A Nation Of Cowards Walking On Eggshells

This is just some quick thoughts on what Pat Buchanan was saying to Michael Eric Dyson on Hardball about Attorney General Eric Holder calling America a nation of cowards. I for one will put this right out there, I AGREE WHOLEHEARTEDLY.

Eric Holder was not saying that we are cowards overall. He was saying that we strive to conquer almost everything making it a competition of sorts. But, when it comes to race we are less than competitive at eradicating it. And I don’t think that is too much to debate. The only time I can think of when America has decided that these things take time and should be done slowly is with race and poverty. And even poverty seems to be higher on the list and I don’t need to spell that out.

So Pat Buchanan says that black people segregate themselves with things such as the black caucus, black Miss America and the black Negro college fund. Then turns right around and start talking about how the white man is not responsible for out of wedlock birth rates for blacks or the crime rate of blacks. Now if I am not mistaking when he decides to separate blacks out from America to point out this crap he himself has just segregated us.

Shouldn’t all these statistics be combined as American statistics or does it serves some purpose to separate them by race. Did black people decide that they were going to segregate themselves into these statistical columns? Somehow we should stop calling things black this or that but, the alternative is to see all white college funds, Miss America (whiteness implied) or political affiliations. And somehow that isn’t a problem as long as it isn’t “called” white.

This is the joke that is being passed off for diversity. Even if something is predominantly white or just outright all white as long is isn’t “called” white then it isn’t offensive. I have written posts about this before. People want to point the finger at all these so called black things not ever paying attention to the plethora of things that are for white people as if they don’t exist.

Pat Buchanan starts his conversations off that if “white men” want to talk honestly about race they will get a big backlash. But if what you are saying is racist bullshit then of course you should hear a backlash from it. When you say things like blacks owe white people gratitude for bringing them here to America as slaves because now they are American Christians. As if that somehow negates all the bad things they have been going through since day one.

The problem is that the dialog on race is usually tainted and loaded. We can’t discuss how there is a large disparity between the races without hearing about how criminal and immoral blacks are. You hear how tired white’s are of hearing it. You hear how blacks should just come up with a plan and then boom we can fix it all. None of these things is conducive to repairing any of the damage.

And yes, I already know that a lot of white people will say that harping on an issue such as racism is not conducive to them either. But, think about this, if we fixed the freaking problem people would stop harping about it. And no we have NOT fixed the problem. We just put a band aid on the problem and decided that black people should now shut up about it. And until we can stop being such cowards in this country hiding from racial equality and actually tackle the problem without segueing into idiocy, we will continue to be forced to walk on eggshells on both sides.

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Help, I Can’t Live On 500K

I was listening to “the talk of the nation” on NPR today. They had investigative reporter Alan Salkin on talking about a piece he did for the New York Times called “You try living on 500K in this town.” He was referring to the proposed cap on pay to bankers and CEO’s for these banks receiving bailout money. He investigated why it is impossible for these folks to live on 500K when they had appearances to keep, expensive homes in the city and the Hamptons plus nannies and doormen to pay.

Now I totally understand that he was just reporting the numbers that these people shell out while earning two or three million dollars a year. What I was dumbfounded by were the comments that people who were trying to defend the lifestyles of these rich yet not so famous CEO’s. I know that there are always two sides to every story, which is the reason Mr. Salkin wrote the piece. But, no amount of sugary explanations can make this make this palatable.

The one comment that had me practically screaming in my car was a lady who felt that we should cut them some slack as this country isn’t a socialist one. That if there is money to be made those CEO’s should have every opportunity to make as much of it as they can. Let capitalism work and if that means they get rich then so be it. She also felt that when they ask for handouts they shouldn’t have to jump through hoops or be penalized because there is nothing wrong with being wealthy.

Now, she wants me to believe that I and everyone else should cut them some slack, but when does anyone cut slack to poor people or black people for that matter? When has a poor person who wanted a government handout ever been cut some slack? When have they ever been able to continue a lavish lifestyle while digging in Uncle Sam’s pockets for food stamps and welfare?

