Maybe it’s time for something different

 

 

There is a lot of “news” lately about the race problem.  You would think it was something brand new, but in fact I can remember the exact same thing for the last 60 years at least.  One definition of insanity is taking the same actions repeatedly and expecting different results.  Sound familiar? 

It seems that for the last sixty years, at least, black people have been treated differently from other people.  I have no way to know if that’s true or not, so let’s assume it is.  For all this time we have tried things like giving people who claim to be black priority on getting into good colleges.  We have given special priorities to black businesses on government contract bids.  Here in Jacksonville, we just moved all the covid 19 vaccination sites into black neighborhoods.  We gave special loan rates for mortgages for black people, allowing them to buy houses that they couldn’t afford.  We have let black people get away with nuisance noise levels from their radios, and we have allowed obscenities in public from them.  We have let them wear their pants around their knees and we allowed them to go through school without learning to speak intelligible English.  We have let them burn cities and rob businesses because somehow they have been mistreated.   In the black neighborhoods, we generally let them do whatever they want because it is impossible to enforce laws when the local citizens won’t cooperate with law enforcement. 

We elected one of these folks president, and somehow they still don’t think they have a fair chance to advance. 

Now I’m no expert, I’m not even a liberal, but I think it is high time we changed our approach.  How could it be any worse than what we have been doing? 

In attempting to clarify the problem, consider this.  Ever since the sixties (and possibly before) a sizable number of people of African descent have joined the mainstream of America and left the ghettos.  They dress like ordinary people and they talk like ordinary people.  They work at the same jobs as all other working people and earn the same income.  They live in the same neighborhoods as everyone else and they exhibit civilized manners.  Now there isn’t really a definition of “black” when it comes to people, but the people I speak of have dark complexions and usually black curly hair.  That’s about all they have in common with the black rioters.  Don’t misunderstand, most of the rioters are white liberals.  THEY aren’t black by any definition that I know of.  

But I digress.  The fact is that a large number of folks of African descent have simply merged with mainstream society.  Not “white society” because there is no such thing that I am aware of.  It would probably be illegal if it existed like a “United White College Fund”.  Or a “NAAWP”. 

Now that is probably humorous, but maybe there is a kernel of useful ideas in here.  Here is my suggestion.  Get rid of all racial stuff.  No black groups, no racial block on applications or drivers licenses, and no special or different treatment for anybody.  How’s that for a wild and crazy idea?  Maybe if we stopped talking about this problem it would resolve itself.  Making it the hot topic for the news certainly hasn’t fixed anything has it? 

 

That’s the way I see it.  What do you think?