The Antiplanner grew up in the 1960s, when racism was rampant, we were fighting an undeclared and, many believed, immoral war on the other side of the world, and air pollution was so thick in American cities that visibility was often significantly reduced. By the time I was out of college in the mid-1970s, the war was over, racial discrimination seemed to be history, but the environment still appeared to be in trouble. I elected to spend my career working on environmental issues.
“My whole thing is that the world needs to wake the fuck up,” said 27-year-old Ferguson resident Darren Seals. “When a boy was just laying here dead, we didn’t get all this attention. Burn Quick Trip down and now everybody coming. That’s sending off the wrong message. We got to start valuing life more than we value material. It’s been more about the rioting than the boy being dead. His life is more valuable than any of that. It shouldn’t be money over everything. It should be life over everything.” Flickr photo by Youth Radio.
It turns out that was the easy choice. Today, air pollution is practically nil in all but a few major urban areas. Rivers and streams are also mostly cleaned up. At least 5 percent, and probably much more, of the land area of the United States is in a wilderness or other classification that will never be developed.
Meanwhile, we are still engaged in undeclared and, many would say, immoral wars on the other side of the world and racism, though often more subtle, is still rampant. It’s hard to argue that racism has ended when
- Blacks discover they are more likely to get job interviews if their prospective employers don’t know their race
- Black teens are 21 times more likely to be killed by police than white teens
- Blacks are six times as likely to be in prison as whites
- One out of three black males spend part of their lives in prison
- Police are far more likely to stop and frisk blacks than whites
- A photo of interracial couples at a prom (at a high school named after Booker T. Washington) is called “every white girls father’s worst nightmare” rather than a celebration of post-racial society.
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Though few people would admit to being racist, casual racism today is openly expressed as criticisms against Latino immigrants. Yet the data show that first-generation Latinos have similar incomes and homeownership rates as blacks, while by the third generation, Latino incomes and homeownership rates are nearly equal to whites. Needless today, blacks have been here for many generations yet their status hasn’t improved in decades. As I’ve noted here before, the political status of African-Americans has improved, but their economic status has not: relative to white’s, black per capita incomes have hardly changed in more than 50 years.
There are many reasons why many if not most blacks remain a significant part of a permanent underclass in the United States. Single-parent families encouraged, in part, by the welfare system failed to give young blacks the courage to do better. Too many educators have given up on blacks, with cities continuing to offer students in predominantly black high schools fewer courses and opportunities. The ridiculous war on drugs has put too many blacks in prison or jail for what would otherwise be victimless crimes.
An underlying problem is that blacks and whites remain culturally immiscible, leading each to fear one another. Blacks fear they will be discriminated against; whites fear they will be victims of crime or, at the least, accused of being racist. These fears make it easier not to interact with one another, but also make it hard for law enforcement agencies and the justice system to cross racial lines.
It is easy to blame these problems on individuals, but a lot of them are institutional. We need to give black parents more school choices for their children. We need to have more community policing programs so police officers know the people they supposedly protect and serve. We need to create paths for people to escape the cycle of poverty that seems to particularly afflict blacks.
Some might think that I’m arguing for big-government solutions to the problem of race. But the greatest successes in 1960s came from ending laws that mandated segregation; laws or court rulings that mandated integration failed. In other words, government worked best by getting out of the way.
Some things, such as community policing, may require more dollars, but even most libertarians agree that police is a legitimate function of government. Other things, such as a school voucher system, could actually save taxpayers’ money by making schools more efficient. We need to evaluate all domestic programs to see whether they are actively helping or hindering an end to racism in the United States. I suspect the results will be surprising and disillusioning to those who believe government is the solution, but they will also be disillusioning to those who imagine we live in a fair and just society.
“Blacks discover they are more likely to get job interviews if their prospective employers don’t know their race”
I don’t like the terms ‘black’ and ‘white’. Firstly, it makes the people sound as if they are from different species, which they are not. Secondly, the categories are self-defined, which makes it impossible to do sensible statistics. We are betrayed by our limited vocabulary.
