Letters to the Editor
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Hokum
There are comparatively few blacks who are that wealthy: Even assuming that they are famous, would their mere existence really lead large percentages of blacks to reject the idea that blacks are a single race?
This is hokum. A PBS Frontline documentary a number of years ago discussed how blacks had managed to achieve not only the largest number of middle class blacks, but oddly enough, the largest amount of underclass blacks at the same time. Why are there not the kind of distributions seen amongst Caucasians?
The answer is that structural and institutional racism (which are not, as the author believes, anomalous) is out in force and makes upward mobility extremely hard. What you have, from the 1960's onward, is two very separate populations simply continuing along their demographic trends, with very little transition between either. In fact, this is one of the problems with minority recruitment or diversity initiatives that have lack a class or means test. A large portion of "diversity" movements across campuses are simply raiding and pilfering the students who would decades ago have gone to the middle and upper class black haven's of HBCU's. HBCU's now, with the least amount of funding, also have to deal with the population that has 1) the least amount of money to go to college and 2) is least prepared for college.
are no longer willing to simply give every knucklehead in the 'hood a free pass because of "structural racism."
I don't know whats more absurd, the phrasing or the implication. The reality on the ground is a little more complex and stark than simply minding your p's and q's, not doing drugs, and somehow ending up with a nice cushy job with a suburban house. It's like suggesting that Indians down on the rez somehow just keep fucking up to be in their situation for as long as they have been.
The way out of the black-white mess is a shared ethos, not a separate one. If whites feel more connected to middle-class blacks, they will ultimately feel more connected to poor ones.
Again, hokum. People from different class strata very rarely share any concern for those below them. Even during intense events or times when certain identity markets (nationalism, ethnicity, tribal bonds) transcend class orientation, they often quickly dissolve into class factions as soon as said event is over. You can look at the nationalist and independence movements that dominated the Middle East and Africa in the last century and see how after the unifying scourge was thrown out, things instantly plunged into chaos. You can see the echoes in the fracturing of black consciousness across America.
The issue of class orientation is a strong one, and has become even more apparent as the gulf between labor and management has become more pronounced. As skilled trades and other labor-oriented jobs have fled the country, the corresponding amount of management and supervisory positions have not, and can not, absorb the amount of job opportunities lost. Is it any wonder, Detroit, where the UAW once had several proud African American leaders and a cadre of members, has fallen even further into the pit as the Big 3 have slashed jobs, wages, benefits, and pensions? It shouldn't be.
Simply saying that colorblindness will lead the way is being ignorant of very real economic and larger societal factors on the ground.