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| photo: Becker1999 from Grove City, OH / CC BY (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0) |
I have some news for you here. There IS no systemic racism in America today. People with dark skin have the same opportunity to succeed and thrive in this country as people with light skin. Period. We need to stop pretending that racism is keeping black Americans down. It is not. Liberal policies make it tougher, but black Americans can still overcome. Here are my thoughts as to how.
But, you say, the schools are not as good for blacks. The neighborhoods not as safe. Not as many jobs where we live. Inferior housing. These disadvantages do exist, but they are the results of mis-management by those in official positions and related to poverty, not racism. There are plenty of white people living with these exact same disadvantages. (White privilege, by the way, is a crock of you-know-what— more on that in future blog post.)
Notice I said disadvantages, not impenetrable road blocks. Anyone in America, even those in poor neighborhoods with lousy schools, can succeed in this country. That is an undeniable truth, and I do not understand why black Americans are allowing the Left's nonsensical drivel to take that from them. Is it just because it's easier to be a victim? Maybe so, but so many black Americans have proved that it is much more rewarding to be someone who strives, despite their disadvantages, and succeeds in life.
Black Americans have excelled in our country all throughout its history and still do, from inner city neighborhoods with absent fathers as well as those from more affluent circumstances with intact, nurturing families. People who grew up in abject poverty with drug dealers on every corner and crumbling, ineffective schools and no good jobs in their neighborhoods have succeeded despite it all, as have middle and upper middle class black Americans. Not saying that this is an easy thing to do, but it can be done.
My fellow Americans with black/brown skin, do you not know that you're being used by the liberal left for their own purposes? They do not give one rat's behind about the so-called black community (don't like that term, as it separates us). If they cared, they would look at the state of the black family, the desperate situation of inner city primarily black neighborhoods, the high rates of black baby mamas with no fathers in sight, the horrific scourge of black on black murder where hundreds and thousands of young black men are being killed. They should conclude that, since their policies to "help" the black population have obviously failed, they must sit down, scrap what they've been doing and change it to more positively effective policies. But they don't do that.
The ultra-liberal left and many of the leaders in the Democrat Party want you, black Americans, to be kept down. They don't want you to succeed. If you succeed, you won't need them and you won't vote for them. And if the Democrats lose the black vote, they lose all together. That is why they don't care about your plight. That is why they want you to believe that you are victims and you can't get along in life without their help and support. And that is nonsense!
In the hundred years following emancipation of slaves, blacks made progress in leaps and bounds, despite the abject racism that plagued them daily, much more severely than today. They began to buy land, start farms, build businesses, purchase homes, form churches, found colleges and nurture their families, where only about 19% of children were born out of wedlock by 1940 (75% today). They were on the move, despite the horrific injustices that they routinely encountered, and they would have continued in their upward trajectory on their own.
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| image: flickr floridamemory 6909517529 |
Here is where black Americans can begin to reclaim the autonomy stolen from them by the Democrats. Studies have shown that if you do three simple things, you are virtually guaranteed not to live your life in poverty. 1) graduate high school 2) do not make a baby until you are married 3) get a job, any job, and keep it. Not so hard. Of course, a good dose of determination and self-discipline will go a long way toward speeding your way to affluence, as so many black Americans have demonstrated, but those three things alone will keep you from having to live at the bottom of the barrel.
So, am I saying there is no racism? Not at all. There are racist people in every culture, in every society, in every organization, in every business, in every community because it is a human fault and it will never be eradicated. Never. There will always be ignorant people, let's face it. If a person's racism enables them or causes them to perpetrate physical violence on someone, that constitutes a crime and should be prosecuted like any crime. The officer who killed George Floyd should be brought to justice, whether or not his actions were taken due to racism, which hasn't been proved as of yet.
Racist people who do not do you physical harm need to be ignored. If you look for racism wherever you go, you're sure to find it. If, on the other hand, you choose to ignore it when it crops up and focus on your own ability to overcome and succeed despite ignorant people in your world, you'll do much better.
Racist people may harm you in other ways; denying you a mortgage or a place in a University, refusing you entrance to a social organization or discouraging you from moving to a particular neighborhood or making it difficult for you to vote, for example. Well, the first thing you do is find a good civil rights lawyer, because all those are already against the law. Who knows, an illegal action against you due to your race might end up netting you more than you lost in the initial infraction.
And please don't tell me I don't know what it's like because I am white. I have a right to state what I believe based on what I see and observe and learn from my black friends and black public figures whom I admire. I have experienced discrimination too, for different reasons than my skin color, which may be different, but not entirely different. I'm able to empathize with what black Americans go through when encountering racist people.
