I was recently in a discussion that led to charges that this or that celebrity was racist. After thinking about it, I realize that this is one of the main things that is destroying our country. As a Black man (not "African American"), I want our nation to have a frank discussion about race, because I believe we'll see that almost everyone, in every racial or ethnic group, wants the same basic things: a clean, safe, warm home; a job that pays more than just enough to live on; the freedom to believe what they choose and to practice those beliefs (with reasonable limits); an end to conflict over such unimportant things as one's ethnic background; and the hope that their descendants will continue to live in such a land.
My judgment: Mr. O'Reilly does not have any close Black associates. He probably gets his impressions of Black people and Black culture from television. Can you imagine going to a restaurant with Chris Tucker's character from Rush Hour? Can you imagine going to a restaurant full of Black people, expecting them to act like that character?
We need to stop imputing the worst motives to everything people do. I doubt that Mr. O'Reilly has any animus toward Black people in general, even if he dislikes the things that Rev. Jesse Jackson and Rev. Al Sharpton do and say, along with the message of the rap music industry. A lot of us who are Black dislike those same things. Does that make us racist?
I have to admit that I have wondered how someone who sat under Rev. Jeremiah Wright's teachings all those years could be anything but a racist. However, President Obama has not done anything to earn that epithet. Calling the man a racist is not productive. It does not affect the huge decisions being made in Washington at all, and it is those decisions that I believe Mr. Beck is more interested in. So, this is just my opinion, but I don't think Mr. Beck helps his cause by calling the President a racist.
If anything, I think Mr. Beck (and Mr. O'Reilly, for that matter) should sit down with President Obama, off-camera, and try to discuss their ideas. Explain to him what you would like to see in regard to health care, what you would like to see in regard to combating global warming, what you would like to see in regard to the economic problems that affect our nation, and what you would like to see in regard to the ethnic divisions that have plagued our nation.
Katrina was a devastating event. But I doubt that the aftermath proved much of anything except that we should not depend on government. Certainly, it does not prove that former President Bush doesn't care about anyone (including Black people). I like much of Kanye West's music, but I don't think that pretending that the problems in New Orleans were caused by government racism is helpful to anyone.
I say this as someone who was a semi-libertarian conservative before Bush was elected. When all the conservatives supported Bush as he went off into the wilderness of extra-Constitutional acts, they lost me. It seems to me that this racial conversation, this healing of divisions, is not advanced by endless cries of racism over small, unintentional statements. I would appeal to those who feel Mr. O'Reilly, Mr. Obama, Mr. Bush are racists to offer to be their friend, so that these individuals will have a stake in what happens to people in your group (whatever group that is). The way to end racism is to build so many bridges across racial divides that it serves no one's interests to sever them.
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One of the various kinds of small, locally-owned business (SLOB) is the minority-owned business (MOB). As things get worse in the economy, we need to remember the lessons of Central Europe during the 1930s and 1940s. As Germany and other parts of Europe slid toward worldwide economic depression after what was then being called "the Great War", future German leader Adolph Hitler was blaming their economic distress on an ethnic minority. Whenever large numbers of an ethnic majority feel that their livelihoods are threatened, there is some resentment vented towards perceived competition for jobs, promotions, and benefits. This is often from the lower-income, less-skilled end of the spectrum, the ones who are most likely to lose their jobs, homes, and businesses in a recession.
A minority business owner, that is, a business owner who is a member of a minority ethnic group, should be aware, during these times, that someone in the area may be seething over his or her losses, and may choose to blame YOU for them. Frequently, there is a failure to take responsibility for his or her own part in causing those losses. For example, the Madoff Ponzi scheme's victims should have been alerted by the consistently high rates of return they were getting. Many foreclosed and soon-to-be foreclosed homeowners should have been aware that they were counting on an unlikely continual increase in home prices to enable them to refinance every few years until they were ready to pull out and retire. Many who have lost money in stocks and bonds were counting on someone else to understand their investments for them and to act on their behalf. And many who are jobless or about to be jobless had counted on their jobs being there for the next several years, until they were ready to leave them, and had piled up debts on the premise that their jobs were dependable.
