In fact I didn't. It was more a question of not writing an essay.
A poor black man and a poor Italian immigrant walk in for a job in 1955. The problem the black guy has is not the previous 400 years. The problem he has is that his skin is black and most white people in that day were racists. He's as qualified (if not more) than the Italian who doesn't speak English. The problem is that the boss doesn't want to hire a black guy.
The problem that I have with your logic, and those who present your argument, is that you say things like 400 year head start, but you don't say exactly what that means in terms of the here and now.
If two men walk in for a job in 2012 and they're the same candidate except for skin color, all that is going to affect the choice is racism. Not history.
So the 400 number is thrown around as if to imply that we need a few hundred more years of affirmative action racism to make it all equal.
But that argument suggests something that isn't true - that the Italian immigrant somehow has some sort of accrued benefit that the black man doesn't. Nonsense. He has only his skin color.
The solution to that is to pass laws that make it illegal to hire based on race. Those laws exist.
So what's left? The notion that "400 years" of slavery have caused some sort of what? Economic divide? Nah. There are many more poor white people in America than poor black people. That can't be it. Then what?
Culture? Ahah! Is that what you're suggesting? That 400 years of slavery have created a lasting cultural impact that causes black failure?
But, if that's the case, then 40 years of AA have not solved the problem. In fact, black culture since 1950 has taken a tremendously destructive turn for the worse.
So what exactly is your argument? How, exactly, have 400 years of slavery led to the horrific condition of blacks in this country? And, given that the first 40 years of AA have been a miserable failure, why is it that you expect another 40 years to produce a different result?
I love MLK - a true intellectual giant in American history. But I'll offer a quote from another ethnic minority for you - "to do the same thing repeatedly and expect a different result is the definition of stupidity."
Ultimately, I believe welfare and AA are incredibly destructive. The information we have from the last 40 years surely supports that.