When I listen to my friends on this issue I hear a recurring theme that you can also hear in the news narrative. (Of course you have to understand that the news industry is a for-profit business that is very much driven by entertainment values in their decisions on content.)
My friends really don’t care about the deceased one lick. They “project themselves” into that situation because they’ve been there before (confronted by an officer of a different race) AND (the big AND) their pride was in someway offended/wounded by the encounter. And, I too have encounters with police when I’m breaking no laws at all and I naturally take offense that they thought I was breaking some law – my pride can get wounded also. And, (in all caps) THAT IS THE NATURE OF ENGAGING THE POLICE. If you don’t understand that, you’ll nurse that pride-wound and try to blame it on something else like racism until you make yourself sick.
That’s just my experience, with the people I know.
The problems you indicate as supposedly making racial disparity worse should affect other minorities as much as blacks. Crappy inner city schools hurts Latinos too, and school choice would improve their situation. Welfare benefits incentivizing single-parent families affects everyone. As you note, simply starting in poverty doesn’t necessitate staying in poverty. Two generations ago my grandparents were simple laborers with little or no education. My parents’ generation were all either military or 2-year nurses. My generation are all college graduates, and some of us are getting professional degrees. That works on an individual level, too – most people will work their way through at least 3 income quintiles in their lifetime.
But blacks are different. I’m slowly coming to the conclusion that there actually is something different about blacks. Not sure what it is, but nothing else seems to explain this problem.
Cavali-Sforza’s great book, “The History and Geography of Human Genes,” identifies at least 10 to 15 genetically identifiable groups (he refuses to use race) in Africa alone and a like number in the rest of the world. The actual number might be as high as 100. Nearly all American blacks come from the same region of west Africa and represent a single extended tribe.
These blacks are distinguishable from European whites in many ways besides skin color. There are small but tell-tale skeletal differences that permit racial assignment from bones alone. The average black IQ is 85, but includes blacks with significant white ancestry. Among the immiserated black underclass the average IQ is closer to 70. Blacks are also more impulsive and aggressive than whites. All of these are genetically influenced or controlled.
Inner city schools and teachers get a bad rap. The black underclass does not suffer from bad schools. They create bad schools, in large part because so many of the children are largely uneducable.
As to the effects of welfare on black families, it should be noted that the single mother syndrome is standard in Africa and the Caribbean and Brazil, none of which have the American welfare state.
And finally, 0bama, for all his racial agitation and instigation of racial animosity, is objectively an anti-black President. His insistence on open borders means that large numbers of Mexicans and Central Americans can enter the US and compete directly with working class and underclass blacks. These immigrants are also strongly anti-black, and where they exist in large numbers, as in southern California, they are carrying out ethnic cleansing.
I think the biggest reason for the lack of progress is that being black is no longer truly racial – but political. And the politicians who benefit from the black vote do everything they can to keep it that way. Simply put, because of a constant campaign by the major media, those controlling public education and the supposedly liberal politicians, blacks vote for people who hurt blacks.
For example:
1. We now have the first Southern black senator in over a hundred years. No mention in the mass media, no cheers from the NAACP and other such groups and schoolchildren haven’t even head his name.. Why – he is a Republican.
2. We have black wome elected into Congress – sae response. They too are Republican.
3.
Finishing prior comment.
2. We have black women elected into Congress – same response. They too are Republican.
3. When Condoleeza Rice was in the Bush cabinet, liberal comedians and commentators made racist and sexist comments against her. The Democrats laughed or kept silent. She was not really a black woman because se was a Republican.
This is more blatant racism than anything taking place in Ferguson. (other than black “leaders” cheering the burning/looting of black owned businesses). Until blacks are allowed to be individuals and are not attacked for not being “black” enough, there will be no progress.
“These blacks are distinguishable from European whites in many ways besides skin color. There are small but tell-tale skeletal differences that permit racial assignment from bones alone. The average black IQ is 85, but includes blacks with significant white ancestry. Among the immiserated black underclass the average IQ is closer to 70. Blacks are also more impulsive and aggressive than whites. All of these are genetically influenced or controlled.”
