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The True Plight of Black Americans
Walter E. WilliamsWalter E. Williams
While it might not be popular to say in the wake of the
recent social disorder, the true plight of black people has little or nothing
to do with the police or what has been called "systemic racism."
Instead, we need to look at the responsibilities of those running our big
cities.
Some of the most dangerous big cities are: St. Louis,
Detroit, Baltimore, Oakland, Chicago, Memphis, Atlanta, Birmingham, Newark,
Buffalo and Philadelphia. The most common characteristic of these cities is
that for decades, all of them have been run by liberal Democrats. Some cities
-- such as Detroit, Buffalo, Newark and Philadelphia -- haven't elected a
Republican mayor for more than a half-century. On top of this, in many of these
cities, blacks are mayors, often they dominate city councils, and they are
chiefs of police and superintendents of schools.
In 1965, there were no blacks in the U.S. Senate, nor were
there any black governors. And only six members of the House of Representatives
were black. As of 2019, there is far greater representation in some areas -- 52
House members are black. Nine black Americans have served in the Senate,
including Edward W. Brooke of Massachusetts, Carol Moseley Braun and Barack Obama
of Illinois, Tim Scott of South Carolina, Cory Booker of New Jersey, and Kamala
Harris of California. In recent times, there have been three black state
governors. The bottom line is that today's black Americans have significant
political power at all levels of government. Yet, what has that meant for a
large segment of the black population?
Democratic-controlled cities have the
poorest-quality public education despite their large, and growing, school
budgets.
Consider Baltimore,
Maryland. In 2016, in 13 of Baltimore's 39 high schools, not a single student
scored proficient on the state's math exam. In six other high schools, only 1%
tested proficient in math. Only 15% of Baltimore students passed the state's
English test. That same year in Philadelphia only 19% of eighth-graders scored
proficient in math, and 16% were proficient in reading. In Detroit, only 4% of
its eighth-graders scored proficient in math, and 7% were proficient in
reading. It's the same story of academic disaster in other cities run by
Democrats.
Violent crime and poor education is not the only problem for
Democratic-controlled cities. Because of high crime, poor schools and a less
pleasant environment, cities are losing their economic base and their most
productive people in droves. When World War II ended, the population of
Washington, D.C., was about 800,000; today, it's about 700,000. In 1950,
Baltimore's population was almost 950,000; today, it's around 590,000.
Detroit's 1950 population was close to 1.85 million; today, it's down to
673,000. The population of Camden, New Jersey, in 1950 was nearly 125,000;
today it has fallen to 74,000. St. Louis' 1950 population was more than
856,000; today, it's less than 294,000. A similar story of population decline
can be found in most of our formerly large and prosperous cities. In some
cities, the population decline since 1950 is well over 50%, and that includes
Detroit, St. Louis, Cleveland and Pittsburgh.
Academic liberals, civil rights advocates and others blamed
the exodus on racism -- "white flight" to the suburbs to avoid
blacks. But blacks have been fleeing some cities at higher rates than whites.
The five cities whose suburbs have the fastest-growing black populations are
Miami, Dallas, Washington, Houston and Atlanta. It turns out that blacks, like
whites, want better and safer schools for their kids and don't like to be
mugged or have their property vandalized. And like white people, if they have
the means, black people cannot wait to leave troubled cities.
White liberals and black politicians focus most of their
attention on what the police do, but how relevant is that to the overall
tragedy? According to Statista, this year, 172 whites and 88 blacks have died
at the hands of police. To put police shootings in a bit of perspective, in
Chicago alone in 2020 there have been 1,260 shootings and 256 homicides with
blacks being the primary victims. That comes to one shooting victim every three
hours and one homicide victim every 15 hours. Three people in Chicago have been
killed by police. If one is truly concerned about black deaths, shootings by
police should figure way down on one's list -- which is not to excuse bad
behavior by some police officers.
