Comments on: Juan Williams, White Minority at UC, Etc.

By: Doug C.

Doug C. — Wed, 06 Sep 2006 03:09:34 +0000

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?

By: Doug

Doug — Tue, 05 Sep 2006 04:05:05 +0000

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.

By: Conservative Minority

Conservative Minority — Tue, 05 Sep 2006 02:16:46 +0000

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.

By: Miss Ladybug

Miss Ladybug — Mon, 04 Sep 2006 16:55:11 +0000

#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.

By: benrand

benrand — Mon, 04 Sep 2006 12:55:47 +0000

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.

By: Chloe

Chloe — Mon, 04 Sep 2006 04:23:16 +0000

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.

By: Doug

Doug — Sun, 03 Sep 2006 23:56:10 +0000

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!”

By: DJ

DJ — Sat, 02 Sep 2006 23:35:45 +0000

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

By: dianne

dianne — Sat, 02 Sep 2006 13:49:20 +0000

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.

By: The Angry Independent

The Angry Independent — Sat, 02 Sep 2006 02:35:52 +0000

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.

By: lamar hughes

lamar hughes — Fri, 01 Sep 2006 21:17:35 +0000

this is a quite a war Iran Defies U.N. Deadline to End Uranium Enrichment Program

By: Frank Zavisca

Frank Zavisca — Fri, 01 Sep 2006 20:32:27 +0000

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.

By: Tracey

Tracey — Fri, 01 Sep 2006 19:07:59 +0000

Miss La Shawn,

The book, “Enough: The Phony Leaders, Dead-End Movements, and Culture of Failure That Are Undermining Black America â€” 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.

By: Tyrone

Tyrone — Fri, 01 Sep 2006 12:14:36 +0000

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.

By: mj

mj — Fri, 01 Sep 2006 03:58:33 +0000

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).