There is nothing more painful to me at this stage in my life than to walk down the street and hear footsteps . . . then turn around and see somebody white and feel relieved. — Jesse Jackson

[ Destruction in Black America is Self-Inflicted ]

Some very good points in this article, such as the fact that there’s a 93% chance that a black male murder victim will be killed by another black male. Insane.

Most poignant in my opinion, however, was the point that we must start talking about this problem more than we are if we want to solve it. As the article says, we can’t solve problems that we’re too frightened to even discuss.:

The Wall Street Journal is reporting about yet another failure of affirmative action — this time for black law students. A study found that by lowering standards so that more black students could enter programs they increased the gaps in performance between white and black students.

Easily the most startling conclusion of his research: Mr. Sander calculated that there are fewer black attorneys today than there would have been if law schools had practiced color-blind admissions — about 7.9% fewer by his reckoning. He identified the culprit as the practice of admitting minority students to schools for which they are inadequately prepared. In essence, they have been “matched” to the wrong school. Mr. Sander’s original article noted that when elite law schools lower their academic standards in order to admit a more racially diverse class, schools one or two tiers down feel they must do the same. As a result, there is now a serious gap in academic credentials between minority and non-minority law students across the pecking order, with the average black student’s academic index more than two standard deviations below that of his average white classmate.

This is precisely the problem — lowering standards. I am actually for affirmative action in some cases, but only when the standards have been met. Lowering the standard hurts everyone — including, and possibly most of all, the people allowed in due to the lower standard.

The study continues by showing that this is true of college performance in general at the university tested (UM):

A black student with a 3.2 high school GPA and 1210 SAT score has a 92% of admission to UM vs. only a 14% for a white student. However, 1) black students (45%) are almost 6 times as likely as white students (8%) to be on academic probation at UM, and 2) and almost 2/3 of black students (64%) fail to graduate nationally in 6 years, vs. 42% for white students.

There’s a very simple solution to all of this, and it applies to all students: don’t let people progress to the next grade level unless they are ready. If this creates a giant backlog of 16 year-old 5th graders then so be it. You can’t solve a problem that isn’t being identified.:

I respect this guy very much for having the courage to stand against the masses of fools that have no-doubt flamed him for “selling out”.

Those of you who read this site know that I’ve been heavily promoting Ron Paul as a candidate for President in 2008. Until today all of my posts about him have been positive. But alas, I am not a fanboy. I heap praise when I like something, and I call attention when I see something that doesn’t look right.

Well, something doesn’t look right…

Given the inefficiencies of what D.C. laughingly calls the ‘criminal justice system,’ I think we can safely assume that 95 percent of the black males in that city are semi-criminal or entirely criminal. — Printed In Ron Paul’s Newsletter (but not written by him)

Opinion polls consistently show that only about 5 percent of blacks have sensible political opinions, i.e. support the free market, individual liberty and the end of welfare and affirmative action. — Printed In Ron Paul’s Newsletter (but not written by him)

The notion of a rigid separation between church and state has no basis in either the text of the Constitution or the writings of our Founding Fathers. On the contrary, our Founders’ political views were strongly informed by their religious beliefs. — Ron Paul

The Founding Fathers envisioned a robustly Christian yet religiously tolerant America, with churches serving as vital institutions that would eclipse the state in importance. — Ron Paul

Through perverse court decisions and years of cultural indoctrination, the elitist, secular Left has managed to convince many in our nation that religion must be driven from public view. The justification is always that someone, somewhere, might possibly be offended or feel uncomfortable living in the midst of a largely Christian society, so all must yield to the fragile sensibilities of the few. The ultimate goal of the anti-religious elites is to transform America into a completely secular nation, a nation that is legally and culturally biased against Christianity. — Ron Paul

He’s also of the opinion that there is serious disagreement within the scientific community regarding global warming. I was under the impression that the only people disagreeing at this point are in denial.

I’m not abandoning Ron Paul, but these quotes definitely make me uncomfortable. The problem with the race quotes is that even if he has legitimate explanations for them they will still be used against him (very effectively) during the entire campaign. And that’s the last thing he needs when already fighting a nearly impossible battle.