Anyway, you may see racist graffiti, such as the swastika painted on this traffic sign in Apple Valley, California early this year. We were doing a photo safari and discovered this, in a mixed-race neighborhood near the highway.
Racist Graffiti in Apple Valley, CA USA.
Now, when you see such graffiti, or an increase in the number of individuals with racist tattoos in or around your business, use common sense. First of all, do not panic. Contact your local law enforcement agencies and let them know what you are seeing. They will very likely not be able to do anything about it yet, but at least they are aware. Secondly, let your local press know about the graffiti, along with groups such as the NAACP and the JDL. Frequently, public pressure inspires law enforcement to suddenly find something that they can do to protect your life, family, home, and business. Third, do not give in to their intimidation, but don't be so obstinate that it costs the lives of you or your family members. You might have to go "plastic-only", so there is no cash around to attract criminal actions. You might have to take other protective actions. Do so, but don't flee unnecessarily. Fourth, and most important, make sure you have connections to the broader community around you--not just members of your ethnic group, but members of every ethnic group--and be genuinely concerned with building relationships across ethnic boundaries and upholding the value of individuals without regard to their ancestry.
This bears repeating: do not mistreat (or support mistreatment) of people whose ancestors came from a different place than yours did. You would be surprised how many minority activists only care about racial discrimination when it affects members of their own group. If it affects people of Korean ancestry, it will eventually affect people of French ancestry. If it affects Jewish people, it will affect Black people, Hispanic people, and Native American people as well.
The attrocities in Europe did not only affect Jews. Along with Jews, Hitler's regime killed Gypsies, Poles, and other ethnic groups. They took particular delight in inhuman tortures that go beyond anything we have seen in recent years outside of Russia and China. (Yes, communists and fascists are a lot more alike than they are different.) The United States' reputation was just improving after the rough spot we hit during the nineteen sixties and seventies as the Civil Rights movement washed up against entrenched and determined racism. The legal barriers gave way (other than restitution, but that is another issue), but that did not keep pockets of racists from forming across our nation.
Other things to be aware of:
- Make sure that you are fully-qualified for any position you accept. The perception that "affirmative action" equals quotas or lower standards for certain groups helps fuel the anger of disenfranchised lower-income Whites. Extend this to your children, nephews, nieces, and step-children. Teach them that the world is very competitive, that they need to be the best X if they expect to be chosen/hired as an X in this world.
- Work hard. Teach your children to work hard. Be an example for them. Expect them to work hard, and push that idea on them, so they do not get the idea that studying, doing homework, doing household chores, and having a job is "acting white". Instead of an allowance or even just buying things for them, give your children household chores, where they can earn money to get the items they want. Be sure to teach them that they have to give a certain fraction in church or to another charity group, and teach them that they have to save a certain fraction for the future. Again, be the example you want them to follow. Start ridding yourself of unrestrained spending, and replace that with disciplined giving, saving, and debt-repayment. It will not be easy, because I guarantee that you will notice the difference between consuming all you make versus saving and contributing to the betterment of the community.
- Start purging your associates. Do you spend a lot of time with someone who is lazy, unemployed, uneducated/unskilled, and often intoxicated? Cut back or even eliminate the hanging out. It doesn't mean you break all ties with the person, just that you need to keep that person from dragging you down. While that person is living out stereotypes, you are trying to be an example for your family, your friends, your neighbors, and even those who would otherwise target you for hate-filled graffiti or violence. If the person is honestly trying to do something about his or her life, then do not abandon him or her. But if the person is heading downhill when you wish to go uphill, you have to separate and go your own ways.
- You belong in church, even if you have to have home services for a while. You need to be spiritually connected, so you will be resilient against the hardships ahead.
