Burning Down Baltimore, Getting In the Game

GRANTED, THE "PROTEST" IN BALTIMORE became a riot, with stealing, burning, and looting. Give Obama dredit; he knows crime when he sees it, and he identifies it. Of course, he used to live on the south side of Chicago, so he certainly should. Granted, there are many leaders within the African-American community who spend more time applying make up than tangibly assisting the eternal crusade against racial injustice. Granted, the Baltimore targedy was not about race, at least, according to many locals, even though the looters and rioters were, according to cameras, all African-American. And, finally, granted, the best way for people of whatever skin pigmentation to advance in life is to work hard, get an education, and play by the rules. But is that all there is to it? Is that it? Somewhow, something seems to be missing here. Before our black brethren and sistern can get started on their higher education, doesn't George Wallace have to step aside, and quit blocking the door? He already did that, you say? OK, fine. Then don't we need to dramatically upgrade public schools in our inner American cities, instead of closing them? Yes, of course, much progress had been made. Those of us eixty years old or older have seen it, close up. Public restrooms and water fountains are now for everyone, they aint no mo white only and colored only, and so forth, blah blah blah. But have we the American cracker community formally, officially, and completely eliminated racism from our collective, societal hearts of hearts? Do those among us with dark brown skin rather than light brown skin really have an equal chance at that good job? All other things being equal, believe it or not want to, at one time or another, nearly every sociology department of every major American University has asked this very question. And they have answered it using a wide variety of useful techniques, including graduate students, extensive surveys, and numerous other forms of intelligence and scientific analysis. Every single study has yielded the same answer. Repeatedly, conclusively, the answer is: no. We have not eliminated racism in America. It is, in fact, as prevalent as ever, albeit in more subtle, less visible forms. White guy gets the job, black man does not. Send out a thousand completed job apps, to employers all over the fruited plain, half of them black sounding, half white sounding, in terms of names and essays, and, all other things being equal, the white guy gets hired, every time, all across America, in business after business, job after job. It never fails. It is no coincidence. It is demonstrable, plain, residual, lingering racism. And don't give me that crap about ivory tower intellectuals, out of touch with reality. The opposite is true. Science works. Universities, using science, always find the truth, no matter how long it takes, because science is self correcting, redundantly self checking, and in the end, it all adds up. Hence, our modern science based lifestyle. America, despite all its greatness and virtue, remains, at heart, a deeply racist country. And you can talk about playing by the rules instead of burning down Baltimore and stopping the race card industry all you want. No matter who you are, or what color, if you are going to succeed in life, if you are going to win in life's game, you must first be given a chance to get in the game.