Comments on: La Shawn Barber, Race Blogger

By: Shade

Shade — Tue, 30 May 2006 19:19:42 +0000

Question for LaShawn

Do you feel that black people tend to be genetically inclined to be intellectually inferior to whites?

By: glenn

glenn — Tue, 30 May 2006 17:04:29 +0000

I’m sending this comment to your boss at Procter and Gamble to see if he/she shares your views. Let me know! – Admin

By: Chief RZ

Chief RZ — Tue, 30 May 2006 13:33:04 +0000

I wish more people felt strong enough to declare their independence like you apparently have, LaShawn. You appear young, and may not have heard or believe, but for a short slither of time, sometime around 1962, things were coming together quickly. People were, truly accepted for their intelligence, education and personalities. A person’s skin color meant little. It was a great time. Then came the NAACP to claim their role as ‘rescuer’! They closed down neighborhood schools and bussed people hours from their homes. Forty years later, the failed experiment was admitted and we are basically back to square one. I hope the panderers stay out of it this time.

By: James

James — Tue, 30 May 2006 05:41:53 +0000

“â€œBlaming racism is a copout, an admission of inferiority, an easy excuse of the sedated. Cosby wants to help black people realize that in America – even though the country isnâ€™t perfect – the solution to any problem begins with the person with the problem.â€

Isnâ€™t that simply â€œblaming the victimâ€?”

Kman,

I don’t see how you can possibly say this. Let’s take, for example, the recent stories in the news regarding the stripper who was allegedly raped by the Lacrosse team members at Duke University. If the allegations are true, I have no sympathy for the perpetrators and truly hope they get whatever punishment is due them as required by law. At the same time, I would feel some sympathy for the stripper because she did not deserve to be raped simply because of her profession or for the fact that she was in the wrong place at the wrong time. The rape itself is not her fault. Any position other than that is “blaming the victim.”

On the other hand, she has control over the situations she puts herself in. If she learns anything from this, perhaps it will be that working for easy money as a stripper poses certain risks that may be unacceptable to her. She is the only one who can determine if these risks are acceptable or not, and she is the only person who can make the decision to change her lifestyle in order to reduce those risks.

By pointing out the fact that she is the only one capable of making that decision and taking control of her life, how is that “blaming the victim?” Now, take that same lesson and apply it to any number of people who are calling themselves “victims” when they are only being held back by their own unwillingness to do anything constructive about their current situation.

By: tweell

tweell — Tue, 30 May 2006 05:20:21 +0000

People are good, bad, smart, dumb, nice, mean, and many more qualities, many at the same time. I have never found any human color coding that makes this easier to figure out. People who do think that there is such a color coding are fools, and should be dealt with as such.
There is much less variation with the various ‘races’ of human than there is between breeds of dog.

By: Don Meaker

Don Meaker — Mon, 29 May 2006 19:46:33 +0000

I am not a Christian. If there was a deity, the distance between that deity and humanity would be much broader than the differences between different members of our common humanity.

We don’t know the future. Because of that we don’t know which traits will support our common survival in the future. Diversity is a survival strategy that works.

Black, white? Who knows. I have three children that are white, and two who are black. Just as M. Albright found out that she was “Jewish” and Hillary found out that she was part “Black”, we all have things inside of us that we know not. The most important thing is our character, and that we can not hide.

I will add you to my weekly reads. You deserve it, and I would be impoverished if I missed your blog again.

By: Preston Taylor Holmes

Preston Taylor Holmes — Mon, 29 May 2006 19:13:30 +0000

You always prove that it’s about principle, not race-based groupthink. I love that about you, LSB.

By: Anti-Idiotarian Rottweiler

Anti-Idiotarian Rottweiler — Mon, 29 May 2006 17:59:53 +0000

She doesn’t give a fig.

