Re: Is white racism nec. all bad?

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In article <3m1jjo$bf7@news.informix.com> hartman@informix.com (Robert Hartman) writes:

>Meanwhile, I'm still waiting to hear some positive suggestions for a
>better method than AA. If you've got something in mind, that's fine.
>I'd love to hear about it.

OK, here is a plan for eliminating racism from the US. This plan has a
serious advantage over any other that I know of: it has been proven to
work. Some might argue that it also has a serious disadvantage, in that it
cannot be legislated into existance with the stroke of a pen - wouldn't
life be nice if we solve longstanding social problems by executive fiat? -
nice, but probably not possible.

Here's the program. It starts at the beginning. Young humans are taught
the relationship between cause and effect, consistantly. When an infant
cries, because of hunger or the need to be changed, a parent responds. Love
and tenderness at this stage is essential; imposing some form of discipline
is optional until the child reaches some level of reason. The child is
taught that breaking the rules of conduct leads to negative consequences,
and that sustained work and effort is required to acheive anything of
consequence. Success in school should be a priority. A child who learns
these lessons, in their first 7-10 years of life, will be successful in the
US, regardless of race. Asians have shown this.

>But sweeping the residue of racism back under the carpet where it can
>grow, fester, and erupt again in even more virulence is not my idea of
>a plan.

There is no reason to expect such an outcome. In spite of the vicious
propaganda and domestic scare tactics of WWII, and the success of japanese
corporations in global competition with american companies, and the
protectionist policies of japanese import regulations, *and* japanese
racism (which far exceeds american racism), anti-japanese prejudice in the
US is not, and never will be, accepted outside the narrow circle of the
lunatic fringe. Japanese-americans are good citizens. They are
self-supporting. American society places a high value on self-reliance;
read thoreau for some historical background. Any group which is unable to
support itself will be seen as less-capable and low-status; if, in
addition, it evinces higher-than-average levels of criminal behavior, then
it will be feared as well as reviled. Can you honestly blame people for
feeling that way?

There are a few, simple rules which must be followed to gain acceptance in
american society. Most people follow those rules. Most afro-americans
follow those rules. But there are enough who do not to give the entire
group a bad name. Blacks, and to a lesser extent latinos, need to stop
looking to society as a whole to solve their problems, and think about how
to solve them themselves. Booker T. Washington knew what was needed. In the
last 30 years, "Booker" went from being a cultural hero to an epithet
meaning sell-out, uncle tom, oreo, race traitor; an indictment of the
blatent self-defeating trap of black culture so obvious, that even a
starry-eyed bleeding-heart idealist can see it.

Can you?

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