On the Brink of National Race Wars, Now Is Not the Time to Mince Words

Townhall.com ^ | July 11, 2016 | Michael Brown

[Kaslin]

As America stands at the precipice of deadly, coast-to-coast, race wars, this is not the time to mince words. I would rather speak the truth in love, even if it means offending some, than avoid confrontation out of fear of offense. In return, I expect others to be just as candid with me.

I also recognize that, if racial tensions escalate in our nation and more blood is shed, the ones who are likely to suffer the most (and perhaps the longest) are Black Americans. And so, I write this column because I do believe that Black Lives Matter.

Prof. George Yancey, himself an African American, has also urged for open, candid conversations, writing, “Maybe now with people on all sides of the political and racial arguments feeling such pain, we can begin taking the necessary steps to move towards real racial reconciliation.”

It is in that spirit that I write this column, fully aware that I’m not addressing the concerns of Hispanic Americans, Asian Americans, Native Americans, or other minorities in our midst, but that is the nature of this article. I trust all readers will understand.

Although I am a White American (more specifically, a White male, identifying more specifically as a Jewish believer in Jesus), I’m not speaking of “us” and “them” in this column. Rather, I’m addressing all of us together, letting the chips fall where they may.

Shall we proceed?

1) White Americans sometimes do not see racism when it is there; Black Americans sometimes see racism when it is not there. If we will take the time to hear one another out, filling in each other’s blind spots, we can move from perception to reality.

2) There is a real reason for Black frustration and anger. When Whites minimize the pain of Blacks or, worse still, claim that they are just being pawns of the media or political leaders, they deeply insult their Black brothers and sisters. Most Whites really do not understand what it is like to grow up as a minority culture, and they cannot relate to the historic suffering of Blacks in America, a history which is not as far in the distant past we would all like it to be.

3) All Black lives matters, not just the lives of Blacks who die at the hands of White cops. White critics have rightly asked, “Where are the rallies and protests when a three-year-old Black child dies from random, inner-city gun fire? And what about the disproportionate number of Black babies killed in the womb, not to mention Blacks killed by other Blacks?” A Black man named Richard wrote on Facebook, “We cannot pick and choose when we decide to make a stand. We're either all in (we must address black on black crime in addition to the murder of innocent blacks) or we're not in at all. We can't let these race baiting politicians further divide us; if you haven't noticed they want a race war. We must stand up and unite, both black and white and whatever other ethnicity and re-claim our freedom.”

4) All rhetoric that leads to violence, let alone that calls for violence, must be categorically renounced and repudiated. Not a few leaders in the Black Lives Matter movement need to do some serious soul searching in light of the intentional, targeted shooting of cops in several states this past week. (Yancey characterizes Black Lives Matter as “a group that pushes its own racialized agenda and expects compliance instead of communication.”) Their irresponsible rhetoric can easily lead to bloodshed.

5) Everyone must work together to address injustice and inequality wherever it raises its head, be it in the courts or on the streets. Blacks would be greatly encouraged if they saw their White colleagues standing up for their cause rather than always taking a defensive posture. Do Whites automatically give the benefit of the doubt to other Whites, assuming Black claims of injustice are illegitimate?

6) It is social suicide to launch a war against our law enforcement agents. The police do a good, important, often thankless, frequently life-threatening job, and without their sacrificial service, our nation would descend into chaos. The few bad cops who are out there are the exception to the rule (and they must be held accountable). Law and order is a good thing, not a bad thing, and as one black caller to my radio show noted (he was a career cop), when the bullets started flying in Dallas last week, the crowds ran from the shots; the police ran towards them to try to take out the killer(s).

7) It is important today to state that All Lives Matter. I understand that if a black man is bleeding to death on the side of the road, having been shot without cause by an irresponsible White cop, it is insulting to say, “Yes, he’s dying, but let’s remember that All Lives Matter.” But when White policemen lay dying in the streets it is insensitive not to say All Lives Matter.