Walter E. Williams is a professor of economics at George
Mason University. To find out more about Walter E. Williams and read features
by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators
Syndicate webpage at www.creators.com.
Lies and Sacraments: The
story of the Democratic Party
June 8, 2020
Lies and Sacraments: The
story of the Democratic Party
We
are being fed an unending stream of lies by the media/academia/Democrat
complex. The party of segregation and Jim Crow now claims to be the
one true friend of African-Americans and people of color. In fact,
according to its current presidential nominee, "you ain't black" if you vote for
the other guy. Does that not mean that "you ain't white"
if you vote for Biden? Maybe by Biden's
"logic." But conservatives don't think that way.
The
ugly truth is that slavery and abortion have been the two sacraments of the
Democratic Party. The first, since its inception, the latter in more
modern times. Slavery was a monstrous evil as practiced then and is
a monstrous evil as practiced now. Stray too far from the Democratic
plantation, and they try to strip you of your dignity. Erase your
identity. Call you names. Say you aren't actually
black. They actively foment race and class warfare to further
their own cause, their own power. Screw the country. This
is the mother of all evils.
Speaking
of mothers, while those aborted don't have to be provided for, they aren't
worth mentioning to Democrats since they can't vote. Because they're
dead. That's the difference. Abortions are effectively partly
subsidized by our tax dollars. What does one say about a party that
advocates confiscating people's money to fund Planned Parenthood (or pay for union
dues, for that matter) without their consent, or even in direct opposition to
their beliefs? Is that not another form of slavery? It
certainly is taxation without representation at a minimum. The
Founders rebelled against a three-pence tax on tea. Isn't this
worse?
We
are being lied to continually. Very few people in the media, such as
Tucker Carlson, are brave enough to speak truth to power, whoever that
power may be, wherever it may lie. Democrats are gifted liars,
preternatural prevaricators. (See also the Clintons.) They
will tell you Republicans are racist. They will
tell you that President Trump colluded with the Russians, might even be a
Russian asset. They tell us that global warming is an existential
crisis and that the Earth will be toast in ten years. Of course,
they also told us that ten years ago. They told us
that COVID-19 would likely kill countless millions, maybe 2.2 million in this country
alone, so we should stay inside. We couldn't have graduation
ceremonies, get married, attend funerals, or get a haircut. For
our own good. Those few of us who eventually dared to leave our
homes and peacefully protest this usurpation of our constitutional rights were
labeled as selfish, hateful, bigots — terrorists, in fact — who were
going to be responsible for a surge in coronavirus infections and resultant
deaths.
And
now they tell us that certain protests, even violent ones, are a public health good, even a necessity. That isn't
"their truth." It's a lie. There's no such
thing as my truth, your truth, his truth,
or her truth. There is only the truth.
The
truth is: the truth is.
It is up to us to recognize
it. Embrace it. Cherish it. Protect
it. And tell it.
NO ONE WORKED HARDER FOR NAFTA THAN JOE BIDEN! IT IS THE
BASIS OF THE GLOBALIST DEMOCRAT PARTY’S PLATFORM OR BILLIONAIRES AND BANKSTERS.
THAT IS THE REASON WE HAVE OPEN BORDERS WITH NARCOMEX.
LOOK AT THE CRIME TIDAL WAVE IN ALL DEMOCRAT PARTY-CONTROLLED
LA RAZA SANCTUARY CITIES ALL OF WHICH ARE IN MELTDOWN!
A Deliberately Bankrupted
America
Why
are the cities burning? African Americans have been a part of our history since
our nation’s founding -- they fought for independence. They are found on
the Supreme Court, in military leadership, as
prominent mayors, Members of Congress, academics, authors, cabinet secretaries, ambassadors, police chiefs, surgeons, business owners, entertainers, athletes, astronauts, and CEOs. A 75% white America
even voted twice to choose an African American leader. If so much progress has
been made, why are the nation’s cities -- some led by African American mayors,
with a diverse police force often led by non-white police chiefs -- burning?
