The Democrats' Problem:? Race Relations

The Democratic Party and the mainstream media work together on behalf of terrorists. That fact has been extensively covered in this column. But that working combination does damage in many areas of national life, one of the most important being in the area of race relations and civil rights.

The Democratic Party, the mainstream media and black leaders keep identifying racism as a central problem in our society and they thus manage to create a real and effective roadblock to ending any problems caused by past racism and improving the life and well-being of blacks and minority groups. The Democratic Party wants to keep blacks angry and keep allegations of discrimination on the front-burner to keep the blacks angry and to keep them voting Democratic.

The best discussion of this tripartite conspiracy that I've found appears in a book by a black national radio talk show host and social commentator, Larry Elder, in his book Stupid Black Men: How to Play the Race Card and Lose. Mr. Elder is not just another national radio talk show host; the quality of his thinking is suggested by the comment of Milton Friedman, the late, great University of Chicago economist and Nobel Prize winner, who called Mr. Elder "a libertarian who is fed up with the damage that liberal policies have been doing ... (his) analysis is closely reasoned ... (and his) coverage (is) exhaustive."

Mr. Elder severely criticizes "black leadership" for being AWOL, stuck in an old battle about racism, and wasting time and energy on a phony fight against racism, instead of facing the music and dancing.

"Bad schools, crime, drugs, high taxes, the Social Security mess, the health care 'crisis,' unemployment, welfare state dependency, illegitimacy - and race and racism. What do these issues have in common? So-called black leaders - aided and abetted by the mainstream media, and cheered on by the Democratic Party - lie to us about them. They lie about the cause. They lie about the effect. They lie about the solutions. They make the most outrageous statements - and get away with it. Why? Many people refuse to challenge these outrageous statements for fear that they will be branded as racists. Others say nothing because keeping blacks angry and unduly concerned about racism advantages the political agenda of the Democratic Party."

Mr. Elder writes, "In reality, the formula for success is simple: work hard, make sacrifices, focus on education, delay gratification, avoid bad moral mistakes, and maintain optimism."

Mr. Elder says that a negative outlook produces negative results. He cites a survey, which asked whether hard work offers little guarantee of success. Only 27 percent of whites agree, but 42 percent of blacks agree. If you give in and think and act like a victim, you won't make it.

He says contrary to popular belief most blacks have escaped this negative thinking and most blacks lead working-class or better lives and live outside the inner city. But the 25 percent of blacks living below the poverty rate, the so-called underclass, are not helped by the black leadership that keeps them angry, that blames everything on racism, and makes it impossible for them to get ahead as they see themselves only as victims, and are blind to the opportunity that awaits all Americans.

His book shows how the Democratic Party, the mainstream media, and much of what he calls "black leadership" maximize victimhood and minimize personal responsibility. The mainstream media play an important role in this deadly downward cycle, by not challenging black leaders when they become race baiters and confuse equal rights with equal results. When blacks have a lower rate of college enrollment, when they are less likely to get bank loans, when they have lower incomes, it is all blamed on "discrimination." Other causes are ignored.

He writes, "These so-called black leaders, mainstream media conspirators, and sympathizers in the Democratic Party send a simple, harmful message: standards of hard work and accountability do not apply to blacks."

Mr. Elder calls for blacks and everyone else to recognize that although pockets of nuts and racists can always be found, that racism as a major and controlling force in our society is gone, and that boundless opportunity and advancement await anyone willing to work, acquire skills, and participate in the economic life of the greatest nation in the history of the world.

Mr. Elder argues that blaming everything on racism is not only false, but also toxic. He writes, "It keeps the races wary of each other. Watch what I say. Watch for an innocent remark that might be construed as 'racist' or 'racially insensitive.' Unfounded charges of racism cause us to emphasize differences, rather than our broad and deep similarities." He calls for us to recognize the reality of racism or the lack thereof as summarized by John O'Sullivan, editor, National Review: "White racism does exist, but its social power is weak and social power arrayed against it overwhelming."

One of the reasons too many in the nation fail to see that reality is the dishonest, biased, and fraudulent mainstream media: "Media malpractice: the shameful willingness to provide a megaphone for baseless, outlandish charges of racism, the failure to highlight the tremendous progress of minorities over the past forty years, and the unwillingness to seek out minority voices to counter the histrionics of the Jesse Jacksons, the Al Sharptons, and their willing liberal conspirators in the media and the Democratic Party."

Take the views of Bill Cosby, the famed entertainer and philanthropist, who urges blacks to embrace education, speak standard English, and obey the law. Sounds reasonable enough, but a professor at the University of Pennsylvania, Michael Eric Dyson, in a book Is Bill Cosby Right? accused Mr. Cosby of unfairly attacking blacks and blaming "the victim."

