The excerpt didn’t include the part the title referred to:
CROWLEY: And I would say to you an unemployment rate for blacks that is far higheralmost six percent higher, seven percent higher than for whites; a percentage of black incarceration in the nations prison systems that is far greater; a lack ofand for all of your skills, is there not some luck in that, I want to ask you thatbut, you know, thereI would tell you that minorities, especially African-Americans, can name a lot of things that speak to a certain amount of racism that they can still complain about. And so I wonder if you are taking your good fortune and superimposing it over everyone else, when it doesnt really apply?
CAIN: Luck is when preparation meets opportunity. Thats what Ive done all my career. Secondly, I dont believe racism, in this country today, holds anybody back in a big way. Is there some, are there some elements of racism? Yes. It gets back to if we dont grow this economy, that is a ripple effect for every economic level. And because blacks are more disproportionately unemployed, they get hit the worst when economic policies dont work. Thats where it starts. Grow this economy and its going to help everybody to get jobs and get back in the workforce.
CROWLEY: But at this very moment, the black jobless rate is sixteen percent
CAIN: Yes.
CROWLEY: for everyone its 9.1 percent. The black teen unemployment [rate] is 44.2 percent. That cant just be random luck, can it?
CAIN: Its not random luck!
CROWLEY: Or bad luck.
CAIN: Or bad luck. Its failed economic policy!
CROWLEY: But what accounts for the gap?
CAIN: The gap is due to a number of factors. One is a differential in education. Two is a concentration of a lot of blacks in certain areas, like the city of Detroit, where the unemployment rate there is fourteen percent versus the 9.1 percent we have nationally. So if you have a city like Detroit, where they have lost twenty five percent of their population, economically theyve done nothing but go down, down, downif we do not boost this national economy, youre never going to be able to close that gap. So there are a number of factors that cause that differential. But we must start with feeding this economic engine, which is why I have proposed the bold 9-9-9 plan. And, in addition to that, we are developing an empowerment zone feature off of the 9-9-9 platform that I will be announcing shortly.
CROWLEY: But can you be surprised if African-Americans look at you saying, I am, you know, became the CEO of Godfathers Pizza, you know, I, theyou know didnt have any advantage, you grew up poor but you had a loving family, it sounds like to me
CAIN: Yes.
CROWLEY: others are not so lucky, and they need help. Youve been critical of the entitlement society, Whowhat do you think Americansblack Americans, white Americans, Latino Americanswhat are we entitled to, as a society?
CAIN: We are all entitled to an opportunity to be able to go after our definition of the American dream. Everybodys definition of the American dream is different. Youre owed the opportunity for a level playing field.
CROWLEY: And do blacks have a level playing field right now with whites?
CAIN: Many of them do! Many of them do have a level playing field. I absolutely believe that. Becausenot only because of the businesses that I have run, which has had a combination of whites, blacks, Hispanicsyou know, we had a total diversity!but also because of the corporations whose board Ive served on for the last twenty years. I have seen blacks in middle management move up to top management of some of the biggest corporations in America. Theythey weret held back because of racism. No. People sometimes hold themselves back, because they want to use racism as an excuse for them not being able to achieve what they want to achieve.
I believe it did. You have to read it below the video box after clicking on the FR’s excerpt link.
When one reads a barely coherent transcript of questions byTV interviewers such as Crowley, one wonders how they keep their jobs. Cain is so much better at communicating his ideas than this media “professional” does.