The Talk: Nonblack Version

Taki's Magazine ^ | April 5, 2012 | John Derbyshire

[reaganaut1]

...

There is a talk that nonblack Americans have with their kids, too. My own kids, now 19 and 16, have had it in bits and pieces as subtopics have arisen. If I were to assemble it into a single talk, it would look something like the following.

(1) Among your fellow citizens are forty million who identify as black, and whom I shall refer to as black. The cumbersome (and MLK-noncompliant) term “African-American” seems to be in decline, thank goodness. “Colored” and “Negro” are archaisms. What you must call “the ‘N’ word” is used freely among blacks but is taboo to nonblacks.

(2) American blacks are descended from West African populations, with some white and aboriginal-American admixture. The overall average of non-African admixture is 20-25 percent. The admixture distribution is nonlinear, though: “It seems that around 10 percent of the African American population is more than half European in ancestry.” (Same link.)

(3) Your own ancestry is mixed north-European and northeast-Asian, but blacks will take you to be white.

(4) The default principle in everyday personal encounters is, that as a fellow citizen, with the same rights and obligations as yourself, any individual black is entitled to the same courtesies you would extend to a nonblack citizen. That is basic good manners and good citizenship. In some unusual circumstances, however—e.g., paragraph (10h) below—this default principle should be overridden by considerations of personal safety.

(5) As with any population of such a size, there is great variation among blacks in every human trait (except, obviously, the trait of identifying oneself as black). They come fat, thin, tall, short, dumb, smart, introverted, extroverted, honest, crooked, athletic, sedentary, fastidious, sloppy, amiable, and obnoxious. There are black geniuses and black morons. There are black saints and black psychopaths.

[the invisib1e hand]

Anyone who gets printed in taki should know there are Americans of various pigment, and there are urban blacks who dare you to call them “niggers” just so they can kill you.

[Gaffer]

The sources for figures are quite vague and would be trashed by Harvard scholars.

I am at a loss for words.

[9YearLurker]

I don’t see the point at all to Derbyshire making that observation on public servants. His kids are somehow supposed to act on that information or not have that information add to inevitable bias in how he meets every black he encounters?

On the other hand, Derb’s counter to your observations is that yours are anecdotal, whereas his claims would be statistical averages likely to hold over large numbers.

[the invisib1e hand]

“There are only two races of men: the decent and the indecent.” —Viktor Frankl, survivor, Nazi conecentration camps

well said by someone who ought to know. This, for me, is the end of the matter.

[9YearLurker]

Ah, thanks to Twitchy I’ve got a pretty good summary of it:

http://twitchy.com/2012/04/06/john-derbyshires-parental-talk-about-race-sets-off-twitter-firestorm/

[mrsmel]

Derbyshire is a hero, because there’s no way he didn’t know what the repercussions would be for writing an article containing the plain unvarnished truth backed by statistics regarding black crime rates and the necessity for precautions by whites.

One of the dirty little secrets the apologists don’t want known is that far from “cultural bias” in IQ tests, blacks score higher on the parts which could be said to be “culturally influenced” than the parts which test pure cognitive ability.

Another secret is that black males raised in families higher on the socioeconomic scale still have higher drop-out rates, higher crime rates, and lower SAT scores than whites from comparable families or even white kids from families lower on the SES scale.

“Regression to the mean” plays a part in this.

[NRPM]

That’s a good link to follow the debate about the column. and it reproduces the list for those having trouble getting the original site to load - read it on twitchy.

[mrsmel]

It’s my understanding that white males still comprise the majority of the “sharp end” of the military. Minorities are mostly in the support areas. Can you enlighten me about this?

[Dr. Sivana]

On the other hand, Derb’s counter to your observations is that yours are anecdotal, whereas his claims would be statistical averages likely to hold over large numbers.

I understand that. It also could well be that the mere existence of "affirmative action", effectively quotas, necessarily results in the hiring of less qualified people in all of these offices irrespective of race. Derbyshire suggests that as well, making government offices in general a poor pool to draw a conclusion regarding comparable fitness of personnel, as they are hired according to different criteria.

My own lifetime, a collection of unconnected anecdotes, tells me that time in service in government agencies is a surer indicator of poor service than anything else.

[mrsmel]

Remove the black population and the crimes committed by black perps from the stats, and the US murder rate plunges to Nordic country levels.

A whole lot of our negative indicators would plummet. Our standing in the overall global education scores would rise.

[Mr. Jeeves]

Everybody seems to be upset about Derbyshire's multi-part point 10). I think perhaps he does go off the track a bit into near-racism in points 11) to 15), but he's in the most trouble for 10) because he put into print important truths that should best remain a "white oral tradition". :)

I live in a city where black crime is near zero. So is the black population. The most common violent crime here seems to be bank or home robbery - nearly always committed by white male transients. A gathering such as Derbyshire mentions in 10) almost never happens, so it's easy to avoid. Black people I've met here almost always fall into his "IWSB" category - and I guarantee you they are giving their own kids a variation of the point 10) talk before sending them off to social gatherings in the neighboring large city.

10) isn't just for white kids - it's good advice for any citizen of any race who wants to survive the effects of the Left's war on American culture.

[9YearLurker]

I imagine you’re right.

[Tupelo]

First of all, I have never been mugged by any one, black, white, brown, yellow, red or anything in between.

However if it should happen and they do it right, they will get themselves a very nice firearm. If they do it wrong, they will get the contents of said firearm.

[matt1234]

Have any writers rejoined with a version for black kids? That might be amusing.

[Cincinatus]

It seems that almost everyone (especially the afraid-of-their-own-shadow PC morons that make up the current editorial staff of NRO) is missing the point of Derbyshire's piece -- he is commenting ironically on "The Talk" that black parents allegedly have with their sons about the nature of being a black man in America. One is reminded of the furor Jonathan Swift endured after he published A Modest Proposal.

Go read Derbyshire's piece. Then check out these articles, all linked and referenced in Derbyshire's first couple of paragraph:

Trayvon Martin tragedy brings focus to 'the talk' for black parents

Hoodie wearers say there's no reason to stereotype

Black parents live in fear after Trayvon Martin case

Trayvon Martin and ‘the Talk’ Black Parents Have With Their Teenage Sons

Darryl E. Owens: Revisiting 'The Talk' that black parents give to keep their children safe

Read them all and then tell me what Derbyshire's point is.

He should have known better -- in a dumbed down society, satire is no longer an acceptable medium.

[Trailerpark Badass]

Derbyshire’s piece was in response to a piece written about talking to black kids.

[matt1234]

Derbyshire’s piece was in response to a piece written about talking to black kids.

Interesting. Do you have a link by any chance?

[nothingnew]

“There are only two races of men: the decent and the indecent.” —Viktor Frankl, survivor, Nazi conecentration camps

One of my favorite quotes of all time.

FMCDH(BITS)

[Junior_G]

It wasn’t satire. Though Derb may have to say it was as he struggles to get hired somewhere in the neutered, suicidally PC West.

[Mr Rogers]

“It’s my understanding that white males still comprise the majority of the “sharp end” of the military. Minorities are mostly in the support areas.”

That is pretty accurate from what I saw. I retired in 2008.