The problem with the religion quotes is that as an atheist I think a largely secular society is the way to go, and he clearly disagrees very strongly. I do agree with him about maintaining Christian holidays and traditions within our country, but to me that’s not so much a religious issue as one of national identity and cohesion.

Either way, he has weaknesses. The only question for me (and for other potential voters) is whether those flaws are outweighed by his strengths. And according to my current tally I’m going to say that they are.

[ It's now January 2012 and this post is more pertinent than ever. Whether or not he wrote the race content himself, he surely wasn't unaware of the sentiments coming from his newsletters for all those years. But I think this is a much smaller issue than his views on church and state, regulation, education, evolution, etc. Despite his flaws, however, I've been inclined recently to think again that his strengths might simply be worth it. Here's a recent post along those lines: http://danielmiessler.com/blog/fou-paragraphs-all-progressives-must-read-going-into-2012 ]

::

Racism means many things to many people. Oxford says it’s “the belief that there are characteristics, abilities, or qualities specific to each race”. That’s a pretty broad definition, and arguably isn’t negative in and of itself.

The common use of the word is far more malicious and, in my opinion, ill-informed. Most people use the word to mean “any sort of behavior or view that reflects negatively on a race other than their own.” Both of those definitions are incorrect, in my opinion. Here’s my view:

True racism is when a person has negative feelings toward someone based on race alone. When person A has all of the characteristics that person B normally accepts as constituting a “decent” person (education, dress, speech, attitude, etc.), but they reject them anyway because of their race, that makes them a racist.

Too often this is confused with behavior-based judgment, and this misunderstanding harms society greatly. When a group of 15 black men walk into a mall dressed as gangsta-rappers — shouting, laughing, and ogling every woman that passes by — the hate that is directed at them is based on their behavior, not their race.

This is in stark contrast to the stereotypical white father who won’t let his daughter marry a black guy from a great family who just got his MBA from Harvard. That’s racism. And until we as a society can openly acknowledge and discuss this distinction we’re doomed to continue in our fear-based silence that does nothing but harm us.:

As we all know, candidates trying to win elections are ecstatic when they discover something an opponent has said or done in the past. Well, Ron Paul has given his enemies just what they are looking for. Here are a few choice quotes on race from his past:

Given the inefficiencies of what D.C. laughingly calls the ‘criminal justice system,’ I think we can safely assume that 95 percent of the black males in that city are semi-criminal or entirely criminal. — Ron Paul

…he went on to say (paraphrasing) that good people like himself are always told that it’s wrong to be afraid of black men, but that given how much crime they commit it’s basically rational to have such a fear.

Here’s the thing: I’m all for open and honest discussion of race — including bringing up and discussing the merits of negative stereotypes. I’ve done a little of it here and intend to do more in the future. But Ron Paul is running for president, and in today’s world you just can’t be a viable candidate with that kind of language in your past.

I think there are two options here:

1. He’s a decent and honest guy who was a bit too haphazard with his language concerning race in the past. And if he addresses things properly he may be able to pull out at least a shot at being a front-runner.
2. He’s a closet racist and these comments are simply examples of it shining through. If that’s the case then more and more will surface to support this fact. At that point he’s done. He’ll not only get very little support at that point, but mine will be gone as well.

It’s quite sad, really. I was very much for him based on what I had seen thus far. But alas there are chinks in the armor. First I heard him say he wasn’t convinced about global warming. Then there’s this stuff about us being a Christian nation. And now this stuff about black people.

Oh well. gg.

I’ll give him a chance to explain himself (even if it’s a logical defense of controversial views), but if he flip-flops or comes out with a clear racist slant, I’m done.:

Those with political agendas like to conveniently flip-flop in philosophy when it comes to how they view the poor and disadvantaged in this country. Half the time they want to say they need special treatment because they aren’t like the rest of us, and other times they get offended if you even suggest that they be given special consideration.

This is unfortunate because progress can’t be made until we define the problem, and I’d argue that our first priority is to collectively realize how utterly disadvantaged the uneducated class is compared to those who have high-school and especially college educations ¹.

