Personal Responsibility and Race

On matters concerning the pigmentation of human skin, I wish, desperately, to be completely, totally, 100% color-blind. Unfortunately, there are many who make this difficult - and they come in all levels of pigmentation.

The very idea that the level of color in the skin should have any bearing on the status or accomplishments of an individual is patently absurd. There is no significant difference between various examples of homo sapiens based on skin color, any more than there is an innate substantive difference between specimens associated with the color of their hair or eyes. A person is a person, each unique in experience and appearance, but all the same under the skin. To in any way ascribe any particular character trait or ability level to any individual based on their coloring is utter foolishness. This is the foundation of my beliefs about race.

Sadly, for reasons unrecorded for posterity, our ancestors failed to grasp this basic idea. I submit that racism is rooted in our natural propensity to recognize differences more than similarities. If I am the only female in a room with twenty men, I, and my fellow occupants, will likely be more conscious of my gender than were I in a room with ten men and ten women. If I am the only brunette in a room with twenty blondes, my hair color will assume increased significance. Such is human nature. For whatever reason, skin color differences somehow were perceived to assign a sort of class level to various groups. We fear and mistrust those who are different from ourselves, so minorities in any group tend to be seen in a different light. This is the core problem that must be overcome in the fight against discrimination.

I do not wish to compartmentalize people based on any aspect of their physical appearance. When it comes to race, however, this becomes difficult.

We have far too many people like Senator (don't call her "Ma'am!") Barbara Boxer (D-CA), who, in a recent Congressional hearing, apparently thought it was completely natural to ascribe the beliefs and position of the NAACP to the head of the Black Chamber of Commerce simply because both entities possess a level of pigmentation higher than her own. This is blatant racism, and was called out as such by Harry Alford, President and CEO of the Black Chamber of Commerce. He deserves a standing ovation for this exchange:



Politicians, activists and do-gooders who purport to better the conditions of minority groups by mandating special treatment for them do these minorities a grave disservice. From the start, there must be an inherent belief that these people are somehow less able to create their own success and are dependent on the largesse of more superior beings for their betterment. What a terrible message to send a black child: "You are not good enough or smart enough or important enough to succeed on a level playing field with children with lighter skin. We must subsidize your development with 'affirmative action' programs - or you will fail." Why are more people not outraged by this ridiculous supposition?

Decades of pushing forward ideas like this under the guise of elevating those they actually sought to denigrate have taken a very real toll on many members of minority groups. There is no physiological reason why any American born black child should speak differently than any American born white child. I occasionally see black British athletes being interviewed on television, and am delighted to hear the same crisp British accent in their speech patterns as I do in their paler teammates. Likewise, there are millions of African-Americans whose speech patterns are indistinguishable from those of the white majority. Our speaking and communication skills are markers of our education and basic intelligence much more surely than the color of our skin; any group of people who intentionally foster poor communication skills are stigmatizing their members. Those who legitimize poor communication skills by pushing ideas such as Ebonics ("black" English) are simply attempting to further alienate black populations from the mainstream. The implication is, again, that blacks are somehow incapable of grasping and employing language in the same manner as whites - because of the color of their skin!? How preposterous!

We will not have true equality in this country until people of color refuse to be treated differently than others. It is the personal responsibility of each black parent to insist that their children rail against being stereotyped because of their coloring. Do not tell me that they cannot because of their own upbringing or education - such protestations simply buy into the stereotypes. Certainly no outside group or entity can force any other group or individual to have self-respect or a sense of self-worth. Only when black Americans themselves recognize this and refuse to be treated differently, better or worse, than anyone else will they be able to truly feel their own worth. With an African-American in the White House, it is now undeniable that anything is possible for people of color. Excuses about suppression have lost credibility.

It is not "politically incorrect" to expect an individual to succeed to the best of his ability without handouts or special provisions. It is irresponsible to do otherwise. It is time to let go of the past and the crutches of slavery, oppression and discrimination, and to embrace and foster the ability that lies inside each and every human being - regardless of such irrelevancies as the color of their skin.