I’m up to my eyeballs in work, but I wanted to post a couple of quick links this early morning.
First, NPR’s Juan Williams, author of Enough, is still catching it for his “conservative” views, if this op-ed (free reg. req.) is any indication.
In “The Hard Facts of Black America,” he lays out…hard facts. For the privilege, he’s called a turncoat, Uncle Tom, traitor — the usual stuff you’d hear from unimaginative, narrow-minded, limited black folks.
Quoting the 70 percent illegitimacy rate statistic, drop-out rate, poverty rate, prison rate, criminal culture, etc., doesn’t play too well with leftist blacks because of the “dirty laundry” stigma. There’s no stigma against getting knocked up or having served time in prison, but if you talk about how much of it goes on in the black community in front of white people, ostracism and insults, baby.
I’ve learned in my four years of blogging and writing that to name a thing is worse than being the thing. Haven’t figured out how that works yet…
Well, what is the brother doing besides talking and writing about it? What is he doing for his community?, ask the critics.
Talking and writing about these things, pushing them into the public debate, and encouraging people to discuss the issues, think critically, and solve their own problems is a worthy public service, in the opinion of this blogger. Check out my review of his book.
In other news, “Why the left fears free speech on campus,” written by David French, defender of academic freedom, is another must-read for the day.
Last week I wrote about raging white leftist idiots at Columbia University in “Rude and Intolerant Liberals at Columbia University.” They stormed the stage in “protest” against members of the Minuteman Project, a group of patriots willing to do what the federal government, including the Bush administration, won’t do: protect our freakin’ borders.
I read that Jim Gilchrist’s glasses were knocked off and broken, among other things, and someone (or more than one) called black Minuteman Marvin Stewart a “nigger.” He’s suing the university. The video is at YouTube. Hat tip: Independent Conservative, who has more video.
French says this about campus leftists:
The protesters hide behind tactics of the ’60s to lash out helplessly at a culture that seems (to them) to be inexorably moving right. With every branch of government in conservative hands, with the rise of conservative media and with the increasing influence of religious conservatives, the radical left feels under siege. To make matters worse, the conservative movement is now taking aim at the left’s last cultural bastion - the nation’s colleges and universities - in an effort to reopen the marketplace of ideas on campus.
In the ’60s, the excesses of campus radicals eventually led to a cultural backlash that ushered in the Reagan era. These same excesses committed in an era of blogs, YouTube downloads and talk radio lead to a much more immediate response. So, rather than reveling in last week’s momentary triumph, Columbia’s leftist radicals find themselves on the defensive, blaming others for the violence and begging the administration not to search the Internet for clues about the protesters’ identities.
I hope the idiot-students and the school remain on the defensive and are forced to account for their uncivilized behavior. Bored white fools at Columbia University have nothing to hang on to in their empty, godless lives, so they fill the void with outdated, irrelevant rants about racism, attack the people trying to defend their freedom to rant, and call a black patriot a nigger because he refuses to think and act the way they believe he should.
I’d love to see Stewart face to face on the street with one of those snotty kids. The words loose bowels and soiled underwear come to mind…
Update: Mychal Massie on the folly and tragedy of Section 8.
Talking and writing about these things, pushing them into the public debate, and encouraging people to discuss the issues, think critically, and solve their own problems is a worthy public service, in the opinion of this blogger.
In my opinion, if it were original or one of the firsts, then I would agree. At this point, it is old news and nothing but rehash. IMO, it’s been this way since before the Million Man March. So, in my opinion, it does no good.
In the tech field that I am in, identifying the problem is necessary, but so is providing solutions. In the world of human behavior, the same applies. You need to identify the problem and do things to address the problem.
The teenage OOW birth rate has been going down in the Black community since before welfare reform, although slowly. The latest twist on it is to point out the percentage of kids in single parent homes. It’s an interesting change to see but the problem is still there. The question is, yet again, what to do about it.
Those who are critics of so-called “Black leaders” usually ask, “So what are they doing to address problems?” So, why the double standard? Why aren’t solutions being asked?
Additionally, while Williams has pointed out where so-called “Black leaders” fall short, and where the 20% of the Black population has fallen short, why isn’t he pointing out examples of individuals and groups that are working to make a change?
