Obama’s call to open a discussion surprises Jonah Goldberg, who wonders when we’ll ever stop talking about race[?]

Just a thought, but, when people stop feeling sorry for themselves, stop blaming others for the current state of their lives, and realize that they do have the opportunity to make a better lives for themselves and their family because they do live the greatest country the planet has ever known, the United States of America.
Keep this in mind. Asians were once considered “minorities.” However, they did not let their “minority” status be an excuse. Instead, they worked hard at whatever tasks they had to. They worked hard in the classroom to gain as much education as they possibly could. They cherished and strengthen their familial bonds.
The result of this is that they have moved beyond being “minorities” and joined the American mainstream. They are no longer “victims” in need of government hand-outs. They are no longer a “constituency” for the Democrat Party and the left wing loons who can’t abide by people being free, independent and self-sufficient.

Maybe what we need is less talk and more reflection.

Reflection seems to be talking to oneself, so it’s hard to see how it would be an improvement.

That however is not what’s holding them back. Their problem is of their own making. Entitlement mentality, hostility to a real education and misbehavior are all far stronger negatives for the black community.

call me skeptical but …

crr6 on March 25, 2008 at 4:33 PM

Only a white liberal could believe that having a government which doesn’t discriminate on the basis of race is racist, or is at least culpable for white liberal perceptions of racism among other white liberals.

Excusing Wright’s hate speech as “context” and lying about his “tough” upper-class upbringing is bringing us together?

What about Wright’s hand picked replacement who claimed the “lynching”? What was the “context” of his hate beyond that which he learned from Wright?

I’m not going to be lectured by a racial supremacist about how I “owe him” for 140 year old grievances based upon self-delusional victicratic lies about WWII, AIDs, drug abuse amongst minorities, special Israeli bombs that kill only “Arabs and Blacks” or any of the other sick propaganda these Hamas sympathizing terrorist apologists want to spew.

…and that goes for Sharpton, J. Jackson, Wright, Moss and especially Barack Hussein Obama.

Racial equality is a fallacy…different cultures, traditions, history and attitudes.
Gender equality is a fallacy…different physical abilities, different emotional compasses, different views and chemistry.
Economic equality is a fallacy…different drives, different intelligence different goals and needs.
The discussion needs to be about equal opportunity! The only thing promised by our forefathers was that we would come into this world equal. That is naked and screaming. Government should only act as a referee. Insuring that we all have the same opportunities to succeed in our pursuits. Generally, when the government tries to legislate equality, the only result is abject failure and a whole heapin helpin of unintended consequences.

insideout on March 25, 2008 at 4:33 PM

Absolutely true,of course. People originally came to the US for just those reasons. Many still do and try to. However many of our native born population doesn’t believe in what you wrote, either because they’re guilty liberals, or because they have fewer talents and achieve less. America needs a great out-migration to the socialist nations, and an offsetting in-migration from the rest of the world of those people who support what you wrote. But it’s not gonna happen, so I think your comments increasingly fall on deaf ears.

“It is legally permissible to discriminate against whites”

Absolutely – what does “Equal Opportunity Employer” mean, really?

It means that if you’re a white guy, if you are equally as qualified (or more, really) as anyone but another white guy applying for a job, it’s “thanks for applying and good luck”.

Look at the federal government – minorities are employed at rates twice their representation in the country.

Racism is legal and firmly ingrained in US law, just as long as it’s focused on white males. It’s the Democrat Party way.

NoDonkey on March 25, 2008 at 4:26 PM

yes, us white males are so oppressed.

Simple. After 44 years, the government stops their social meddling, and individuals take responsibility.

Scaaaaaaaaaaaaaaary for some….

Lockstein13 on March 25, 2008 at 3:39 PM

call me skeptical but something tells me the government choosing to ignore the problem wouldn’t solve deep seated issues of racial inequality. Imagine the headlines…”Centuries-old racial disparities solved by government insouciance”

Absolutely – what does “Equal Opportunity Employer” mean, really?

It means that if you’re a white guy, if you are equally as qualified (or more, really) as anyone but another white guy applying for a job, it’s “thanks for applying and good luck”.

