By Tom Kando
Patrick
Buchanan’s famous/notorious statement about
“The White Side of the Story of Negroes” is a couple of years old, but
it is being discussed (and supported, I am afraid) on the Internet a great deal
at this time.
I don’t want to rehash too many details of this screed, except to say that we see frequent statements like this, coming from various “white men’s rights” groups, organizations like the KKK, the John Birch Society, etc.
Here are some highlights of Buchanan’s ugly and racist piece, titled “Buchanan to Obama”:
Barack says we need to
have a conversation about race in America. Fair enough. But this time, it needs
to be a two-way conversation. White America needs to be heard from, not just
lectured to.... The Silent Majority needs to have its... grievances and demands
heard. And among them are these:
America has been the
best country on earth for black folks....(They)....reached the greatest levels
of freedom and prosperity blacks have ever known.
No people anywhere has
done more to lift up blacks than white Americans. Trillions have been spent
since the '60s on welfare....(and on) poverty programs designed to bring the
African-American community into the mainstream.
Governments,
businesses and colleges have engaged in discrimination against white folks --
with affirmative action....
(Institutions and)
individuals all over America have donated their time and money to support soup
kitchens, adult education, day care, retirement and nursing homes for blacks.
....Where is the
gratitude?
Is white America
really responsible for the fact that the crime and incarceration rates for
African-Americans are seven times those of white America? Is it really white
America's fault that illegitimacy in the African-American community has hit 70
percent and the black dropout rate from high schools in some cities has reached
50 percent?
Is that the fault of
white America or, first and foremost, a failure of the black community itself?
As for racism, its
ugliest manifestation is in interracial crime, and especially interracial
crimes of violence....Is Barack aware that black-on-white rapes are 100 times
more common than the reverse?....
Ugly and racist, indeed. Is a refutation even necessary?
Notice
the disgusting, patronizing attitude: America, which Buchanan considers to be a
white country, deigns to lift up the blacks, who then must show gratitude and
humility!
Yes,
half of the 2.5 million US prison population is black. And yes, this is a
racist scandal. Of course, the lower
classes always commit a
disproportionate number of street crimes. This has nothing to do with skin
color. If you hold income constant, the difference between the black and white
crime rates evaporates.
It
is well known that per capita black income
hovers at 50% of average white income, and sadly, this is not improving.
The figure was actually closer to 60% in the 1960s. Bad enough.
But here is a much more mind-boggling statistic: Average black net worth is about 10% of white per capita net worth! Pause for a moment to digest this unbelievable fact! The average white American is ten times richer than the average black American! I have never understood why this grotesque disparity doesn’t create more revolutionary consciousness among blacks.
And
it’s all black folks’ fault, says Buchanan (“a failure of the black community
itself”).
This is pure and simple Social
Darwinism, or the term - coined by sociologists - “blaming the victim.”
But why do we even continue to categorize by race? Well, we have to, as long as America remains largely a caste society. As long as 90% of marriages and relationships remain intra-racial.
Racists like Buchanan will never understand that dysfunctionality has everything to do with social class and nothing to do with race.
Are African-Americans still 2nd class citizens in the US? That is as clear as black and white. leave comment here
