A Black Conservative Lament

Oh, no, not another "blacks in America" news special! One of the cable [CNN] networks recently put together another one of these "specials" on what it's like to be black in America. The network asked a conservative friend of mine to participate. He sent the following letter; and I wrote back. Dear Larry, Those at that news network on cable used me like a two-dollar whore! I interviewed with them for almost 10 hours and all the talk was whittled down to five-second sound bites that put me in a negative light. Part of our talk was about the crack epidemic. I spoke about the way we were fighting this and I talked about the impact single parenthood has on crime rates...I talked and talked. They edited it down to, "if you don't want to go to jail, don't sell crack." They ran a long segment with a black comedian/actor talking about how he tells his son every day how black men must be wary of cops. They cut to me, and I said that I agreed that we need to talk to our children about respecting authority but I also wondered if the comedian/actor knew the truth is that his son has far more to fear from other young black men then he does from the police. I then quoted a homicide statistic: 94 percent of black homicide victims are killed by other black people. It was dismissed by the moderator so we could focus instead on how racist the cops are.

Elder continues: They spoke to a professor at Columbia who was droning on about how the legacy of slavery is to account for blacks' out-of-wedlock birthrate. Slavery?! This nonsense was seconded by another panelist. When I corrected them and said the out-of-wedlock rate was lower during Jim Crow...eyes began rolling, and my point was ignored in order to move on. And I was reduced to sound bites. Your friend. I replied, Dear Friend: My sister-in-law asked whether I was watching it and I said no - I knew what to expect. BMW - bitching, moaning and whining. I asked her why they didn't spend four hours on the "experience" of Chinese-Americans? Americans of Chinese heritage are among our country's most successful despite mistreatment, discrimination and many anti-Chinese laws. Why doesn't the cable network, I asked her, do a show on the "experience" of Japanese-Americans, also some of the most prosperous of all Americans - despite the World War II "relocation" camps and California's anti-Japanese laws? It's 2008 and a black might attain the presidency. Can we move on? The problems of the "black community" have to do with the welfare state breakdown of the family. This causes a disinterest in education, leads to poor values, reckless and irresponsible breeding, as well as a lack of job skills necessary. We also have grievance groups - black "leaders," the oh-so-sympathetic media and fear-and guilt-laden whites who refuse to say (as they do to their own children) work hard and play by the rules. And many reluctant blacks who refuse to preach the message of "no excuses, hard work" for fear of being labeled "Uncle Toms."

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