Could
this be the end result of choices made over time by some of our leaders to
bankrupt America and African-Americans economically, morally, educationally,
and spiritually?
The
Free Trade Agreements from ‘94 to ‘01, with NAFTA, and then with China,
bankrupted the nation economically. The ‘sucking sound’ of factories closing and millions of jobs
disappearing hit both sides of the border. Millions of Mexican family farmers
could not compete with American agribusiness, lost their farms .and began the trek
northward. Those men (in the words of the times) worked ‘twice as hard as black
men, for half the pay’. Systemic unemployment enabled by free trade and open
borders was made worse by floods of drugs brought by the Colombian and Mexican
Cartels, and synthetic drugs manufactured in Chinese factories. Addicted men engaged in
petty theft to support their habits or became part of the predatory gangs
profiting off the addicts. The explosion in crime, starting with the crack wars
of the late 80s, resulted in the imprisoning of many young African American
men. In 1990, one of every three African-American
men under 29 were in prison or on parole.
Already
stressed family bonds broke under this strain. Currently 77% percent of African
Americans are born into unmarried families. The family pictures of son, father,
and grandson is almost unknown in our poorest communities. The anger and pain
of sons abandoned by their fathers is a lifelong wound. The consequences of
numerous short-term disposable relationships is abusive stepparents and the loss of
positive male role models. When the patriarchy is smashed, there are no fathers
to guide boys to manhood, and the masculinity that remains is too often toxic.
If
the family is a broken reed, what of the schools? In our poorest schools,
the lowest achieving students, mostly young men with attention and behavior problems, leave elementary school
without learning to read or mastering arithmetic, only to fall behind further
each year. In our nation’s capital, one-third of the adults
cannot read. Our lowest-performing students learn from school that no matter
how disruptively and disrespectfully you behave, no matter how little you work
or how low your test scores, you will pass on to the next grade.
When 2/3rds of students are not at grade
level, maintaining standards is impossible
without drastic reform.
Our
schools and our culture do not support societal stability. They are creating a
nation of moral and spiritual midgets. With the Biblical Ten Commandments
ridiculed for a generation, looters of every background across the nation defy
the unknown command “Thou Shalt Not Steal.” Rather than heed Jesus’ example of
forgiveness, grievance is nurtured and encouraged. In expelling those old white
men, the Greek philosophers, from our humanities, we do not teach Aristotle’s
virtue of moderation in a democratic society. In schools today, the focus is
not on the virtues or genius of our founding generation. There is little talk of innovators, entrepreneurs, explorers, soldiers, scientists, pioneers, architects, or engineers. Instead, a cartoon
version of only protestors and oppressors becomes our national story. America is portrayed as a shameful, oppressive country, one that deserves
little loyalty or protection from
the mob. The social compact has been deliberately frayed.
For
a generation, the complaint has been of wealth inequality -- some people
are too rich. An entire race
has been labeled with #Whiteprivilege. We have become a nation singularly focused on
the color of our skin, while blindly ignoring the content of our individual
character. Suddenly America is not the place where an African immigrant genius
can lead our national return to space, but an oppressive land where the fabulously
rich Elon Musk is just another rich white man benefiting from his privilege.
The nuance and truths behind the theories of income inequality and white
privilege are lost on the rioting mobs. Instead it is the sin of envy
personified, and the theory of socialism in street talk: “I need the iPad in your store, so I’ll take it
and beat you senseless if you object --
you privileged, rich, oppressive white.” Or as Karl Marx so eloquently put it:
“From each according to his ability, to each according to his need.”
