But I don’t agree with the your main point. Who would rather be in the position black people are in this country compared to white people?

In this country, a black person walking around in any mostly-white area in the country has to fear nothing worse than an occasional stare. A white person walking around in many mostly-black areas has to fear having the shit kicked out of him for the crime of being white (as I know from personal experience). Black-on-white crime is far more prevalent than white-on-black crime. White people in the workplace or on campus have to walk on tip toe around black people to avoid any comment that the black people might take offense at, for fear of mandatory “sensitivity training” or even getting kicked out or fired. Black people can offend anyone they want without consequences. White people in politics and the media have to worry about offending black people (as Imus demonstrates), while black people in the media and politics can get away with any kind of racist bile (as Sharpton demonstrates).

The idea that it is still black people who are the intimidated race in this country is just laughable.

“Any man who judges by the group is a peawit.”

“Because they’re sooooo different from you? How? Because this country is so inherently racist, you can’t possibly know what it’s like to be black in America? Is it so different that you can’t say what’s right and what’s wrong any longer?”

My wife is black so I know what it’s like to be black in America. It’s kinda like being Mexican in Anchorage. You stand out against the landscape in the winter-time, but then again, it’s cold enough that nobody much cares anymore.

But more seriously she is very, very different from me. But I think that probably has more to do with the fact that she’s female, and I’ll be darned if I got that one figured out yet. But keep me in your prayers anyhow. One of us might get lucky.

Your suppositions seem to be based on the idea that there’s something so mind-blowingly different about being black in 2007 that we absolutely MUST perpetuate our racial classification of people, and treat people differently based on those classifications. I’m saying that 40 years ago, King prayed for the day when it wouldn’t matter anymore. When exactly did we change course to say that we have to abandon King’s Dream to save it? And how did we arrive at this point by saying we must segregate instead of integrate? Did all of this come about because the rise of a black middle class erased much of the rationale that there were two Americas, or despite that?

With the odd exception of a “man bites dog situation” that arises from time to time, white people are not by and large subject to intimidation, as a group, by black people.

I suppose you’ve never heard the term “white flight” then?

I don’t know how old you are, but anyone over 40 (like me) can say that during our lifetimes, there were parts of this country where blacks were not treated like human beings.

I know you weren’t talking to me here, but for the record, I’m 38, and I grew up just outside New York City. I recall quite a few times during my lifetime when some people (Jews and Koreans especially, but also a hell of a lot of black people) weren’t treated like human beings inside that city. And too much of the time, the people inflicting their racism on those people were other blacks. (And one’s name was Al Sharpton.) Liberals like you, rather than having compassion for the victims, and demanding justice and a return to King’s Dream, kept telling us, “Be understanding. We can’t possibly know what it’s like to be black in America today.”

Is there racism in America? Yes, there is. And it needs to be called out onto the carpet, the light of day must be shined on it, and we must speak plainly that it must not be tolerated. That needs to be the case for the remains of the Klan, but also for the Black Panthers. It needs to be said if you’re a white guy blaming all the problems of the inner city on black drug dealers, or if you’re a black guy saying it’s really Jewish diamond merchants. And it really needs to be said when you’re someone who thinks black people *need* a separate culture from and different values than white people, because it’s just never going to be possible for whites and blacks to get past the color of everyone’s skin.

He honestly believed this.

It’s not a good thing that hip hop culture relies on misogynistic or violent lyrics in much of their music. It’s bad for society as a whole.

However… the fight against that is a very different fight than the one being waged against Imus’ stupid, racist, sexist, hateful comments.

To roll them into one battle takes the focus of where it should be. That other fight will be fought.