Mr. Elder argues that when arguments like that are put forward, they prevail, as the mainstream media doesn't have the guts to challenge them out of fear of being accused of racism. Mr. Dyson was invited on the "Today Show" to discuss his allegations against Mr. Cosby. So who interviewed him? It was not Katie Couric or Matt Lauer. Mr. Elder says that NBC didn't want to inject them into a race debate. So the weatherman, Al Roker, did the interview.

When Mr. Roker asked Mr. Dyson if there was some validity to what Mr. Cosby had written, Mr. Dyson responded, "Oh sure ... there's validity always. Timothy McVeigh had a point. The state is overeaching. But the way you do it, dropping bombs and castigating of human beings, that's terrible ... Let's hold the larger society accountable that lead to some of the downfalls of the poor people."

What did Mr. Roker say to that absurd bit of logic? Nothing. When Mr. Roker quoted from Mr. Cosby complaining about such things as parents who would spend $500 for sneakers but won't spend $250 for Hooked on Phonics, what did Mr. Dyson say? Here it is: "I'm worried about Clarence [Thomas of the U.S. Supreme Court] and Condolezza [Rice, Secretary of State], who can hurt us in high places of power in America." What did Mr. Roker say to that nonsense, that cries out for follow-up questions? He said nothing. This Cosby/Dyson incident tells you what you have to know about the mainstream media and what are loosely called institutions of higher learning.

Mr. Elder also points to what he calls "bouncing hypocrisy." When Don Imus made his "nappy headed" remark, it caused a major national incident, with Mr. Imus finally losing his job despite all his apologies and bowing and scraping to the likes of the race baiters and race hustlers, Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton.

Al Sharpton, the race baiter and race hustler, never even apologized for falsely accusing a white former assistant district attorney in 1987 of sexually assaulting black teenager Tawana Brawley. A New York grand jury found the whole Brawley affair was a hoax and the falsely accused assistant district attorney successfully sued Mr. Sharpton and won. Still no apology. And this liar and bigot, Mr. Sharpton, now sits in judgment of Mr. Imus, who apologized a million times.

Then there's the other race hustler Jesse Jackson, who called Jews "Hymie" and New York "Hymie Town." First, he denied the statement. Then he apologized for his anti-Semitic remark. Then Mr. Jackson's friend, the raging bigot Louis Farrakhan, publicly threatened the black reporter who reported the Hymie incident and threatened death to Jews who "harm this brother [Jackson]." Mr. Jackson refused to condemn Farrakhan's remarks. Like Mr. Sharpton, Mr. Jackson now sits in judgments on all racial matters.

In fact, Mr. Elder points out that?Mr. Jackson, standing next to his pregnant mistress, was pictured with Bill Clinton, another moral paragon, in the White House. Mr. Jackson provided mentoring and moral guidance to Mr. Clinton during the Monica Lewinsky affair. And Mr. Imus gets the full treatment and has to apologize to these two "reverends." What hath God wrought?

And Mr. Elder even goes into another leader in hypocrisy and race baiting and race hustling - none other than Sen. Barack Obama. He became the first presidential candidate to call for Mr. Imus's firing. Mr. Obama said, "He didn't just cross the line. He fed into some of the worst stereotypes that my two young daughters are having to deal with today in America. The notions that as young African-American women - who I hope will be athletes - that that somehow makes them less beautiful or less important. It was a degrading comment. It's one that I'm not interested in supporting." But that didn't stop Mr. Obama from allowing David Geffen to hold a fund-raiser for him. And Mr. Geffen's company producers rappers like Snoop Dogg, who always uses the words "bitches" and "hos" in referring to women, brags about getting high, and produced X-rated videos. And super hypocrite and phony Mr. Obama met with Ludacris, whose lyrics often call women "hos," and according to Ludacris, "We talked about empowering youth."

For some reason, Mr. Elder doesn't mention that Mr. Obama wanted Mr. Imus fired for one comment, but he approved and supported the racist, bigot, and anti-American Rev. Jeremiah Wright for 20 years, sitting in his church with his family and working with him.

The list of phonies and hypocrites in the Democratic Party goes on and on, including presidential candidate Hillary Clinton, who holds fundraisers hosted by the likes of Timbaland, whose music calls women "bitches" and "hos." That's O.K. as they're raising money for Clinton, but she called Mr. Imus's words "small-minded bigotry and coarse sexism."

While all this goes on, the mainstream media turned the other way and doesn't report on or virtually ignores the endless hypocrisy, phoniness, and bigotry of the likes of Mr. Jackson, Mr. Sharpton, Hillary Clinton, and Barack Obama.