- Be honest in all your dealings. In the world of work especially, it is common to shave a little off the edges. Refuse to do that. Give a square deal to every person, every business, every employer, every customer. This does not mean that you have to always have the lowest prices or pay the highest wages, but it does mean that you should not be sneaky or try to avoid doing what you said you would. If your coffee shop has someone work 50 hours in a week, but splits this into two checks in order to avoid paying overtime, STOP IT! If your fast food restaurant calls an employee in after he/she has already worked a full day, and does some magic to avoid paying overtime, STOP IT! If you have an employer and you've figured out how to get paid for hours you do not actually work, STOP IT!
- If a customer mistreats your employees (especially over race-type issues), "fire" that customer immediately. Make sure your employees know that you will back them up (but that it should be very rare that you need to do so), and you will have a more loyal bunch of employees.
- It is not "all those [insert ethnic group here] people's fault". Do not say such things, and do not tolerate such things being said in your presence, in your business, or in your household. For the most part, people are individuals. Some members of each ethnic group are lazy, or dishonest, or abusers, or whatever. Some are not. In any case, you are dealing with the actions of some individuals, not the actions of all individuals who share a certain ancestry.
- You have joined your local chamber of commerce, right? Have you also joined an ethnic chamber? In many cities, there are Black or Hispanic chambers that deal with the issues that are faced by businesses owned or managed by members of a particular ethnic background. Yes, you will hear a lot of moaning and whining, but you will also hear some constructive suggestions for dealing with issues that may arise in your business. The best minority chambers have a marketing plan that helps promote all of their member businesses both within and without the local community.
- If members of any ethnic or religious group are threatened because of their ancestry or their religious persuasion, you are also threatened in the long run. Help them to stop the threats by responding in a way that makes it clear that such threats are unacceptable in your community.
It seems to be a regular part of economic down cycles to bring this kind of thing to the surface. Act and react appropriately, to help prevent it from getting out of hand.
2008-11-14: Racism In Many Guises
I am not one of those black people who sees racsim behind everything white people do. In fact, I generally argue strenuously against that perception. I believe that many of the things we perceive as racism are instead misunderstandings and lack of knowledge. But this is beyond the "he doesn't know what he's saying" level.
I have already written about Proposition 8, and why it was in fact necessary for our state's voters to pass it in order to restore confidence in our electoral system and to force same-sex marriage proponents to think about how such an institution benefits society as a whole (or fails to benefit society). I was recently reading Twitter, and from there I went to a blog that featured an MP4 / Quicktime video of Keith Olberman in which Mr Olberman equates voting for Prop 8 with racism!
The video is also on YouTube.
I find it very offensive that you, a white man, would equate gay marriage with racism. You have no idea how offensive that is to the descendants of slavery, of Jim Crow restrictions, of lynchings, and of unequal hiring and law enforcement practices that continue to this day! Many a black person wished he or she could "pass" as white, knowing that there was no way to hide his or her skin color, hair texture, or other physical characteristics. It wasn't possible to hide their pigmentation or other physical characteristics. It wasn't debatable about whether someone was born black or learned it. It wasn't something that they could prove over time was socially beneficial, as straight marriage has done and gay marriage still might do.
To equate the repudiating judicial fiat that overturned state law while creatively misinterpreting our state constitution with the ordeal that my race has endured over the past 400-plus years in this land is at the very least grossly ignorant and insensitive, and potentially highly racist. How dare you minimize the suffering of my people? How dare you, a white liberal, talk down to my people, who voted overwhelmingly in favor of Prop 8? Who do you think you are? George Wallace?
Do you understand what you are saying? How disrespectful and offensive that is to every black person who has ever lived on this continent? You owe me and every other black person an apology, and in particular, you owe the black population of California an apology.