Look at one group in D.C. who is trying to do something about altercations in their community: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/10/15/AR2006101501115_pf.html
How is it that I don’t hear or read Williams, Cosby, or “critics” of “Black pathology” mention the Black people and individuals who are working to change things?
How is it that the simple act of mentoring, in its many forms, doesn’t get mentioned?
Let’s examine Alcoholics Anonymous. One of the things they do to address the alcoholic’s problem is to assign a sponsor, in other words, a MENTOR to help guide the alcoholic thru their battle to change their behavior.
More churches are expanding their young teen ministries to address the real problems the teens will face. The growth in “lock down” events for teens by churches is a small example. Another example is the MENTORING those churches are providing for the teens to guide them through what a relationship with a person is supposed to be while living in the Word of God.
In your own back yard, Howard University has a charter school program AND they have university students to go into an elementary school in the area to mentor the students.
Since money is said to be the #1 reason why marriages fail, some churches are creating and running financial workshops for families to try to blunt that attack on marriages.
Groups like those listed at http://www.blackselfhelp.info get little notice by the same people who are the biggest critics of “Black pathologies” and they intentionally give the impression that Blacks aren’t doing anything because so-called leaders aren’t doing anything.
It’s a deceitful lie, IMO, that is intended to score rhetorical points.
IMO, Juan Williams, Bill Cosby, and other “critics” of so-called Black leaders, those with the public pulpit, have the responsibility to highlight those trying to change things besides showing the problems.
Otherwise, IMO, they are little different from the so-called “Black leaders” who they call race hustlers.
Comment by DarkStar — 10.17.06 @ 6:54 am
More examples of what I refer to in my previous post:
When “the religious right” talks about ending abortion, don’t they also talk about crisis pregnancy organizations?
When “the public religious right” talks about the OOW birth rate, don’t they also talk about abstinence programs that can address the situation?
When “the public religious right” talks about problems in education, don’t they also talk about home schooling programs and/or how to get active in the schools to address their concerns?
When “the public religious right” talks about ending homosexual behavior, don’t they talk about the success of “ex-homosexuals” and how they modified their behavior and the programs around to help homosexuals change their behavior?
And aren’t all of those given examples a form of mentoring?
Comment by DarkStar — 10.17.06 @ 7:00 am
People can tutor, which is a type of mentoring.
People can provide a good example by showing good behavior and the consequences of good behavior and what happens when you make a bad choice and are left to get out of the hole of the bad choice.
People can try to expand the horizons of kids who, right now, see the world as their neighborhood.
People can encourage parents who aren’t parenting well, to do a better job by making suggestions to better their parenting skills.
People can encourage kids to study because there are more options open if you do well in school.
People can encourage kids to flip burgers at MickyD’s to get cash to buy stuff they want to buy instead of slinging dope, which BTW, is not easy money.
People can encourage people to take part in Concerned Black Men, 100 Black Women, 100 Black Men, I Can’t We Can…
Comment by DarkStar — 10.17.06 @ 7:12 am
Well, yes. People should mentor. People should set a good example, people should lead.
PEOPLE. It is not a black thing, it is a people thing.
But when the “black community” builds a ghetto mentality of resistance and denial around itself and hides behind the evil of the white man and 300 years of slavery, the times call for positive black leadership. A Moses, if you will, to drag his people out of their own evil ways.
Meanwhile, those who have figured it out, get the heck out of the black “community” ghetto mentality and move on with their productive lives.
Kudos to Juan Williams and Bill Cosby. They are preaching the gospel of personal responsibility. Meanwhile, Sharpton and Jackson and the Democratic Caucus are preaching to the black “community” ghetto mentality choir. Negative empowerment only makes the pathology worse.
Comment by Heliotrope — 10.17.06 @ 8:34 am
DarkStar, I hear you about the importance of offering solutions to serious social problems. However, when you have a community (black people) that refuses to accept personal responsibility for themselves in the first place, and you have another community (white liberals) who promote and encourage that wrong idea, then leaders who do nothing more than STATE THE FACTS are STILL doing something valuable.
By the way, I have not read Juan Williams exclusively so I don’t even know if your accusation is true. Is it absolutely true that none of his writings or speeches discuss solutions to the myriad of social problems he highlights? Also, if one of the “problems” is the black community’s inability to 1) accept responsibility for problems and 2) realize that it is within their power to change for the better, then isn’t Juan Williams in essence offering the solution when he asks blacks and black leaders to wake up and when he asks them to stop laying the blame elsewhere? Isn’t that the first solution — to admit there is a problem and accept where the responsibility rests?
