"Do you think these guys know The Commodores?"
Posted on 02/25/2013 11:10:59 AM PST by Altura Ct.
Birmingham, Alabama is considered by many to be the birthplace of the civil rights movement. Today, African-Americans in Birmingham benefit from a numerical majority in the population, corresponding majorities in government jobs, and political control of the city. But civil rights won't address what ails the city now.
Birmingham is recognized as one of the most violent and poorly-run cities in the nation. The city runs a massive deficit, and is county seat of Jefferson County, which recently cut a deal with a European bank as part of the largest government bankruptcy in U.S. history.
Underlying this fiasco is a mixture of problems, none of which can be solved by the civil rights agenda, or by liberalism in any form. This is not to suggest that those rights should be rolled back, but to point out that today's solutions will not come from civil rights.
Blacks in Birmingham have now obtained equal rights, special protection for those rights, preferential enforcement of those rights, a demographic majority, and a near monopoly on government employment. Moreover, that panoply of rights and benefits is funded by the nation's highest sales tax. The results should be a progressive success story. Instead, Jefferson County's bankruptcy stemms in part from an epic and at times grimly amusing corruption scandal that resulted in the conviction of at least 22 people. Those convicted officials include the former mayor of Birmingham, Larry Langford.
...There is always a "trap" -- always someone else to blame. That resolute avoidance of personal responsibility, writ large, must be a major part of the city's problems. But such cultural and moral concerns are not part of the current civil rights agenda. Much more important was a program through which Mayor Langford provided laptops to children, in all government schools, in first through fifth grade.
(Excerpt) Read more at americanthinker.com ...
Is the author of this article asserting/admitting that "A-As" benefit disproportionately and/or unfairly from their numerical majority?
Wouldn't that be racist?
Regards,
Silly person, blacks can’t be racist.
What’s gonna happen when the White man no longer pays the taxes needed to support the welfare system in this country. Parasites don’t live too long after they kill the host.
http://www.americanthinker.com/2013/02/civil_rights_and_the_collapse_of_birmingham_ala.html
non mobile linkage
I don’t go into to B’ham anymore without my trusty P-64 in my right front pocket.
Bump fer later
Not politically correct for me to ask this so that’s why I’m asking it; Does anyone know of a large area, city or country governed by blacks that is successful economically and is safe?
Botswana isn’t so bad.
The author asks “The lawsuit seems to be one symptom of a larger problem. How did this sorry state of affairs come about? How can citizens and politicians fix Birmingham, and cities like it across the country? It doesn’t appear that a civil rights agenda can answer these questions going forward. Nor can any amount of government-given “opportunities,” resources, or any other euphemism for state involvement. Birmingham is simply past the point where legal, structural, or policy changes will ameliorate cultural pathology.
This “sorry state of affairs” has been painfully obvious for five decades now. Lets take a look. What do these cities have in common? Gary Indiana, Washington, D. C, Detroit, Newark, N. J., Oakland, Ca Birmingham, Memphis. Let’s add to the list. There are many examples.
Hospitals. That’s the only reason I go.
There are probably some good solutions, but screw ‘em. They created their pathological politics, let them suffer under it.
When Whites started moving out of Birmingham, their answer was to implement an “occupational tax” that everyone who worked in the city had to pay. Recently ruled illegal, after having been in effect for many years, they have tried every way possible to re-instate it. But hey, we do have the Taj Mahal of Sewer systems. I hope Larry Langford rots in jail.
Exactly.
“Hospitals. That’s the only reason I go.”
If you venture into one of those ghetto cities you will need a hospital in short order, if you live long enough to get there.
The short answer is, NO.
I grew up near Birmingham....my liberal sister just moved out of Jefferson County because the schools are a hell-hole...I don’t think she understands why the schools are so bad, though.
One constant in Birmingham in my memory has always been corruption. Elected officials (and I’ll go ahead and say it, black election officials) view their office as a mechanism to skim money. Its almost casual...done without a second thought, and almost laughable to suggest not doing it. That is their primary purpose in office, by and large: personal enrichment.
Now this isn’t Chicago style corruption with all the violence and organized crime...just the big skim.
And its been allowed to go on, because people simply leave. Like many large metro areas, there are now large and somewhat affluent communities next to Birmingham. And the racial makeup is astonishingly reverse that of Birmingham’s - classic ‘white flght’....which is exactly what my sister did.
I really have no idea how Birmingham could improve at this point.
Add East St. Louis to the list.
I like to go to a site called citydata, to look at demographics.
This town is 0.8% white...only 3 building permits were issued in 2011...the crime rate is 6 times the national average...voted strongly for Obama...only 27k people live there, but there are 25 murders a year!
"Do you think these guys know The Commodores?"
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