Let's add a little detail to show just how demeaning it is for you to compare returning to "civil unions" with returning to Jim Crow. Under Jim Crow, there was no equality under the law. Under civil unions, every state benefit that applies to married couples also applies to those in civil unions. While you remind us that interracial marriage was forbidden, you neglect to mention that civil unions are comparable in every way to marriage under California law.They are relatively new, so there are some ramifications that will have to be worked out (e.g., hospital visitation, precedencein probate court), but there was no equivalent option available to interracial couples who faced those restrictions.
So you're telling me that withholding the name "marriage" from a couple is equal to being hung for looking at a white woman? That is so racially insensitive that it can only be intentionally so.
2008-11-12: Racism: Arguing Over Definitions
I was included in a forward list for an e-mail message that is on a black-oriented mailing list. In the message, the author made the assertion that racism is more than just "a feeling of superiority or inferiority or feelings of separation and hostility toward those whose ancestry differs from yours."
The reason for the resilience of Racism is mostly because most people don't have a working definition of the term. While the dictionary may define it as "the notion that one's own ethnic stock is superior," the functional definition digs deeper into the social and economic roots of the "notion" of racial superiority. Racism is the ability for one's race to impose its will on another race.
Wrong answer! The reason for the resilience of racism is that people in different ethnic groups do not take the time to get to know one another and discover that we are all alike. We all eat, drink, sleep, use the toilet, bathe/shower, and reproduce. We all dream of making things better for our descendants than they were for us. If anything, racism is about zero-sum thinking: if things improve for your group, it will only happen by making things worse for mine.
This person then went on to claim that only white people had the social power required to be racists. Blacks, Asians, and other groups who do similar things in similar situations get a free pass for their actions. I ran into this bizarre concept when I was in college, in a required course called 'Race and Racism'. The course was so full of anti-white hysteria that this black man skipped as many sessions as possible. Let me make it clear: if you mistreat someone else because of their ancestry or ethnic background, you are a racist! Do not trust someone who tells you that you cannot be a racist because you are not white--what's next, you cannot be a murderer because your victim was not black?
First, as activists like the late Kwame Ture (Stokely Carmichel) were quick to point out, Capitalism, needs Racism in order to survive. There has to be a permanent underclass and this underclass has been made up, primarily, of people of color.
This kind of thinking is so wrong that there isn't even a word to describe it. When there is an equal opportunity for a hard-working person to achieve a particular and desirable outcome, then we are all bettered as people work harder to accomplish that goal. It matters not whether some of those people are white, black, brown, yellow, red, orange, green, or purple. When things are unequal, members of some groups may work less hard because they perceive that they will not benefit as much as someone of a different group would benefit.
Macroeconomics, which is the study of the aggregate (all together) effects of the choices we make, clearly states that this is injurious not only to the victims, but to the economy as a whole. Microeconomics looks at it "zoomed in" to the level of individuals, families, and businesses. This is where we find sub-optimal choices being made on the basis of race or ancestry, a case where social and other non-economic factors affect an economic decision. In neither case is this strictly a capitalist activity.
Has China stopped discriminating against the Tibetans? Did the Russians in the USSR stop discriminating against their ethnic minorities? Clearly the answer is no, which is clear evidence that even non-capitalist systems employ ethnically-based policies to repress one group and benefit another. It isn't justifiable, and it harms their societies just like it harms ours, but it continues anyway.
It is true that there has been an underclass, including many families who have been there for generations. That underclass is not limited to blacks or other 'people of color'. (Haven't you ever heard the term 'trailer trash'?) In the recent past, blacks have been responsible for many of our own social ills. There is no white man putting guns into the hands of 13 year olds and telling them to kill people who are not part of their same gang. There is no white man getting your children hooked on drugs. It is the black music scene--rap / hip hop music especially--where this is coming from. The only way to stop it is for blacks to keep music away from their kids unless it comes from non-drug using musicians and contains anti-drug lyrics. And NEVER allow your kids to listen to songs with "nigga" (or similarly offensive terms) in them.
