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HardeeHo's avatar

Not sure when white guilt took away reason. Perhaps the civil rights work in the mid-60's caused an attitude change. Most agree that we have no responsibility for the past. We still see cultural differences between black and white people as each adheres to their community norms but the really successful blacks adopt cultural white norms. I doubt that affinity groups will abandon their cultures despite all the hand wringing about white privilege. Note that rural people are much more interdependent than city people, perhaps as a consequence of scale but with much less racial strife. And perhaps smaller cities also have less strife. Do we devolve into tribes by default?

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Graham Seibert's avatar

One of the ironies of the civil rights movement has been the increase in segregation, especially in big cities. In small towns, especially in previous decades, and especially in the South, blacks and whites knew each other and respected what they could do. Read Clarence Thomas' "My Grandfather's Son" for an appreciation of the respect that his grandfather enjoyed among his white clientele - and the respect that Clarence himself was able to earn, even being the first in desegregated schools.

I worked with blacks in my early job as a surveyor, in the Army, and as a freelance programmer. It was easier in those days, when I was allowed to see them as individuals instead of just representatives of a race.

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HardeeHo's avatar

I grew up in the segregated South and well recall the integration of schools. At the time black and white kids often gathered together outside of juke joints to stand outside enjoying the R&B "black" music. And in the military we were working together. I sense that race relations were improving over time until Obama and now are pretty bad. Politicians exploit these divisions to their benefit - a real shame.

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Graham Seibert's avatar

That's my feeling. I worked with quite a few black officers in Vietnam and found that the Army ensured that they had earned whatever insignia were on their shoulders. As a freelance programmer in the 80s we worked alongside one another. The guy I chose to succeed me as president of the Washington Independent Computer Consultants Association, Maurice Goode, was black. Nobody gave a damn what color a freelancer was. Only question was, "Can he program?" Maurice could. I don't remember a vast number of names from those times, but another is Stan Wood. Maurice is dead; I would like to see Stan again if he's still around.

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HardeeHo's avatar

Proves that the edges of the various Bell curves are always there!

My late wife taught middle school special-ed and noted the "learned helplessness" doomed many kids. She set high expectations and was happy when kids rose.

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Clarence Wilhelm Spangle's avatar

“Oh how fond they are of the book of Esther, which is so beautifully attuned to their bloodthirsty, vengeful, murderous yearning and hope.” — Martin Luther

https://cwspangle.substack.com/p/zelensky-biden-satanism-war-greed

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Bill's avatar

Between the book and your review, you have gored every sacred cow on the Left. It will, unfortunately, never see the light of day on Amazon.

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Graham Seibert's avatar

The Gregory Hood at the Unz Review asks The Question of Moral Responsibility. The message to me is that there is intense resolve not even to look at the problem, much less solve it. I'll stick with my conclusion for now. Scott Adams has it right.

"https://www.unz.com/ghood/the-question-of-moral-responsibility/

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