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This morning on WJR, Frank Beckman, prompted by George Will's review, interviewed Shelby Steele about his new book, White Guilt: How Blacks and Whites Together Destroyed the Promise of the Civil Rights Era. Near the end of the interview, Frank Beckman asked Mr. Steele his advice to Michigan blacks concerning Michigan's Civil Rights Initiative (MCRI). The transcript isn't yet available, but Mr. Steele advised that blacks should vote in favor of the amendment. Mr. Steele stated that as long as Affirmative Action is in place, all blacks share the stigma of having not succeeded on their own merits, but were promoted only because of Affirmative Action. Mr. Steele maintains as long as that policy is in place, blacks individual will never be viewed, or perhaps even know themselves, whether their accomplishments were real or artificial.He also made a point that blacks can't blame racism or other external factors for the fact black children entering kindergarten are already two years behind white children. They don't know their colors, numbers, letters, nor have they been read to as much as white children. That poor start, Steele says, can not be blamed on anyone but black parents. Comments like those may relegate him to concert tours with Bill Cosby.I'm not a regular reader of Newsweek, but it arrives at home with 12 other subscriptions courtesy of unused Delta Miles. George Will's article will appear in the June 5 issue. In online editions appearing early on MSNBC's website, George Will wrote:
So, being black conferred "an almost reckless moral authority," a "power of racial privilege." The "power to shame, silence and muscle concessions from the larger society" was black power. The demand for equal rights became a demand for "the redistribution of responsibility for black advancement from black to white America, from the 'victims' to the 'guilty'."
Hence the black militancy's proclaiming "black power" was really an exercise in the power of helplessness. It was an assertion of white power—white society's power to "take" (LBJ's telling word) blacks to social equality. Hence "black power" was actually a denial of the power of blacks to manage their own escape from an intractable inferiority.
"By the mid-sixties," Steele writes, "white guilt was eliciting an entirely new kind of black leadership, not selfless men like King who appealed to the nation's moral character but smaller men, bargainers, bluffers and haranguers—not moralists but specialists in moral indignation—who could set up a trade with white guilt."
George Will claims the book can be read in two hours. Bill Cosby believes too many blacks can't read it. Shelby Steele wants black parents to read it to their kids. Jesse Jackson wants whites to read it and give blacks credit for it.
DeVos DeMagoguery--Henry PayneDetroit News blogger and political cartoonist Henry Payne makes a great point about Dick DeVos' recent radio ad protesting the high price of gas, the high profits made by oil companies, and disingenuously claiming something should be done about it.Mr. Payne's article speaks for itself and doesn't need further contributions here to improve its point.The point that should be considered here is how quickly DeVos has abandoned reason and insulted the intelligence of Michigan voters by towing the left's gas crisis propaganda. This is not the kind of leadership Michigan needs. We already have Democrats crying, "Woe is us," we don't need Republicans crying with them.The best thing Dick DeVos can do about the ad is abandon it and hope people forget about it. Already we know that despite all the complaints about $3/gallon gas and news stories about how people can't afford to shop, gas usage has increased already this spring and boaters are proclaiming they'll not let gas prices change their favorite summer activity.DeVos has also come out against the Michigan Civil Rights Initiative.On both these issues DeVos has the same position as Granholm. They're also both in favor of ridding the state of the Single Business Tax, though Granholm seems a late-comer. Is their only difference their political party? If that affiliation accounts only for the state's color on some nighttime news map then that's all we're voting for--our favorite color.If that's what the governor's race has become we're little better off than Sir Galahad approaching the Bridge of Death (November's elections) in Monty Python's Holy Grail. No matter how we answer, blue or red, we may be cast into the Gorge of Eternal Peril, or economic backwaters--unless one of our candidates differentiates themselves with honest dialog. We're adults. We can take it.
The Parent Trap -- Opinion JournalWednesday's Opinion Journal included an excellent piece by Glenn Harlan Reynolds describing how legal and societal attitudes have made parenting increasingly discouraging and discouraged.
It makes a similar point (though better written) as this blog's Why I'm OK with same-sex marriage. Specifically, that parents perform a function different from and more necessary to society than childless couples. There's little sense improving the prospects of our posterity if there isn't a posterity to improve for.
Digital Incompetence "If they are lucky, the thief may not realize the value of the stolen file, and it won't be used by criminals to drain veterans' bank accounts or borrow money in their names."