Our
nation’s political class is deeply divided. Many Democrat politicians cannot
bring themselves to openly side with law and order against their allies and so
remain silent to the hijacking of legitimate protests. To a socialist ‘you
didn’t build that’ -- what the entrepreneur spent a lifetime building up -- is
actually the property of the voters, who have decided to redistribute the
wealth. Thus, hundreds of Minneapolis police stood by, at the mayor’s command,
while businesses were looted across
the street. They were defending the police precinct -- government property. And
even then, they were ordered to give that up to the mob. After all, the city
can just take your money in taxes to rebuild after it’s over. In Minneapolis,
under the leadership of Mayor Jacob Frey, the police are there to keep your
nonessential business shut down because of COVID-19, but not to protect your
life’s work from the anarchists. In Washington D.C., the mayor at first refused
to use city police to protect the White House and our nation’s monuments.
Arlington county withdrew its police from D.C., when
they saw their officers help the President cross the street during the
protests. To some, the real problem is the political opposition, not the
rioting. After all, if Trump succeeds in bringing back American manufacturing,
and if his actions raise American wages by lowering taxes and regulations while
decreasing illegal immigration, then Democratic
politicians might lose a few elections. Better to burn America down, than to
MAGA.
And
therein lies a clue to the problems of our deeply divided country. Our country
is deeply divided and hurting economically, educationally, morally, and
spiritually. But division is in the interests of some of our political leaders.
Why unify, when division makes your supporters more passionate? Why build, when
it is much easier to tear down? The key to our political paradox lies in the
virtues expounded by the world’s first democrats, the Greeks: wisdom, justice, moderation, and
courage.
May we have the wisdom to sit in moderate dialogue with our fellow citizens,
and the courage to seek liberty and justice for all.
The
Truth about Interracial Violent Crime
Debunking the Left's pernicious
lies.
Thu Jun 4, 2020
Instead it is the sin of envy personified, and
the theory of socialism in street talk: “I need the iPad in your store, so I’ll take it
and beat you senseless if you object --
you privileged, rich, oppressive white.”
A Deliberately Bankrupted America
Why
are the cities burning? African Americans have been a part of our history since
our nation’s founding -- they fought for independence. They are found on
the Supreme Court, in military leadership, as
prominent mayors, Members of Congress, academics, authors, cabinet secretaries, ambassadors, police chiefs, surgeons, business owners, entertainers, athletes, astronauts, and CEOs. A 75% white America
even voted twice to choose an African American leader. If so much progress has
been made, why are the nation’s cities -- some led by African American mayors,
with a diverse police force often led by non-white police chiefs -- burning?
Could
this be the end result of choices made over time by some of our leaders to
bankrupt America and African-Americans economically, morally, educationally,
and spiritually?
The
Free Trade Agreements from ‘94 to ‘01, with NAFTA, and then with China,
bankrupted the nation economically. The ‘sucking sound’ of factories closing and millions of jobs
disappearing hit both sides of the border.
BLOG
EDITOR: FOR 8 YEARS BARACK OBAMA AND JOE BIDEN DID NADA FOR BLACK AMERICA AS
THEY SURRENDERED OUR BORDERS TO MEXICO!
Millions
of Mexican family farmers could not compete with American agribusiness, lost their farms .and began the trek
northward.
Those men (in the words of the times) worked ‘twice as hard as black men, for
half the pay’. Systemic unemployment enabled by free trade and open borders
was made worse by floods of drugs brought by the Colombian and Mexican Cartels,
and synthetic drugs manufactured in Chinese factories. Addicted men engaged in
petty theft to support their habits or became part of the predatory gangs
profiting off the addicts. The explosion in crime, starting with the crack wars
of the late 80s, resulted in the imprisoning of many young African American
men. In 1990, one of every three African-American
men under 29 were in prison or on parole.
Already
stressed family bonds broke under this strain. Currently 77% percent of African
Americans are born into unmarried families. The family pictures of son, father,
and grandson is almost unknown in our poorest communities. The anger and pain
of sons abandoned by their fathers is a lifelong wound. The consequences of
numerous short-term disposable relationships is abusive stepparents and the loss of
positive male role models. When the patriarchy is smashed, there are no
fathers to guide boys to manhood, and the masculinity that remains is too often
toxic.
