on the weaker members of the community–these are three big actions that epitomize a subprime culture. Other such actions that immediately come to mind are drinking, drugging, being a couch potato, living beyond one’s means, and always blaming others for one’s misfortunes.
4. The four-hundred-years-of-oppression excuse is a dodge. Jackie Robinson didn’t need an extra strike when he batted to make up for the decades of discrimination his race suffered at the hands of major-league baseball. All he needed to succeed was to be treated like every other player. And same logic applies today. It doesn’t take 400 years to learn algebra, welding, or any other useful skill or knowledge. And no one is stopping black America from learning anything that is socially or financially valuable.
5. Systemic racism is another dodge. There are 200 million white Americans. Is it reasonable to expect every single one of them to be morally pure? And if a few of them fall short of this standard—especially as it relates to race and race relations–is it fair to assert that America is awash in “systemic racism”? There are five times more white Americans than black Americans. And, yet, the overwhelming majority of interracial crime is black on white. How is this possible when every single white American is supposedly hardwired with implicit anti-black bias and a good chunk of white America—especially in our red states—is allegedly taught to have little regard for black lives? The only systemic racism in America today is aimed at white Americans. You can legally discriminate against white Americans, and white Americans are the official villains of big education, big journalism, big entertainment, big tech, and big business.
Okay, AJ, I hope I answered your spirited counterarguments satisfactorily. Let me know what you think when you get a chance. Peace.
I can see how the numbers game works and makes sense. But, there is more going on than what meets the eye. People are made up of more than their own choices or current laws. There is interrelated connections between the physical, spiritual, social, and emotional arenas. Personal histories, generational trauma and familial culture affects the norm for each and every person. When we follow the treatment of slaves and the way of life they had to live in order to survive we can see how African American’s struggle pull themselves up. They do need help but society needs to first show them we are worthy of their trust. History has never afforded them the opportunity. Mostly, because when racists uprise and tear their steps forward down, it reinforces the self destruction.
Hey, Biz. Sorry for the late reply. I disagree with your premise. You’re saying black Americans can’t make wise social and financial decisions today because their ancestors were mistreated. Then why was black social pathology less pronounced generations ago than it is today? After all, in the 1950s, in the throes of the Jim Crow era, black Americans had far fewer out-of-wedlock births, committed far fewer crimes, and had a much smaller affinity for illicit drugs. Why did black Americans make better decisions generations ago when the racism they faced was infinitely worse than the racism they face today?
For God’s sake Pleeeease stop calling them “Progressives”. That is a complete misnomer. The term “regressive” would make much more sense. Consider what they advocate: Socialism is an old failed (mulitple failures, no successes) idea. Segregation is now all the rage again – didn’t we get rid of that? Heavy regulations squelch progress. etc, etc.
We can’t choose what they call themselves (funny how their terms are often the opposite of what you would think), but us reasonable folks don’t have to play along.
Agreed. Regressive left is much more accurate than progressive.
Hi Mr, Groovy
Thanks for your open discussion on this sensitive topic.
I think the actual problem is related to the US Policing and Justice Systems more than any systematic oppression. for example the US has the highest incarceration rate per capita in the world that includes countries with very limited freedom.
Those number consider the US has one of the highest income per capita among the worlds.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_incarceration_rate
Also the policing murders is the highest rate per capita among the developed countries ..
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_killings_by_law_enforcement_officers_by_country
It is almost 4 times the rate of Canada for example and higher than Nigeria for example ..
Obviously the crimes and police brutality is likely to affect the low income class and that why it is likely to cause racial injustice demonstrations and anger.
Again thanks for your open discussion on such sensitive topic.
I don’t think incarceration rate is an apples-to-apples comparison. Less people incarcerated means more criminals on the street. Crime rates are only as accurate as the reporting. In some countries (think south of our border) your chances of being prosecuted for committing are virtually nil. Also, you don’t want to get arrested in another country – cops don’t play nice. The accused have rights in the U.S., but not everywhere else. Here, we are outraged by police brutality. Other countries, people expect it. That is why many immigrants fear the police.
Also, people killed by police in the U.S. are rarely “murdered”, they are usually killed when they try to kill police officers. Police who “murder” are rare and are prosecuted.
Emmanuel beat me to the punch. I would also add that our police shoot and kill more civilians per capita because our country has more civilians who can’t behave per capita. We have a murder rate alone that is nearly three times the murder rate of Canada. If the American people behaved as honorably as the Canadians, I guarantee you American police would shoot and kill a lot fewer Americans.
