At some point, blacks need to stop complaining about slavery. Yes, it was a horrible crime against humanity, but put into the appropriate context and perspective, slavery in this country pales to the massive crimes against humanity in modern times, from China to Turkey to Uganda (and Bosnia, Mr. Williams). White people don’t owe blacks anything; nobody owes anybody anything, other than common sense and decency, and if we subscribe to Mr. Williams’ philosophy, we may as well all extrapolate apologies for every perceived sin (real or not) humans inflict upon one another and that would simply be too cumbersome, too difficult and in a word - stupid.
I will defer Mr. Williams’ owed apologies if he’ll go and be positively constructive about ending slavery elsewhere in the world. Go volunteer for Free the Slaves. Donate money for poor, starving children who were once slaves in Asia. Speak out against slavery where it really exists – not something that happened well over 100 years ago. Until then, people like Mr. Williams need to do one thing first:
Get over it.
Finally, a passage from Richard C. Harwood’s book, Hope Unraveled, is appropriate: “If you want to change the world, start with your country; and if you want to change your country, start with your state; and if you want to change your state, start with your town; and if you want to change your town, start with your family; and if you want to change your family, start with yourself.”
Article comments
— go to most recent comments1 - Ruvy in Jerusalem
Finally!!
About time. I've long said that my fellow Jews have to move beyond the evil the Nazis did to them, and stop building museums to their evil. And now the author of this article hits at the biggest guilt trippers in the States. Black politicians and their politically correct running dogs.
This is long overdue. Bravo!!
2 - G. Chell
Blacks should get over slavery when the whites stop waving the dumb confederate flag reminding them of slavery!!
3 - S.T.M
And the pasty-looking poms should get over being an inferior race and bow to the fact that they foolishly sent all the worst people to the best place, thus ensuring that it would become one long party.
4 - JustOneMan
Good post! Enough is enough!
Ruvy - practice what you preach - "Jews have to move beyond the evil the Nazis did to them". Pretty funny coming from you the "King of The Cult of Victimization"
JOM
5 - Robin Kavanagh
This article is extremely well argued. Though I agree with your points, it needs to be said that self responsibility is a quality that is lacking throughout America. It's not race-specific.
People in general look to blame others for their lot in life. But it's my experience that you get to where you are by the choices that you make. If you make bad choices and end up suffering because of them, you have two options: wallow in your misery and look to blame someone, or forget blame all together and move on. Most of the time, the only thing that's stopping you is you.
Everyone needs to get over themselves. Boo hoo, your life sucks. Do something about it.
6 - Ruvy in Jerusalem
"...it needs to be said that self responsibility is a quality that is lacking throughout America. It's not race-specific."
Quoted for Truth!
7 - G. Chell
"This article is extremely well argued. Though I agree with your points, it needs to be said that self responsibility is a quality that is lacking throughout America. It's not race-specific."
Comment: The same whites who argue that blacks are not well qualified for higher education run away from schools that are heavily Asian so that they dont have to face serious competition.
8 - Maurice
Paotie
you clearly have no idea or frame of reference to what Prof. Williams is talking about. Please reread the article and pay attention to what he is saying. Particularly lines like the following:
...they should know that their actions mean little in dealing with the day-to-day plight of many black Virginians -- which has nothing to do with slavery.
9 - JustOneMan
"...it needs to be said that self responsibility is a quality that is lacking throughout Israel. It's religion-specific."
This is validated by Israels dependence on the US for financial aid, weapons, security, foodstamps and free cheese right Ruvy!
Quoted for Truth!
10 - G. Chell
"...they should know that their actions mean little in dealing with the day-to-day plight of many black Virginians -- which has nothing to do with slavery."
Comment: Like the neo-confederate thugs reminding them of slavery...try these thugs at..
www.cofcc.org
If you can convince these white southern thugs to stop waving the confederate flag, blacks should forget about slavery and reparations...it is a two way street.
11 - Maurice
I would encourage those commenting to reread the article which is greatly misinterpreted by Paotie.
Prof. Williams is saying that apologies are a big waste of time. Focus on schools and crime prevention instead.
I think nobody really disagrees with Prof. Williams - they have just misunderstood his words.
12 - Paotie
Of course, the context of any writing depends on whom is reading it. Mr. Williams demanded the Virginia legislature to fix societal problems that are not specific to just blacks, though his article is entirely focused towards blacks.