If
the family is a broken reed, what of the schools? In our poorest schools, the lowest achieving
students, mostly young men with attention and behavior problems, leave elementary school
without learning to read or mastering arithmetic, only to fall behind further
each year. In our nation’s capital, one-third of the adults
cannot read. Our lowest-performing students learn from school that no matter
how disruptively and disrespectfully you behave, no matter how little you work
or how low your test scores, you will pass on to the next
grade.
When 2/3rds of students are not at grade
level, maintaining standards is impossible
without drastic reform.
Our
schools and our culture do not support societal stability. They are creating a
nation of moral and spiritual midgets. With the Biblical Ten Commandments
ridiculed for a generation, looters of every background across the nation defy
the unknown command “Thou Shalt Not Steal.” Rather than heed Jesus’ example of
forgiveness, grievance is nurtured and encouraged. In expelling those old white
men, the Greek philosophers, from our humanities, we do not teach Aristotle’s
virtue of moderation in a democratic society. In schools today, the focus is
not on the virtues or genius of our founding generation. There is little talk of innovators, entrepreneurs, explorers, soldiers, scientists, pioneers, architects, or engineers. Instead, a cartoon
version of only protestors and oppressors becomes our national story. America is portrayed as a shameful, oppressive country, one that deserves
little loyalty or protection from
the mob. The social compact has been deliberately frayed.
For
a generation, the complaint has been of wealth inequality -- some people
are too rich. An entire race
has been labeled with #Whiteprivilege. We have become a nation singularly focused on
the color of our skin, while blindly ignoring the content of our individual
character. Suddenly America is not the place where an African immigrant genius
can lead our national return to space, but an oppressive land where the fabulously
rich Elon Musk is just another rich white man benefiting from his privilege.
The nuance and truths behind the theories of income inequality and white
privilege are lost on the rioting mobs. Instead it is the sin of envy
personified, and the theory of socialism in street talk: “I need the iPad in your store, so I’ll take it
and beat you senseless if you object --
you privileged, rich, oppressive white.” Or as Karl Marx so eloquently put it: “From each
according to his ability, to each according to his need.”
Our
nation’s political class is deeply divided. Many Democrat politicians cannot
bring themselves to openly side with law and order against their allies and so
remain silent to the hijacking of legitimate protests. To a socialist ‘you
didn’t build that’ -- what the entrepreneur spent a lifetime building up -- is
actually the property of the voters, who have decided to redistribute the
wealth. Thus, hundreds of Minneapolis police stood by, at the mayor’s
command, while businesses were looted across the street. They were defending the
police precinct -- government property. And even then, they were ordered to
give that up to the mob. After all, the city can just take your money in taxes
to rebuild after it’s over. In Minneapolis, under the leadership of Mayor Jacob
Frey, the police are there to keep your nonessential business shut down because
of COVID-19, but not to protect your life’s work from the anarchists. In
Washington D.C., the mayor at first refused to use city police to protect the
White House and our nation’s monuments. Arlington county withdrew its police from D.C., when
they saw their officers help the President cross the street during the
protests. To some, the real problem is the political opposition, not the
rioting. After all, if Trump succeeds in bringing back American manufacturing,
and if his actions raise American wages by lowering taxes and regulations while
decreasing illegal immigration, then Democratic
politicians might lose a few elections. Better to burn America down, than to
MAGA.
And
therein lies a clue to the problems of our deeply divided country. Our country
is deeply divided and hurting economically, educationally, morally, and spiritually.
But division is in the interests of some of our political leaders. Why unify,
when division makes your supporters more passionate? Why build, when it is much
easier to tear down? The key to our political paradox lies in the virtues
expounded by the world’s first democrats, the Greeks: wisdom, justice, moderation, and
courage.
May we have the wisdom to sit in moderate dialogue with our fellow citizens,
and the courage to seek liberty and justice for all.
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