But, you may say, police, specifically, treat blacks with much more suspicion and hostility than they treat whites, you can't deny that. Okay, I'll accept that... in some cases, not all. Most police strive to treat everyone with equal respect. But I also understand that, particularly those officers serving in urban areas, know that blacks commit, proportionally, more of the crime that they encounter every day than whites. Not my opinion, not a racist statement, simply a fact.
The fact is, blacks are actually less frequently the victims of police shootings than whites. The idea that black Americans are being hunted down and shot by police is a fantasy, totally untrue. Unarmed white perpetrators are twice as likely to be shot as unarmed blacks. When rates of criminal behavior is factored in, blacks are far less likely to be shot than whites. (institute of scientific research (ISR) in Boston, MA)
Two more simple statistics illustrate why an inner city cop might be more aggressive, hostile or suspicious with a black man than a white man. fact #1: Black Americans are about 13% of the population of the United States, yet are responsible for over 50% of all murders in the United States. fact #2: It is statistically far more likely for a white cop to be murdered by a black man than for an unarmed black man to be killed by a white cop. Again, not my opinion, these are the facts.
Police who treat blacks with less respect, who treat them harshly, are likely not doing it because they hate blacks. Although it doesn't make it right, they may well be doing it because they know that, proportionately, blacks commit more of the crimes that they see, day in and day out, mostly perpetrated on other black Americans, by the way. These cops don't hate blacks. They would simply like to go home at night.
Of course, this disparaging treatment of many innocent black Americans due to the behavior of a small minority of black criminals is not at all fair. It is not fair that blacks are pulled over more often, for example (although, again, blacks commit proportionately more traffic infractions than whites).
If there were a sudden crime wave in my city being committed by middle-aged white women with pony tails, I would expect that I'd be pulled over more often. Not that it would be fair, and it is not fair that black citizens may be viewed with more suspicion, either. But that is what it is, and it is not primarily due to racism, it's simply not. It's due to criminality.
Not saying that there are not racist cops. As I said earlier in this piece, there are racists in every human population or organization. But most cops are not racist. The racist cop who acts out to injure or kill a black man is exceedingly rare and must be charged and face justice. Often, they get away with more minor racist incidents, as was reportedly the case with the officer who killed Mr. Floyd. These need to be documented and nipped in the bud when they occur, not left to fester and grow. (Just a hint, let's start with the unions that make it almost impossible to fire or even demote a police officer.)
Yes, I said it is rare. And I would ask you, before you start listing all the black men killed by cops in recent years, to consider the following; the vast majority of those men on your list were a) in the process of committing a crime b) fleeing police and refusing to stop when told to c) attacking the police officer who ultimately shot or killed him. Did the perpetrator deserve to be shot or killed? No, of course not. Punishment for whatever crime they were involved in needs to be left to the court system. But, how about this?... if you don't want to be shot by a cop, don't commit a crime. It just may reduce your chances.
I know there are a very few examples where the white police officer shot or killed a black citizen who was not engaged in criminal activity at all. Some were genuine mistakes. Among the hundreds of millions of encounters that police make every year, there are bound to be a few mistakes, which are unfortunate, very sad, and happen more often to whites than to blacks. Others were due to a lapse in judgement or deviation from the officer's training and accepted practices. These need to be adjudicated as is appropriate for the offense. Some, a very few, were no doubt due to a police officer whose racist ignorance prompted him to do wrong, and those should be fired, charged and face the justice system, just as the killer of George Floyd has been and will be.
So my question is, what can black Americans themselves do to reduce the perceived racism that is making people go insane in our cities this week? Let's put the power to change things back into the hands of those who are suffering.
They can start with the three steps listed above, and they can stay away from drugs, gangs and criminal activity. Easier said than done? Of course! So let's all sit down and figure out which steps communities can take to help enable those three things and what we can do to help young people avoid gangs and drugs and crime. But we need to focus on change in the lives of black Americans, not the police departments.
Why do you think police take the job in the first place? To vent their racist rage? Because they like to kill people? Because they're bullies? Would those motives be worth putting their own lives at risk every day, working long shifts at all hours of the day and night for mediocre pay? I don't think so.
Police take the job because they care about people... of all colors. They want to help people, prevent them from being victimized by criminals and keep their neighborhoods and communities safe. They care. That is why they do the job. Please do not let a very few bad cops define the rest of the many, many good cops. I promise you, if I waved a magic wand and black and white crime rates were suddenly equal, you'd see a rapid decline in racism in general and in unequal treatment by police in particular.