I do agree with you that it is critical that more attention be given to those invidividuals, groups, and institutions who are trying to correct the social ills in the black community. There are many black grandmothers who are unsung heroes, providing for the physical, emotional, and educational needs of their grandchildren against all odds. I met a number of them when I lived and worked in North Carolina. There are also countless success stories, American success stories, of people born into impossible circumstances who were determined to make something better of their lives, and did. I was one of those people, but, I’m white, not black. Even so, we still have our problems as a community, and I have often been frustrated by the way that liberals refer to “poor people” as if we have no choice but to become whitetrash prostitutes and drug addicts and criminals. Excuse me? I didn’t find out until I was an adult that there were actually quite a few people like me; it would have been nice to have at least heard about them when I was growing up and struggling and feeling discouraged. People who model personal responsibility and determination to move toward positive growth and success should be discussed endlessly in our schools, places of worship, in the media, and yes, I’d even like to see some TV dramas and sitcoms that feature those characters who fight for a better life, who model moral behavior. We should hear less and less about those losers who always manage to have an excuse for their failures and who always conveniently point a finger at someone else (if you’re black, you point fingers at white people, and if you’re a poor white, you point fingers at rich whites). Too stupid.
Comment by Batyah — 10.17.06 @ 9:16 am
This is not only a time of good opportunity for black people, it is a time when if they do not step up to the plate and claim their God given abilities as well as responsibilities and rights as citizens, they will fall further into the abyss. Why? Because the country is changing demographically and the new immigrants in this country will take the jobs that don’t require specialized skills. They will take over the neighborhoods that are affordable. They will take a big bite out of the limited social programs that are available such as welfare, subsidized healthcare, etc. and the politicians will give it to them in exchange for their votes.
I’m sure some of you are thinking I’m being racist against the new immigrants, who are largely Mexican and most illegal, but I’m not. I’m simply stating the facts. Unless some kind of miracle happens, the illegals are going to get amnesty thanks to our worthless politicians and they are going to have a tremendous impact on our entire society.
Undereducated, lazy Whites are going to face the same problems. Those who drop out of high school and lay on their butts will find themselves on the street.
It’s no longer good enough to be able to drive a cab or plaster a wall or wait on tables or work in a commercial chicken operation ..the kind of jobs that don’t require any specialized schooling, because there’s a limit to the numbers of these kinds of jobs and the competition is fierce. You need to become a licensed electrician or plumber or small business owner or better to be assured of your financial future in the blue collar world. I’ve also heard that in many southwestern states, you can’t even get a job as a firefighter or policemen or store clerk if you aren’t bilingual. My nephews ran a successful lawn and garden care business in a suburb of Illinois until they were outbid time and time again by Mexicans, many of whom hired illegals and didn’t pay benefits/taxes. My nephews had to acquire new skills, become licensed plumbers and change their business model to stay in business.
I don’t have statistics to back up what I just said, but I bet that the stats would support my thesis of the future of our country a few years from now. The times they are a changing and those of us of any color who don’t step up to the new challenges facing this country will find themselves in the gutter.
Comment by dianne — 10.17.06 @ 10:13 am
Talking and writing about these things, pushing them into the public debate, and encouraging people to discuss the issues, think critically, and solve their own problems is a worthy public service, in the opinion of this blogger.
One problem comes when it appears that instead of talking TO black people, folks talk ABOUT black people, especially when the audience is mostly white.
The next problem comes when a person like Williams or Cosby is vehemently embraced by the Right/Republicans despite not being a member. The negative perception that Blacks have toward The Right is then extended to these individuals. Cosby didn’t intend to be a tool for The Right.
“I don’t care what right-wing white people are thinking.” - Bill Cosby
Comment by Shade — 10.17.06 @ 12:10 pm
Follow-up. I do believe that both Williams and Cosby are talking TO black people and are doing so for constructive reasons and not to put people down. I think that both are issuing “tough love”.
Comment by Shade — 10.17.06 @ 12:13 pm
So…. it’s wrong for a white guy like me to admire Cosby and respect his opinions, because if I do he become my “tool?” Somewhere along that path, the logic got lost.
