Update III (9/13): Did you land here from a search on “Juan Williams Enough?” Follow this link to access my review of his fabulous book.
Update II (9/1): Juan Williams on Getting Past Katrina.
Commenter Tracey writes: “Our problems start in the home with the family. “The Man†doesn’t make Black men be irresponsible and bail on Black women. ‘The Man’ doesn’t make Black women devalue themselves by settling for dishonorable males and then being second generation of welfare recipients with too many mouths to feed. ‘The Man’ doesn’t make us glorify rappers as heroes and put down the Juan Williams, the Bill Cosbys, the Rev. Jesse Lee Pattersons and the La Shawn Barbers who demand that we hold ourselves to a higher standard.
“I get so frustrated hearing my fellow Black man or a Black woman say how we are so disenfranchised and too weak to go vote (by voting machine according to Cynthia McKinney), get an education, get employment and to stop having kids out of wedlock.
“I am ordering my copy of this book now and I can’t wait to read it. I plan on giving it to a couple of my bitter, liberal “revolutionary†friends that I met in college who still have those beliefs.”
—————————————————————–
Just finished an interview with NPR’s Juan Williams, author of a new book, Enough: The Phony Leaders, Dead-End Movements, and Culture of Failure That Are Undermining Black America — and What We Can Do About It.
The interview will be excerpted for my Washington Examiner column and incorporated into a separate book review.
As a registered Democrat, Williams (whose son is a Republican) is quite brave for going against the flow and writing a book that’s highly critical of black so-called leadership and the current state of black America. He’s also very gracious. I asked him about blogs, of course. Can’t wait to share. Check the blog for links to the interview and review.
In other news, Thomas Lifson at The American Thinker dissects an article about skin color diversity in the University of California system. He notes that so-called diversity programs are aimed at the wrong group:
The whole edifice rests on doublespeak because the aim is to help certain groups at the expense of other groups…There is no majority population in California. Whites are a plurality, but they are under half of the population. So the euphemism “underrepresented minority†is employed. Falsely. You see, because Asian-heritage students excel at academics, they now outnumber whites at the top UC campuses. Caucasians account for a substantially smaller share of UC enrollment at the elite campuses than their share of the California population.
That means that whites are by definition an underrepresented minority! But you will never see UC including whites in the various schemes to benefit groups on the basis of race. Nor will they admit that the net effect of their efforts at racial engineering, should they succeed, would be to penalize hard-studying members of a racial minority…Fortunately, California voters passed an initiative banning the state from preferences based on race. So the bureaucrats are forced to resort to nonsense language and stealth to implement their agenda. In the process, they damage the university, penalize those who work hardest to achieve, and waste time and money.
Emphasis added. Good — and true — stuff. Will whites in California start clamoring for skin color preferences? Interesting!
California is a rogue state, and some of its judges follow suit. Despite state law, approved by 54 percent of the voters, that prohibits the use of race in public hiring, education, and contracting, a state court judge says, and I paraphrase, “So what? I’m not bound by state law.”
Gail A. Andler decided from on high that race may be considered when setting school attendance boundaries.
Update: March Hare blogged about Asians at UC and affirmative action last year. Check out Part I and Part II.
{ 1 trackback }
{ 25 comments }
Hey! I blogged about this ~last~ year:
http://marchhareshouse.blogspot.com/2005/07/affirmative-actionp-i.html
and
http://marchhareshouse.blogspot.com/2005/07/affirmative-action-pii.html
Frankly, the Asians were complaining that admissions to U.C. Berkeley should be on academic scores only back in the 1980’s. And Lowell High School, the high-standard academic high school in San Francisco, has long had different standards for girls and boys. (They may also have racial “quotas” as well. I’m not sure.) If they didn’t, everyone knows the schools would be 98% Asian girls.
This is not new. Nor is the fact that white males are the new “underrepresented minority.”
My nephew in California will enter college next year; he is half-Korean and half-Anglo.
Because his father presented him with the anglo-half, he has a British-sounding surname.