8) There is no comparison between a policeman overreacting and killing someone and another person intentionally targeting policemen for death. I do not believe for a second that white cops get up in the morning and say to themselves, “I hope I can kill a black person today!” Sadly, a black man decided last week that he would murder as many cops as he could. There’s no true comparison between the two, whatever the skin color of the victims or perpetrators. An actual parallel to the evil the black Michael Xavier Johnson reportedly committed in Dallas on Thursday is the mass murder last summer that the white Dylann Storm Roof confessed to committing at a black church in Charleston, South Carolina. In each case, an apparently evil, twisted, racist young man targeted innocent people of another race and murdered them in a cold, deliberate, premeditated fashion.

9) The elephant in the room is the breakdown of the Black American family. This was stressed to me by another black caller to my show. The disastrous, generational effects of fatherlessness are well-documented, and with illegitimacy in Black America at an almost unimaginable high of 74 percent, this is not simply a Black crisis; it is a national crisis. We got into this situation together, and we can only get out of it together.

10) There is far more that unites than divides us. We are, after all, one race, with each of us equally created in God’s image and equally loved by our Creator. And all of us as Americans have the same right to “Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness.” It is the devil who wants to divide and destroy us and the Lord who wants to unite and strengthen us. Let us work with the Lord, not against Him.

Speaking now as a White American to my Black American brothers and sisters, I say from the heart: America cannot be great unless you are thriving, and my own life will not be full if your lives are not full.

[dfwgator]

The friction works both ways. I believe the darker-skinned blacks resent how the lighter-toned ones most always rise to the top, no matter what part of the world they live in.

LOL, reminds me of the classic SNL skit with Julian Bond.

Garrett Morris: Good evening, and welcome to "Black Perspective". I'm your host, Garrett Morris. Tonight our guest is Mr. Julian Bond, and we'll be talking about the myths surrounding black I.Q. Specifically, the myth that whites are inherently more intelligent than blacks.

Julian Bond: Good evening, Garrett.

Garrett Morris: Now, Julian, perhaps you could explain something to me. In all these studies comparing black I.Q. to white I.Q., what kind of test is used to measure I.Q.'s in the first place?

Julian Bond: Well, this is the major problem with these studies. The measurements of I.Q. which form the basis of comparison come from tests composed by whites for whites. The tests are culturally biased; it's not surprising that whites would score better than blacks.

Garrett Morris: Could you give us an example of what you're talking about?

Julian Bond: Certainly. Here are some questions that have appeared on recent I.Q. tests. Number one: "You have been invited over for cocktails by the officer of your trust fund. Cocktails begin at 4:30, but you must make an appearance at a 6:00 formal dinner at the Yacht Club. What do you do about dress?

A. Wear your blue-striped seersucker suit to cocktails and change into your tuxedo in the bathroom, apologizing to your host for the inconvenience.
B. Wear your tuxedo to cocktails, apologizing to your host for wearing a dinner jacket before 6:00 PM.
C. Walk to the subway at Columbus Circle and take the "A" Train uptown."

Garrett Morris: Uh.. I guess I'd choose the last one.

Julian Bond: I'm sorry, that's incorrect.

Garrett Morris: Damn.

Julian Bond: Here's another: "When waxing your skis for a cross-country run, you should..."

Garrett Morris: [ interrupting ] Well, I think I understand the problem with the tests. But the fact is that people have been saying that white people are smarter than black for hundreds of years. We've only had I.Q. tests for 20 or 30 years. How did the idea of white intellectual superiority originate?

Julian Bond: That's an interesting point. My theory is that it's based on the fact that light-skinned blacks are smarter than dark-skinned blacks.

Garrett Morris: [ not sure he heard that right ] Say what?

Julian Bond: I said I think it might have grown out of the observation that light-skinned blacks are smarter than dark-skinned blacks.

Garrett Morris: I don't get it.

Julian Bond: It's got nothing to do with having white blood. It's just that descendants of the lighter-skinned African tribes are more intelligent than the descendants of the darker-skinned tribes. Everybody knows that.

Garrett Morris: This is the first time I've heard of it.

Julian Bond: Seriously? It was proven a long time ago.

Garrett Morris: Well, I still don't quite understand. We're out of time right now, but perhaps you could come back on the show again and explain it further.

