White Guilt, Slavery, and Uncomfortable truths…

Once again CNN.com has posted a poorly argued, factually misleading, and all around stupid article. Katrina Browne has penned an article titled “Slavery needs more than an apology” to promote her film “Traces of the Trade” in an attempt to rid herself of the guilt of her family’s past.

This is tricky territory and honest debate is often mistaken for crude generalizations and even racists beliefs… I try to avoid both, and in no way espouse the belief that there are inherent differences between races beyond variations of skin color.

Basically Browne argues white America owes more to black families than just an official apology from the government.  It’s not the typical pro-reparations argument that is flawed in every aspect but rather a ‘let’s all hold hands and help our neighbors approach.’ Okay, I suppose….

Unfortunately we’re already doing that to a significant degree. A point Browne disputes…

Meanwhile, many African-Americans are upset about the disparate outcomes that persist and want to see everyone step up to address them. There are so many lingering “structural inequalities,” as President Obama put it — ones without clear racist villains but that are embedded, like the fact that schools are funded with property taxes, so poor black neighborhoods, the legacy of earlier eras of discrimination, are not able to fund the quality schools that we say all our children deserve.

This is a stupid argument made by some neo-liberal who hasn’t ever looked at the details or admitted to some difficult truths. For example DC public schools spend an outrageous amount per student compared to other districts… Why can’t they perform as well?

The simple and ugly truth is that a large portion of the black community has hid behind these structural inequalities, despite increasing levels of spending on education and other social programs that should encourage upward mobility.  Black parents in the district are failing their children. It would be ignorant to ignore the fact that the community deals with irregular work shifts, lower family incomes, and lower adult education levels.. However, at some point parents need to start reading to their kids, implementing some level of structure and discipline at home,and being active in their child’s life – attending school conferences,  checking homework, making sure they’re in bed by a certain time and, the simple item that is most overlooked, providing their child with proper nutrition. If you can’t be a parent… Don’t have a kid.

I know there are a thousand excuses and rationalizations for this behavior. Bill Cosby was called a racist for telling his community to step up, I can only imagine what some of the feedback here will be. However, at some point it needs to be said.

While attending school in the inner-city i gave significant amounts of time to the community, from tutoring to volunteering at shelters. I’ve sat for hours trying to teach a 5th grader how to read when her parent’s could care less – they just thought of me as a free babysitter. I’ve also had the pleasure of handing out meals at a shelter to a family, then seeing the father drinking $4 beers at the bar later that evening. I wonder what his kids were doing.

Honestly, Katrina Browne has no idea what she’s talking about in her philosophy of ‘lending a helping hand’ – the helping hand is being lent. I’m a full blown lefty on economic issues… I think we should do everything we can to provide equal opportunity for all classes, races, etc.  However, I’ve also seen a limit to this money can do. Welfare, LIHEAP, and other social programs aren’t being widely defrauded the way some right wing nut job like Newt Gingrich would like you to believe, however — the opportunity these programs offer is widely being lost.

Something needs to change. It’s not apologies, or more social spending… We’re maxed out on both of those right now. There’s a reason though Hispanic unemployment is significantly lower than african-americans. The first thing that needs to happen is the black community needs to acknowledge those reasons and start doing what it takes to overcome.

Please note: I know many of the arguments I make are transferable to poor whites/hispanics/etc… If you look at poor white communities in rural areas, where school and social spending far exceeds student performance and economic mobility, the same mentality prevails. The problems that persist in these black and white  areas have nothing to do with race, slavery, or what have you. Simply put – It’s the failure of parent’s and the failure of the communities to establish successful cultural values.