If you think I am racist for writing this post, you're wrong. I'm sorry if the truth decimates your world view. Actually, I have heard most of these ideas and opinions voiced in recent days by black Americans. You think I am lecturing you? Yeah, I am! You're ruining our country with false cries of racism and busting up our cities to rob and loot. I have a right to lecture. Somebody has to.
But, I hope you will read it again and consider the possibility that the liberal Democrats are the ones with the boot on your necks and that you can improve yourself and your community so that treatment of innocent blacks becomes equal to innocent whites and treatment of criminals, black and white, is reasonable and as safe as can be done.
Here are some people who would likely back me up on many opinions stated here, since many of these opinions were inspired by them. All of them are successful black Americans. Look them up and be inspired:
Jack Brewer - former NFL safety and supporter of Trump policies supporting black Americans
And please don't tell me I don't know what it's like because I am white. I have a right to state what I believe based on what I see and observe and learn from my black friends and black public figures whom I admire. I have experienced discrimination too, for different reasons than my skin color, which may be different, but not entirely different. I'm able to empathize with what black Americans go through when encountering racist people.
But, you may say, police, specifically, treat blacks with much more suspicion and hostility than they treat whites, you can't deny that. Okay, I'll accept that... in some cases, not all. Most police strive to treat everyone with equal respect. But I also understand that, particularly those officers serving in urban areas, know that blacks commit, proportionally, more of the crime that they encounter every day than whites. Not my opinion, not a racist statement, simply a fact.
The fact is, blacks are actually less frequently the victims of police shootings than whites. The idea that black Americans are being hunted down and shot by police is a fantasy, totally untrue. Unarmed white perpetrators are twice as likely to be shot as unarmed blacks. When rates of criminal behavior is factored in, blacks are far less likely to be shot than whites. (institute of scientific research (ISR) in Boston, MA)
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| photo: Fibonacci Blue/https://www.flickr.com/photos/fibonacciblue/49940390081 |
Police who treat blacks with less respect, who treat them harshly, are likely not doing it because they hate blacks. Although it doesn't make it right, they may well be doing it because they know that, proportionately, blacks commit more of the crimes that they see, day in and day out, mostly perpetrated on other black Americans, by the way. These cops don't hate blacks. They would simply like to go home at night.
Of course, this disparaging treatment of many innocent black Americans due to the behavior of a small minority of black criminals is not at all fair. It is not fair that blacks are pulled over more often, for example (although, again, blacks commit proportionately more traffic infractions than whites).
If there were a sudden crime wave in my city being committed by middle-aged white women with pony tails, I would expect that I'd be pulled over more often. Not that it would be fair, and it is not fair that black citizens may be viewed with more suspicion, either. But that is what it is, and it is not primarily due to racism, it's simply not. It's due to criminality.
Not saying that there are not racist cops. As I said earlier in this piece, there are racists in every human population or organization. But most cops are not racist. The racist cop who acts out to injure or kill a black man is exceedingly rare and must be charged and face justice. Often, they get away with more minor racist incidents, as was reportedly the case with the officer who killed Mr. Floyd. These need to be documented and nipped in the bud when they occur, not left to fester and grow. (Just a hint, let's start with the unions that make it almost impossible to fire or even demote a police officer.)
Yes, I said it is rare. And I would ask you, before you start listing all the black men killed by cops in recent years, to consider the following; the vast majority of those men on your list were a) in the process of committing a crime b) fleeing police and refusing to stop when told to c) attacking the police officer who ultimately shot or killed him. Did the perpetrator deserve to be shot or killed? No, of course not. Punishment for whatever crime they were involved in needs to be left to the court system. But, how about this?... if you don't want to be shot by a cop, don't commit a crime. It just may reduce your chances.
I know there are a very few examples where the white police officer shot or killed a black citizen who was not engaged in criminal activity at all. Some were genuine mistakes. Among the hundreds of millions of encounters that police make every year, there are bound to be a few mistakes, which are unfortunate, very sad, and happen more often to whites than to blacks. Others were due to a lapse in judgement or deviation from the officer's training and accepted practices. These need to be adjudicated as is appropriate for the offense. Some, a very few, were no doubt due to a police officer whose racist ignorance prompted him to do wrong, and those should be fired, charged and face the justice system, just as the killer of George Floyd has been and will be.
So my question is, what can black Americans themselves do to reduce the perceived racism that is making people go insane in our cities this week? Let's put the power to change things back into the hands of those who are suffering.