Julian Bond: There's very little to explain - it's just like I told you.

Garrett Morris: Well, we are out of time. Good night. [ to Julian ] If you could repeat it just once more... [ fade ] SNL Transcripts

[sheana]

That 74% illegitimacy rate is because of the welfare state. They don’t want fathers around because it cuts into the benefits, hence the breakdown of the family.
Until that’s addressed none of the rest will matter.

[sheana]

Well shoot I posted before I read all the comments. Lol
#62

[aquila48]

It failed because there was never true separation. Separate independent countries each with their own sovereignty.

I understand that that would not be an easy thing for us to pull off, but the alternative is much worse (all out race war) which at the end would lead to the same result - separation.

The afrikaners are trying again...

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orania,_Northern_Cape

[jjsheridan5]

I'll play:

1) White Americans sometimes do not see racism when it is there; Black Americans sometimes see racism when it is not there.

The quantity of racism "seen" by whites dwarfs the quantity of actual racism perpetuated by whites. The quantity of black racism seen by whites is dwarfed by the amount of actual black racism.

2) There is a real reason for Black frustration and anger.

There are a multitude of reasons that the living standards of blacks are, generally, far lower than that of whites. What those reasons all have in common is that they are the product of liberal ideology. As far as "frustration and anger", that is largely derived from a small elite of liberal whites and opportunistic blacks, who derive power and money from whipping poorly educated blacks (and others) into a frenzy.

3) All Black lives matters, not just the lives of Blacks who die at the hands of White cops.

It has never been about which lives matter, and which don't. The only thing that mattered was coming up with an easily remembered slogan that tapped into the emotionalism of poorly educated blacks and idiotic whites.

4) All rhetoric that leads to violence, let alone that calls for violence, must be categorically renounced and repudiated.

Such rhetoric will never be renounced and repudiated by those whose livelihood, and self-worth, is derived solely from such rhetoric.

5) Everyone must work together to address injustice and inequality wherever it raises its head, be it in the courts or on the streets.

"Everyone" must do no such thing. "Everyone" must do whatever is in the best interest of themselves, their family, and the small number of people they hold dear. Everything else is empty rhetoric, unless they are getting their hands dirty doing charity work.

6) It is social suicide to launch a war against our law enforcement agents.

Hopefully, it is actual suicide, as well.

7) It is important today to state that All Lives Matter.

There are many things that are important, in this world. This is not one of them.

8) There is no comparison between a policeman overreacting and killing someone and another person intentionally targeting policemen for death.

The author almost got one right. However, this point misses due to irrelevance. There is no indication in any of these killings of an overreaction (the evidence doesn't prove the absence of overreaction, but the evidence is consistent with a lack of overreaction). When there is an actual case of police overreaction, as opposed to liberal overreaction, this point would be true.

9) The elephant in the room is the breakdown of the Black American family.

Actually, this is not the elephant in the room. This is a large mammal, but not the elephant. The elephant in the room is that (white) liberalism has destroyed the past, present, and future, of millions of blacks, and have done far more damage to blacks than the KKK could ever dream of. That is the elephant in the room.

10) There is far more that unites than divides us.

This is a vacuous statement.

[Harmless Teddy Bear]

Do Whites automatically give the benefit of the doubt to other Whites, assuming Black claims of injustice are illegitimate?

Give the benefit of doubt to whites no.

Assume any claim by a "minority" of a "hate crime" is false until proven true? Oh absolutely!

I deal in reality and the reality is that so far "hoax" is beating "real" like a red headed stepchild.

[Cecily]

The vast majority of Americans of any color do not want a race war and are not going to engage in a race war. People need to quit being baited by the rabble rousers.

[Kaslin]

Very well said.

[L,TOWM]

Interesting group. They seem to be as determined to separate themselves from English descended whites as they do from the various tribes of blacks in that region of the world. The whole construct of the Republic of South Africa was about as fractured as that of the former nation of Yugoslavia and probably doomed to fail for much the same reasons.

