Category Archives: Race

Rand Paul – Howard University

Posted on April 10, 2013 | 2 comments

Rand Paul

Rand Paul spoke at Howard University.  I’ve just listened to the speech, more on that later.  I was struck by his response to one of the student’s questions regarding voter ID:

 I think it’s important in the history to know what happened.  Democrats in the south were very very harsh.  Almost all democrats, okay?  That’s who ran the governments.  And they DID have tests at the polls literacy tests and special tests.  And  guess what, if you were white and forward you didn’t have to do the test but if you were black you had to do the test and you didn’t pass the test.  People were scared and intimidated and prevented from voting.

I think if you liken using a drivers license to literacy tests, you demean the horror  of what happened in the 40’s and 50’s.  Maybe from 1910 all the way through 1960’s in the south.  It was horrific.  NOBODY is in favor of that, NO republican is in favor of that.  But showing your drivers license to have an honest election I think is not unreasonable.  And I think that is the main thing republicans have been for.

Again, I think the democrat position that election laws being racist is an example of racism today.  You have a political movement, an ideology, using race as a lever to gain advantage for themselves.

Well said!

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Posted in Government, Race

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We Can’t Be Racist If We Call You Racist

Posted on February 18, 2013 | Leave a comment

I’ve been watching the whole series of “The West Wing”.  Its a great series, I loved it then and I like it even more now.  Sadly, even as I obtained the ability to rip scenes from my DVDs, YouTube has objected claiming copyright infringement.  And I don’t wanna take material that isn’t mine so….

The scene is this:

There is a party going on and Sam is entertaining an old professor of his.  This professor wants funding for his project.

Sam’s advice, his comment?

What are you for?

Sam’s point is that if you want something, all you have to do is stake ground that you are FOR something and then cast your opponent as against it.  And that has summed up the liberal left’s attack on reality.  What are you against?

See, if the conversation can be shaped into one where there is a good guy and a bad guy, and you simply make sure that you are the good guy, then whatever it is that you are proposing is “good.”

For example:

A student at Eagle Rock Junior High won first prize at the Greater Idaho Falls Science Fair, April 26. He was attempting to show how conditioned we have become to alarmists practicing junk science and spreading fear of everything in our environment. In his project he urged people to sign a petition demanding strict control or total elimination of the chemical “dihydrogen monoxide.”

And for plenty of good reasons, since:

  1. it can cause excessive sweating and vomiting
  2. it is a major component in acid rain
  3. it can cause severe burns in its gaseous state
  4. accidental inhalation can kill you
  5. it contributes to erosion
  6. it decreases effectiveness of automobile brakes
  7. it has been found in tumors of terminal cancer patients

He asked 50 people if they supported a ban of the chemical.

  • Forty-three (43) said yes,
  • six (6) were undecided,
  • and only one (1) knew that the chemical was water.

This is where I think that left is playing fast and loose with race.  See, the left sells this notion of a minimum wage as a way out for minorities and the poorest among us.  In reality, the minimum wage traps those very people into a continuous cycle of unemployment and dependence.  And who wins?

The rich elite labor leaders who just so happen to mobilize to elect those very same democrats and siphon millions upon millions of dollars from their ranks into the coffers of democrats across the country.

Witness one man’s explanation:

The minimum wage is one of the most effective tools for racism in the world.

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Posted in Economics, Government, Politics: National, Race

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The NAACP – Racists

Posted on February 12, 2013 | 2 comments

The definition of the word “racist” has changed.  Today, its use has been co-opted by the left to instill a form of faux outrage against groups, or more accurately, policies that they don’t like.

To be sure, given any group of people and any sufficiently random problem to be solved, there will be disagreement.  And, in my opinion, in that disagreement lies the secret to America’s success; what a horrible horrible world it would be if it worked exactly like I wanted it to.

Or if it worked exactly like YOU wanted it to.

However, some of us engage in an especially caustic form of objection.  See, it’s one thing to disagree on merit, to debate rationally, emotionally even, but in a realm of reality.  But that doesn’t always win elections, it doesn’t always move people to act, to anger or to vote.

To do that, you have to make it that your opponent is “against” something.  And one of the most often used targets for that is race.

See, if I can make it look like your position on an issue is racist, I win.  Not because my position is stronger or more valid, not at all.  It’s because I have successfully cast you as a racist.  And who is for racism?

No one.

And this is how the left, liberals and democrats operate.  They ignore the merits of the policy and instead, and effectively, manipulate race.

