An Open Letter to Duke President Price about Anti-Racism

James G. Martin Center for Academic Renewal ^ | August 11, 2020 | John Staddon

[karpov]

Dear President Price:

On June 17, you published a 1,400-word “Statement to the Community Regarding Anti-Racism.” The document contains many expressions of concern, fully in tune with the current national mood about the evils of racism and the problems of the African American community.

Nevertheless, the measures proposed, and the assumptions made, in this document raise troubling questions: First, I say a word about the assumptions behind your statement; second, about the actions you propose to take.

Assumptions (Quotes are all from the Statement.)

How widespread is racism? You say: “Those of us who are not subject to the daily oppression of racism…” Who, exactly, is “subject to the daily oppression of racism?” There are very few if any at Duke University. No doubt there are some in the country as a whole, but how many and where?

There are by some estimates 10,000 or more elected black officials in the U.S., including the mayors of major cities such as Chicago and Atlanta, not to mention the long-time much-respected mayor of Durham, Bill Bell—never mind a two-term black president. You are talking about now, not the decades before the civil rights legislation of 1964. African Americans are well represented in the legislatures of this country; they are far from powerless. It seems unwise to imply near-universal oppression when the current situation, though far from perfect, is obviously very different from the bad old days.

Empathy: “I cannot as a white person begin to fully understand the daily fear and pain and oppression that is endemic to the Black experience.” As a behavioral psychologist, I acknowledge that this is true, as is its converse: a black person “cannot begin to understand” how you or I feel.

[karpov]

"John Staddon is James B. Duke Professor of Psychology and Professor of Biology, Emeritus, at Duke University. His most recent books are Scientific Method: How science works, fails to work or pretends to work and The Englishman: Memoirs of a psychobiologist."

[econjack]

Racism is a learned behavior. The elephant in the room that no one wants to talk about is why blacks are discriminated against more than other minorities in the US. Just look at the crime statistics for blacks versus other minorities. And please don’t throw up that “environment” crap. We have thrown almost $4 trillion at the poverty issue since the War on Poverty and look where that got us. No, blacks have a problem that begins in the black community and they need to work from the “inside” to address it.

One suggest: Fix the disintegration of the black family. 72% of black children have no father who can serve as a role model. I blame the gov’t for part of this problem, because they reward the mother with greater benefits when the father is not present. That is a stupid law. A child is not a meal ticket, but the law structures it that way. It takes nothing to be a father, but it takes work to be a parent. Let’s see black males man-up and start supporting their kids and teaching them a good social ethics.

[cymbeline]

“One suggest: Fix the disintegration of the black family”

Most of these studies on societal problems do nothing but identify problems that everyone already knows about. Some might suggest solutions but that’s just more of the easy part.

[bravo whiskey]

Do all black fraternities indicate diversity or selective segregation? Why is an all white or all Asian (a broad term like Latino or Hispanic) Fraternity considered racist and segregated but an all black one shows diversity?
Maybe I am (over)thinking this.

[originalbuckeye]

I once told a very good friend who happens to be Black and was asking about how Whites think, this: I don’t look in the mirror each morning and think ‘I am WHITE and am the superior Race. I look in the mirror and think wow, you still look tired’. Blacks have been filled with the notion that EVERYTHING is about Race. If I disagree with a Black about anything, it must be about Race. If I say anything disparaging about a Black, it must be about Race. If I don’t agree to any Leftist Black’s politics, it must be about Race.

This has been ingrained in Black children for a few decades now. We need to change it, but with the Media and the Entertainment Industry behind the Dems and their hatefulness, it will be very difficult.

[econjack]

Which situation would you rather face: 1) A white whose car breaks down in a black neighborhood, or 2) a black whose car breaks down in a white neighborhood? Depending upon your answer, you need to look at who is the bigger racist as a group?