Either way, enough's enough. If Mr. Williams wants equality throughout the country, then demand the Virginia legislature to fix problems relating to crime for ALL citizens - not just blacks.
As usual, when a person challenges the status quo for black thinking, s/he is viewed as racist or misunderstood, presumably because only blacks would understand Mr. Williams' argument.
Wrong.
Anyway, the beauty of America is that it's just my opinion. If you don't like it, write to your local Congressman/Congresswoman.
:o)
Paotie
13 - G. Chell
"As usual, when a person challenges the status quo for black thinking, s/he is viewed as racist or misunderstood, presumably because only blacks would understand Mr. Williams' argument."
Comment: As usual when a person challenges the white thinking they stonewall and do not respond. Black demand is a two way street. When whites stop waving the confederate flag and stop celebrating the confederate dead and join the Union, blacks should stop demanding apologies for slavery and stop demanding reparations.
14 - hdc
Paotie,
I am not sure what race/ethnicity you are but I have to assume you are white, because that is the unmarked category of race/ethnicity in this country. What about Deaf individuals who are also People of Color, you never referenced them in your response to the original article. Even though deafness is what unites (most) in the Deaf community race/ethnicity is still what separates them, your response to Mr. Williams article is yet another example.
Comparing the opression of the d/Deaf community and African American community is not a productive conversation. While we both face discrimination they are not comparable, and get us nowhere. The larger issue is whiteness/white privilege and the notion of able bodies being the norm. This is where we should be focusing our energies in combating, not other marginalized groups.
I would suggest you do some research into Whiteness Studies, you then will be able to understand the legacy of white privilege and how you, even as a deaf person, are benefiting from that privilege. Theories on color blindness will also be able to help you understand the larger picture as well.
The only way a person can learn is to put themselves out there so I commend you on that. Never stop learning.
15 - G. Chell
"I would suggest you do some research into Whiteness Studies, you then will be able to understand the legacy of white privilege and how you, even as a deaf person, are benefiting from that privilege. Theories on color blindness will also be able to help you understand the larger picture as well."
No need to do any research or academic work...just look at these groups:
League of the South
Council of Conservative Citizens
16 - Paotie
hdc -
You presume too much. I have a white Deaf friend who attended a school for the Deaf, and the lad has no proper English writing skills; lacks the appropriate ability to do simple math, and in general, has very poor communication skills. Of course, we could argue that his ASL background is the culprit here, but that's for another day and another topic.
So, I'd love for you to meet him and explain to him how his dependency on Social Security benefits, food stamps, and a general inability to find jobs that are not labor-intensive are somehow not because of the fact he's white. Where is the benefit for him being white?
At least if you're black in this country, you've got countless self-advocacy groups willing to step to the plate for you. If you're deaf, you're lucky to get an advocacy group to go to bat for you. Deaf/disabled groups sit on the fringe of society, as do most disabled/deaf people.
Anyway, if everything taught in academics was easily transferable to real-world applications, then all graduates of MBA programs should be CEOs or CFOs right after graduation. But, that doesn't happen (or rarely does). So, you can keep your "whiteness" studies; I'll research more materials as I deem appropriate.
In the meantime, don't forget: intolerance begets more intolerance. People would do well to learn to tolerate others, even if their opinions sharply differ from their own.
:o)
Paotie
17 - wdufkin
G. Chell, I'd never really looked at the League before you mentioned it. I went to the website and found the statement on racism. So what was your point exactly?
League of the South
Statement on "Racism"
The League of the South has never before issued a statement denying that it is "racist" because racism is a wax nose charge. Those who resort to this charge can never be satisfied. The more we deny it, the more we will be forced to deny it, until at last all that we will have time to do is to repel the latest charge of "racism." However, we make this one statement, to satisfy strangers of good will, that we bear no ill will or hatred to any racial, ethnic, or religious group.
We believe that Christianity and social order require that all people, regardless of race, must be equal before the law. We do not believe that the law should be used to persecute, oppress, or favour any race or class.
We believe that the only harmony possible between the races, as between all natural differences among human beings, begins in submitting to Jesus Christ's commandment to "love our neighbours as ourselves." That is the world we envision and work for.
We believe that the politics of race -- baiting whites against blacks and blacks against white has been profitable for politicians but catastrophic for the South and Southerners.
