The Conversation

Both black and white commentators have been calling for a national conversation about racism in America.  Good idea.  I'll start it off -

My ancestors have been in America since 1620, and my pedigree has been traced in detail back to the early 1800's.  There is no record of anyone in my family ever owning a slave.  I would imagine the vast majority of white people in America, except possibly those with roots in the southeastern states, could trace their history back and find that no one in their family ever owned a slave, either.  On the other hand, blacks serving other blacks as indentured servants was common in Africa and continues to the current day.  Furthermore, in the early history of America free blacks were known to own black slaves.  Look it up.  The question is, why do black people today think white people owe them something?

There is no question that a small percentage of upper class whites have taken advantage of black people to make their personal fortunes.  They have taken advantage of the majority of white people, too.  White people were not all born to wealth and privilege.  My grandmother worked as a cleaning lady for mostly Jewish families well into her 70's until around 1970.  I have cousins who grew up in Iowa as dirt poor as anyone could be.  I grew up at the low end of the lower middle class in a family of five living in an 800 square foot house with two small bedrooms and one bathroom.  We never received any assistance in any form from the government.  That was not unusual in America in the 1950's and 1960's, and no one bitched about it.

The only thing we did have that many of the underclass today do not, particularly young black kids, is both a mother and a father living with us in the same household.  But it is not white people's fault that black men can't keep their dicks in their pants or accept parental responsibility, or that black women can't keep their legs closed.  The same goes for the growing ranks of irresponsible white and brown people who won't stop creating one parent families.  If they can't help themselves then maybe they should try some condoms.  Oh, I almost forgot.  There was one other thing we didn't have.  We didn't have the Jesse Jackson's, Al Sharpton's, nor liberal media types running around fomenting social conflict by screaming victimhood and demanding reparations, which really means retribution for whatever imagined white sins they can think up.

Perhaps everyone has a different definition of racism.  All I know is, I don't know anyone who dislikes black people or treats them any different than anyone else, which would be my definition of racism.  OK, there is one guy I know out of more than a hundred, but that's his problem, not mine.  On the other hand, most everybody I know intensely dislikes left wing socialists arrogantly telling us that Americans who have worked hard to earn a living and support their families owe a debt to those who aren't willing to do so.  They claim everyone is entitled to the same lifestyle.  That is bullshit, and it is not racist to say so.  The process of earning a decent living has nothing to do with the color of skin.  It has everything to do with attitude.

The only thing everyone in America is entitled to is individual liberty, equal justice according to the law, and security from foreign aggression - and each of those is being taken from all of us by the growth of big government and its intrusion into every aspect of our lives.  It is not the function of the federal government to provide an affluent lifestyle for everyone, because it can't.  Anyone who wants to improve their personal living standards needs to get off their butt, take advantage of the equal opportunities available to all Americans, and take responsibility for their own life.  No matter what color you are, get an education, get a job, earn your respect and stop listening to the phony, incendiary rants of the race-baiting agitators and stop supporting the dead end policies of the left wing political con artists.  Then maybe we could all get the country back on track and live happily ever after.