Racism, Political Correctness. 3rd Time

This I posted first during the summer of 2007. I reran 0n 07/13/'08. For what it's worth this is to those who don't know me but profess to know every single thought and feeling I have. The next statement prefaced the '08 posting. The comments were added in reply to commenters of the 2nd posting.

This is the post that had 398 comments and was posted probably about a year ago. I have no way of telling for sure. The comments strayed to other bias than racism which I hope doesn't happen this time as they are subjects that need stand alone treatment. I have a follow-up if sufficient interest is generated. The piece from this point is verbatim as first published.

Political correctness as practiced by the mass media virtually guarantees the evolution and permanence of racism in this Country. This practiced dogma also promotes the notion that racism is only malice directed against blacks and blacks, as victims, are justified in criticizing any race.

The fact is there is not now, nor has there been for many years any institutional racism in this Country. Also lets define racism or better yet, racist. A racist can only be defined and described as one who, "seeks to foster the betterment of their race to the detriment of other races." With these two premises perhaps we can develop scenarios whereby we might find a place for all intelligent, caring people to meet.

That there is no institutional racism in this Country cannot be denied. This has been memorialized in Government statutes and regulations for some years now. This is all the government can do. The government cannot make me like you nor you like me. I will like you only if you earn my respect by words and/or deeds. Conversely I would not expect you to like me unless I earned your respect by words and/or deeds. Key word here is deeds. Words are cheap. If you doubt this just watch the history of many politician's over a reasonable, though short, span of time.

The problems of racism in this Country are exacerbated and encouraged by people like Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton who have a vested interest in keeping blacks "stirred-up" and believing they are victims of some covert conspiracy. By so doing they can assume a position, totally unearned and unelected, of pseudo-leadership and ergo, maintain their lavish lifestyles.

To function, Jesse has to herd huge numbers of black citizens into a monolithic mass to insure they speak with one voice and he is their voice. I have seldom seen such a display of hubris and such a disservice to such a large number of good people as that displayed by Jesse Jackson. To intimate black Americans are not intelligent enough to fend for themselves as they seek their place in society is not the position of members of other races, it is the position of Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton. They seek to keep the black masses as the beneficiaries of their largess so they cannot allow them to listen to Bill Cosby or Ward Connerly or Malcolm X for example.

As an example Jesse is the darling of the left wing of the Democratic Party. This is not an attempt to bash the Democratic Party. It could have just as well been the Republican or other Party. The facts are, slavery happened. It was heinous, should never have happened but it did. No one living today had anything to do with slavery so other than an evil and vile era of out history which we should never forget, it is long over. The person who freed the slaves was one Abraham Lincoln. That's Republican Abraham Lincoln. The freed slaves were oppressed throughout the Country but especially in the South by Jim Crow laws for near a century. These laws were purposely designed to denigrate, segregate and oppress the black population of the South. These laws were almost universally enacted and enforced by the Democratic Party! What Party was the Party of Orville Fabus, Bull Conner, Ross Barnett and George Wallace.....??? Democrat! So you tell me who assaults and insults the intelligence of the black people today by urging them, nay threatening them, to vote how? Bingo! Democratic!

Now some examples of why, perhaps, some resent the political correctness of racism:

Congressional Black Caucus is noble....Congressional White Caucus is vile.

United Negro College Fund is laudable....United White College Fund is despicable.

NAACP is decent and desirable.........A NAAWP is abominable.

Just a few examples, some ridiculous I agree, but making the point either a group assimilates into the population at large or grant others the same latitude to foster the betterment of their groups. This is where we are. Such actions and positions of the followers of the Jesse Jacksons of the world initiate and foment resentment that is starting to create racist where none existed before.

The South has bore the brunt of the criticism concerning race relations and I would not defend for a minute that the South did not do it's share, but lets look at a few other places we might consider. For instance, the US Military was segregated through the end of WWII! That's not the military in the south. That's the US Military world wide! Professional sports had no black players integrated into their teams until 1947 when Jackie

Robinson came along. How many major league sports teams were in the south in 1947? I'll save you time, none. With the advent of bussing in the 60s, where were race riots? Again I'll save you time, Boston, Detroit and Los Angeles. None of which are in the South. I know of the Philadelphia, Ms and Birmingham cases and others. Terrible, but not typical of the way the South transitioned from segregated to integrated. I am not an apologist for the sins of the South, but only point out there are those who throw stones who cannot defend the notion all parts of the Country was not without sin in the area of race relations.

Having said all this, we simply must get past old prejudices and seek the ideal of Dr. Martin Luther King's admonishment to judge, if you must, based on the content of one's character and not the color of one's skin or, I might add any other superficial parameter.

Babies born in America are not prejudiced, 3 year olds are not prejudiced, kindergarten students are not prejudiced. They become prejudiced only when their environment dictates to them others are of lesser quality than they. This is true on both sides of the spectrum. We must find a way to foster this innocence and reinforce their native feelings that all people are truly born equal. This must be done across all ethnic divides. If we could ever raise one generation under this scenario we would solve a multitude of problems and be able to offer the great promise of this great Country to all, who could seek their rightful place on equal footing.

I recognize this is a rather na*ve position, but we must recognize children have to learn to oppress some group of people. The are not born that way. They learn this from their parents, grandparents and extended family. We will just have to outlive these few idiots and by example, by governmental example, in school and in church examples demonstrate to these children the goodness inherent in all people.

Again, this is a controversial and complex subject, but as with any problem we cannot solve without defining the problem and interacting with all involved. So long as the press supports only one side, right or wrong, this dialogue can never take place. The term Political Correctness needs to disappear from our lexicon and an honest assessment of the actions of all involved be discussed. Only then can the onerous load of racial injustice be lifted from society..

memyselfi..Thanks for your comment. I apologize, but I am having trouble in seeing your point(s).

Just a couple of things: By institutiona racism I mean the government at every level has "outlawed" race as a consideration in all governmental offices and private companies as well. That's all the government can do. They cannot legislate how one is to feel or what is in one's heart. I realize it is really uninforcable as I have encountered age discrimination, but cannot legally prove it. Even so, the government can do nothing else by edict or legislative action.

I am not sure of your position, but I feel strongly babys are not born prejudiced, they must be taught. And they are by their environment.

Wagner58...thanks for the comment.

I'm a little surprised no more people seem to have a problem with this issue. It has been with us for centuries and without a public dialogue it is likely to stay a big problem. All "problems" can be solved if they are defined and an honest debate is entered into.

Until this point it has been politically incorrect to mention anyone of African ancestry in a negative light. Any attempt is quickly quelled by the press and the Jesse's of the world as racist, ergo no further debate.

So long as this attitude and action is allowed to prevail, nothing will change and the Jesse's of the world will gleefully keep counting their money.

Racist from both sides of the divide need to remember the old adage, "You teach people how to treat you." The truth in this statement is indicative of a likely path to solving the problems of racism.

-- Posted by cmcclanahan on Wed, Jul 16, 2008, at 8:16 PM