They can start with the three steps listed above, and they can stay away from drugs, gangs and criminal activity. Easier said than done? Of course! So let's all sit down and figure out which steps communities can take to help enable those three things and what we can do to help young people avoid gangs and drugs and crime. But we need to focus on change in the lives of black Americans, not the police departments.
Why do you think police take the job in the first place? To vent their racist rage? Because they like to kill people? Because they're bullies? Would those motives be worth putting their own lives at risk every day, working long shifts at all hours of the day and night for mediocre pay? I don't think so.
 |
| image: media.defense.gov |
If you think I am racist for writing this post, you're wrong. I'm sorry if the truth decimates your world view. Actually, I have heard most of these ideas and opinions voiced in recent days by black Americans. You think I am lecturing you? Yeah, I am! You're ruining our country with false cries of racism and busting up our cities to rob and loot. I have a right to lecture. Somebody has to.
But, I hope you will read it again and consider the possibility that the liberal Democrats are the ones with the boot on your necks and that you can improve yourself and your community so that treatment of innocent blacks becomes equal to innocent whites and treatment of criminals, black and white, is reasonable and as safe as can be done.
Here are some people who would likely back me up on many opinions stated here, since many of these opinions were inspired by them. All of them are successful black Americans. Look them up and be inspired:
Jack Brewer - former NFL safety and supporter of Trump policies supporting black Americans
Herman Cain (sadly deceased from covid-19) - CEO Papa John's Pizza and former presidential candidate
Ben Carson - neurosurgeon and head of Housing & Urban Development in Trump cabinet
Horace Cooper - lawyer, professor, conservative commentator, author of How Trump is Making Black American Great Again
Daimond & Silk - TV personalities and political commentators on conservative issues
Larry Elder - lawyer and TV & radio personality as well as author of several books on racial issues
Niger Innis - republican activist and politician, director TeaPartyFwd and political consultant
Lawrence B. Jones - conservative talk radio host, author and commentator
Alveda King - activist, author, former state rep in Georgia house of reps, minister, niece of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
Candace Owens - political commentator on racial issues
Condoleezza Rice - Former Secretary of State under George W. Bush
Tim Scott - Republican U.S. Senator from S. Carolina
Ja'Ron Smith - political advisor, currently assistant to the president for domestic policy in Trump administration
Shelby Steele - author, columnist, film maker - specializes in study of race relations
Clarence Thomas - associate justice of United States Supreme Court
Kaaryn Walker - president of Black Conservatives For Truth advocacy group
Lt. Col. Allen West - retired Army lieutenant colonel, former member U.S. House of Representatives
Armstrong Williams - radio and TV personality/political commentator
Walter Williams - economist and author of many books on race relations
Robert L. Woodson - founder of Woodson Center which works toward neighborhood empowerment
... and these are just a few....
And check out this video. It is a few years old, but the stats haven't changed.
Kat
Ben Carson - neurosurgeon and head of Housing & Urban Development in Trump cabinet
Horace Cooper - lawyer, professor, conservative commentator, author of How Trump is Making Black American Great Again
Daimond & Silk - TV personalities and political commentators on conservative issues
Larry Elder - lawyer and TV & radio personality as well as author of several books on racial issues
Niger Innis - republican activist and politician, director TeaPartyFwd and political consultant
Lawrence B. Jones - conservative talk radio host, author and commentator
Alveda King - activist, author, former state rep in Georgia house of reps, minister, niece of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
Peter Kirsanow - Labor & Employment lawyer/member of U.S. Commission on Civil Rights
Burgess Owens - NFL safety 1973-1983 and republican candidate for congressCandace Owens - political commentator on racial issues
Condoleezza Rice - Former Secretary of State under George W. Bush
Tim Scott - Republican U.S. Senator from S. Carolina
Ja'Ron Smith - political advisor, currently assistant to the president for domestic policy in Trump administration
Thomas Sowell - economist and author of many books on race and racism
Taleeb Starkes - author The Un-Civil War: BLACKS vs NIGGERS: Confronting the Subculture Within the African-American Community and Black Lies Matter: Why Lies Matter to the Race Grievance IndustryShelby Steele - author, columnist, film maker - specializes in study of race relations
Clarence Thomas - associate justice of United States Supreme Court
Kaaryn Walker - president of Black Conservatives For Truth advocacy group
Lt. Col. Allen West - retired Army lieutenant colonel, former member U.S. House of Representatives
Armstrong Williams - radio and TV personality/political commentator
Walter Williams - economist and author of many books on race relations
Robert L. Woodson - founder of Woodson Center which works toward neighborhood empowerment
... and these are just a few....
And check out this video. It is a few years old, but the stats haven't changed.
Kat
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