1. Sadly, race is used as a means today to acquire power, further distancing our society from a color-blind one. And while those out there who claim to be the most enlightened are the ones who bring up race at every opportunity, as well as any other differences between people that they can exploit, it is this continued focus on race that continues to educate our children in its false-importance.

Whether diversity or multicultural training, or lessons in racism, the continued bombarding of our youth with messages focusing on race does not make them color-blind, but instead, makes them more and more attuned the differences in people, and more and more empowered to use those differences to excuse their's and society's problems.

I say to those who exploit race for political benefit; stop it! You are a big part of the continuing problem of racism. For those who leverage race to obtain or hold onto power, you're doing this society no favors.

Racism is not genetic. It is learned. And if this society would really make an effort to be color-blind, and that means discard the focus on people's differences, we might get there someday. But as long as political advantage can be gained by exploiting race, the highlighting of our differences is not going to lesson anytime soon. Not as long as politicians and power pimps can exploit it to their advantage.

Posted by: Reality on May 16, 2008 08:03 AM

2. I agree with Reality about politicians exploiting race. Thank God our Presidential candidates have been visiting Bob Jones University since Nixon to put a stop to it.

Posted by: HappyHeathen on May 16, 2008 10:34 AM

3. Wow. One more reason I plan to home school my daughter and any future additions to the family.

Posted by: Andrew Brown on May 16, 2008 10:35 AM

4. Seattle may faint from this oversupply of common sense. Have oxygen ready....

...and good-bye SPS PC Police!

Posted by: Michele on May 16, 2008 11:13 AM

5. I agree with Reality also. The irony here is that Horsey is "Mr.PC" in every other facet of his ideology. Why the sudden astonished outrage at the very atmoshere that he's helped to create all these years? I'm sure he and others won't see it that way, but thems the facts.

Posted by: Rick D. on May 16, 2008 12:02 PM

6. Congrats to Andrew Brown for taking his kid out of the government run public school debacle. It is amazing how well things work when government doesn't have a hand in it. Industries that work well are electronics and Internet technology. Government has little to do with either of these and the quality of both has gone up while the cost to the consumer has gone down. Compare this to health care and government run public schools and you have a stark picture: health care prices are soaring while service dwindles. Likewise, fat cat administrators get rich floating levies "for the children's sake" while the quality of education for our posterity continues to fall. Meanwhile, children forced into a culture of their piers where brutalization and fear plague many. And in the classroom, teachers are hamstrung by a chilled political climate that makes learning a chore and daily classroom lessons boring.

I say it's a system that is broken beyond repair.

Posted by: Bill Cole on May 16, 2008 01:54 PM

7. It's the only thing I could see myself doing, Bill. She'll be a second generation homeschool kid. :)

Posted by: Andrew Brown on May 16, 2008 02:40 PM

8. An interesting thought from David Horsey? That IS news!!!

Posted by: Don Ward on May 16, 2008 03:44 PM

9. i don't like the term "color-blind society" but if it means something like a kind of society where the differences between black and white americans (let's say) are as unimportant as the differences between norwegian americans and irish americans, then i can go along with it, i guess. for the latter set, it's intersting and fun to enjoy your heritage but it will never hold you back in any way that you are irish or norwegian. but even if that is what we want, that is not the same as saying we are at that point today. to reach that point, there is no other alternative but to become "more and more attuned the differences in people." we can't pretend that there aren't differences between people. sure, there is a danger that some will try to wield their victim status but the only way to reconcile is to talk about the problems. neither westneat nor horsey have really given me enough to go on but it would be a shame if their ears are closed to a discussion. we can't get to color-blind by playing deaf.

Posted by: Quincy on May 16, 2008 10:51 PM

10. The collectivist mindset is at the heart of racism.

Government as an institution is particularly ill-suited to combat bigotry. Bigotry at its essence is a problem of the heart, and we cannot change people's hearts by passing more laws and regulations.

It is the federal government that most divides us by race, class, religion, and gender. Through its taxes, restrictive regulations, corporate subsidies, racial set-asides, and welfare programs, government plays far too large a role in determining who succeeds and who fails. Government "benevolence" crowds out genuine goodwill by institutionalizing group thinking, thus making each group suspicious that others are receiving more of the government loot. This leads to resentment and hostility among us.

Racism is simply an ugly form of collectivism, the mindset that views humans strictly as members of groups rather than as individuals. Racists believe that all individuals who share superficial physical characteristics are alike: as collectivists, racists think only in terms of groups. By encouraging Americans to adopt a group mentality, the advocates of so-called "diversity" actually perpetuate racism.

The true antidote to racism is liberty. Liberty means having a limited, constitutional government devoted to the protection of individual rights rather than group claims. Liberty means free-market capitalism, which rewards individual achievement and competence - not skin color, gender, or ethnicity.

In a free society, every citizen gains a sense of himself as an individual, rather than developing a group or victim mentality. This leads to a sense of individual responsibility and personal pride, making skin color irrelevant. Racism will endure until we stop thinking in terms of groups and begin thinking in terms of individual liberty.

Posted by: Andrew Brown on May 17, 2008 11:57 AM

Name:


Email Address:


URL:


Comments:

Remember info?