Obama critiques The Bell Curve, NPR 1994

npr ^ | 9/10/8 | Obama

[NativeNewYorker]

The violence and despair of the inner city are real. So's the problem of street crime. The longer we allow these problems to fester, the easier it becomes for white America to see all blacks as menacing and for black America to see all whites as racist. To close that gap, we're going to have to do more than denounce Mr. Murray's book. We're going to have to take concrete and deliberate action. For blacks, that means taking greater responsibility for the state of our own communities. Too many of us use white racism as an excuse for self-defeating behavior. Too many of our young people think education is a white thing and that the values of hard work and discipline and self-respect are somehow outdated.

That being said, it's time for all of us, and now I'm talking about the larger American community, to acknowledge that we've never even come close to providing equal opportunity to the majority of black children. Real opportunity would mean quality prenatal care for all women and well-funded and innovative public schools for all children. Real opportunity would mean a job at a living wage for everyone who was willing to work, jobs that can return some structure and dignity to people's lives and give inner-city children something more than a basketball rim to shoot for. In the short run, such ladders of opportunity are going to cost more, not less, than either welfare or affirmative action. But, in the long run, our investment should pay off handsomely. That we fail to make this investment is just plain stupid. It's not the result of an intellectual deficit. It's the result of a moral deficit.

[Tulane]

He starts off well...then falls back into the old...”It’s not our fault that we 1) 70% of our kids out of wedlock, 2) fathers who won’t raise their kids 3) parents who aren’t engaged in homework etc...”

[RC2]

What’s wrong with shooting hoops? Obama does it all the time. Maybe it gave him management qualities. This guy has never been to South East Los Angeles. Businesses tried opening up there and the people stole them blind. They don’t want things to change.

[who_would_fardels_bear]

Abraham Lincoln wasn't prevented from being educated enough to rise to the Presidency because he lacked a computer or an acceptable student/teacher ratio, etc.

Even if it were true that education for minorities is substandard, it is more than enough for any motivated and disciplined student to work with.

[ridesthemiles]

He can “denounce” all he wants.
It is 14 years later since that book, and things are worse, IMO, not better.
Since 1964, when Johnson started the WAR ON POVERTY, we have annual transfers of wealth in the TRILLION dollar area, and things are worse.
75% of babies born to blacks are born out of wedlock.

Only Maury Povich and the DNA test labs gain from this, The tazpayers sure don’t.
More and more black “men” are impregnating more than one girl every year, and they get high fives from thier “homies”. That’s the standard they have to show their “manhood”.

As a tazpayer for all those years, I am beyond disgusted.
If there is going to be a civil/race war, I am ready for it.

[usurper]

Even if it were true that education for minorities is substandard.

You got that right, just read my tag line, we were all in it togather. Most of us were saddled with a substandard education and managed to overcome it. I make 6 figures and never spent a day in collage (not that I encourage that to kids today).

Suck it up princess, nobody owes you anything and if you don’t care enough for yourself why should anyone else care for you.

[JimRed]

The violence and despair of the inner city are real. So's the problem of street crime. The longer we allow these problems to fester, the easier it becomes for white America to see all blacks as menacing and for black America to see all whites as racist. To close that gap, we're going to have to do more than denounce Mr. Murray's book. We're going to have to take concrete and deliberate action. For blacks, that means taking greater responsibility for the state of our own communities. Too many of us use white racism as an excuse for self-defeating behavior. Too many of our young people think education is a white thing and that the values of hard work and discipline and self-respect are somehow outdated.

Agreed, in total. But then he completely screws it up with the suggestion that government is the answer!

[freespirited]

Now, it shouldn't take a genius to figure out that with early intervention such problems can be prevented.

We have spent billions, if not trillions, of dollars on early intervention programs. The return on investment has been pitiful. Any benefits "fade out" by around age 12.

Obama is not interested in facts. He thinks he knows everything without bothering with them.

[Continental Soldier]

“The Bell Curve” simply reported overall IQ findings. It advanced no agenda. But, because Blacks didn’t score as highly as Asians or Whites, the left wing media and ‘progressive educators’ went into high gear to smear “The Bell Curve.” Liberals seem to think that if they shout loud enough and long enough they can reverse the facts. Kind of like teen-agers arguing with their parents. :)

[JillValentine]

In the first paragraph, he says we shouldn’t blame whitey.

Then, in the second paragraph, he blames whitey.