Comment by RedBeard — 10.17.06 @ 12:56 pm
No. It’s when a political faction attempts to make someone their poster child who was not seeking that role. I thought that should have been clearly understood.
Comment by Shade — 10.17.06 @ 1:09 pm
All I’ve seen is other conservatives, white and black, express admiration for Cosby’s outspokenness.
Far from wanting to make him a poster child, I applaud his independence and support his position of not basing his comments upon anything I’m thinking.
Comment by RedBeard — 10.17.06 @ 1:48 pm
Isn’t Stewart’s lawsuit over being called “nigger” just aping the Apostles of Conspicuous Compassion in celebrating the cult of the whiny? Just ignore them. They just discredit themselves with such silly antics.
Comment by Francois Krodel — 10.17.06 @ 2:08 pm
Mr. Krodel,
Ignoring them is wrong. They assaulted those guests and that is a crime. Crimes should never be ignored in a good and just society.
Re: French on 60’s tactics used by the liberal college students… it goes back further than that: the 30’s and the 40’s in Nazi Germany. They were called “Brownshirts” and they were young toughs who aggressively intimidated anyone who spoke up against the regime.
Comment by atheling2 — 10.17.06 @ 2:37 pm
#13 atheling2: May I add this?
The libs are so quick to attack Bill Bennett for his gambling and call him a hypocrit……….. Well, the progenitors of “hate speech” and “political correctness” are not immune from the same tarring and feathering.
The difference is that Bennett was not calling gambling a virtue and in his case, it was not a vice. (He measured his financial security in losing to gambling and did not endanger the safety of his family.)
But the libs declare the boundaries of what they will accept and then boldly step across the lines and throw the dirt they claim to abhor.
Comment by Heliotrope — 10.17.06 @ 7:17 pm
I think the treatise of Mr. Williams book is excellent. At present there is a severe lack of accountability and responsibility in the black community. Also a dearth of black fathers and positive black male role models. I am a black man and I can remember going to the barber shop with my father and to a man they would ask me what I wanted to be when I grew up. I don’t see this kind of thing very much. I have seen more women taking their son’s to the barber shop in lieu of the man. Some of the concepts of right and wrong were taught there. The barber was an independent businessman providing a great service to all the men and boys of my particular community. You had a radical hate whitey type an intellectual brother that was at the University of Chicago and then you had blue collar men like my father who was a truck driver. I know it sounds like the Diamond Jim’s shop he was there running off at the mouth. When I became a teenager I mustered up the gumption and asked why does he complain and never gets a haircut? The place erupted with laughter and one of the men said “young-blood has a point.” You there was a lot of manhood training going on there and rites of passage too. Those men would ask how I was doing in school and how the football team I was playing on was doing. This kind of thing is what is missing in the black community NO MEN willing to be his brother’s and his brother’s son keeper.
Comment by Warrior Nurse — 10.17.06 @ 7:18 pm
“IMO, Juan Williams, Bill Cosby, and other “critics†of so-called Black leaders, those with the public pulpit, have the responsibility to highlight those trying to change things besides showing the problems.”
I distinctly recall Cosby in the same paragraph praising all the civil rights work, people being called n— and getting beat up to get into college while at the same time tough-love mocking today’s black youth for doing the black think and dropping out of high school and not wanting to speak proper English.
I don’t know for sure and have not looked into it myself, but I thought Cosby had a reputation for helping black causes. At least the causes that someone with a real Ph.D. in Education would support.
Comment by UNK — 10.17.06 @ 8:39 pm
Warrior Nurse, men seem to be missing everywhere. Whether commercials & tv shows portray them as bumbling fools, or grrl power elevates women at the expense of men, they just don’t have the presence that they used to. (And I don’t mean as the domineering chauvenistic jerk caricature.)
I agree with you; the good role models are gone,and we’re all paying the price for that loss. I remember passing by a family in the store once, and the only snippet of their conversation I heard was the dad saying to the kids, “You listen to your mother,” with a solid, authoritative tone. No yelling, no soft touch. It was music to my ears.
Comment by FL Mom — 10.17.06 @ 11:47 pm
“One problem comes when it appears that instead of talking TO black people, folks talk ABOUT black people, especially when the audience is mostly white.”
And why is that? I live in a black community and they reularly talk ABOUT white people. When did it become taboo for whites to talk about blacks but OK for blacks to talk about whites?