By my reckoning the major people groups in that area of the world are: Two large groups of European descendants; English and Dutch, with a history of conflict and even warfare with each other since the late 1600’s.
Three large African tribes (Zulu, Bantu, and Xhosa) that have their own histories of conflict and attempted dominance with each other going back 700 years and with the Europeans for the last 200.
And in the Durban area, a couple of million ethnic Indians, imported by the English to work on sugar plantations and that have achieved a fairly high level of economic prosperity, education, and local political clout.

You seem to have a greater awareness than most of us here in the States of the truly fractured group and tribal identities in the RSA, beyond the over-simplified “black & white” labels applied by the US media and race shills.

I got my awareness from quite a few visits there en route to Swaziland for missions work and a lot of self-study about the region. I find that area of the world and its history a fascinating subject.

[rdb3]

Which is a pretty broad time schedule. Jesus sparks controversy because He is about love (but not about blind excusing) and those who are about hate want Him out of the picture.

True, but I was referring to the signs of the times.

Jesus Christ: You can't impeach Him and He ain't gonna resign.

[kabar]

We will have Obama and Bush 43 tomorrow attacking Trump indirectly citing the divisive language of some of our political leaders who attack ethnic groups and other minorities. Obama and the Bushes support Hillary.

[P.O.E.]

“And as it was in the days of Noah, so shall it be also in the days of the Son of Man.” -Luke 17:26

"God gave Noah the rainbow sign
It won't be water, be fire next time."

-Guthrie

[HiTech RedNeck]

You’ve completely missed God.

[Attention Surplus Disorder]

“9) The elephant in the room is the breakdown of the Black American family. This was stressed to me by another black caller to my show. The disastrous, generational effects of fatherlessness are well-documented, and with illegitimacy in Black America at an almost unimaginable high of 74 percent, this is not simply a Black crisis; it is a national crisis. We got into this situation together, and we can only get out of it together.”

I don’t recall anything I did to get anyone into this situation. I’m also not seeing what I ought to do to get anyone out of it.

[gogeo]

Unfortunately, the article doesn't rise to the level which justifies refutation. But I'll pick #1:

1) White Americans sometimes do not see racism when it is there; Black Americans sometimes see racism when it is not there.

High-mindedness requires one paint with broad brush strokes, and split the difference. First, it's not possible to talk about "White Americans" and "Black Americans." I have a black friend whose world view is much closer to mine than this self-professed "White Person."

The crucial difference is not skin color, but how one proposes to interact with fellow humans. I treat everyone the same way; I let them decide what they deserve. If they are self controlled and don't try to con me we'll get along just fine. Color is irrelevant. So I don't require them to deal with me, and no, I'm not racist.

Now, do many blacks see racism where it doesn't exist? Most definitely. In fact, there's a whole industry built around that, from The Rev. Jackson to " ethnic studies" to "diversity training."

So, am I saying racism doesn't exist? Of course not...it's just one form of ignorance, and the ignorant will always be with us. Is racism as it exists an obstacle to success? No more for blacks than for anyone else. In fact, I'd suggest the opposite.

The obstacles to success I see are self-inflicted. That, by definition, is not racist.

Let me emphasize that last point...and this one. The so-called " black community" is nowhere near as monolithic as we've been led to believe.

[HiTech RedNeck]

I think we can make allowance for this meaning “majority case.” This requires actually trying to see if there might be something behind the left’s complaint, however. It isn’t an exercise for the proud.

[HiTech RedNeck]

God would have a beef with a lot of Whitey that he is not proceeding on a gospel basis. In a place that never heard of Christianity that is one thing, but in a place that practically thumps its chest about it from time to time, that is quite another.

[HiTech RedNeck]

A kind of quasi-Christianity can be dangerous. Not saying that government should be enforcing Christianity, but that at least some of the love aspects that Christianity makes possible to see, should be enlightening it. A quasi-Christianity is dangerous because it raises expectations that can’t be met. Christianity made the Golden Rule possible to live out to an extent no other faith could, because it told credibly of a God that would reward even a sacrifice of life made for the purpose of extending the grace of God.

[bboop]

I’m with rockrr. Done. Meter is busted. I am not the one with the problem.