A recent post by Scott Adams reminded me of something I’ve been wanting to write about for a long time now. He asked whether or not it would be ok to burn poor people for energy if it was based on a volunteer-only system, and if only one out of 20 people were chosen. So basically, if you volunteered you had a 1/20 chance of being chosen for death, which would help power a whole city or state, and the other 19 people would be given a myriad of benefits, such as a car, a home, etc.

He asked two things, 1) whether or not this would be ok morally, and more interestingly, 2) whether or not we were already doing something like this. The answer is that we are, and that thing we’re doing is what I’ve wanted to comment on for years.

It’s called the lottery.

What I See

I get the opportunity to travel often, and I often find myself in small towns throughout the south and other parts of the country. It constantly shocks me to see what happens on a minute to minute, hour to hour, and day to day basis — all day, every day — in these small towns.

I basically walk in, grab a water or diet drink and a bag of beef jerky, and go to wait in line. But sometimes I’ll just hang out for a bit to people-watch. What I see is unwaveringly consistent: a constant stream of the underclass, filing in with crumpled up cash (they tend not to have checking accounts, I’m guessing) and lottery tickets. Many of the towns I go through are in the south, so it’s usually a majority of black folks, followed by white people, then the Mexicans who have recently immigrated. No Asians or Indians, of course.

It’s constant. Every time. Every gas station. Every little town. Always. A constant stream of people who are dressed poorly, have poor dental hygiene, and a less than powerful command of the English language. They’re poor and uneducated, and they buy three things en masse: alcohol, tobacco, and lottery tickets. Over and over. All day, every day.

Society’s Role

When I see this two things happen to me: first I get angry at those who are buying the crap, and then I relax and realize that they’re just trapped in a cycle of failure that they don’t know how to pull out of. Then I ask the inevitable question: what is society doing to help these people?

The answer is nothing. Why are we doing nothing? Two reasons:

1. Liberals don’t do anything because they lack the balls to stand up and say, “These people are not capable of knowing what’s best for themselves; they need help making decisions for themselves, much like children.” They’re politically correct pussies, basically, and their will to be PC is causing harm to the world.
2. Conservatives, on the other hand, don’t do anything because they don’t give a fuck about these people. They’re happy to chant along with the liberals about “equality” just so long as at it keeps the poor, uneducated people funding their childrens’ education. But in fact they know damn well these people aren’t “deciding” anything. They’re programmed to do blue-collar work (or absorb government assistance), reproduce, watch T.V., buy DVDs, and spend any money they have on alcohol, tobacco, and lottery tickets. Conservatives like them this way because as long as there’s an under-class there can be higher ones.

So it continues. The lottery is nothing more than a cleverly disguised tax on the poor. I also call it the stupidity tax. If you’re stupid enough to think you can make money doing this long-term, you must pay your dues. These people load up on drugs (alcohol and tobacco) and dump hundreds of dollars per month into large slush funds that largely don’t benefit them, but instead go towards projects that benefit the upper classes.

It’s sickening.

I’ve resisted the temptation so many times to pull these people aside and try and wake them up. But given the social structure in most of these places it’s likely just futile. Who’s going to believe some random white guy in a BMW who says the lottery is a scam when they know for a fact that it’s real because their friend Shirley just won $500 dollars last week?

I wish there were some way to wake people up in this world. It’s time to stop treating the disadvantaged as equals, and more like children who can become equals. They aren’t naturally inferior, just as children aren’t — they simply haven’t been shown the way. And to pretend that they have been, and choose to live this way, is reprehensible.

To let the underclass try and fend for itself is cowardly and shameful. Liberals allow it to happen due to a lack of testicle and spine. Conservatives do so, ironically enough, due to a lack of morality.:

– ¹ This isn’t to say that wisdom, intelligence, or success is always granted by more education — we know that not to be the case — but in general it’s true that those with more education tend to make better, long-term focused decisions in life.

This is a very interesting piece by the New York Times on the demographics and relationships between suspect and victim in New York homicides. They even have a Google Maps overlay.

[ Link: New York Crime Statistics ]

Thanks to Tim Stevens for the link

A refreshing look at the issue of race and crime.

http://www.city-journal.org/html/eon2007-02-07hm.html

Now if we could just apply this type of logical thought to more than just New York, and to more than just race and crime.