Do you really want to help end racism? Get together with people of every color and nationality. Make them a regular part of your life. Try to understand them as individuals, and not just as colors or nationalities. Let your children play with theirs, and if they choose, to marry theirs. When the inevitable disagreement comes, never let it descend into racial epithets. Make it clear that such terms are not acceptable.
2008-09-07: Suddenly Legal? Don't Overdo It
Students mark 21st birthdays with 'extreme' drinking binges - USATODAY.com
College students today celebrate 21st birthdays with an average of 12 drinks for men and nine for women, finds the most in-depth picture yet of the consequences of extreme partying.
The University of Texas-Austin research found 78% of students cited ill effects, including hangovers (54%). Of 44% who had blackouts, 22% found out later they had sex, and 22% got in a fight or argument. And 39% didn't know how they got home.
Why do they do this? Because suddenly, it is legal for them to consume alcoholic beverages. After all these years, we should know that these restrictions are not working. Alcohol is a good thing, in moderation. In excess, and especially in extreme excess, it is not good. All that our age restrictions do is make it more desirable to drink. We make it desirable to drink more booze at a time, and to drink it more often. We ignore the example of Europe, where alcoholic beverages are part of family meals. In other words, our laws almost guarantee that young, newly legal adults will over-consume alcohol-containing beverages.
This is what we should be doing: we should allow parents to serve alcohol to their children in their homes. Not that we want kids getting drunk, but we do want kids to learn how to drink without becoming too drunk. We want kids to learn to have some food before the first drink, and to continue munching as they drink. We want them to quickly replace alcoholic beverages with 7-Up or Perrier, so they do not over-intoxicate themselves. And we want them to have already learned that before they start going to bars and clubs.
2008-08-11: DDR Weekend: Isaac Hayes, Live Performance
Sunday, 2008-AUG-10: Isaac Hayes passed away today. We are remembering his music tonight.
2008-08-11: DDR Weekend: RIP Isaac Hayes
Singer, song-writer, cartoon voice, Scientologist... Isaac Hayes played many roles. This is his best-known song, from the early 1970s, Theme From Shaft
2008-08-08: Racist Abortionists Undermine Black America
RedState: Barack Marches Forward in Margaret Sanger's Footsteps
We should hire three or four colored ministers, preferably with social-service backgrounds, and with engaging personalities. The most successful educational approach to the Negro is through a religious appeal. We don't want the word to go out that we want to exterminate the Negro population and the minister is the man who can straighten out that idea if it ever occurs to any of their more rebellious members
Take a look at that article--you will see why abortionists push so hard for public funded executions for "poor" (read "black") babies--from the start, it was an ethnic cleansing plot, equivalent to Pharaoh's plot against the Jews.
So, in addition to being illegal, all the black churches that keep having pro-abortion, anti-life politicians campaign from their pulpits are plotting the death of their own congregations.
This, I feel, is a critical issue for MOBs (Minority-Owned Businesses). At some point, we are the ones who will rescue our communities from the idiocy absorbing the ideals and morals of the world around us. We have to get involved, setting moral examples and investing time and resources in promoting the Bible's ideals and morals in the place of a backslidden and corrupt church.
Please note: This is my own opinion as a Christian, an American, a Black man, and a citizen. If you disagree, I'm sorry about ruffling your feathers. Get your own blog and write about how we should kill off all our sons before the abortuaries and the prison system do it for us.
There isn't a single solution. But there are things we can do starting today to help end the evil of abortion and to build up our communities.
- Get involved in your local educational scene. Give funds and merchandise for the purpose of building up the local education levels. This may mean helping a private, parochial, religious, or charter school as well as a public school. I suggest you do both.
- Support independent initiatives in your community--groups that are separate from the schools, but which work to assist the schools in actually teaching kids the basics: reading, writing, mathematics, art, music, history, and physical exercise.