And here in North Carolina we have an elected official going after the source:

Raleigh, N.C. — A Republican House freshman will be in the spotlight Friday at an NAACP press conference for an email he sent to the state organization, calling the group and its leader “racist” and “race-opportunists.”

Rep. Michael Speciale, R-Craven, along with all other state lawmakers, received an emailed version of a statement last week by NAACP state president William Barber on proposed voter ID legislation.

In the statement, Barber calls voter ID initiatives “national propaganda efforts by the far-right to justify the obvious tactic to suppress the votes of minorities, youth, disabled and the elderly,” and urges Republican legislative leaders to abandon their push for such a law in North Carolina.

Sing it brother!

The e-mail in full:

Dr. Barber,

This is as insulting a diatribe as I have seen in years. The NAACP has a proud history of working on behalf of black Americans to address the problems of society directed at them. You tarnish that with your racist diatribes and your race-baiting attitude. The photo requirement to vote is to prove that one is who they say they are. Nowhere in anyone’s minds but yours and your fellow race-opportunists is race, ethnic background, or color of one’s skin mentioned, insinuated or inferred regarding the proposed voter ID laws.

You do minorities and the elderly a disservice when you assume that they are incapable or incompetent to the point that they cannot provide a photo ID to vote. Photo ID’s are required in nearly every aspect of American life, and most Americans over the age of 16 have some form of photo ID. Your talking points make no sense, as you ramble on with Constitutional phrases to give an impression that you know what you are talking about, and it is apparent that you are grasping at straws. Your attempts to make minorities and the elderly believe that they are victims in this effort is contrary to common sense but apparently necessary to your economic survival

Your comments, both today and in the past are racist and inappropriate, therefore, I request that you remove me from your email list.
Michael Speciale

The new definition of racism, the “urban-dictionary” version of racism, calls out anyone that would use race as a reason to promote a policy.  Anything from immigration to voter-id to pre-k education to unemployment reform to you name it, if you don’t agree with it you can defend your position best by calling racism.

And it’s about time that someone called the left on it.

When someone uses “racism” as a lever to push an agenda that they disagree with, they are as guilty of this “urban dictionary” version of the definition as those they themselves accuse.  In this case it’s voter-id.  The North Carolina chapter of the NAACP is calling out state officials for engaging in racist policy as it pertains to voter requirements.  Yet they are silent on ID requirements for alcohol, cigarettes, the lottery, sudafed, and -as I learned today- mailing packages in a box through the mail.

Is it true that voter fraud is a problem in North Carolina?  Probably not.  Is it true that we want people who are casting votes to be able to prove who they are?  Probably so.  Given the economic circumstances is it the best policy to pursue at this time?  Debatable.

But is it racist?

If you ask that question, think that question, in those words, you don’t know what you are talking about.

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Posted in Liberty, Politics: North Carolina, Race

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Political Correctness: Hyphenism

Posted on February 11, 2013 | Leave a comment

Honest to God heard this on a pop radio station this morning.

The morning show was discussing the resignation of the pope along with Black History month and wondered if they would elect a black pope.  One of the hosts mentioned that there was indeed a black cardinal from Ghana.

“That would so totally be appropriate; electing an African-American cardinal to be Pope during Black History month.”

Now, she did realize what she said, stumbled a little before correcting herself clarifying that the cardinal was just African,  not African-American.

Some people really reject the notion of the hyphen; that it’s silly or even insulting.  Me?  I tend to think we should refer to a person, people, groups or whatever, by the name/term that they desire.  So if someone wants to be referred to as “Pete” instead of “Peter” or “African-American” instead of “black”, I’m for self identification.  With that said, I would feel a little strange referring to myself as “German-American”.  However, my grandfather and grandmother are native Germans, born in Germany and straight off the damn boat at the Island.

Anyway….the native Ghana born cardinal is, you know, African-American.

 

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Posted in Fun, Race

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Thoughts On Affirmative Action And Social Policy

Posted on September 30, 2012 | 3 comments

I’m watching the Sunday morning shows just now, something I never do.  It’s either church, football or some other activity going on right about now.  But today the kids are out having lunch with mom and I’m home alone.

I watching MSNBC and the table is talking about the Massachusetts race for senator; specifically the element of race.  Elizabeth Warren received advantages due to the fact that she is one thirty-second Cherokee.  It would seem that by identifying herself in this way she was able to help her early career.

Anyway, the conversation shifted to affirmative action and social policy in general.