I dont think any conservative tars blacks with a wide brush. I think the problem conservatives have is why blacks vote so overwhelminbgly for democrats. No other minority demographic is like that. Latinos, Asian, even blacks from African descent do not vote overwhelmigly Democrat, yet African Americans do as a racial demographic.
So people are left to wonder why balcks would vote for people who espouse the very things that probably are not in their best interests, like the things white liberals espouse….
Comment by e_alex — 10.18.06 @ 11:06 am
Why is it that so many groups seem to require their members to engage in absolute “group think” or risk shunning? Could it possibly be that the ideas held so dear by the main group are not supportable by fact and logic and thus, anyone espousing an alternative point of view poses a very real threat to the survival of the group?
Comment by Gayle Miller — 10.18.06 @ 3:02 pm
I think it is people like Mr. Williams who are the real heirs to Dr. King’s legacy. Now that we all have equality, it’s time to show what we can do with it.
Yes, there are still racists and bigots. Yes, there is still evil in the world. However it what you do with your own future today that matters.
One the black community is able to shake off self-serving vampires like Rev. Jackson, it will be much better off.
Comment by E L Frederick — 10.18.06 @ 4:12 pm
And why is that? I live in a black community and they reularly talk ABOUT white people. When did it become taboo for whites to talk about blacks but OK for blacks to talk about whites?
Sigh…
Nobody is talking about what is taboo or not. We are talking about what is most likely to yield positive results. People are more likely to respect someone who talks to them rather than talks about them. This goes for all people, black, white, red, yellow, green, etc.
Comment by Shade — 10.18.06 @ 4:35 pm
“It’s when a political faction attempts to make someone their poster child”
Is agreeing with someone equivalent to making them a “poster child”? I am confused about this notion and wonder how one can realistically agree with someone without being accused of ulterior motives?
Comment by jan — 10.18.06 @ 9:04 pm
No one here can demonstrate where a group of Black people thought one way, heard what a so-called “Black leader” said and they changed their thinking.
Meanwhile, I can tell you that when Sharpton ran for the Dem presidential nomination, he won only 1 majority Black district. Yet people will say Sharpton is a Black leader.
Comment by DarkStar — 10.18.06 @ 9:58 pm
Hot Air gal pal round-up
Mary Katharine Ham debuts Ham Nation at Townhall.com. Excellent. Kirsten Powers takes on the thuggish Left. La Shawn Barber weighs in on Juan Williams….
Trackback by Michelle Malkin — 10.18.06 @ 10:02 pm
Je$$ie and $harpton are only interested in the “money” they can suck from the people and extort from major businesses. They have did more damage to the black community than anyone in history. Not for religion, not for politics, All for money.
Comment by Scrapiron — 10.18.06 @ 11:17 pm
I like Juan Williams.
Always have, always will.
Comment by The Liberal Avenger — 10.19.06 @ 12:07 am
Is agreeing with someone equivalent to making them a “poster child�
Agreeing with someone and drooling over their comments are two different things. Cosby has never been viewed as conservative, yet he takes one stance that could be considered conservative (comments I have heard in the black community since I was a child) and we keep hearing over and over how he has “left the Democratic plantation”. Cosby is not saying anything new. He’s not unique in the black community.
A liberal who takes one conservative stance is still given low regards by conservatives unless that one stance is related to race. Black conservatives are held in highest regards when they are critical of blacks. I wonder how much participation this blog would get if race wasn’t the central theme.
Shade, I missed this comment. Here’s my reply:
“Shade, wonder all you want. I blog about race because somebody needs to counter the prevailing leftist view out there. And if people like coming here because they can discuss race without being called a racist and without calling others racists, it’s my privilege to provide the forum. One more crack about what I choose to blog about, and you won’t be participating. Don’t worry about why people read and comment on LBC. You have no idea the sort of people who read my blog and don’t (or can’t) comment. Because of privacy, I won’t name names. Just keep your concerns on-topic. - Admin
Comment by Shade — 10.19.06 @ 9:03 am
No thinking person could ever associate Juan Williams with a general socio/political viewpoint other than left-liberal. That he has voiced observations that cause discomfort to the denizens of the moonbat fever swamps cannot change that irrefutable fact.
I assume that is why he will receive unusual venom from those quarters.
