My heart goes out to the parents of Trayvon Martin. But I’m getting tired of being called a racist.
I came of age during the civil rights movement in the 1960s and raised my kids in a racially mixed suburb. During my career I watched affirmative action and diversity programs succeed in every company and institution I encountered.
I’ve seen public attitudes on race relations change dramatically in a single generation. Yes, racism still exists, but today there’s an overwhelming consensus that racism is wrong. Minorities are protected by law in a variety of ways and countless billions of tax dollars have been spent on anti-poverty programs.
The civil rights movement deserves credit for this initiative. But it’s worth noting that this massive, half-century commitment has been carried out by a succession of mostly white leaders with the support of an overwhelming majority of Americans. It’s a shining example of American exceptionalism: No other country in the world has done so much to raise up a minority population with the backing of the entire nation.
That’s why it’s dismaying to see the hysterical reaction to the Trayvon Martin-George Zimmerman case, and to the Supreme Court decision to end federal supervision of Southern state voting laws. Civil rights leaders, the news media and politicians would have us believe that nothing has changed since the 1960s: that African-Americans are still under attack from white racists, and that American laws and justice are insufficient to address the concerns of African-Americans.
- Civil rights advocates and the media convicted George Zimmerman of a hate crime well before his trial, and that narrative persists despite a fair trial and exculpatory verdict. Does the right to self-defense really threaten every black child in America? At what point does a civil rights protest become a lynch mob?
- What’s revealing about Trayvon-mania is the extent of black grievance and white guilt: that so many people believed a made-up story despite evidence to the contrary, and were outraged when the trial disproved that story. Why did these folks want Martin and Zimmerman to be Emmett Till and Bull Connors instead of two ordinary guys who made bad decisions?
- The Supreme Court ruling left the rest of the Voting Rights Act intact and recognized that black voter registration now equals or exceeds that of whites. That means the 1964 law has been a spectacular success. Yet civil rights leaders and their politicians chose to claim defeat with wild-eyed claims that Jim Crow laws are coming back (which would be a surprise to the numerous black elected officials in the South).
What’s ominous is that this dramatic increase in race-baiting has the tacit approval of our first African-American president. I understand that President Obama needs to shore up his political base. But putting a civil-rights label on the unrelated issues of gun control, stand-your-ground laws and attempts to curb voter fraud is dividing the country. Not to mention the impulse of Democratic politicians to label legitimate criticism of the President’s policies as racist.
The President says we need an honest conversation about race relations and I could not agree more. But it needs to be a conversation for 2013 and not 1965.
- We need to acknowledge that African-American men commit more crimes than any other group, and that their profiling has as much to do with common sense as with racism. Let’s explore the factors that contribute to this such as education, popular culture and community institutions.
- We need to admit that government programs to combat poverty often have resulted in dependence rather than progress, and seek new ideas rather than pour good money after bad.
- Since jobs and education are part of the problem, we need to ask why African-American politicians and groups like the NAACP exclude employers like Walmart from our cities, oppose educational reform by supporting teachers’ unions, and kill entry-level jobs with a higher minimum wage.
- We need to ask why African-Americans follow leaders who promote a sense of grievance and dismiss people like Herman Cain and Allen West. Why are rap artists who spew racism and misogyny invited to the White House? And why have the news media anointed Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton as the spokesmen for all African-Americans? Isn’t it time for those guys to retire?
- Most important, can we really have a conversation about these issues without being accused of racism for raising them?
America has done a lot to end racism and inequality through government action. Much of this effort has been successful, but reviving the civil rights protests of the 1960s will not solve the significant problems that remain. To deny the progress of the last 50 years and claim that all the problems of today’s African-Americans are the result of white racism is dishonest and offensive.
It’s time for a new approach to make African-Americans truly equal, and it’s up to blacks to lead the way – probably with new leaders. I’m certain that legitimate efforts to advance economic and educational opportunities for minorities will win the support of all Americans because that’s the kind of nation we are. But accusing most of the population of racism will not help.
It’s time for civil rights 2.0
My heart goes out to the parents of Trayvon Martin. But I’m getting tired of being called a racist.
I came of age during the civil rights movement in the 1960s and raised my kids in a racially mixed suburb. During my career I watched affirmative action and diversity programs succeed in every company and institution I encountered.
I’ve seen public attitudes on race relations change dramatically in a single generation. Yes, racism still exists, but today there’s an overwhelming consensus that racism is wrong. Minorities are protected by law in a variety of ways and countless billions of tax dollars have been spent on anti-poverty programs.
The civil rights movement deserves credit for this initiative. But it’s worth noting that this massive, half-century commitment has been carried out by a succession of mostly white leaders with the support of an overwhelming majority of Americans. It’s a shining example of American exceptionalism: No other country in the world has done so much to raise up a minority population with the backing of the entire nation.
That’s why it’s dismaying to see the hysterical reaction to the Trayvon Martin-George Zimmerman case, and to the Supreme Court decision to end federal supervision of Southern state voting laws. Civil rights leaders, the news media and politicians would have us believe that nothing has changed since the 1960s: that African-Americans are still under attack from white racists, and that American laws and justice are insufficient to address the concerns of African-Americans.
What’s ominous is that this dramatic increase in race-baiting has the tacit approval of our first African-American president. I understand that President Obama needs to shore up his political base. But putting a civil-rights label on the unrelated issues of gun control, stand-your-ground laws and attempts to curb voter fraud is dividing the country. Not to mention the impulse of Democratic politicians to label legitimate criticism of the President’s policies as racist.
The President says we need an honest conversation about race relations and I could not agree more. But it needs to be a conversation for 2013 and not 1965.
America has done a lot to end racism and inequality through government action. Much of this effort has been successful, but reviving the civil rights protests of the 1960s will not solve the significant problems that remain. To deny the progress of the last 50 years and claim that all the problems of today’s African-Americans are the result of white racism is dishonest and offensive.
It’s time for a new approach to make African-Americans truly equal, and it’s up to blacks to lead the way – probably with new leaders. I’m certain that legitimate efforts to advance economic and educational opportunities for minorities will win the support of all Americans because that’s the kind of nation we are. But accusing most of the population of racism will not help.
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