A Brief Conversation About Race...

OK, we’re supposed to be in this NEW “post-racial” world I keep hearing so much about.

Sounds GREAT! Almost sounds too good to be true.

Still, I keep getting mixed signals.

While I’m told we NEED “an honest discussion about race in America,” I’m also still being told that whites, especially white males should avoid talking about race, as they are usually apt to offend non-whites and non-males and, of course, it goes without saying, Liberal (guilt-ridden) whites....perhaps THEM most of all.

Really?...I mean, is that really true? If so, why should that really matter? After all, virtually EVERYTHING that ANYONE Left-of-Center, non-white or non-male says about race tends to offend the hell out of me...I just don’t whine about it when it happens.

So, it seems the “conversation” that’s wanted is the one where “oppressed minorities” list their grievances against “white males” and we beg their forgiveness and apologize for being so greedy, so oppressive, so white and so male.

The problem is, no one, at least no one on this end really wants to have that “discussion,” primarily because it’s inherently DISHONEST.

An “HONEST Conversation about race,” isn’t going to be very pretty, I’m afraid and it WILL almost certainly be offensive to those who believe in today’s “grievance politics,” that asserts that the various and sundry “protected minority’s” grievances need to be heard and respected.

I’m very aware of those “grievances,” but if those grievances deserve a hearing (and they've had one), then so do our side’s.

What I’m about to give you is the perspective of virtually EVERY sane, rational white male in America (sorry white Liberals, you don’t qualify as either).

WoW! 205 words and no real “discussion” yet. Man, this jump-starting this “honest conversation” really IS a lot harder than I’d originally thought it would be.

Let me start off with a brief DISCLAIMER: I am about to give a white, male perspective on race. I can’t give a non-white, or non-male perspective because I am neither of those things.

(I know, I’m stalling, right? I mean that wasn’t a “disclaimer," it was stating the god-damned obvious. I mean my picture is right in the upper left-hand portion of this blog, so...yeah, I know, I’m stalling again....Man, am I just GREAT at this stalling shit, or what?...)

OK, look, sometimes the best way, in fact the ONLY way to kick off a discussion like this is to just “let it fly,” or “come right out with it,” as they say. Alright, let me jump right in here with a list of just a few of the things that bother me about the current state of race-relations in America;

Yes, it bothers me that in most locales "urban" (a/k/a/ “predominantly black”) school districts get the lion’s share of the school funding, apparently as a reward for garnering the lowest test scores and graduation rates. I mean it MUST BE a “reward” because we all know that when those same “failing schools” turn over from predominantly black to predominantly Asian (as a number have in places like the South Bronx and parts of California), those same “failing schools,” with the same teachers, the same books and the same old dirty walls, suddenly see test scores rise and drop-out rates fall and THAT is often followed up with budget cuts, so that other or “newly failing schools” can get rewarded with more cash for failures.

In nearby New Jersey, over 50% of that state’s school revenues (funded primarily by property taxes) go to just 31 of the state’s 568 districts. Those “lucky 31” are, of course all “urban” school districts. So, while failing school districts like Atlantic City’s and Newark’s get 800% and 600% return on their property tax dollar (that’s $8 for every $1 and $6 for every $1), respectively back in education dollars, suburban communities, like Mendham average a paltry 4% (yes, that’s 4-cents for every $1 they send in) ...and YES, that bothers me.

And yes, it bothers me greatly that when covering the incredibly rare white-on-black violent crime, the races of both victim and suspects are routinely published, while the races of those involved in the far more common black-on-white violent crime are rarely, if EVER published. It leads one to erroneously believe that one of those kinds of crimes is somehow “worse than” the other. And YES, again THAT bothers me.

It also bothers me a great deal that when blacks do poorly on various standardized exams that’s called “disparate impact,” and is alleged to be “proof of discrimination,” But when blacks comprise 65% of the MTA or 80% of the NBA that’s called “a racial achievement.”

Worse yet, is having to hear some of the inane rationales some blacks give for their doing poorer (on average) than other groups on such exams, such as “Blacks are more social than whites and don’t have as much time for studying,” OR “Blacks value things differently than whites.” These are sickening excuses, because those things described are individual/personal failings, known as “lack of discipline” and “lack of focus.” They are NOT ethnic or GROUP traits, they are individual flaws or failings and it’s an affront to all blacks who DO NOT possess those failings and YES, that bothers the hell out of me!

It also bothers me that Police Departments across the country automatically file virtually all white-on-black violent crimes as a “hate crimes,” while only labeling black-on-white crimes as “hate crimes” when the evidence is both overwhelming and undeniable.

That is an absurd double standard, especially in light of the fact that, each year, approximately 1.2 million violent crimes involving blacks and whites occur nationwide. In just over 90 percent of those cases, according to U.S. Justice Department figures, the perpetrators are black and the victims are white. Violent white felons choose black victims for fewer than 3 percent of their attacks, whereas violent black felons choose white victims about 56 percent of the time. Statistically, the "average" African American is an astonishing 56 times more likely to attack a white than vice versa.

And YES...that last god-damned statistic bothers the living SHIT OUT OF ME!!!

Whoops! I went a little ballistic on that last one – still, I meant all of that.

Moreover, I look forward to anyone who is either offended or incensed by this brief list to explain in the most painstaking of detail why I should NOT be offended by any of this. I will respond to all such responses with all the due haste, patience and politeness as the respondent accords to me.

First, some basic ground rules;

DO NOT tell me that any of the things I said here are “not true,” they ALL are.

DO NOT tell me something like, “You have to understand that blacks are rightfully angry at whites for...” because quite frankly, I DON’T have to understand excuses for vile ethnic bigotry and I do not choose to do that.

YOU CAN challenge any point so long as you provide links and documented evidence to support your contention...AND YOU CAN assert any opinion, no matter how odious and/or invalid, so long as you can avoid the tasty trap of invective and personal attacks.

Boy oh BOY! I don’t know if anyone else feels any better after reading this, but I sure feel a whole LOT better having written it and gotten some of that off my chest.

Man! I can’t wait for this honest discussion of race in America to begin!