Being White in Philly

"A Nation of Cowards." That's how Attorney General Eric Holder chose to castigate a certain sector of the American people in 2009 for remaining voluntarily self segregated. Holder claimed that "certain subjects are off limits and that to explore them risks at best embarrassment and at worst the questioning of one's character".
  
Well, recently there's been some refreshingly honest discussion about race, but my guess is that its not the type of honesty that Holder was looking for. Being White in Philly is an article that explores how middle-class white people feel about race relations in a gentrifying neighborhood near North Philly. A blunt Russian law student relates the following:

"Blacks use skin color as an excuse. Discrimination is an excuse, instead of moving forward. … It’s a shame—you pay taxes, they’re not doing anything except sitting on porches smoking pot … Why do you support them when they won’t work, just make babies and smoking pot? I walk to work in Center City, black guys make compliments, ‘Hey beautiful. Hey sweetie.’ White people look but don’t make comments. … ”

The author interviews several residents, each with a unique perspective, but the overall gist is that it's not easy being white in a predominantly black Philly town. This honest discussion of race tells a starkly different narrative than what progressives like Eric Holder have been spinning since the 1960s. In fact, the article so enraged the Democratic establishment that Philadelphia mayor Nutter called the article’s tone “disgusting,” and he’s asked the PHRC, the State's Civil Rights Agency, to "investigate some of the sensitive racial issues explored in the piece". So much for an honest discussion.

Being White in Philly has been widely read and commented on (2260 comments as of this writing). For more refreshingly honest discussion about race relations I suggest you read some of the article's comments (Warning: there are many downright racist comments from Blacks as well as Whites, but there's also alot of heartfelt honesty). Here is the comment with the most "up votes" (1100 as of this writing).

white kid in black gradeschool • 13 days ago
As I white kid whose well-meaning parents enrolled him in a majority black school for the same noble reasons as "Jen", I just have to say that that decision is really negligent. I love how she makes it about herself. I love my parents dearly and have never told them about how lonely and terrifying it was to be one of the only white kids in my grade school. I love them too much to put that kind of guilt on them. I was constantly teased, picked on, and bullied by a few kids... and even the nicer kids never seemed to display any sort of empathy. Given the state of race relations in this country, and the overt disdain black people have for whites, I don't suppose I see how that would be surprising. Whites only think racism goes one way... they have no idea what its like for those of us in the trenches. Especially kids. Link to this comment here

white kid in black gradeschool goes on in another comment...

One thing that I came to see as a kid was that there was no end to the scorn for being white. While I didn't "wish I was black" per se, I definitely craved validation from the only people I was surrounded by, and for us handful of white kids, there was no higher compliment in life than being accepted by black kids as "cool", and somehow transcending our being white....

and here, white kid in black gradeschool comments on Jen, a mother in the article who believes that sending here children to the black school is the right thing to do...

The worst part was that my parents, like Jen, thought that I was getting so much cultural value out of this experience. They couldn't have been further from the truth: I probably would be more positively disposed to black people as a group had I grown up in the suburbs. Again, even though I still have actual black friends, I definitely do not fall for all the white people are all racist lines. I really, really hope Jen's kids turn out OK-- I can guarantee they will probably have MAJOR issues throughout the rest of their lives. Not to mention, the academics, no matter how much Jen decides she just loves the teachers and the schools, are TERRIBLE. No one cares about schoolwork, even the teachers. Jen's on a moral superiority mission, and her children are the victims. I guarantee 100% that they dread going to school. If white privilege is the right to a carefree childhood, they are being robbed of their birthright. Almost every day I wish things had been different for my childhood. And to tie this in a little bit with the story: I have never been able to tell my story to anyone. White people's brains would blow up, black people get hostile (see comment to my first post)... it's just a story that simply doesn't compute in today's racial narrative.

  No, I don't suppose this is what Eric Holder had in mind when he asked for an honest discussion on race.

 

Reflections on Liberty

Ron Paul's Farewell Address to Congress and the American people. Whether you are a Ron Paul fan or not, this is a must view for all who to love liberty or seek to learn about liberty and its demise. 