- Try to offer jobs to high school students who keep their grades up and stay out of gangs and away from drugs. For the ones that graduate, pay their application fees for the nearest state university or trade school.
- Make sure that they know that your company's ethics are derived from the Bible. Get ahold of some Bibles and make sure they are available in the employee break area. Let them know that they can take one home with them should they desire. (The New Century Version or Contemporary English Version, and New Living Translation are very readable translations of the Bible.)
- Talk about avoiding compromising situations, such as places where known drug dealers hang out or situations where one might be tempted to do something immoral, such as stealing or committing unprovoked violent acts. Be sure not to mention or even allude to sexual situations--someone who learns to avoid moral corruption can apply that to any area, while someone who does not learn it will take such references as some kind of subtle pick-up line. And naturally, skip the crude jokes, too.
- Find out what kinds of counseling resources your local agencies can provide, and what the costs are. Promote any free or low-cost resources, so that employees can get help long before you'd be aware of any problem. Be sure to have non-abortion pregnancy counselors on the list.
- Your business needs are paramount, of course, but given sufficient advance notice, try to grant time off requests, and especially those related to religious activities.
- If your preacher invites anti-life pro-abortion political speakers to use the pulpit to promote their ungodly agenda, call him on it privately. If he continues in his evil ways, speak out publicly, and then find a new place to fellowship.
- Try to be a good husband and father (or wife and mother, if you are female), raising your family in the ways of God. Do not just talk about avoiding compromising situations--live that way.
- Think about this whenever election time comes. Is this candidate an exterminationist, dedicated to extinctualize every last Black American?
2008-06-12: DDR Weekday
This was one of my favorite songs back in the 1970s, but I never knew who sang it. I thought it was Neil Diamond, actually.
Andy Kim, a belated thanks for the good times. Where are you now?
2008-06-05: Vaccination Situation
Yet simmering beneath these national numbers is a trend that's working in the microbes' favor?and against ours. Spurred by claims that vaccinations can be linked to autism, increasing numbers of parents are raising questions about whether vaccines, far from panaceas, are actually harmful to children. When the immune system of a baby or young child is just coming online, is it such a good idea to challenge it with antigens to so many bugs? Have the safety, efficacy and side effects of this flood of inoculations really been worked through? Just last month the U.S. government, which has always stood by the safety of vaccines, acknowledged that a 9-year-old Georgia girl with a preexisting cellular disease had been made worse by inoculations she had received as an infant, which "significantly aggravated" the condition, resulting in a brain disorder with autism-like symptoms.
I have to admit that I question the safety of some of the newer vaccinations. Not necessarily because of autism. Because the FDA appears to be careless in their approval process over the past several years. Think about the diet drugs that were found to cause heart damage. Or about all the drugs that they have suddenly pulled off the market because of some damaging side effect that didn't get noticed in previous studies. Yet, I am an advocate of vaccinations. I believe that you should get vaccinations for dangerous diseases, even though they aren't commonly seen in this country.
Diptheria? Vaccinate. Chicken pox? Maybe not. Hepatitis? Vaccinate, now that the vaccines have been on the market for a while. HPV? It shouldn't be mandatory, but I would definitely vaccinate my little girl, just as I would vaccinate a boy against prostate cancer if such a shot was available.
I am not a doctor, and this is not medical advice. Remember that.
One thing that we need to clear up is this idea: people that don't vaccinate their children endanger everyone else. BZZZT! False. Unvaccinated people endanger themselves and other unvaccinated people. Presumably, vaccinated people are immune, and therefore unvaccinated people cannot endanger them. If this is not true, then we are wasting our time with vaccinations.
Do I think you should vaccinate your child? Yes, in almost all cases. Vaccination is meant to help little Johnny survive when the neighbor's unvaccinated child brings some deadly disease to school. In fact, if you haven't had your own vaccinations, I'd encourage you to contact a doctor to ask about getting caught up, so you don't pick up something from a co-worker. About autism: I don't know, and neither do you.
