Noam Chomsky once called class the "unmentionable five-letterword" in America. I can think of another "unmentionable" word, butit bears only 4 letters: Race.
It is nearly impossible to have a sane, calm discussion aboutrace in the United States. Fear of being called a "racist" causesmany people to say nothing at all, silencing debate while managingto solve nothing.
So why am I talking about it? Because I believe that slavery andsegregation were not ended by silence, nor do I believe that ourcurrent racial problems, can be ended by ignoring them.
Most people seem to be in favor of the ideal of a "color-blindsociety," but what on earth does that mean? Surely it can't meanthat we refuse to recognize the obvious difference in skin toneamong the races. That would be impossible. Rather, I believe theideal should be a society in which the government gives citizens ofall races the same rights and the same level of opportunity,nothing more, nothing less.
We are closer than ever to that ideal, but we are not there.With the end of segregation came the end of institutionalizedracism in the South, but it wasn't long before the government againbegan to allow the favoring of one race over the other.
Whatever your feelings are on affirmative action (and I believethere are strong and just arguments for it) you cannot deny thesimple fact that it does favor one race over another and thus iscontradictory to the U.S. Constitution.
The first black Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall said asmuch in 1948, when he declared that, "classification anddistinctions based on race or color have no moral or legal validityin our society."
A mistaken belief about America is that everyone who comes herewill be rich.
But America and its founding documents have never guaranteedequality of outcomes, only equality of opportunity. Thus, inAmerica, people should be judged on their merits as individuals,not on their race.
And yet, when black author Ward Connerly led a campaign inCalifornia to insure that very thing, he was denounced as a"con-man" by Julian Bond, chairman of the NAACP board of directors.Connerly, a former NAACP member, doesn't believe that people of anyrace should receive special preferences, or that the governmentshould particularly care what race a person is.
Connerly's beliefs are not without historical precedence. Whenasked after the Civil War what should be done with the newly freedslaves, Frederick Douglas pleaded, "Do nothing with us!" Douglasasked for not benevolence, not pity, not sympathy, but simplyjustice.
Expanding on the American idea of equality of opportunity andnot outcomes, Douglas stated: "If the Negro cannot stand on his ownlegs, let him fall also.
All I ask is, give him a chance to stand on his own legs! Lethim alone!"
Instead of following in the footsteps of Douglas, modern "civilrights" leaders like Jesse Jackson spend more time "shaking down"corporations by making them pay huge amounts of money to avoidbeing labeled "racist." Such leaders preach constant "doom andgloom" to the young generation for a reason: it's the only way theycan stay relevant. Jackson's success depends on the black communityneeding him, and to need him, he must make the black community feellike victims.
Anyone who differs from the Jackson/Julian Bond idea of what ablack person should be is promptly shunned. Colin Powell ispossibly the most respected statesman in the world today, and yetsinger Harry Belafonte dismissed him as a "house slave" and "atragic failure" because he has different political views.
Similar "Uncle Tom" comments are also regularly made aboutJustice Clarence Thomas and National Security Advisor CondaleezaRice, two individuals whose talents are highly evident, yet arechastised for not thinking exactly like the Jesse Jackson's and AlSharpton's of the world.
There is still today, and probably always will be, racism. It isugly and wrong in all of its forms. However, the solution is not tofurther judge people based on their race. Some of you reading thismay disagree with me, and that is fine. I would be more than happyto sit down and discuss it, but I hope that everyone can agree thatno good will come of making race an "unmentionable" word.
