Great column, as usual, from one of our clear thinkers and a national treasure.
The last paragraph is anguish. Hurts to read it.
In his last paragraph he mentioned the old phrase "a credit to your race". I am a bit younger than WW, but not much, and white. I remember that phrase as a genuine compliment. In the 50's, life was a lot less politically correct. We white folks recognized that things were tough for Black people (correct term then was "Negro" or "Colored") and we sympathized and helped when we could. When a Black person managed to succeed, in spite of the unfair obstacles, we held that person in high regard. They were a "credit to their race".
How that has become an insult beats me.
Here's a recent statement frequently suggested by leftist academics, think tank researchers and policymakers: "People were not just struggling because of their personal deficiencies. There were structural factors at play. People weren't poor because they made bad decisions. They were poor because our society creates poverty." Who made that statement and where it was made is not important at all, but its corrosive effects on the minds of black people, particularly black youths, are devastating.
There's nothing intellectually challenging or unusual about poverty. For most of mankind's existence, his most optimistic scenario was to be able to eke out enough to subsist...
They would become NOBODIES and have to work for a living once again.
Thus,those folks have NO interest in seeing racism disappear or even diminish.
that threatens their livelihood.
With all those caveats, I would be proud to be considered a "credit" to the white "race".