Beginning A Dialog About Race

Member Group : Jerry Shenk

"The history of all hitherto existing societies is a history of class struggles." — Karl Marx. Does the left perpetuate a myth of pervasive racism in America to exploit Marx’s political dictum?

Are progressives who demand a national dialog about race, but who reflexively denounce even conservative African-Americans’ opinions about racial matters, really more interested in delivering lectures on and, intrinsically or politically, profiting from racial divisions?

If conservatives were to concede ignorance about racial issues, would the left comprehensively address some straightforward questions? Yes? Then, please explain:

How, exactly, are the economic and moral problems devastating many black communities today the result of America’s 150-year old sin of slavery?
Does encouraging a mindset which views themselves as victims of slavery, blames others for their circumstances and effectively makes many wards of the state empower or strengthen African-Americans? Is dependency elevating?

Do all people of color live in distressed, disadvantaged communities? If not, having faced the same alleged "structural racism," how did many manage to avoid or escape them? Aren’t the realities of a black president, a black attorney general and a Congressional Black Caucus evidence of black self-determination and opportunity?

Do those who insist that voter ID would suppress the minority vote really believe that minorities are uniquely incompetent to obtain the identification that’s required for many other common public activities?
If the unemployment rate for American blacks is more than double that for white Americans, do the president and black congressional Democrats, all of whom advocate general amnesty for illegals, fully appreciate blacks’ economic circumstances, or are they just more focused on registering more Democrats?

After controlling the African-American vote for generations, what problems have Democrats solved in black communities? Be specific.

If, since the 1960s, Washington has spent $22 trillion on eighty programs to fight poverty, why does chronic poverty and substantial devastation still exist in urban minority communities?

By dispensing welfare, has government effectively quarantined the poor rather than improving their lives and integrating them into broader society? Is multi-generational poverty the inevitable outcome of poverty programs? Should Americans settle for the status quo, or should we rethink our approach to fighting poverty?

Do you agree or disagree (and why?) with Troy David, a black inmate in a Pennsylvania prison, who wrote: "Too many African-Americans have become complacent and comfortable with mediocrity: welfare, low-wage jobs and imprisonment. Such complacency serves only to aggrandize the risk our children are already plagued with."

Is political correctness merely a device the left uses to avoid facing embarrassing truths about the unintended consequences of its social policies? Will stifling honest, frank, unimpassioned discussion of racial matters — including of the motivating incentives to avoid work, education and marriage — improve race relations or reduce black poverty?

Do you agree (why or why not?) with black intellectual Thomas Sowell who wrote: "When you want to help people, you tell the truth. When you want to help yourself, you tell people what they want to hear."
We’re listening…

http://www.ldnews.com/story/opinion/columnists/2016/06/16/beginning-dialog-race/85996288/