3:21  "Why have those of us who care so much about liberty done so poorly? I have thought a lot about why those of us who believe in liberty, as a solution, have done so poorly in convincing others of its benefits. If liberty is what we claim it is- the principle that protects all personal, social and economic decisions necessary for maximum prosperity and the best chance for peace- it should be an easy sell. Yet, history has shown that the masses have been quite receptive to the promises of authoritarians which are rarely if ever fulfilled."

5:00  "Freedom, private property, and enforceable voluntary contracts, generate wealth. In our early history we were very much aware of this. But in the early part of the 20th century our politicians promoted the notion that the tax and monetary systems had to change if we were to involve ourselves in excessive domestic and military spending. That is why Congress gave us the Federal Reserve and the income tax. The majority of Americans and many government officials agreed that sacrificing some liberty was necessary to carry out what some claimed to be “progressive” ideas. Pure democracy became acceptable. They failed to recognized that what they were doing was exactly opposite of what the colonists were seeking when they broke away from the British."

11:48 "Our job, for those of us who believe that a different system than the one that we have had for the last 100 years, has driven us to this unsustainable crisis, is to be more convincing that there is a wonderful, uncomplicated, and moral system that provides the answers. We had a taste of it in our early history. We need not give up on the notion of advancing this cause.
It worked, but we allowed our leaders to concentrate on the material abundance that freedom generates, while ignoring freedom itself. Now we have neither, but the door is open, out of necessity, for an answer. The answer available is based on the Constitution, individual liberty and prohibiting the use of government force to provide privileges and benefits to all special interests.
After over 100 years we face a society quite different from the one that was intended by the Founders. In many ways their efforts to protect future generations with the Constitution from this danger has failed. Skeptics, at the time the Constitution was written in 1787, warned us of today’s possible outcome. The insidious nature of the erosion of our liberties and the reassurance our great abundance gave us, allowed the process to evolve into the dangerous period in which we now live."


Full text may be found here.

Beck Speaks Truth on Israel

Glenn Beck has the courage to speak the truth and stand tall with Israel in a morally confused world where most cannot decipher Good from Evil.



"...A Jewish man was walking down the street in midtown Manhattan over the weekend. He passed by a group of people protesting on the street.

They were holding up signs, criticizing Israel. He was wearing a yarmulke. So they called him a “dirty Jew.”

We’ve seen this move before. We’ve seen the terror before. We’ve seen the sirens…and the bombs… and the threats.

We’ve even seen the insults. “Dirty Jew.” Nothing original there.

So I think we know what’s really going on here.

It has nothing to do with embargoes… or borders… or anything else that CAN be solved. It’s because Israel exists. And it’s a Jewish state.

Let’s be honest with ourselves. There are some people who can’t get past that.

The world’s oldest hatred. Anti-Semitism. It’s alive in our time. And it’s not hiding. It’s right there in Gaza.

>> Read the full text of Glenn's video here.

More Dangerous than Barack Obama

I received this quote in an email which claims that it came from the Czech Republic . Someone over there has it figured out. It was translated into English from an article in the Prague newspaper Prager Zeitungon on 4-28-2010.

"The danger to America is not Barack Obama, but a citizenry capable of entrusting a man like him with the Presidency. It will be far easier to limit and undo the follies of an Obama presidency than to restore the necessary common sense and good judgment to a depraved electorate willing to have such a man for their president. The problem is much deeper and far more serious than Mr. Obama, who is a mere symptom of what ails America . Blaming the prince of the fools should not blind anyone to the vast confederacy of fools that made him their prince. The Republic can survive a Barack Obama, who is, after all, merely a fool. It is less likely to survive a multitude of fools, such as those who made him their president."

The Zero Sum Game Fallacy

Author David Brin Discussed the Fallacy of the Zero Sum Economic Game and the Modern Enlightenment

Romney Presidential Odds

Will Mitt Romney win the November 2012 Presidential Election? The chart below shows the closing price from the political prediction market, Intrade.  Note that this graph is continually updated.

Each number on the price scale represents the market-based probability in percentage terms for the event occurring (in this case, the event is that Mitt Romney will be elected).