Look at the federal government – minorities are employed at rates twice their representation in the country.

Racism is legal and firmly ingrained in US law, just as long as it’s focused on white males. It’s the Democrat Party way.

those who think that the nation miraculously resolved all racial disparities in the moment we passed the 1964 Civil Rights Act

Ed, this seems like a strawman. Who says this?

ED: “…there exists a massive middle ground that understands the massive improvements we have made still have left some room for further work — but who disagree on the extent and nature of government’s role in effecting that change.”

Simple. After 44 years, the government stops their social meddling, and individuals take responsibility.

Scaaaaaaaaaaaaaaary for some….

I’m down with a National Discussion On Race. As long as we white folks get to tell EXACTLY what we think about the issue- WITHOUT BEIN’ CALLED RACIST. Shoot, I wish everybody would just tell the whole unvarnished, anti-p.c., TRUTH.

Ex-tex on March 25, 2008 at 2:52 PM

Yep, it would be great to be able to air everything out without the fear of being labeled racist, etc.

I personally have always subscribed to MLK’s ideal of judging people by the content of their character and/or deeds and not the color of their skin as there are good and bad in all races.

However as one of the Booker quotes Ex-Tex posted illustrates there are those that make a living on playing the race/victim card so whenever anyone points out someone’s character flaws and/or bad deeds and that person is of color the race/victim cards come flying out instead of honestly evaluating the assertions being made about the person.

Every time one of the race-baiters falsely throws out the victim/race card in an attempt to distract from the real issue (the persons character and/or deeds) it damages the progress of minorities in their quest to be equal and successful, and doing so accomplishes nothing except to continue to drive a wedge between the races, but as Booker points out:

Some of these people do not want the Negro to lose his grievances, because they do not want to lose their jobs.”

-Booker T. Washington

If Obama was truly about healing racial divides and issues then perhaps he should honestly look at himself in the mirror and evaluate the true content of his character because if he did he would realize that continually associating with and looking up to people like Rev Wright is not moving forward to improve race relations but is merely playing the same old race/victim card.

In other words, if he truly wanted the wound to heal then he should stop “picking the scab.”

The ease with which he has accomplished this chameleon-like change, and entranced both white and black Democrats, is a tribute to the man’s talent and a warning about his reliability.

There is no evidence that Obama ever sought to educate himself on the views of people on the other end of the political spectrum, much less reach out to them. He reached out from the left to the far left. That’s bringing us all together?

Here I’d been under the impression that every major university (and minor one for that matter) in the country already had boatloads of courses — often entire majors — dedicated to race in America. I’d even read somewhere that professors had incorporated racial themes and issues into classes on everything from Shakespeare to the mating habits of snail darters. And scratching faintly in the back of my mind, I felt some vague memory that these same universities recruited black students and other racial minorities, on the grounds that interracial conversations on campus are as important as talking about math, science and literature. A ghost of an image in my mind’s eye seemed to reveal African American studies centers, banners for Black History Month and copies of books like “Race Matters” and “The Future of the Race” lined up on shelves at college bookstores.
Were all of the corporate diversity consultants and racial sensitivity seminars mere apparitions in a dream?
Jonah Goldberg

My church’s motto (why does a church have a motto?) is: “Where Christ is central and diversity is cherished”

So, Jonah, add a thousand liberal protestant churches and their youth programs, every junior high and high school social studies program, and countless other youth oriented pseudo-educational functions to the list of a million information sources dedicated almost solely to talking about race.

Please, I beg of you, for everyone’s sake: stop talking about race. Just stfu and pretend everyone looks the same, and you’ll quickly find it to be a huge improvement.

The only other discrimination that is permitted to exist is that which resides in the hearts and minds of the people. To outlaw that discrimination would require the thought police and would violate the freedoms upon which this country was built. Rev. Wright may be a vile spewer of racist ignorance, but I will defend his right to spew that hatred — but maybe just not with his tax exempt status.

It is only the peddlers of victimhood that are calling for a conversation instruction.

For as long as America kowtows to the Black separatists, the separation will remain, and it will be by design.

And propagated by the very people that seek equality.