Yet, somehow I am supposed to understand that these rich moneybag CEO’s have a lifestyle to uphold with a large mortgage on two possibly three houses who need help should not have to worry about losing their lifestyles. But, those who are poor are somehow to blame for their circumstances and should be held totally accountable. Not to mention those poor people should have to suffer under the most stringent of rules just to get a whopping four hundred dollars a month or better yet three hundred or so dollars a month in food stamps.

Sure, that is understandable. Let those getting billions do so with no impunity while those wanting mere pennies in contrast should be subjected to the most rigorous raking over the hot coals. Lord knows those penny beggars are somehow more likely to be cheaters. With this type of attitude running amok in our society is there any doubt as to why disparity is not only allowed but encouraged to flourish?

I agree with her on one thing which is that we should allow the free market capitalism to work for these people. Meaning that they felt it was appropriate for them to get ungodly amounts of money while the bubble was rising and now that it has popped and is speeding back to earth, they should suffer the fallout. And better yet, don’t ask for government money if you don’t want to be subject to the same rigors of scrutiny that everyone else is subject to while asking for a handout.

Self Fulfilling Prophecy

The new ABC show “What would you do” did a piece on race where they had three white and then three black kids vandalizing and breaking into a car. They wanted to see if there would be a different response to each group of kids. And of course there was a huge difference in how they were received.

Now I get my share of nay sayers on this blog. They comment about how racism has ended and people like me are the ones who are keeping it alive. Then something like this comes along and not surprisingly will not change their position one bit. They just have an excuse for it.

Now if you’ve seen this piece then you already know that the black kids received about ten calls and were accosted by plenty of walkers by about their supposed abhorrent behavior. And of course there was only one call about the white kids doing the exact same thing. In fact the black family members of one of the black actors received about three calls because they were sleeping in their car.

They talked with some of the people who had called or accosted the black kids and one lady said it plain and simple, those black kids came to their neighborhood, their backyard and started creating trouble. She just assumed that those black kids weren’t from around there. Which in a neighborhood which is predominantly white like that one; it is not that surprising she would make that assumption. It is the same assumption which leads cops to stop blacks for driving expensive cars or driving through certain areas; it is perceived that they don’t belong.

The problem is that this is one of the main reasons we have such discrepancy in the legal system and that so many blacks are in jail opposed to whites. Now of course you will have those who will guffaw at this thought and go back to the blacks commit more crimes or whatever. Yet, you see first hand that blacks and whites were committing the exact same crime and people walked by the white kids and said they were just being kids.

And as far as I can see, it is the old adage of a self fulfilling prophecy. White people such a previous comment leaver named Charlie presented that very thing by saying that the white kids who had done a crime had a future so did not need to be jailed due to a perceived “small crime”. Whereas black kids had no futures since they were probably drop outs and making money from crime etc should be shaken down at every opportunity.

Now the reason this is a self fulfilling prophecy is that the white people see those black kids as having no future and are hard criminals so therefore they had better call the cops so that they get what is coming to them. While these people see the same crimes being perpetrated by the white kids and seeing that they do have a future and would be negligent to somehow contribute to interrupting that future.

Yet, people continue to make excuses for the blatant discrimination of blacks because somehow they feel they have to crack down hard on black people due to the perception that they are more criminal. And what do they offer as proof, the fact that more blacks are in jail. And of course deny that the direct cause is what this show shed light on which is the fact that the dominant community continues to see blacks as the problem and diligently make it their duty to ensure that blacks are held accountable while choosing to overlook the criminal activity of the members of their own community.

Trust me this will continue to happen time and time again without the watchful eye of a hidden television camera and a slew of actors. Those black kids would probably be sitting in jail right now if that were real life. And those white kids would be speeding away in a stolen car to continue their criminal lifestyle. The actors family who fell asleep in their car would also either be in jail or be harassed by the cops for being where they don’t seem to fit in. And the one terrible fact is that this scenario IS real life and plays itself out in a plethora of ways daily in America.