This sort of thing was one of the most controversial findings of a book called ‘The Bell Curve’. However, other researchers, looking at the same data, did not agree with that conclusion. It’s a big claim, and requires big evidence.
FantasiaWHT,
One difference between blacks and other minorities is that blacks have been subject to hundreds of years of discrimination on this continent. Many are now convinced they can’t get an even break, so they don’t try. One reason I lament working on environmental rather than civil rights issues in the 1970s is that it might have been far easier to break this cycle of discrimination, lack of ambition, and failure then than it is today.
“My whole thing is that the world needs to wake the fuck up,” said 27-year-old Ferguson resident Darren Seals. “When a boy was just laying here dead, we didn’t get all this attention. Burn Quick Trip down and now everybody coming. That’s sending off the wrong message. We got to start valuing life more than we value material.”
Unless Quick Trip killed someone, I’m not understanding how burning it down is helping your cause, Darren. You might get a better reception if you address your grievances towards the people who have actually wronged you. Just a thought.
“most libertarians agree that police is a legitimate function of government. ”
A beautiful appeal to the majority AND unsupported assertion.
And this article is rife with the misuse of the term “racism”.
Topically, Rich Lowry did a book review of The Pity Party: A Mean Spirited Diatribe Against Liberal Compassion, by William Voegel at: http://www.claremont.org/featured-article/i-feel-your-pain/#sthash.rvxrMXsY.dpuf
An excerpt:
The author goes too far in imputing racism. For example, blaming criticism of Latino immigration on racism is wrong in many cases. I have lived almost my whole life in the Southwest, among Hispanics, but I still say that we have a big problem with illegal Latino immigrants (why single out that group? because that’s the biggest group here in the SW). Parts of our cities are crime ridden messes, and that isn’t due to racism – it’s due to a pathological lifestyle that too many of the children of illegal immigrants adopt.
It happens time and time again – someone comes here so they can work hard and get a better life, but their kids fall into gangs and crime. Blaming that on racism is incorrect. Blaming objection to the uncontrolled immigration that leads to this on racism is offensive. The causes of this are complex, but it is a problem, and it would not happen without this uncontrolled illegal immigration.
There will always be racists. It seem, these days, that there will also be people seeing racism wherever they look, and then insulting those of us who disagree by calling our motives racist.
Ah, yes. Uncontrolled illegal immigration. That’s an age old tradition here.
It is not hard to see why blacks as a group are in trouble. Compare the world as viewed by kids in the formative years.
Who do they look up to — a father, a store owner, a doctor, a drug dealer or a sports star? Do they have a father in the house? Are they raised by their mother or grandmother? Is school hours of focused learning or just socializing and undisciplined classrooms? How much homework do the kids do, and does an adult help them? Are they expected to graduate high school? Are they expected to go to college? Do parents sacrifice to benefit their kids?
Government has given the black subculture all sorts of bad incentives, but that doesn’t destroy many other subcultures. Black leaders need to change the black subculture, but instead it is far more profitable to them to play on white guilt.
This is how blacks are taught that the world works…. https://screen.yahoo.com/white-000000112.html
“Are they expected to go to college?”
And mortgage their entire future? Oh, wait. They’re black, so they’ll get close to a full ride in gov’t grants, even if they’re unprepared for college and on academic probation much of the time. Because they’re black, they’ll be given extra points on admissions. Equally or perhaps even more qualified white candidates, some of whom grew up poor and in slums, may be denied admission or will have to borrow massive sums to pay for college. Or maybe the blacks who go to college will play footbal, basketball, baseball, and/or track and will get a full ride and won’t even have to go to class and will be handed a degree the previosly mentioned poor white student had to work his or her ass off to earn.
Read this Washington Post article by a graduate of some of the best DC public high schools with a high GPA who was given a full scholarship to Georgetown University.
“I went to some of D.C.’s best schools. I was still unprepared for college.”
http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/i-went-to-one-of-dcs-best-high-schools-i-was-still-unprepared-for-college/2012/04/13/gIQAqQQAFT_story.html