Comment by Jerry in Chicago — 10.19.06 @ 10:02 am
To DarkStar–you said: Let’s examine Alcoholics Anonymous. One of the things they do to address the alcoholic’s problem is to assign a sponsor, in other words, a MENTOR to help guide the alcoholic thru their battle to change their behavior.
However, what you fail to address is first and foremost the “alcoholic” MUST ADMIT HE/SHE HAS A PROBLEM!!!!! So, living in denial is equivalent to living in death. There is nothing wrong in what Juan, Bill or others are doing. You must first recognize and ADMIT there’s a problem. They are advocating change. You seem to advocate silence. There is no change in that.
Comment by Karen Evans — 10.19.06 @ 10:07 am
Shade, do you understand your own point? Sounds like you have pointed out that whites, blacks, latinos etc all have basically the same conservative notions. The thing you are missing is that blacks have been cowed by the MauMaus NAACP Maxine Waters crowd into shutting up while they keep whitey on his toes. That may be why you have the perception that non-blacks get so excited over folks like Cosby and Williams. It’s like snow in April. Rare my friend.
Comment by JimmySupaflySnooka — 10.19.06 @ 10:44 am
Shade stated: “A liberal who takes one conservative stance is still given low regards by conservatives unless that one stance is related to race. Black conservatives are held in highest regards when they are critical of blacks. I wonder how much participation this blog would get if race wasn’t the central theme.”
Got up on the cynical side of the bed today, didn’t you Shade?
Comment by RedBeard — 10.19.06 @ 11:23 am
Oh, my. I missed Shade’s remark. And he’s been so well-behaved!
Shade, wonder all you want. I blog about race because somebody needs to counter the prevailing leftist view out there. And if people like coming here because they can discuss race without being called a racist and without calling others racists, it’s my privilege to provide the forum. One more crack about what I choose to blog about, and you won’t be participating. Don’t worry about why people read and comment on LBC. You have no idea the sort of people who read my blog and don’t (or can’t) comment. Because of privacy, I won’t name names. Just keep your concerns on-topic.
Comment by La Shawn — 10.19.06 @ 11:28 am
Juan Williams is best characterized as an independent thinker. He’s liberal on some issues and conservative on others, which is why he does well on both NPR and Fox News commentaries. I may not like his opinion sometimes, but he’s always worth a hearing.
Comment by Joe Brennan — 10.19.06 @ 11:35 am
“A liberal who takes one conservative stance is still given low regards by conservatives unless that one stance is related to race.” Joe Lieberman is respected by conservatives over his national defense position, on everything else he is as liberal as they come. Nothing about race in this example.
Comment by buzz — 10.19.06 @ 12:30 pm
Shade said,”Black conservatives are held in highest regards when they are critical of blacks.”
No, PEOPLE are held in highest regard (and given highest vilification by the other side) when they tell the truth. When Bill Cosby or Juan Williams or Dr. Laura Schlessinger tells men that they need to step up to their responsibilities, that’s not criticism of blacks. It’s criticism of irresponsibility.
That too much irresponsibility is found among black men is a shame, and it’s the reason Cosby and Williams are addressing their remarks to the black community.
But too much irresponsibility is also found in the Hispanic community and the white community. We just don’t have any high-profile besides Dr. Laura speaking to us (I’m European-American–make that white).
Comment by SkyePuppy — 10.19.06 @ 5:05 pm
However, what you fail to address is first and foremost the “alcoholic†MUST ADMIT HE/SHE HAS A PROBLEM!!!!! So, living in denial is equivalent to living in death. There is nothing wrong in what Juan, Bill or others are doing. You must first recognize and ADMIT there’s a problem.
The problem has been admitted by most Blacks polled. See, that is the thing conservatives don’t admit because it goes against the red-meat that is thrown out.
The LATEST poll done was done by The Washington Post:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/06/03/AR2006060300695.html
That is the article. The poll is here:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/nation/interactives/blackmen/POLL.pdf
They are advocating change. You seem to advocate silence. There is no change in that.
Once again…
I’ve help to board up a drug house to only watch it opened up again by the “folks” who used the house and to later learn of an old woman, in her 60s(!), who was raped in the house. When the word got out, a young teenage girl admitted she was also raped by people in the house. I’ve tutored. I, with friends, provided lists of jobs to people we knew who were selling dope to try to get them to change their ways. I’ve told police about illicit activities in the neighborhood where I spent a lot of time.