Why do you think our murder rate is 3X of Canada, and I’d bet one of the highest among developed nations?
Thanks for compiling and organizing all this data, well done.
That’s a great question. The white homicide rate in America is around 2.96 per 100,000. That’s much less than the overall U.S. homicide rate but still 1.6 times higher than Canada’s homicide rate. We know that homicide is primarily a young male problem. Maybe the U.S. just has a higher percentage of young males than Canada? Or maybe Canada is just stronger culturally and that cultural strength comes in handy when trying to subdue young male aggression?
Good numbers, good data, good answers to questions. Thanks for taking the time to assemble and publish this.
Mr. 39 Months recently posted…Sometimes the simplest tools are the best
No one knows what it’s like
To be the bad man
To be the sad man
Behind blue eyes
–The Who
You’re welcome, my friend. Someone’s got to rattle the progressive cage every now and then. After all, how will our progressive friends be reminded of their moral superiority if they don’t have someone to cancel and de-platform? Thanks for stopping by, Mr. 39 Months. Cheers.
This is such a great article and confirms so much of what I’ve always believed. Thank you for doing such thorough research. Now when people call me an ignorant racist I can prove I’m not…I’m a racist with numbers!
Oh, no, a racist with numbers–a progressive’s worst nightmare. Thank you for your kind words, my friend, and keep giving them hell.
literally their worst nightmare
You’re totally correct, but it’s heresy to say so these days. The cult is never happy when its dogmas are brought into question.
Yep. Thankfully heretics today are no longer burned at the stake. They’re just pilloried on Twitter. Thank you, progressives. You’ve done a real banged up job with our education system. Rather than create an army of critical thinkers, you’ve created an army of little Maoists. Bravo.
Look I’m no fan of Tanya and the completely bonkers far left politically correct personal finance mob.
That said, when I see a older white dude spend days of his life working on a manifesto to counter the racism narrative, I find that equally disturbing and quite frankly very telling on where their mindset is at.
Hey, what does being old, white, and male have to do with anything? You sound like a progressive supremacist for heaven’s sake! But then again, just because I’m old, white, and male doesn’t mean I have a constitutional right to be above suspicion. Who knows, maybe most of the old white males in your life are a bunch of buttheads. Anyway, I didn’t write my post for any twisted reasons. I wrote it because I think the racism narrative is wrong. For at least 50 years now, we’ve been endeavoring to fix white people. And despite all the advancements made in this regard, black Americans are still struggling socially and financially. So maybe it’s time to try something different? Maybe it’s time we endeavor to fix black people? What have we got to lose? The strategy of zero tolerance for white shortcomings and infinite tolerance for black self-sabotage hasn’t worked.
Then check out White Guilt by Civil Rights leader Shelby Steele. He also agrees blacks have never been less oppressed.
(He’s an old man too, but he’s black, if that helps.)
Thanks, Jean. Haven’t read Shelby Steele in years. Thanks for reminding me of him and his keen mind. I’ll be downloading White Guilt to my Kindle today. Cheers, my friend.
Hey. I’m a pretty normal person. I have some thoughts.
On your choice on police killings:
You chose to look at police killings. Fair enough. You omitted, however, violent escalations with police i.e. “hands on” incidents. Are you familiar with Roland Fryer’s “An Empirical Analysis of Racial Differences in Police Use of Force?”
The study’s data found that cops were:
• 17 percent more likely to go hands on black suspects
• 18 percent more likely to push black suspects into a wall
• 16 percent more likely to put black suspects in handcuffs (in a situation in which they aren’t arrested)
• 18 percent more likely to push black suspects to the ground
• 25 percent more likely to use pepper spray or a baton on black suspects
• 19 percent more likely to draw their guns on black suspects
• 24 percent more likely to point a gun at black suspects.
Your story is incomplete.
On your comments re: Eric Garner
I agree with your comments on bullshit laws. I’d like to point out, however: nothing that Eric Garner did justified extra-judicial state murder. Your choice of words (“that he escalated by resisting arrest”) leaves that unclear.
On your comments re: blacks committing more crime
You’re committing a huge logical fallacy here.
Who defines what a crime is? Or put another way: where is your data coming from?
You’re assuming that the system is unbiased, and that the arrest data is a true representation of how people of different races behave in society. But your assumption is exactly what the other side is arguing against. You’re begging the question.
On your leading indicators of societal oppression:
You devised these benchmarks? Do they have any accredited merit, or is this your sole creation?
Why did you choose blacks, whites, and Jews in Nazi Germany? Why those groups?