Mr. Elder's criticism of the race baiters and race hustlers, and their enablers and supports in the Democratic Party and the mainstream media is classic stuff. But Mr. Elder's best is his advice to blacks and other minorities.

He tells the story of the great black Hall of Fame baseball player Eddie Murray, who had a brother, Charlie. Charlie played in the minor leagues and quit baseball. Mr. Elder says he was "emotionally crushed by the segregation he endured in fighting his way up" (when that segregation was still a fact of life in baseball).

Mr. Elder writes, "A reporter asked Frank Robinson about Charles Murray. Robinson responded with the kind of grit and attitude that made him great: 'He wasn't strong,' Robinson said. 'He went home. He didn't pursue what he wanted to do in life. He let a barrier prevent him for doing that. If that was the case, then there would have been no blacks in baseball, because the barrier was there.'"

The reporter was surprised by Mr. Robinson's comment as the reporter apparently sympathized with Charlie Murray's decision to quit. But Mr. Robinson had a different view and that involved resistance and tenacity of purpose.

"People like Aaron and Robinson realized that, even then, they had opportunities. Today's generation must now make use of the opportunities denied to those who came before. How insulting and dismissive of the deep hardcore racist abuse dealt with by the Aarons and the Robinsons - when the mainstream media writes article after article expressing sympathy for the alleged racist 'plight' of blacks in contemporary America."

Perhaps the most important lesson from Mr. Elder's book is that one of the worst enemies of blacks making progress in our nation is the Democratic Party, the mainstream media, and the race hustlers and race baiters such as Jesse Jackson, Al Sharpton, Louis Farrakhan, Rev. Jeremiah Wright and the rest. But don't forget that among them is the presumptive and presumptuous Democratic nominee for president, who doesn't hesitate to associate with race hustlers and race baiters and who even in presidential politics has played the race card.

Herb Denenberg is a former Pennsylvania Insurance Commissioner, Pennsylvania Public Utility Commissioner, and professor at the Wharton School. He is a longtime Philadelphia journalist and consumer advocate. He is also a member of the Institute of Medicine of the National Academy of the Sciences. His column appears daily in The Bulletin. You can reach him at advocate@thebulletin.us.

He hits the nail on the head.

I always wonder what else the gov’t and society are supposed to do to ensure equal opportunity. It’s now 44 years since the Civil Rights Act of 1964 was passed, and over 40 years since President Johnson’s executive order that federal contracting and employment use a system called “affirmative action” to remedy past discrimination.

We have passed anti-discrimination laws and implemented affirmative action, and these laws and regulations have been strongly enforced over the years.

So, government has passed and enforced laws banning discrimination, and has also enforce affirmative action. The private sector and educational institutions have purged themselves of discriminatory hiring and admission practices, and have also used affirmative action to actively recruit those who may have been discriminated against in the past.

And the Great Society programs of the ‘60s were established to help those who were poor, regardless of race. Those programs are still in place.

Against this backdrop of changes in gov’t policy and changes in society, what else exactly can realistically be done, that hasn’t already been done, to ensure equal opportunity in our society?

He has a friend who bombed the Pentagon and other government buildings. He has another who murdered African Christians. He has received endorsements and illegal campaign contributions from terrorists. Despite the veneer manufactured for him by his handlers and the press, he is so mired in far-left militancy he can barely conceal his disdain for America.

Still, few Americans are even aware of the above.

The question is not one of how much more proof of Sen. Barack Obama’s Marxist roots we need, but how much more proof will be sufficient to convince America’s media chieftains that their tacit support of his candidacy for president has become a liability they can no longer afford.

This charade, as is said, has gone on long enough; each and every challenge raised about Sen. Obama’s seditious cohorts has been feebly rationalized by the candidate, and his rejoinders have been summarily accepted by the media, one and all.

Perhaps the so-called clerics among black activists are to be condemned to a greater degree than secular activists for prostituting faith, but the motivation and the result remains the same. Whether Jeremiah Wright (Trinity United’s former pastor) or Jesse Jackson, these are examples of the exploitation of people for personal gain; in this case, the people happen to be black. There is a great deal of sensitivity surrounding the issue of how blacks have been treated in America, but we must remember that a great deal of this sensitivity has been capitalized upon, exacerbated and protracted by these so-called advocates for blacks. Hence, the term “poverty pimps,” as they do nothing but enrich themselves at the cost of those they claim to serve.

And this cost? Look around. The black family a joke, poverty, atrocious rates of school dropouts, incarceration and unwed mothers, yet everything that perpetuates these – bohemian culture, rap music, promiscuity, misogyny, victimhood and defiance – is held as sacrosanct. Can’t take those away from black folks, unless one wants to be accused of racism – or of being a “race traitor.”

Erik Rush

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