By: Doug

Doug — Mon, 29 May 2006 03:47:14 +0000

La Shawn, you asked Kman for concrete examples of racism-if you don’t mind, I can share two from my own experience. I had a friend who managed an apartment complex. She told me that she would naturally make the requirements ‘tougher’ for blacks when they tried to rent.
Also, in the heart of Michigan’s Lower Peninsula a man once told me proudly that his town had never had a black person stay overnight. To me, that’s hardly as impressive as the world’s largest ‘cow flap’ or ball of twine.

By: Vikki

Vikki — Sun, 28 May 2006 23:11:08 +0000

You wrote:
“We can no more ignore these differences than we could a mack truck barreling down the street as we go to cross it. What I advocate is colorblind government policy, which is definitely do-able”

How would one create this do-able colorblind government policy? How will I as a black woman live in this “tension”?

By: Johnny Carpati

Johnny Carpati — Sun, 28 May 2006 22:55:18 +0000

But, to Sheryl R. The idea that there are no races is not science, it’s Marxist pseudo-science that’s probably just as responsible for the current state of black America as the attiudes rightly decried by LaShawn Barber. No race is mentally or physically superior, not overall, but each one generally has different strengths and weaknesses. Denial of that is one of the main things that’s destroying America.

By: Johnny Carpati

Johnny Carpati — Sun, 28 May 2006 22:17:48 +0000

I’d imagine it’s distressing to see so much racial nationalism (as opposed to simply racial concerns or racial pride) in the black community. No country or empire has ever been based primarily on racial nationalism except Nazi Germany. My theory, and it could be an insane one but hear me out, is that black American soldiers in World War II such as the ones who fought under the great General Patton basically agreed with Patton’s view the majority of the German army was far from the beasts of Allied propaganda and were noble enemies who happened to be fighting for a handful of evil leaders, more respectful and honorable than the so-called allies of the Red Army. And after black soldiers returned home to face shameful treatment, some of the angrier black Americans remembered their parents’ admiration for the German army and unconsciously they began to adopt the same kind of hate-filled racial nationalism espoused by the evil leaders their awe-inspiring enemies fought for.

By: juandos

juandos — Sun, 28 May 2006 13:00:14 +0000

Well dang it La Shawn, you went and did it again!

Keep making sense like this and you may end up being drafted for an elected office…:lol:

Good stuff lady, very good stuff!

By: Phillipe Copeland

Phillipe Copeland — Sat, 27 May 2006 18:03:47 +0000

Thanks Lashawn for your response I think I have a better understanding now of where you are coming from. I too believe that the challenges facing black Americans today are less about whites than about ourselves and our own transformation. I appreciate that you keep critiquing the culture of victimhood that disempowers many black folks while it enriches those who manipulate race for self ends. It’s refreshing to hear a voice taking on the rigidity of racial identity orthodoxy. Where we may differ is that as a mental health professional who happens to be black, I see everyday the very real impact of internalized racism on black families and individuals. While the social structures of racism in our society have clearly changed a great deal, the psychological impact for some people has been passed down from one generation to the next. It seems to me that any conversation of about improving the lives of black people has to include some recognition of the need for healing as well as personal responsibility and moral commitment.

As you exemplify, there are diverse ways of analyzing the situation that black folk find themselves in today so I don’t suggest that my view is right or better than yours. I just wanted to contribute to the dialogue. Thanks Lashawn.

By: M. Simon

M. Simon — Sat, 27 May 2006 03:49:51 +0000

BTW the same goes for the national hysteria about illegal immigration. No one is considering the possible side effects of what is proposed. Take tightening the border. When border controls were looser 50% of illegals went home after they made some money. Now the number is 25%. If we tighten enough we will slow the inward flows some but reduce the out flows to near zero. Side effects of immigration laws. Since we have a thriving black market in forged papers some kind of national ID is proposed. There may be some very unfortunate side effects to this proposal. Like a lot of Americans losing their jobs. Not to worry. The law proposed prevents class action suits against the government for such losses. In other words Congress expects this to blow up in their faces. Be very careful what you ask for. The Devil may give it to you. BTW sorry if this is OT. Please put it in the appropriate thread.