That is probably the first thing that went through my mind. A laptop is stolen by someone who only wants the laptop, but before it's been fenced or otherwise disposed of they discover it contains the names and social security numbers of millions of US Veterans. Which is the better approach; announcing to the thief he possesses million of names and social security numbers worth a lot more than the laptop, or not announcing it for a couple weeks and informing the veterans directly? Obviously, the theft would eventually be publicized, but might the veterans' privacy been better protected if the laptop's contents had been kept secret for as long as possible? In this and other damned-if-you-do-and-damned-if-you-don't dilemmas the better choice may make itself obvious if we're willing to risk bad publicity later for doing the right thing sooner.
My home was broken-in to once and in an upstairs office there were two computer devices. One was a $200 dumb-terminal and the other was a $2000 computer. It isn't without an appreciation for irony that I tell you they took the dumb terminal.
It matters little how much money they got for it, but it matters in this case because what's inside the laptop is more valuable to some than the laptop itself. Now that everyone knows what's inside the authorities won't be the only ones looking for it--and that is not a good thing.
Invest in higher education to revive economy - 05/23/06 - The Detroit News
Giving more money to universities will turn-around Michigan's economy. That is the essence of Michael Boulus' rebuttal to Jack McHugh's editorial, "Let money follow students, not lobbyists."What's interesting is how Mr. Boulus, Executive Director of the Presidents Council of State Universities of Michigan, accidentally buttresses the original argument by stating, "The states with the higher per capita incomes in our nation are those with the most college graduates -- not the states with the lowest taxes." This is an important point because it focuses on the one education's goals: graduation, and not what the state's universities think it is, higher professor salaries and fancy buildings funded with tax-payer-supported tuitions. If we accept the argument that increasing the number of college graduates is important to Michigan's economic revitalization, then we should focus on better preparing students for college so they may succeed and graduate--wherever they attend college.
Reported Thursday in both State Senator Jacobs' newsletter and The Detroit News and Friday in The Mirror, Jacobs and Ann Arbor's Liz Brator introduced legislation to allow counties to raise their sales tax to fund mass transit and road improvements. In her newsletter, Jacobs said:
“We have long been advocating for a Southeast Michigan transportation system that would be a model of regional transportation, while lessening our dependence on mid-east oil,” Jacobs said. “It’s time to move forward on the issue of public transportation so we can compete with other states for the jobs and commerce that have eluded us. In addition, the funding would provide needed road improvements.”
That's all well and good, but this approach is bad for three reasons. First, raising money for mass transit shouldn't require changing the state's constitution. Michigan's constitution should address important things like how government works, asserting the equality of its citizens, equal protection, the limits of government, and other big ideas deserving a permanent address in a document intended to stand the test of time. It's not a bulletin board for political Post-its®. Next, the State, much less South Eastern Michigan, doesn't have a mass transit plan. None. In fact, no one has even waxed John F. Kennedy and put a stake in the ground. Raising money for a plan that doesn't exist is irresponsible. That kind of irresponsibility is the product of acting before you think. As excited as Ferndale's city manager, Tom Barwin, may be about mass transit he should bottle his nervous energy and use it for the business at hand--like preserving funding for the city's fire and police departments, reigning in inspectors to stop hassling homeowners improving whole neighborhoods by improving their homes and encouraging inspectors to use their powers for good by citing owners of dilapidated and unkempt homes. Don't bother wasting gas looking for missing handrails when some homes can't even be seen behind overgrown shrubs, grass, and long-parked cars. Lastly, why use a sales tax to fund transportation? Thinking governments use tax policy to influence behavior they want to encourage or discourage. Want people to quit smoking? Raise taxes on cigarettes. Want people to have more children or take care of aging relatives? Increase the per-dependent deduction. What kind of behavior does raising sales tax discourage? In the proposal offered by Jacobs and Braker it discourages shopping in Oakland County. I bet Oakland County retailers are thrilled about that. Not only has state government failed to provide relief from the Single Business Tax (SBT), now the state wants their customers to shop in other counties! It's fascinating, isn't it? Paying $3/gallon may cause legislators discomfort in the billfold (or purse), but apparently it isn't the mother of invention we hoped it would be. It hasn't brought our governments together to fashion a plan. It's too early to know whether people will move closer to the office or stop driving low gas-mileage vehicles. Heck, we don't even live close enough to each other to carpool. The state is still planning to spend $600+ million to widen I-75! Now that's a gas-saving idea. Contact your state legislators and make sure they know it's a bad idea. It's possible that with all the knee jerking we're reading about they're suffering Restless Legislator Syndrome (RLS) and need a slap upside the head to pop them out of it.
I've added a link to my blog to another titled, "Stone Soup Musings." It first attracted my attention because it covered Michigan politics, but it's kept my interest because the author, Kathy, strikes me as intelligent and willing to entertain opposite points of view--or at least isn't hostile or unwelcoming to them.Of course, don't spend too much time there cause I'd rather have you here. Come back soon!