Why Affirmative Action

I went to a pretty good source for an answer to this question:

The Racial Justice Program actively supports affirmative action to secure racial diversity in educational settings, workplaces and government contracts, to remedy continuing systemic discrimination against people of color, and to help ensure equal opportunities for all people. As part of this commitment, we are working to defend affirmative action in states that are threatened for a civil rights rollback.

Pretty clear and straight forward.

  • Secure racial diversity in educational settings, workplaces and government contracts.
  • Secure racial diversity in educational settings, workplaces and government contracts.
  • Help ensure equal opportunities for all people.

Three simple goals, easy to understand and noble in its intention.

Is Affirmative Action The Right Approach

Even as we celebrate the 150th anniversary of the Emancipation Proclamation we have to acknowledge that there is work to do; hard important work.  We have the opportunity to improve the relations between the races here in America.  However, we have to take time to consider that in just 150 years, really, borrowing an allusion from Louis C. k., that’s really the lives of two old people back to back.  We have to acknowledge that we’ve come a very long way.

The reason I mention this preamble is because we have to acknowledge that there are still unenlightened idiots out there who want to continue to discriminate based on race.  We’re not talking about that very small and insignificant minority.  Here I’m talking about the mainstream reasonable individual.  And of THAT population I find no one, not one single person, who feels that any individual should be denied opportunity based on race.

But is that the goal of Affirmative Action?

I don’t think so.  I think that Affirmative Action is a “results based” program and not a “build the base” program.  Think of it this way, I want my kids to excel in school, I want them to hit the honor roll and bring home report card after report card with A’s.  I probably can accomplish this in two ways:

  1. I can enforce strict expectations regarding achievement and insist on homework and study.
  2. I can use my influence with teachers, staff and administration to ensure that substandard grades are changed to more desirable ones.

Both paths result in my goal; Straight A’s.  However, the goal isn’t really straight A’s.  The goal is mastery of the subject such that positive life goals can be reasonably accomplished.  I want my kids to learn to earn those A’s.  Simply giving ’em to them doesn’t accomplish anything; in fact, it may prove to be counter-productive.

This is my beef with Affirmative Action.  The programs put in place often result in “inappropriate  promotion” not based on the merit but on the basis of race.  In the same way that I don’t want to see an unqualified white protestant middles-class male given preference over a more qualified candidate who may be a minority, neither do I want to see a member of a protected class given preference over that same WASP.

I want the gateway to be one of merit without bias of class, of race, of sex or of religion.

In short, we want the ELIMINATION of advancement based on those elements.  We do not want to extend discrimination simply by changing the group of people we discriminate against.

On other words, the goal of any “Affirmative Action” would be to reduce the number of qualified minorities being denied advancement.  It would NOT be to increase the number of unqualified minorities being advanced.

This seems so self apparent as to be bedrock philosophy and disagreement indicates an inherent racial bias.

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Posted in Race

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Joe Biden And Chains

Posted on August 16, 2012 | 6 comments

I’ve been ignoring the Joe Biden “chain” comments.  It seems silly.  These guys makes speech after speech after speech.

Maybe we can cut ’em a break.

I didn’t know what Biden was trying to say.  I don’t know what he WASN’T trying to say.  I simply didn’t think that the democrats were trying to make the case that the republicans were racists.

Then I happened to hear the comments:

Dood.  Biden slipped into the cadence.  He took a whole new tone and accent.  His arms raised as if he were a preacher.  His pause is reminiscent of a preacher.

He meant chains in the sense that in the past, white people used chains to control black slaves.

He had the tone, the timber, the cadence and the theatrics.

He’s using race to forward his political ends.  And that’s bigotry.

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Posted in Elections 2012, Race

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Men’s 100 Meter Dash

Posted on August 6, 2012 | 6 comments

  • 75 entrants
  • More than 40 countries represented
  • 8 men in the finals
  • Of more than 40 countries entered, only 4 are represented in the finals
  • Of the finalists, all 8 are black
  • You have to go back to 1980 to find a Gold Medalist that is white

Is this an example of bias?

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Posted in Race

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If You Wanna Stop A Thing From Happening….

Posted on June 13, 2012 | 6 comments

Then stop doing that thing:

A white student at a Riverside high school has returned a $1,000 scholarship intended for black students.

Jeffrey Warren of Martin Luther King High School received the scholarship from the Martin Luther King Senior Citizens Club at a school awards night last month, prompting laughter from the audience.