We believe that black Southerners want and need what we want and need: a safe country for their families, liberty, and the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
We believe that the last thing the South's enemies want is to see black and white Southerners sitting down together to determine their common destiny and work for authentic harmony, a just social and economic order, and an independent South. We can't foretell precisely what that order will look like, but certainly it will not make room for diversity police and political correctness. Rather, we hope it will bring the greatest freedom for the greatest number of all races, and good will among them all.
The League of the South Board of Directors
21 June 2005
18 - Al Barger
Paotie, I appreciate your intended point, but you are completely 100% misinterpreting Walter Williams. He was coming in a slightly backwards way to the same point.
Dr Williams is perhaps the most renowned black conservative academic in America, give or take Thomas Sowell. I promise that Walter Williams is NOT whining about slavery. His article is NOT all about black folks. That was the whole point of invoking every other kind of injustice like the Holocaust: Pretty much EVERYBODY has had horror and injustice in their ancestry.
Indeed, if you read up on Dr Williams, you'll find that he's absolutely a pariah in the black professional victim community. His name would be a curse word to the likes of Jesse Jackson or Al Sharpton.
19 - zingzing
paotie: "At least if you're black in this country, you've got countless self-advocacy groups willing to step to the plate for you. If you're deaf, you're lucky to get an advocacy group to go to bat for you. Deaf/disabled groups sit on the fringe of society, as do most disabled/deaf people."
ok, paotie... you do know that your whining sounds like the whining you accuse blacks of... just with more hypocrisy mixed into it.
so, this is what i hear: "stop whining, african americans, it's my turn to bitch!"
it does nothing for your argument other than defeat it.
20 - Paotie
zingzang -
Awww .. touched a nerve, did we?
:o)
Paotie
21 - Clavos
Paotie,
You need to go back and read the Williams article several more times; until you understand it.
You've got it completely wrong; you say:
If Mr. Williams wants equality throughout the country, then demand the Virginia legislature to fix problems relating to crime for ALL citizens - not just blacks.
that's EXACTLY what he IS saying; read this (from the article):
The General Assembly's statement of regret for slavery means absolutely nothing to me. If anything, it's nothing less than a cheap insult and capitulation of white delegates to black h u s t l e r s. Possibly, the whites who voted in support of the declaration were mau-maued into it or they felt guilt over our history of slavery.
...The U.S. murder rate is 5.6 people per 100,000 of the population. In the Commonwealth of Virginia's capital, Richmond, where the General Assembly meets, the murder rate is 43 people per 100,000 of the population, making Richmond the city with the third-highest murder rate in the nation, according to a 2005 FBI report.
No race specificity there. True, later he says that the Legislature should apologize for crime on Blacks, but that's an ironic statement, made in the context of the Legislature's current resolution.
On education, he points out the serious failure of the Virginia educational system vis-a-vis Blacks, but here again also makes a side remark indicating that education for whites is below par as well.
As Maurice wrote above. the main point of Williams' article is "Forget the apologies, stop crime and fix the schools instead", good advice regardless of race.
22 - zingzing
no, you just look like a hypocrite.
no problem. lots of hypocrites out there.
23 - zingzing
22 was for 20.
it looks like you read the title to williams' column, decided he was bitching about the lack of an apology, (which he wasn't,) and then went off on some tirade about how blacks don't deserve shit and you're deaf so you've been through the same thing and you're not bitching, no, you're not bitching at all... well, then you do go on to bitch about how there's no support system for deaf people, not like the ones those blacks have that because you're white you could never have... and it goes on.
24 - G. Chell
League of the South can claim all they want..but they do wave the confederate flag..if you wave a red flag in front of a bull it will charge you. If you wave a confederate flag in front of black people, they are going to charge you. White people should not be reminding black people about slavery through Civil War and Confederat flag...perhaps then the blacks would stop demanding apologies and reparations...pretty simple that even a child can understand....and by the way, the Jews shouid do away with holocaust museums and memorablila if the white southerners do away with the confederate museums, flags and other stuff and join the Union.
25 - zingzing
i dunno g. chell... do you really equate a flag and talking about history (what is this "joining the union" crap?) with 400 years of slavery?
white people should not "remind" black people of slavery? hrm. lemme see. since it was all based on race and skin color... just our whiteness (and their blackness) reminds them of slavery, if they want to think about it.
blacks aren't going to stop being angry about our collective past if the confederate flag disappears. they'll just won't be angry about the confederate flag. they'll still remember it.
why do you advocate getting rid of museums and our history? shouldn't we remember the things we have done?