On Wed, Mar 19, 2008 at 12:54 PM, sam morris <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
> I believe in a united America. You seem to believe bringing your kids to > hate America Sunday school will unite the country. That's what I don't get. No. I believe in raising white children to understand the roots of bitterness and anger that may still exist in the black community. I believe in raising black children to understand the hardships of the past, but use them as motivation to overcome in the present and the future, not as a crutch or as an excuse for reverse racism. That's what I understand. That is the united America that I got from Obama's speech. That is what I want. So what's the plan to unite? Acknowledge racism so we can move on? We all > know it exists. Embrace it and teach it to our children? I think not. Embrace it? No. Acknowledge it? Hell yes. Better acknowledge it if you hope to overcome it. > By "investing in our schools and our communities; by enforcing our civil > rights laws and ensuring fairness in our criminal justice system; by > providing this generation with ladders of opportunity that were unavailable > for previous generations." The path for blacks, Obama insists, requires > "binding our particular grievances for better health care, and better > schools, and better jobs to the larger aspirations of all Americans the > white woman struggling to break the glass ceiling, the white man who's been > laid off, the immigrant trying to feed his family." Well, this plan only works if you buy into the first part of the plan.....if people are able to shake off the culture of "victimhood" and take responsibility for themselves and their families. If that starts to take root, then suddenly the money already being spent on welfare programs begins to yield results, instead of just disappearing into a black hole of poverty and hopelessness. It's a fundamental shift in the entire dynamic of race in this country.....it's a daunting change, but I believe one thing is true: it's the only way to solve the issue once and for all. Otherwise, what you suggest is true....we continue to throw good money after bad, nothing improves, taxes bloat, the economy sags, poverty continues, and everything continues to suck. Meanwhile, the "real culprits" for our problems are: "a corporate culture > rife with inside dealing, questionable accounting practices and short-term > greed; a Washington dominated by lobbyists and special interests; economic > policies that favor the few over the many." To an extent, that's true. Inside trading and cooking the books is disastrous on many levels, even for pure capitalism. I don't necessarily buy into the "economic policies that favor the few over the many" business. That is a veiled jab at the rich. Economic policies in this country can favor anyone who works hard enough and is ambitious enough. I don't think you spread wealth to people by taking it from others......you do it by giving them the means to achieve their own wealth. But again, that requires that the people have the means and the desire to take advantage of the oppurtunities afforded them. If they sit feeling sorry for themselves because of the sins of the past.....well, NOTHING is going to work. Sigh. Here we go again. > > For all the wonderful rhetoric and tantalizing promise of Obama and his > speech, there's not much that is actually new here. This was largely a > restatement of Jeremiah Wright's indictment of America, delivered in > University of Chicago parlance instead of South Side Chicago diatribe. Yes, there is something new.....it's the fundamental shift in how we view ourselves. I've never heard a politician tell blacks that they can draw from the reality of their past, but they cannot use it going forward as a tool. I've never heard them tell whites that it is "OK" to feel resentment for the types of racial programs that can punish them simply because of their race, and the sins of their forefathers. THAT seems quite new to me, in the public discourse anyway. Let's run with it. The old baggage has been replaced with shinier suitcases, but the contents > are the same as ever. Black America's problems can be solved by spending > more money on the same old Great Society programs. Nope. He even mentioned failed welfare programs by name. That was an acknowledgement that the same-old same-old just won't work..... My hope for something better proved too audacious in the end. > Your hope is just misguided. Perhaps you don't see any hope that people can fundamentally change...if that's the case, then I can see why you would only hope for political slogans that address the continued symptoms of our division, instead of hoping to resolve that division at it's source. -- Her face used to feel so soft Until her agent's doctor pulled it off ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~| Adobe® ColdFusion® 8 software 8 is the most important and dramatic release to date Get the Free Trial http://ad.doubleclick.net/clk;160198600;22374440;w Archive: http://www.houseoffusion.com/groups/CF-Community/message.cfm/messageid:256941 Subscription: http://www.houseoffusion.com/groups/CF-Community/subscribe.cfm Unsubscribe: http://www.houseoffusion.com/cf_lists/unsubscribe.cfm?user=89.70.5