Jeffrey later returned it. The teen, who graduated last week, says he applied for 27 scholarships and won three others.

The Riverside Press-Enterprise says the 17-year-old never saw a cover letter for the award that was sent to high school counselors and specified it was for black students.

The application itself said only that African-Americans were encouraged to apply.

The scholarship has now gone to a black student. The senior club says it will change next year’s application language.

I get the point.  A group of people wanna help members of that group of people.  But the overall complaint seems to be that when the wrong groups of people help their own groups, that’s seen as bad.

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Posted in Education, Race, Raising Men

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Raced Based Violence

Posted on June 7, 2012 | 4 comments

Remember when the nation went nuts after a Latino white man profiled another man child based on the color of his skin and the fact that he was wearing a hoodie?

I’m waiting for the same outrage when a black kid wearing a hoodie profiled a Latino man wearing a purple shirt and shot and killed that man’s one year old child.

Although the victim’s father was not a gang member, he may have been mistaken for one because he was wearing a purple T-shirt, witnesses and area residents said.

…

Purple had become a dangerous color since last summer, when the area experienced a number of shootings involving a black gang known as Fudgetown and a rival Latino gang, called Barrio Grape Street, which uses the color purple.

Based on his race and clothing, one man’s child is dead.

Outrage?

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Posted in Crime, Race

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North Carolina Racial Justice Act

Posted on April 21, 2012 | 6 comments

The world is a bad and ugly place.

We are living among thieves and murderers.  To be sure, this has been the sad state since Cain And Able and represents no new change in the nature of man.  Brutality seems to be an inherent aspect of who we are.

Equally true is our desire for for justice and revenge; some say “a reckoning.”  And this is why we have laws that allow us to impose death on people who commit the most horrible and unthinkable crimes.  The idea is that society can remove from itself the most violent members in order to keep the rest safe.

All of this has been with us since time immemorial.

By itself this combination of brutality and justice can cast an interesting debate.  A debate I suspect that can rage just as long as man is brutal.  But this isn’t about THAT debate.  This is about the “serving of justice” on an equitable basis.

Some time ago North Carolina identified that the death penalty was disproportionately being used on the basis of race.  Not that more black guys were being sentenced to death than white.  But that of defendants found guilty, blacks were sentenced to death more often.

And THAT is intolerable.

However, in order to begin to remedy this situation, North Carolina pass the Racial Justice Act:

The North Carolina Racial Justice Act of 2009 prohibits seeking or imposing the death penalty on the basis of race. The act identifies types of evidence that may be considered by the court when considering whether race was a basis for seeking or imposing the death penalty, and establishes a process by which relevant evidence may be used to establish that race was a significant factor in seeking or imposing the death penalty. The defendant has the burden of proving that race was a significant factor in seeking or imposing the death penalty, and the state may offer evidence to rebut the claims or evidence of the defendant. If race is found to be a significant factor in the imposition of the death penalty, the death sentence will automatically be commuted to life imprisonment without the possibility of parole.

Sadly, Republicans repealed the law in 2011 but it was saved as our Governor vetoed the repeal.  Happily Republicans didn’t have the votes to override the veto.

And yesterday the first case to win under the law was decided:

Fayetteville, N.C. — A Cumberland County Superior Court judge made history Friday morning when he commuted a death row inmate’s sentence in the first test of North Carolina’s fledgling Racial Justice Act.

Superior Court Judge Greg Weeks ruled that race significantly influenced jury selection in Marcus Robinson’s 1994 trial in the 1991 shooting death of a white 17-year-old, Erik Tornblom.

The ruling means Robinson, a 38-year-old black man, will be taken off death row and will serve life in prison without the possibility of parole.

Weeks said Robinson’s attorneys “presented a wealth of evidence showing the persistent, persuasive and distorting role of race in jury selection in North Carolina.”

“When the government’s choice of jurors is tainted with racial bias, that overt wall casts down over the parties, the jury and the court to adhere to the law throughout the trial,” Weeks said. “The very integrity of the court is jeopardized when a prosecutors discrimination invites cynicism respecting the jury’s neutrality and undermines public confidence.”

I have no idea if Mr. Robinson really took the life of that kids all those years ago [though the Racial Justice Act did not show that race was a factor in verdicts].  If he really did commit that act, I have little issue with him being sentenced to death.  However, when guilty criminals benefit from sentencing based on race, I DO begin to have an issue with that.

Well done North Carolina.

 

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Posted in Crime, Politics: North Carolina, Race

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