Finally, when I find out about Black self help groups, I post them at the following web site: http://www.blackselfhelp.info.
You don’t know anything about me.
I don’t advocate silence. I advocate action.
Here is a link to a letter I wrote to the NAACP:
http://www.visioncircle.org/archive/003095.html
Here is a link to a letter I wrote to Project 21:
http://www.visioncircle.org/archive/003094.html
The same request. Both did nothing. The liberal group did nothing, as expected. The Black conservative group did nothing, as expected.
Comment by DarkStar — 10.19.06 @ 10:52 pm
No, PEOPLE are held in highest regard (and given highest vilification by the other side) when they tell the truth.
I seem to remember when Jack Kemp became, by his own words, an outcast from the Republican party because he advocted the GOP going after the Black vote. I also seem to remember Glenn Loury being “cast out from the right” when he spoke up for affirmative action.
Comment by DarkStar — 10.19.06 @ 10:54 pm
I’ll ask another question: for those who believe the myth that the NAACP has a hold on most Blacks, why, then, is it that the number of Blacks who vote from the group that is eligible to vote, is falling when the NAACP encourages Blacks to vote?
How is it that most Blacks polled are in favor of school vouchers and charter schools while the NAACP is against those ideas?
How is it that most Blacks polled are against “gay marriage” while the NAACP backs the idea?
How is it that there are Black people and groups who are trying to address the problems in the Black community, but public Black conservatives rarely point out these groups?
Education: How many people have heard about The Algebra Project?
Comment by DarkStar — 10.19.06 @ 11:07 pm
Shade, wonder all you want. I blog about race because somebody needs to counter the prevailing leftist view out there.
Where exactly in my comment did I question WHY you blog about race?
And if people like coming here because they can discuss race without being called a racist and without calling others racists, it’s my privilege to provide the forum.
Where in my statement did I state the opinion that you should not do this or that people should not like coming here?
One more crack about what I choose to blog about, and you won’t be participating.
What “crack” did I make? I simply expressed how liberal Juan Williams’s newfound popularity with The Right related to how strong racial themes seem to overwhelmingly draw attention from The Right and I cited the closest example. I never made any judgements. I never said that you were wrong or bad for blogging about race. I never said that you should stop doing so. I never said that commenters should stop commenting. This is your blog to do as you wish with.
Don’t worry about why people read and comment on LBC. You have no idea the sort of people who read my blog and don’t (or can’t) comment. Because of privacy, I won’t name names. Just keep your concerns on-topic.
I don’t understand the notion that I am worried about something or the repeated accusation that this blog frustrates me. I’m not weak minded. I comment here because I believe that an exchange of opposing ideas is healthy. I originally figured that this is one of several good places to do so without having to feel that I have to express myself in some type of politically correct way or walk on eggshells to do so. I’m not even bothered by the numerous condescending remarks that have been made about me during my time here such as references to me behaving myself as if I am normally a jerk and being called ignorant, childish or biggoted by by various commenters.
As far as who comments here, the only conclusion that I have is that there is a fairly good sized volume of commenters and that most are conservative. Beyond that, I have never made any statements about who and who doesn’t post or lurk here. But I will most definitely make no more mention of what is blogged about here solely because I do respect other people’s desires with regards to their property.
Comment by Shade — 10.20.06 @ 9:39 am
Shade, it is rare and exciting when there is ANY idea from the left that is reasonable, rational and possibly something that can be agreed with from a conservative point of view. The people are not “embraced”, but their ideas are since conservatives already agreed with the issues communicated in the messages.
These are not only race ideas, they are just ideas, a few of which occasionally deal with race. i.e. there are still a few public figures on the left that occasionally communicate points of views conservatives can agree upon regarding national security, border control, abortion, school standards, taxes, individual liberty, welfare, property rights, …
Unfortunately, these issues do not get as much MSM coverage as race does. It is the MSM that makes these individuals poster children of the ideas they communicate, not conservatives. And the MSM usually take a negative spin on these individuals actions and try to link them with implied racist overtones.
Conservatives KNOW these individuals do not share the majority of their points of view, but are thankful there is at least some rational dialog taking place on the left. This gives a glimmer of hope the left may return to the true ideals of their past.
Comment by horse — 10.22.06 @ 10:41 am