The Black Elephant

     Let me preface this rant with a spoiler alert.  I am a White male. I am going to voice my opinion on racially sensitive issues.  In doing so, I risk a lifetime of 80+ years building a reputation of fairness and honesty.  I am too old to care about that anymore; I am more concerned with the deliberate distortion of truths surrounding racism.  These distortions are being perpetuated by mainstream media, academia, and government bureaucracy.  Why do they turn a blind eye to what is glaringly obvious?

    Black Americans are being conditioned to believe anything that adversely influences their lives is a result of racism.  BTW, it is now considered racist for Whites to use the word racism.

    Facts:  13% of the U.S. population is Black.  Young Black Americans are being shot at 100 times the rate of White teens. There is far more Black on White crime than vice-versa.  Prison populations are much more than 13% Black.  Smash and grab robberies and urban arson are committed by blacks at a rate exceeding White, Asian, and Hispanic combined.  According to standardized tests, less than 5% of Black high school graduates are college ready.  As much as 75% of Black babies are born to single mothers. 

    Is all of this a product of racism?  Are Blacks not as smart as other peoples?  Is Black crime an inborn trait?  Are Black people not as moral?  Of course not.  During the WWII era more Blacks stayed married than Whites.   In those times many Blacks distinguished themselves in a variety of endeavors requiring intellectual excellence.  So, what can be the problem?

    I believe that the Black sociological experiment begun in the 1960's is the Black Elephant in the room that everyone seems embarrassed to confront.  Black children were conditioned by government and educators to see themselves as victims of White Americans. At about that time the number of single parent households began to rise, the result being that single moms were struggling to raise and provide for kids instead of thinking about careers.  Young Black males with working mothers sought acceptance in unsavory urban pursuits.  The "turn on, tune in, drop out" counterculture movement was translated by Blacks into a rebellion against all things White.  Malcolm X was their militant hero.  Young Black males rejected Christianity and turned to Islam. 

    We have to eventually see that IT AIN'T WORKING!  Race relations are probably worse now than at any time since the Jim Crow laws of the 1960's.  There is a vast difference between equality and equity.  Equality is a God-given right; Equity must be earned.