Were his father to have been the Korean-half and his mother anglo, he would have a Korean-sounding surname.
In case 1), above, he is considered by the state as an anglo.
In case 2) above, he would be considered by the state as Asian.
He would be exactly the same person in either instance–but the preferences/government programs/benefits available to him would be completely different.
I’m sure, though, that the Calif. courts can present a logical and legal case for maintaining different government responses to him in both cases…
From the article about Juan Willams son: ‘Every evening Williams canvasses a portion of Ward 6, which covers Capitol Hill and a chunk of the Southeast quadrant, talking with residents and handing out campaign literature. Last Thursday, working the waterfront area, he was polished and polite, introducing himself as the Republican candidate for city council, which tended to draw sour faces. But as the candidate explained his ideas for improving schools, safety, and the general welfare of the community, people opened up to him and told him about their frustrations and concerns.’
I might be a Republican/conservative if more candidates made an effort to do things like this. They don’t do this in my area, which is racially mixed. All I get is flyers in the mail, which to me don’t help me get to know a candidate.
I look forward to your interview and review, LB.
Sorry La Shawn, that pingback came through without the quote I’d intended. I’m still getting used to working with WP! I actually did go into the topic.
Please learn some blog etiquette and stop leaving off-topic comments with a link to your blog. That’s called spamming, dude, and it’s frown upon out here. Post a meaningful comment, and if people want to visit your blog, they’ll click on your name. – Admin
I heard Williams speak last year. He told some great stories about meeting Thurgood Marshall and about Marshall’s formative years in college when he didn’t want to get involved in politics, etc. and the experiences that changed him. Williams is a great speaker. He spoke for 40 minutes and delivered the entire address with no notes. I think he carries a lot of credibility and is an effective messenger for this particular viewpoint.
I haven’t been on your blog in a while. Man have you ‘blown-up’. It’s good. Keep up the good work. I’ll be in to read from time to time.
Peace,
-jJ
La Shawn,
Juan Williams is a very handsome man. Any sparks between you two or is there someone else in your life? Maybe he’s married? Hmm…
Pardon me for getting in your Kool Aid. Just playing matchmaker here.
Intelligence and looks. The two of you together would be the BOMB! If he’s single and kind, I’d say go for it!!!!
Wait a minute LaShawn! YOU did an interview with Juan Williams????
Wow! Interesting. How did you get all of these connections and turn into a star so fast??????
I know you have good looks and charm that go a long way (perhaps giving you an unfair advantage)…but what’s really the secret to your success???? I’m waiting for the LaShawn Barber book on success. (those who post here should receive free complementary copies).
Anyway…
I recently posted another interview with Juan, since the last time I posted here.
You can listen here:
http://mirroronamerica.blogspot.com/2006/08/exclusive-interview-with-juan-williams.html
I also have the video of a MAJOR symposium on this subject that I am about to post….. I will post it here sometime this evening (time permitting)…. Didn’t have Juan in it…. but a who’s who of everyone else was there at this event.
La Shawn:
One of my best friends here is a Black anesthesiologist who is – sadly – going back to her husband and family in New Orleans. She came her following Katrina, which damaged their home.
She was taught from birth that Black Republicans are “traitors”.
Only at age 43 (not too far off from your age) she has “seen the light” – blindly voting Democrat has NOT helped her or her people.
Juan Williams is in the same mold. He is a thinking person, trying to break loose from a generation of propaganda of socialists disguized as “civil rights activism”.
Response to #10: Any success La Shawn has had is from working VERY hard and being a GREAT person (whom I’ve never met, but would like to).
I’ve never been a huge Juan Williams fan. I would love to give Williams the benefit of the doubt because of his book, however I think there “might” be another motive behind it. I could be wrong. If he’s always felt this way about the problems in the black community, why didn’t he say so sooner? I admire Bill Cosby for just coming out and saying what the problem is without having to wait for a book deal in order to do it. Reverend Jesse Lee Peterson was speaking out on the problems long before he even wrote his first book. I don’t believe writing a book in itself is brave, especially when that person is going to receive monetary compensation for doing it. If his motives are legitimate, then I commend him for it, but I guess in the end only Juan knows what his motives are.
