I fully support it. --- ditto On Mar 20, 8:26 pm, Keith In Tampa <[email protected]> wrote: > Thoughtful post. > > PlainOl reminds me of something though. Many of our laws turn out to be > discriminatory or biased. I honestly don't believe that this was the > intent, and in some cases, it cannot be helped, but the crack cocaine laws > are one that comes to mind. This law (which has since been modified and > partially repealed) is a very good example. It held crack cocaine 10-1 > for sentencing purposes, as compared to powder cocaine. The goal was to > instill that crack cocaine was much more dangerous, etc., etc., etc.; but > it affected a larger portion of blacks, (because crack was a lot cheaper to > buy on the streets) and was found predominately in the black communities, > whereas powder cocaine was found in the more upscale white communities. > > I have no doubt that the current trend by States to enforce a law that > requires an individual to have a picture ID in order to vote will be > somewhat discriminatory, but it is requisite to have such a law. I fully > support it. (A topic for another thread) > > At any rate, as stated, good post, thanks for sharing Michael and PlainOl! > > On Tue, Mar 20, 2012 at 9:44 AM, plainolamerican > <[email protected]>wrote: > > > > > > > > > Political rhetoric is intended to do one thing – win votes > > --- > > racial rhetoric is intended to do one thing - make laws to give our > > tax dollars to minorities. > > > race, religion, and ethnicity are all used as excuses ... it's way > > past time to disregard those who use them for an advantage > > > On Mar 20, 6:34 am, MJ <[email protected]> wrote: > > > "Political rhetoric is intended to do one thing – win votes. Whether the > > policies that accompany that rhetoric make people better off or worse off > > is far less of a concern to politicians, if any concern at all."[How about > > whether the TALK ever manifests itself into ACTION? THAT is apparently of > > little concern to many.]Race and Rhetoricby Thomas Sowell > > > One of the things that turned up, during a long-overdue cleanup of my > > office, was an old yellowed copy of theNew York Timesdated July 24, 1992. > > One of the front-page headlines said: "White-Black Disparity in Income > > Narrowed in 80's, Census Shows." > > > The 1980s? Wasn't that the years of the Reagan administration, the > > "decade of greed," the era of "neglect" of the poor and minorities, if not > > "covert racism"? > > > More recently, during the administration of America's first black > > president, a 2011 report from the Pew Research Center has the headline, > > "Wealth Gaps Rise to Record Highs Between Whites, Blacks and Hispanics." > > > While the median net worth of whites was ten times the median net worth > > of blacks in 1988, the last year of the Reagan administration, the ratio > > was nineteen to one in 2009, the first year of the Obama administration. > > With Hispanics, the ratio was eight to one in 1988 and fifteen to one in > > 2009. > > > Race is just one of the areas in which the rhetoric and the reality > > often go in opposite directions. Political rhetoric is intended to do one > > thing – win votes. Whether the policies that accompany that rhetoric make > > people better off or worse off is far less of a concern to politicians, if > > any concern at all. > > > Democrats receive the overwhelming bulk of the black vote by rhetoric > > and by presenting what they have done as the big reason that blacks have > > advanced. So long as most blacks and whites alike mistake rhetoric for > > reality, this political game can go on. > > > A Manhattan Institute study last year by Edward Glaeser and Jacob Vigdor > > showed that, while the residential segregation of blacks has generally been > > declining from the middle of the 20th century to the present, it was rising > > during the first half of the 20th century. The net result is that blacks in > > 2010 were almost as residentially unsegregated as they were back in 1890. > > > There are complex reasons behind such things, but the bottom line is > > plain. The many laws, programs and policies designed to integrate > > residential housing cannot be automatically assumed to translate into > > residentially integrated housing. Government is not the sole factor, nor > > necessarily the biggest factor, no matter what impression political > > rhetoric gives. > > > No city is more liberal in its rhetoric and policies than San Francisco. > > Yet there are less than half as many blacks living in San Francisco today > > as there were in 1970. > > > Nor is San Francisco unique. A number of other very liberal California > > counties saw their black populations drop by 10,000 people or more, just > > between the 1990 and 2000 censuses – even when the total population of > > these counties was growing. > > > One of the many reasons why rhetoric does not automatically translate > > into reality is that the ramifications of so many government policies > > produce results completely different from what was claimed, or even > > believed, when these policies were imposed. > > > The poverty rate among blacks was nearly cut in half in the 20 years > > prior to the 1960s, a record unmatched since then, despite the expansion of > > welfare state policies in the 1960s. > > > Unemployment among black 16- and 17-year-old males was 12 percent back > > in 1950. Yet unemployment rates among black 16- and 17-year-old males has > > not been less than 30 percent for any year since 1970 – and has been over > > 40 percent in some of those years. > > > Not only was unemployment among blacks in general lower before the > > liberal welfare state policies expanded in the 1960s, rates of imprisonment > > of blacks were also lower then, and most black children were raised in > > two-parent families. At one time, a higher percentage of blacks than whites > > were married and working. > > > None of these facts fits liberal social dogmas. > > > While many politicians and "leaders" have claimed credit for black > > progress, no one seems to be willing to take the blame for the > > retrogressions represented by higher unemployment rates, higher crime > > rates, and higher rates of imprisonment today. Or for the disintegration of > > the black family, which survived centuries of slavery and generations of > > government-imposed discrimination in the Jim Crow era, but began coming > > apart in the wake of the expansion of the liberal welfare state and its > > accompanying social dogmas. > > > The time is long overdue to start looking beyond the prevailing > > political rhetoric to the hard realities. > >http://www.lewrockwell.com/sowell/sowell79.1.html > > > -- > > Thanks for being part of "PoliticalForum" at Google Groups. > > For options & help seehttp://groups.google.com/group/PoliticalForum > > > * Visit our other community athttp://www.PoliticalForum.com/ > > * It's active and moderated. Register and vote in our polls. > > * Read the latest breaking news, and more.
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