Race and Katrina

I think we've all seen the various statements made by liberals and assorted Democrats claiming that the delayed action by the Bush Administration during and immediatly after the Hurricane was due to racism, so I'm not going to republish them here. There are many news sites and various blogs and such which have posted them, so knock yourself out if you're in the mood for self-torture.

You know who we are talking about; people like Howard Dean, Jesse Jackson, Randall Robinson, Rep Elijah Cummings (head of the Congressional Black Caucus, no less), Rep. Diane Watson, Rep Cynthia McKinney, on and on. Others such as rapper Kayne West count also, since there are people who do listen to and believe rock stars and other entertainers.

Also, to me it is self-evident that the charge is absurd, so you won't find a "no Bush is not a racist" argument here.

Rather, I want to look at why we had such charges in the first place.

Yes, there is racism in America. But most of it is not white racism. It is black racism. It pains me greatly to type this, but there it is. Certainly most of the hate speech that I see on matter of race comes from the left in general, and liberal black leaders in particular. Former NAACP head Kwazi Mfume comes to mind in this regard.

The simple fact is that significant(hint; key word there) white racism is a thing of the past. If you don't believe me, look at how the left defines racism today; they claim it is "institutional" or "unconscious". In other words, we can't find any individual cases, in fact we can't prove anything at all, but we're going to claim it anyway.

It gets worse. It is bad enough that Al Sharpton is feted by mainstream Democrats, who have forgotten all about Freddies Fashion Mart, let along the Tawana Brawley affair. With the last election cycle we have seen that the Democrat party is so in bed with extremist groups like Moveon.org and America Coming Together, and individuals such as Michael Moore and George Soros, that they are utterly unable to sound reasonable on most issues at all (More on this when I review Byron York's latest book)

Back to the Hurricane.

What we saw in New Orleans, and the race-baiting that followed, is the result of forty years of liberal social programs.

It is absurd beyond reason to say that this country has not worked it's collective butt off to make life better for it's underclass from at least 1933 on. And it defied comprehension how anyone could say that we have not tried beyond trying to make the lives of black people in particular better since the mid-fifties, with the trend accelerating greating from 1964 on. Trillions of dollars, program after program, quota after quota(excuse me, "diversity").

So at this point we are entitled to ask a question:

If white racism is as big a problem as the left says it is, and they allege it runs all the way up to the president, then what does that say about all the liberal social programs to alleviate all this that we've followed?

I'll spare you the typing and answer the question myself; your policies have failed. The liberal welfare state, and the modern "diversity" and "multiculturalism" that have been forced on us, have not worked. Not nearly as much as their sponsors claim, at any rate.

The black citizens of New Orleans who were so impoverished that they didn't own cars, or have the money to get out, were not victims of racism. They were victims of the failed liberal welfare state.

And why do so many buy into the notion that federal government failures were the result of racism? I'll spare you the typing on this one too; because liberal leaders have done nothing but preach the gospel of victimhood to them.

We will no doubt hear that "both sides need to come together", that conservatives need to "reach out", blah blah blah. Sorry, but after listening to the insanities coming from the left on the issue of race after Katrina, I'm not in much mood for "coming together" with the likes of Al Sharpton, Howard Dean, most members of the Congressional Black Caucus, or, while we're at it, the NAACP. I have had it up to here with them.

Compassion? You bet. But it's going to be on the individual level, which for me means targeted donations and church mission/work trips. But these "leaders" have got to go.

P.S. I hated writing this post. This entire affair pains me greatly, and so wish things weren't as they were. But some things have to be said.

Update

Thank you to the Watchers of Weasels blog for considering this post worthy of inclusion in their weekly contest. I did not win, but that's ok. I urge everyone to visit their site and read the posts that were submitted, as they are all very good.