Miss La Shawn,
The book, “Enough: The Phony Leaders, Dead-End Movements, and Culture of Failure That Are Undermining Black America — and What We Can Do About It” should be a required read by all Blacks especially those who love to blame “the Man” for everything.
I grew up in a Democratic household of a military father and stay-at-home mother. I always was told that the Democrats had our back and the Republicans were only for the rich. It wasn’t until about 2 years ago that I finally saw the light. The liberals like to fool Blacks into believing they are responsible for the Civil Rights Act and gaining the right to vote. Liberals practice racism by low expectation.
The Democrats may have been a decent party at one time but my how times have changed. The liberals want to destroy America and Blacks continue to blindly align themselves with them. I stopped listening to Jesse and Al (I refuse to call them Reverend) a while back. They constantly use shake down tactics and extortion. To this day Al never apologized to Steven Pagones for the whole Tawana Brawley incident. And of course, Jesse was front and center in regards to the lying skank stripper in Durham.
Our problems start in the home with the family. “The Man” doesn’t make Black men be irresponsible and bail on Black women. “The Man” doesn’t make Black women devalue themselves by settling for dishonorable males and then being second generation of welfare recipients with too many mouths to feed. “The Man” doesn’t make us glorify rappers as heroes and put down the Juan Williams, the Bill Cosbys, the Rev. Jesse Lee Pattersons and the La Shawn Barbers who demand that we hold ourselves to a higher standard.
I get so frustrated hearing my fellow Black man or a Black woman say how we are so disenfranchised and too weak to go vote (by voting machine according to Cynthia McKinney), get an education, get employment and to stop having kids out of wedlock.
I am ordering my copy of this book now and I can’t wait to read it. I plan on giving it to a couple of my bitter, liberal “revolutionary” friends that I met in college who still have those beliefs.
La Shawn:
Bill Cosby and Juan Williams have apparently influenced one Hamas leader.
Hamas Government Palestinian spokesman Dr. Ghazi Hamad has come out with a statement that the PALESTINIAN PEOPLE THEMSELVES ARE RESPONSIBLE FOR MANY OF THEIR PROBLEMS. WOW – WHAT A BRAVE MAN.
this is a quite a war
Iran Defies U.N. Deadline to End Uranium Enrichment Program
Here is the symposium that I meant to post yesterday… was overwhelmed yesterday with too many other things.
But here it is. You can view it from the link below.
http://mirroronamerica.blogspot.com/2006/09/major-symposium-on-future-for-african.html
Juan Williams is not in it, but there’s a who’s who of everyone else. The Jessie Jacksons and the Al Sharptons are not included, lol. That’s part of what makes it so good.
I haven’t read Juan’s book, but I watch him on Fox a lot. I respect this man because he respects himself and others and I can tell he believes in what he says. I may not agree with some of his liberal viewpoints, but because I respect Juan, I will listen to him and consider his point of view. I sincerely hope that others will as well.
Recommended reading:
A Secret History of the Democratic Party
Democratic And Republican Platforms Through The Years
Why Courting the Black Vote Won’t Work
— Admin
Juan Williams makes me laugh every time he pipes up on the “Fox all-Stars” repeating Democratic yammering points as if they were true. But if his book is a critical examination of those mentioned in the title I’m all for it. All he needs to add to that title is: “And Al Sharpton is #37!”
While I agree that Juan Williams raises excellent points, to deny that white privilege is not alive and well is a fantasy. As a person who has just completed her Master’s Degree, I find most of my resistance does come not from other blacks, but from whites who are threatened by my education. You say, pull yourselves up by your bootstraps, but then you proceed to cut my bootstraps behind my back while smiling in my face at work. I believe that there should be a war against the “hip-hop” culture because it has failed to serve its original purpose, to uplift blacks. One thing that does concern me is the unfounded generalizations, such as black women having babies out of wedlock. The majority of those births statistically belong to the white community. The wave of unwed mothers is a tiny representation of black women. I do thank Williams for his stance against the hip hop culture.