What is your justification for your choices in filling out your table?
It’s riddled with false premises and strawmen.
In case you can’t tell, I think this section is a special type of garbage.
It’s pseudo-scientific fakery that justifies a racially biased conclusion.
On progressive supremacy:
It’s stunningly ironic that you call out “bad decisions chronically made over many, many years” as the self-inflicted “root cause of black problems.”
How many years are you talking? About 400?
To that I remind you: “If you don’t know history, it is as if you were born yesterday.”
The Disease of one-quarterism:
Did you make this up? It doesn’t make sense to me, and I can’t find it anywhere else. It reads like a bad sociology theory. There are sweeping conclusions—“Black Americans are also wantonly ignorant of all the systemic kindness they reap.”—that have no merit whatsoever to back them up.
The Disease of Privilege Envy Syndrome:
Again, did you make this up?
The Disease of ATES:
You present a strawman argument with yourself as proof-positive of your point. If this were satire, I’d cut you slack. But it’s not.
Final thoughts:
Your opinions are your own.
And mine are mine.
But I cannot abide the presentation of one person’s opinions and incomplete data sets as sweeping sociological facts. Especially when those opinions-turned-facts lead to your conclusions.
Jesse Cramer recently posted…Preparing For a Second Wave
I love it! Thank you, Jesse. You disagree with my viewpoints and you use logic and facts to explain why. That’s very rare these days. Too many people think insults are arguments. Anyway, I’ll address your excellent arguments later today. Mrs. Groovy has a fairly extensive honey-do list for me today. Again, thank you. I always welcome thoughtful criticism.
Hey, Jesse. Sorry for the late reply. Here are my responses to your excellent criticisms and counter-arguments.
1. Violent Escalations
Very interesting. Based on arrest data, I found that black Americans suffer 13 percent more police killings than white Americans (13.7 per 100,000 arrests vs. 12.1 per 100,000). So my results pretty much align with the study’s results on violent escalations. But neither my results nor the study’s results account for black behavior prior to the police killings and violent escalations. All we know is that there is unequal results between black and white Americans. And remember, unequal results aren’t necessarily proof of bias. Seventy percent of the players in the NFL are black Americans. Does this mean the NFL discriminates against white, Hispanic, and Asian Americans? Maybe the unequal results we see above are caused by black behavior. Maybe black Americans are more likely to be uncooperative and pugilistic when interacting with the police than white, Hispanic, and Asian Americans. I would love to see research on this. Do you know of any research that examines how often civilians from our four main groups are uncooperative and pugilistic when interacting with the police?
2. Eric Garner
All I know is that Mr. Garner resisted arrest. I don’t know if Mr. Garner was the victim of an “extra-judicial state murder.” A grand jury hearing the DA’s case against the officers involved declined to indict any of the officers. The grand jury, of course, may have gotten it wrong. But I don’t know that. I thus think my word choice regarding Mr. Garner’s tragic demise is fair.
3. Blacks Commit More Crimes
Blacks are 12 percent of the population but suffer over 50 percent of our country’s murders. Blacks also suffer a disproportionate amount of our country’s rapes, robberies, and assaults. And since 90-95 percent of crime in black America is intra-racial (i.e., black on black), it’s logical to deduce that blacks have more of an affinity for crime than other groups. I didn’t think this was a controversial enough accusation to merit citations, but I will add an addendum on your account. It never hurts to provide more evidence. I can’t just assume that everybody is familiar with crime statistics. Excellent catch.
4. Leading Indicators of Societal Oppression
Totally made up. I just thought of the formal ways (via laws) and informal ways (via customs) that we used discrimination and double-standards to mistreat black Americans during the Jim Crow era. I then applied those formal and informal ways to black and white Americans today. I added Jews in Germany during the Nazi era as a control group. They were surely oppressed, and if they came up on the wrong side of any of my indicators, it was a good sign that my indicator wasn’t frivolous.
Again, I think these indicators are valid and give a fair picture of how our society treats black and white Americans. But I’m well aware of my cognitive limits, and I know there’s a good chance I missed some rather important indicators. If you know of any, please let me know.
5. 400 Years of Oppression
No black person in America today is 400 years old. Moreover, it doesn’t take 400 years to learn algebra, welding, or any useful knowledge or skill. Nor does it take 400 years to learn the rules of money and the rules found in my self-governance checklist. I’m not trying to be rude or curt, but how does diabolical behavior by white Americans generations ago stop any black child today from doing well in school? Do our teachers refuse to give extra help to any of their black students who ask for it? Do black parents forbid their children from doing homework or reading a book?
