Preaching the wrong gospel. Inciting the wrong passions.
Listen To You Tell Me Texas Friday 12/5/14
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Two grand jury decisions in two weeks, both involving white police officers and black suspects in which the black suspects died, have served to re-open old wounds and incite simmering passions.
Among many on the left, many in the mainstream media (but I repeat myself) and among those in what can only be called the “racism industry,” the deaths of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri and Eric Garner in New York – both at the hands of police – serve as prima facie evidence of racism that remains unabated a half century after the passage of the Civil Rights Act.
To hear race hustlers like Al Sharpton tell it, the streets of cities all over America are patrolled by white police officers who will use any excuse to abuse or kill a black man. This assertion feeds the narrative that racism explains why black households lag behind white households in every economic measure.
Throwing the penalty flag on such speciousness risks sputtering outrage and personal attack from certain portions of the black community and from liberal quarters such as the Washington and New York commentariat.
I’m throwing the flag anyway.
To the extent that white racism lingers in America, that lingering now has little to do with the plight of millions of young black men and women. The disproportionately high unemployment among young blacks, the disproportionate dependence on government assistance and the disproportionately high rates of black incarceration are not the result of the white racism that characterized the 1950s.
Unlike 1964, when I was 10 years old, the “N-word” today is unacceptable in polite conversation. I would not be able to find and neither would you a movie theater or restaurant or hotel or sporting venue or department store where even the tiniest glimmer of a second thought is given to serving black customers.
The election of a black mayor or congressman has long since ceased being newsworthy.
A second black president is inevitable.
As much as rich white liberals, so-called “civil rights leaders” and elite members of the media would have you believe otherwise, the troubles facing many young black adults today are largely the result of self-inflicted wounds.
Sky-high dropout rates, high rates of drug use and the catastrophe of fatherlessness that has come to define black life in America – are all much more to blame for the poor economic prospects facing young black men and women than the dying embers of 20th century white racism.
Irrespective of the color of your skin or the obstacles placed in your way by the circumstances of your birth, success in life derives only from a firm belief in the power of personal responsibility and a keenly-felt duty of self help.
Only when that belief takes hold in the majority of black households will the disparities between white and black economic achievement — and the resulting resentments and distrust — begin to dissipate.
If Reverend Al Sharpton were anything other than the shameless hustler that he is, that’s the gospel he would be preaching.
You are preaching to the choir, sir. We all know that.
But then we do not have a household where we hear constantly” don’t do that._________.you don’t want to appear too White”.( You fill in the blank).
I have long felt that the oft stated mantra …even silently stated that Blacks need more help than others; IS DEMEANING . It’s no wonder the Blacks riot here in this country; they don’t get punished for it!
Why???
Because they need more help than anyone.
If you & your neighbors burnt down a store because it cheated you, you’d be arrested & jailed.
But not Blacks.
They need more help than others.
If no one in your family worked you’d all be embarrassed but not Blacks.
Why?
Because they need more help than anybody.
If you ran off & left wife & kids & got a mistress & more kids, you’d be ostracized by everyone.
but not Blacks…especially athletes.
They need more help than others.
Etc, etc. marks, entrance exams, yards, etc.
How ugly1
If I was Black I would cringe at the realization of this.
We are doing this because of “kindness”
….or is it.???
Paul, A very thoughtful and well-articulated commentary; too bad that many of those who really need to read or hear it will never do so, and they will continue to follow such self-serving race merchants. You would think that it would be embarrassing for any group of people to allow a completely disgraced and discredited person like the Rev.Al Sharpton to be their savior and to represent their best interests. This blind allegiance to the Liberals and their stooges will only assure their place as a permanent underclass and dependence on their fellow citizens for basic needs. Why in the world would you want to replace one plantation for another? A perfect example of the Rev. Al’s very adolescent marching slogans, like “hands up, don’t shoot”, and the latest one in New York, “I can’t breathe”, I thought it very amusing when I saw the mobs proudly displaying their signs, and others with the hands up gestures. When I got up off the floor from laughing, all I could say to my wife is “well, duh”, put your hands down!
On target again. Much of black culture is its own worst enemy. If blacks addressed and resolved the negative factors they themselves control, then racism, to the extent that it still lingers in some, would be not more than a curious footnote. Sadly, most black leaders prefer to pander rather than press the hard but necessary truths.
The recent cowardly assassination of the two NYC police officers requires us to take another look at your previous commentary of Dec. 4th, regarding “Preaching the wrong gospel. Inciting the wrong passions.” Al Sharpton does not deserve the title of Rev., even if he actually did graduate from a divinity school, as his shameless behavior disqualifies him as a member of the clergy. From his very poor use of the English language, I suspect that he gained his title by sham, or through some prestigious institution that issues diplomas along with a box top from Cocoa Puffs. Even more shameful is the assortment of clowns who surround him during his hate-filled press conferences. Dressed and wigged in their Sunday best, they ooh and aah without a clue of the real reasons for the inordinate presence of police in their neighborhoods and the disproportionate number of Blacks in prisons. Al could be such an asset to our country by addressing the root causes for the high crime rate in Black neighborhoods, and explaining that prisons are for criminals, regardless of race. However, he continues to foment those who are easily manipulated for his own personal interest, and he does not care in the least what happens to the people who blindly support him. Instead of inciting these mobs with adolescent slogans like, “hands up don’t shoot”, he should be chanting something that would actually save precious lives, such as, “pants up, don’t loot”.