If diversity were so important, why is it the ones clamoring for diversity set up these groups that are exclusionary by race?
Well, I think it might be because they are really crazy.
#21 – I decided to check on the statistics for “nonmarital” live births in the US. I found the information here:
http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/hus/hus05.pdf#010
This information comes from page 142 of the report. Live births per 1000 unmarried women, the trend since 1970 has risen dramatically (Roe v. Wade, anyone???). Information is not available for all races for all year-marks.
When age is not considered, looking at the most recent data (2003), the live birth rates (per 1000 unmarried women age 15-44) are as follows:
White: 40.4
Black/African-American: 66.3
Asian or Pacific Islander: 22.2
Hispanic or Latino: 92.2
White, not Hispanic or Latino: 28.6 (I don’t understand this difference between “white” and “white, not hispanic or latino….)
As a percentage of live births to unmarried mothers:
White: 29.4
Black/African-American: 68.2
American Indian or Alaska Native: 61.3
Asian or Pacific Islander: 15.0
Hispanic or Latino: 45.0
Not Hispanic or Latino: (again, I don’t know why these are different than those already listed above…)
White: 23.6
Black or African-American: 68.5
Generalization usually have some basis in truth. These statistics don’t say anything about the entire size of the specific racial populations, just about live births. For Black/African-American live births, the percentage of unmarried mothers is highest, with American Indians coming in a close second, followed by Hispanics. Not having any references handy, I seem to recall that these populations have high poverty rates. Correlation?
On page 143 of the report, it shows live births as related to the education of the mother (either no high school diploma, or a college degree, but nothing for high school graduate and/or some college – I don’t know why that category of educational level was left out), broken down by race:
Percent of live births:
Less than 12 years of education:
White: 21.8
Black/African-American: 24.0
American Indian or Alaska Native: 30.5
Asian or Pacific Islander: 9.9
Hispanic Latino: 47.5
16 years or more of education:
White: 27.9
Black or African American: 13.4
American Indian or Alaska Native: 8.5
Asian or Pacific Islander: 47.1
Hispanic or Latino: 8.7
Looking at these statistics, I guess that those unmarried mothers, of all races, are likely not perusing higher education. Educated Black/African-American women account for only 13.4 percent of all live births to Black/African-American women.
As for “white privilege”. I think it is more like “wealthy privilege”. I’m white, and I have never felt privileged, or that I have had a leg-up because of my race. Yes, I went to college, but I paid for it with academic scholarship and federal financial aid. I went to a state/public university because my family could not afford anything else (my dream was to go to Ithaca College, London Campus, which at the time was $7000 a semester – I’m sure it’s worse now).
I also don’t think I am better than people from other races. My father was in the Army, and I went to schools with lots of other military brats (base housing stateside, and DoDDS schools in Germany). I have always been around all kinds of people, and I had all kinds of people as my friends. I think I am this way because people of other races are not strange/unfamiliar to me. I make judgements of people based on their actions, not the color of their skin, and most people I know are th same way.
I found Enough to be excellent. An editorial review that is on Amazon from the Washington Post is written by an African American studies professor. He favorably compares Tavis Smiley’s The Covenant With Black America to this book. I am reading the Smiley book now. I find that minor emphasis is put on personal responsibility, and bold emphasis is put on government intervention.
Miss Ladybug, I commend you for all the scholarly work you put into that comment. Good job.
I believe that the world is getting better in terms of race relations. The internet is interconnecting us all, creating social interactions such as happen on these blogs, which cannot help but improve intra-racial communications. Yes, it is slowly, very slowly happening. But I’d rather see slow but sure steps taken rather than things remaining as they were in the past.
Could the good intentions of the great society have been the most devastating blow to black culture and the black population in general? How would a man who has worked hard to provide for his family except the fact that his family would be financially better off if he wasn’t living with them. This reality could destroy the proudest of men.
Could society have eased the poverty without destroying the pride?
Comments on this entry are closed.