Re: Social Security Reform - Today's News.........
The only place I'm going with this, is just the recognition that racism is alive, well and thriving in this society. Just look at some of the posts in this thread. That is the first step in righting wrongs!
I'm skeptical that this is even a step in the right direction. I think part of the problem is labeling people as racist.
I don't think there's any question that cultural, educational, and economic factors will keep the *poor* man down, whatever his race.
Now, there's a much nastier question that liberals (like me) hate to address. Could there be a genetic basis for people belonging to the underclass? I think the answer is obviously yes, and I think some white people and some black people will be doomed for generations to come, regardless of how hard we all try to help them.
Here's where my contrarian views really get me in trouble. First, let me say that I don't think I'm a racist. I believe strongly that members of all the people we divide into "races" can attain the highest levels of human accomplishment.
But what if there were a social group that failed for generations to escape crime and poverty? And what if members of that group were descended from slaves? Isn't it possible that slaves weren't selected from a high-achieving gene pool?
The "liberal" solutions to the problem you're describing seem off-base to me. We shouldn't necessarily have race-based policies to overcome a history of oppression.
I think this country has done a pretty good job of allowing motivated people to escape the bonds of poverty.
But a much more difficult question, which I don't think the typical liberal ideas address, is what can you do for people who aren't motivated, for whatever reason: cultural, educational, genetic, etc?
Personally, I think if we accept the idea that some people won't buy into the WASP idea of success, whatever their race, then we can begin to address the social needs of those people better than we are today.