Liberal, white, guilt and liberal, white, racism
The Study I referenced in my prior post prompted yet another column on race! Boy, the African-Americans in Massachusetts sure aren't happy with their condition . . . or so the Boston Globe cannot stop reporting!
It must be all the white, Republicans that control everything in the State that are making the African-American community so unhappy. Not!
My second letter prompted by the same Study and a third Boston Globe piece on the Study:
Editor,
Liberal, white, Massachusetts elitists are more insufferable than ever now that they’ve relieved some liberal, white guilt and did something the rest of the Country has been doing for some time: they elected a black man to a position of power.
Just less than two years ago, Boston Magazine issued its top 100 influential people in Boston list and Rev. Eugene Rivers, at number 97, was the only African-American on the list. Boston Globe columnist, Mr. Adrian Walker, did a column on the article. I wrote Mr. Walker then that racist, liberal whites dominated the political, economic, social, and cultural scene in Boston and I asked him to consider this as explanation for the atrocious representation of blacks on the list.
I do not doubt the suggestion of racism in the recently released survey on race by the UMass-Boston’s McCormack Graduate School of Policy Studies, a survey which has been widely quoted in the Boston Globe (Race still matters, editorial, December 18; Increased diversity, separate lives, December 18, B1; and, Black “saints” cannot deliver whites from racial inertia, December 23, A11). All three pieces contained statistics that implied strained race-relations or suggested blatant racism.
Well, in a State where registered Democrats outnumber Republicans 3 – 1, where the composition of the Massachusetts Senate is 34 Democrats to 6 Republicans, and where the composition of the Massachusetts House of Representatives is about 132 Democrats to 21 Republicans, I’d say Democrats and liberals are very much responsible for the racism, real and perceived, being practiced at the expense of Massachusetts African-Americans and other minorities.
The relief of a little, liberal, white, guilt (electing an African-American Governor) should not be misinterpreted and subsequently over-celebrated as an improvement to race relations in this State. The relief may actually hurt the short-term cause if racist, liberal whites feel they made their “contribution” at the polls and now feel they can skip the next real opportunity or opportunities to help.
Anyway, calling out the racist, liberal, elites and those that empower the elites is a much better start to improving race-relations since the problem has to be identified before it can be acknowledged, and certainly, before it can be fixed. (End of letter.)
Anyway, the Boston Globe had its choice of two of my letters to publish but, instead, the Letters Editor chose to print just the following letter on a study that prompted three major references in its paper:
The title "Increased diversity, separate lives" (Page A1, Dec. 18) says it all. Despite the recent election of Deval Patrick, Boston and much of Massachusetts remain divided by race and income.
Recently, while visiting a local restaurant in Brookline I looked around the crowded room. There was not one person of color in the room, except for the serving staff.
The Boston metro area prides itself on being a progressive urban leader in America. But as this article points out, that pride is based more on our hopes and less on our realities. (End of letter.)
My goodness, I'm not so sure the letter writer's anecdote doesn't support my thesis! Brookline?! For those outside the gravitational pull of the extreme liberalism and whiteness that exists in Massachusetts, Brookline could be the capital of such people for the entire World!
Smartly, I reject the use of the "restaurant" setting for larger social commentary. Each restaurant has a reputation and theme (crazy high end joints to low-end joints focusing on take-out). We don't know, for sure, what kind of restaurant the letter writer was in. I suspect it was high end. I suspect most of the patrons were adults. I suspect most of the "staff" were young adults if not teenagers. It's just not even close to a representative setting for a conversation on race.
Nevertheless, maybe the next time the guilt-ridden, letter-writer chooses to dine out, he can go to a neighborhood predominantly populated by minorities on the improved chance of visiting a minority-owned business and stimulating the micro-economy of the people he so "hopes" to help.
The Study I referenced in my prior post prompted yet another column on race! Boy, the African-Americans in Massachusetts sure aren't happy with their condition . . . or so the Boston Globe cannot stop reporting!
It must be all the white, Republicans that control everything in the State that are making the African-American community so unhappy. Not!
My second letter prompted by the same Study and a third Boston Globe piece on the Study:
Editor,
Liberal, white, Massachusetts elitists are more insufferable than ever now that they’ve relieved some liberal, white guilt and did something the rest of the Country has been doing for some time: they elected a black man to a position of power.
Just less than two years ago, Boston Magazine issued its top 100 influential people in Boston list and Rev. Eugene Rivers, at number 97, was the only African-American on the list. Boston Globe columnist, Mr. Adrian Walker, did a column on the article. I wrote Mr. Walker then that racist, liberal whites dominated the political, economic, social, and cultural scene in Boston and I asked him to consider this as explanation for the atrocious representation of blacks on the list.
I do not doubt the suggestion of racism in the recently released survey on race by the UMass-Boston’s McCormack Graduate School of Policy Studies, a survey which has been widely quoted in the Boston Globe (Race still matters, editorial, December 18; Increased diversity, separate lives, December 18, B1; and, Black “saints” cannot deliver whites from racial inertia, December 23, A11). All three pieces contained statistics that implied strained race-relations or suggested blatant racism.
Well, in a State where registered Democrats outnumber Republicans 3 – 1, where the composition of the Massachusetts Senate is 34 Democrats to 6 Republicans, and where the composition of the Massachusetts House of Representatives is about 132 Democrats to 21 Republicans, I’d say Democrats and liberals are very much responsible for the racism, real and perceived, being practiced at the expense of Massachusetts African-Americans and other minorities.
The relief of a little, liberal, white, guilt (electing an African-American Governor) should not be misinterpreted and subsequently over-celebrated as an improvement to race relations in this State. The relief may actually hurt the short-term cause if racist, liberal whites feel they made their “contribution” at the polls and now feel they can skip the next real opportunity or opportunities to help.
Anyway, calling out the racist, liberal, elites and those that empower the elites is a much better start to improving race-relations since the problem has to be identified before it can be acknowledged, and certainly, before it can be fixed. (End of letter.)
Anyway, the Boston Globe had its choice of two of my letters to publish but, instead, the Letters Editor chose to print just the following letter on a study that prompted three major references in its paper:
The title "Increased diversity, separate lives" (Page A1, Dec. 18) says it all. Despite the recent election of Deval Patrick, Boston and much of Massachusetts remain divided by race and income.
Recently, while visiting a local restaurant in Brookline I looked around the crowded room. There was not one person of color in the room, except for the serving staff.
The Boston metro area prides itself on being a progressive urban leader in America. But as this article points out, that pride is based more on our hopes and less on our realities. (End of letter.)
My goodness, I'm not so sure the letter writer's anecdote doesn't support my thesis! Brookline?! For those outside the gravitational pull of the extreme liberalism and whiteness that exists in Massachusetts, Brookline could be the capital of such people for the entire World!
Smartly, I reject the use of the "restaurant" setting for larger social commentary. Each restaurant has a reputation and theme (crazy high end joints to low-end joints focusing on take-out). We don't know, for sure, what kind of restaurant the letter writer was in. I suspect it was high end. I suspect most of the patrons were adults. I suspect most of the "staff" were young adults if not teenagers. It's just not even close to a representative setting for a conversation on race.
Nevertheless, maybe the next time the guilt-ridden, letter-writer chooses to dine out, he can go to a neighborhood predominantly populated by minorities on the improved chance of visiting a minority-owned business and stimulating the micro-economy of the people he so "hopes" to help.
posted by Zack at 2:54 PM
1 Comments:
wow!
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