6. My Three Mental Diseases
Guilty. Entirely made up. But do any of them reasonably describe conditions today that might lead to faulty thinking or behaviors?
One-Quarterism
Do these four variables represent a valid way to gauge the healthiness of someone’s environment? And if so, do our progressive teachers, journalists, and entertainers treat each variable equally or fairly?
When it comes to black America, I think our progressive overlords only concentrate on variable one and this bias is terribly manipulative. It engenders a woeful sense of hopelessness in black America.
Privilege Envy Syndrome
Again, do our progressive teachers, journalists, and entertainers equally apply the concept of “privilege” to everyone that has an unearned advantage? Have you ever heard any prominent progressive decrying black privilege or female privilege? The unequal application of privilege checking is another terrible form of manipulation. This manipulation is unhealthy for anyone who has a lot of poor social and financial habits—regardless of his or her color or ethnicity. It encourages him or her to seek answers from without rather from within.
ATES
This one isn’t the result of progressive manipulation. This disease afflicts every ideologue. Ever argue with a Sean Hannity disciple? He or she has the answer to everything too.
I only focus on progressives afflicted with ATES, however, because progressives dominate our culture-shaping institutions. In other words, progressive ATES is a far larger problem than conservative ATES.
And don’t forget, ATES is a two-part disease. The first part is having the answer to everything. The second part is having the solution to nothing. And this is another reason why I focus on progressive ATES. Progressives, for example, run our education system. And, yet, for over 50 years, we’ve been wringing our hands over the achievement gap between black and white students. If this isn’t a perfect example ATES, I don’t know what is.
Okay, my friend, that’s all I got. Thanks again for challenging the arguments I made in my post. I don’t necessarily like it when I challenged, but I know I need to be if I’m going to become a better thinker and person. Hope all is well on your end. Peace.
Brilliant, well thought out, analyzed, researched, and posed as a positive theory.
However, in today’s climate, critical thinking and logic do not matter. At least not in the public’s eye, and or most media coverage. As well, with the average politician.
Good job and well done, as always though, and for those that try to think critically, I thank you immensely.
Regards, S
Haha! We spend about a trillion tax dollars a year on education. And for all that money we get the weakest critical thinkers in the developed world. But no one can top us when it comes to hurling insults. Hope all is well in the Big Apple. Cheers.
After spending several decades working in ERs, I can unequivocally say that the individual who uses drugs, and is involved with violent crime, is much more likely to have bad outcomes.
That seems to be true regardless of skin color or background.
I do not accept that drug/alcohol use, nor crime, is forced upon anyone due to their race/creed/background.
(hmm…seems like your rules of life…)
Thank you for sharing, planedoc. You nailed it. Cultures don’t discriminate. Embrace a subprime culture and you’re going to get subprime results. Embrace a prime culture and you’re going to get prime results. Doesn’t matter what your color or ethnicity is.
I ran a large chemical complex with a union hourly workforce. We had over 700 employees at our location. I was encouraged to and did work diligently to hire black workers preferentially over equally qualified white applicants. However due to decisions many applicants had made in the past to not finish high school, to participate in crime and illegal drug use and to fail to attain the minimal math, verbal and reading comprehension skills necessary to safely operate in a hazardous plant environment I was never able to build a workforce that mirrored the community demographics. And these hourly jobs were not unpleasant, they were quite the opposite. They were mentally challenging and paid extremely well. Many hourly workers were bringing home over $100,000 a year and there was zero pay difference between white and black workers in these union negotiated jobs. And that was 5 to 10 years ago, the jobs pay significantly more now. These jobs only required a high school education, 11th grade reading and math skills, passing drug tests and passing a background check for convictions. We were in a critical infrastructure industry and not allowed to hire anyone that failed the drug or background checks by federal guidelines. These jobs were a golden ticket To the upper middle class that did not require a fancy college degree or connections and we went out of our way to advertise to black communities and still failed to generate a sufficient pool of qualified black applicants. I was also largely unsuccessful at encouraging black hourly workers to promote from the union hourly jobs to salaried management positions. These could lead all the way to corporate officer level positions paying multiply six figures. We were one of the few places that our corporate VP’s sometimes only had high school diplomas and not college degrees. But most of the time the best black hourly workers did not want the extra responsibility that came with the salaried jobs, and I’m not sure why. It could be the fact that they lost union protection when they left the union or because the extra pay did not justify the extra stress and responsibility. I had the same problem with some of the best white hourly workers turning down promotions. Anyway there was no question at my plant that we gave preferences to black applicants and preferentially tried to promote them once onboard. Those are simply facts.
