Posted on 07/23/2020 5:23:27 AM PDT by Kaslin
On Tuesday, The Wall Street Journal released the results of a poll performed in conjunction with NBC News. The poll found that 56 percent of Americans believe American society is racist. Seventy-one percent believe race relations are either very or fairly bad. Most troubling, 65 percent of black Americans say that racial discrimination is built into American society, "including into our policies and institutions."
The notion that America is systemically racist bodes ill for the future. It's also a dramatic lie. American history is replete with racism; racism was indeed the root of systems ranging from slavery to Jim Crow. But the story of America is the story of the cashing of Martin Luther King Jr.'s promissory note: fulfilling the pledge of the Declaration of Independence to treat all men equally and to grant them the protection of their unalienable natural rights. America has worked to extirpate the nearly universal sin of bigotry in pursuit of the fulfillment of the declaration. The story of America is 1776, not 1619; it's Abraham Lincoln, not John C. Calhoun; it's Martin Luther King Jr., not Robin DiAngelo.
It is particularly true today that American society does not deserve the scorn being heaped upon her head. American society is decidedly not racist. According to Swedish economists from World Values, America is one of the most racially tolerant countries on Earth. American law has banned discrimination on race for two generations and more than half a century; in fact, the only racially discriminatory laws on the books cut in favor of racial minorities, who have been granted special privileges in arenas like college admissions.
The police are no longer instruments of racial terror, contrary to popular media narrative; in many of America's largest cities, police forces are either majority minority or nearly so, and police are not more likely to shoot and kill black Americans than white Americans. Problems of high crime in minority neighborhoods are generally a result of under-policing, rather than the converse.
Some problems of wealth inequality are in part products of history -- history always has consequences. But overwhelmingly, the pathways to success are not barred by discrimination. Black Americans occupy many of the most prominent positions in American society, from government, to entertainment, to education, to finance. Responsible individual decision-making is generally rewarded for all Americans, black and white. And Americans are more than willing to fight those who would obstruct the possibility of success for those who make the right decisions.
More and more Americans apparently believe that the American system is endemically racist -- yet the system produces more wealth, freedom and opportunity than any on Earth for millions of citizens of every color, creed and religion. If a majority of Americans believe that society is racist -- not just individuals, but a vast swath of friends and neighbors, and America's institutions to boot -- then it will be quite difficult for Americans to unify.
No country can survive its citizens seeing one another as enemies rather than friends and seeing their country as a reflection of continuing evil embedded in its history. America, like every other nation, requires a common philosophy, culture and history to survive. And yet those elements are being consistently eroded by those who would rather collapse the American system in pursuit of some unspecified utopia.
The police are no longer instruments of racial terror, contrary to popular media narrative; in many of America's largest cities, police forces are either majority minority or nearly so, and police are not more likely to shoot and kill black Americans than white Americans. Problems of high crime in minority neighborhoods are generally a result of under-policing, rather than the converse.
Some problems of wealth inequality are in part products of history -- history always has consequences. But overwhelmingly, the pathways to success are not barred by discrimination. Black Americans occupy many of the most prominent positions in American society, from government, to entertainment, to education, to finance. Responsible individual decision-making is generally rewarded for all Americans, black and white. And Americans are more than willing to fight those who would obstruct the possibility of success for those who make the right decisions.
More and more Americans apparently believe that the American system is endemically racist -- yet the system produces more wealth, freedom and opportunity than any on Earth for millions of citizens of every color, creed and religion. If a majority of Americans believe that society is racist -- not just individuals, but a vast swath of friends and neighbors, and America's institutions to boot -- then it will be quite difficult for Americans to unify.
No country can survive its citizens seeing one another as enemies rather than friends and seeing their country as a reflection of continuing evil embedded in its history. America, like every other nation, requires a common philosophy, culture and history to survive. And yet those elements are being consistently eroded by those who would rather collapse the American system in pursuit of some unspecified utopia.
The left is cunning. They took public education and indoctrinated the young.
We’re toast.
Maybe but I see some butter and marmalade on it.
I’ve heard it said that in a sense capitalism is racist. It rewards the smart and punishes the dull. Racist in that there are a lot of really smart blacks that do thrive and they are the exception that proves the rule: in the main, the “bell” curve shows the majority of blacks will not thrive under a capitalist system. Just theory. Does it hold any validity?..
E Pluribus Unum (Out of Many, One) and In God We Trust used to be standard mottoes for the country, whether official or unofficial.
We threw both of them away and we’re paying for it.
Old age and treachery beats youth and enthusiasm.
60s movies gave us rebels as role models. Fags as decent folk.
The Kentucky Moto - United We Stand, Divided We Fall
They are doing all they can to divide us so we fall. Do not take the bait.
I think it depends on how cynical one is.
I would say that capitalism is a meritocracy and if you have what it takes, you will generally rise up and succeed. And I think both blacks and whites can succeed in that system. I am not a racist.
Now, a Leftist (I think) is more likely to say that blacks cannot compete in that environment. It’s unfair. Blacks don’t have what it takes and capitalism is a tool to keep them down and make sure that the white folks get all the goodies. So, the Left may say that “capitalism is racist” but the reality may just be that “Leftists are racist”.
LOL...beat me too it. Lots of experience with us old timers (I'm only 50) and many of us (not me) with experience killing commies.
The Lord created ALL men equal, but He did not guarantee the outcome. That is up to each person and what they put into life, but you can’t teach that to the “Participation Trophy” generation.
I think the intelligent hard-working blacks are not exceptions to the rule - they are the rule. The majority of blacks will not thrive because they are either not intelligent or well educated, and lack a work ethic. With the decks often stacked in their favor by way of racial quotas, a well motivated and educated black should be successful*.
*Unless he starts a business in a black neighborhood and blacks burn it down.
A lie told often enough becomes the truth.
In my experience capitalism doesn't require a lot of intelligence, just hard work. Enterpreneurial blacks that I know that are making it, are making it small time. Most get just a passing income with a lot of work.
But crony Marxist system certainly does - otherwise you end up carrying an AK-47 on the front lines or out in the fields digging potatoes. Those who are clever enough can become trusted insiders and live an easier life - while watching their backs 24x7 and terrified of speaking one wrong word.
I think the anti-capitalists have no idea how badly they are about to screw themselves.
In order to destroy this country they have to make the residents hate it. Successful in some quarters.
The black community is perhaps the most effective foil the Left has and it makes every effort to assure that blacks continue to lag; and then, it delights in pointing out that our system is responsible for that lag.
For example, reintroducing and emphasizing "wealth inequality" as a concept is nonsensical. Just a few decades ago the Left advocated at the elementary school level that keeping score was not important for intramural sports (after they tried but failed to ban competitive sports entirely)>
They took it - we can take it back.
Why do you feel THEY can undo the Founding Fathers but we can’t undo their damage? I mean come on...
Ben is right.
Ben is right.
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