Another example of love-legalities that our progressive overlords conveniently ignore. Maybe we need to create the Southern Wealth Law Center to document and record love-legalities the way the Southern Poverty Law Center documents and records hate-crimes?
Very interesting read. Thanks for all the time and effort this took. I have some points to add. First, there is another significant benefit that you missed on your list. If 70% of black kids are out of wedlock births, there are likely significantly more blacks claiming the head of household credit than non-blacks. I don’t know this for sure but it seems likely. Second, education is key. Without good role models (starts with parents) and leaders in the black community promoting the value of hard work in education, there will always be a lag. Kids aren’t inclined to break out that algebra book or to sign up for the Khan Academy without an incentive to do so. That incentive should be adults showing them the way out of poverty starts with the effort they put into their own educations. Successful black adults can volunteer their time to lead by example, can start foundations to provide better access to computers and the Internet, can pressure our political leaders to eliminate stumbling blocks to academic and financial success, etc. Stumbling blocks include requiring schools to spend money on bureaucratic rules and paperwork instead of freeing that money to buy more computers and giving kids access to them after school. Financial stumbling blocks includes all of the red tape that makes it difficult for people to start and grow their own businesses. Instead of providing financial incentives for poor adults (of any color) to not work full time when they have young kids we should use that money instead to provide more pre-school and after school programs. We need to teach all kids that the world isn’t against but we also need to teach them that there is no excuse for treating anyone else with disrespect or a lack of kindness. Unfortunately we have too many parents that are unkind, racist or just plain jerks and kids learn from their bad example. This kind of bullying is unacceptable regardless of who the target is. These are examples of tools that “the Man” can work with the black community to provide. Last, if the black community believes the large number of white women teachers or white men cops is a problem, then the answer is to encourage our black youth to succeed in education and choose these professions. Change won’t happen overnight but these are good places to start.
Part of my frustration is that we all need to improve. But our progressive overlords never concede this. In their minds, black people never have to improve. Only white people and white-run institutions need to improve. Black people can just keep doing what they’re doing. So I’m right there with you, Pat. We got to remove the bureaucratic bullshit that stifles innovation and makes life for poor Americans more difficult than necessary. And we got to start holding black people accountable for their self-destructive behaviors. Awesome comment. Cheers.
That’s because the progressives have an Agenda that has nothing to do with improving black lives. The sooner black folks realize this and disengage, the better off we’ll be.
Agreed. Black Americans are mascots for progressives, conveniently there to prove that America is an “unjust” society that must be destroyed.
Mr. G., I’m certain that at least some of your commenting readers are going to kick your a** for writing such things. But I grew up in a predominantly black, inner-city neighborhood (that’s where my dad lives) and saw all these facts lived out in real life. So did my black cousin, who would wholeheartedly agree with this post. As he said “I’m teaching my kids to work hard and obey the law. ” He saw is sister get pregnant at 14, but go on to get a 2-year degree, 4-year degree and eventually her Master’s Degree. I have oodles of more stories I could tell.
Haha! Yeah, I figured I get some blowback for this post. But remember, I’ve already been cancelled for my Alt-FI Manifesto, so I don’t think many people in the FI community even read my posts anymore. Can one be cancelled twice? Anyway, my limited experiences with black America mirror yours. The black people I knew who were doing well “worked hard and obeyed the law”–and avoided vice. The black people I knew who weren’t doing well had trouble working hard, obeying the law, and avoiding vice. Thank you for sharing, Laurie. And I would love to hear more of your stories. I think they would be very enlightening to me and others.
What does their degree’s have to do with any of what is said here?
Good question. I think Laurie’s trying to say that habits are destiny, and once you renounce bad habits and begin embracing good habits, your life will get better. The sister in Laurie’s comment got pregnant at 14. And for many girls who follow that path, their lives end up pretty dismal. But not her. She embraced good habits and went on to earn a master’s degree. That’s very inspiring. It’s also anecdotal evidence that America isn’t the cauldron of anti-black racism that our progressive friends insist on promoting.
I’ll be the first to say I don’t have the answer to everything happening in the world.
There are lots of great insights from top to bottom in this post.
The self-governance checklist is a great starting point to abide by. None of us get to choose who our parents are, when/where/the socioeconomic status we’re born into, etc.
Well said, Josh. We have way too much poverty, crime, and animosity in this country. And our elites are only good at making matters worse.