Comments on: The Hunt for Black Identity http://www.intellectualconservative.com/2006/11/10/the-hunt-for-black-identity/ Conservative and Libertarian Intellectual Philosophy and Politics Wed, 08 Feb 2012 23:00:53 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.2.1 By: Patrick Mulligan http://www.intellectualconservative.com/2006/11/10/the-hunt-for-black-identity/comment-page-1/#comment-32025 Patrick Mulligan Sat, 11 Nov 2006 19:15:56 +0000 http://www.intellectualconservative.com/2006/the-hunt-for-black-identity/#comment-32025 "The last thing A.A. need is another good excuse to justify underachieving. The fact that there are whites who also underachieve is of no consolation to black americans. Nor is it to white americans similarly situated." That wasn't what I meant in that comment. I was merely pointing out that "white" people fill a wide variety of societal roles, from extremely poor, to middle class, to super-rich, and they don't tie their accomplishments, or lack thereof, with their race or ethnicity. Presently, in popular culture at least, it's "black" to be a violent drug dealer who lives in the ghetto and aspires to make rap music. If a black person does well in school and aspires to be a proficient speaker of the English language in a successful career, he is an "uncle tom", he's lost his "black"-ness, his "black" identity. There are "white" people who live in ghettos and commit violence, but they don't identify their behavior as intrinsically "white". By the same token, neither do the many "white" people of high accomplishment (by and large, at least). The idea that every black person must have some intrinsic and universal "identity" that's directly correlated to their skin color is ludicrous. It's a generalization that would be decried as racist hate-mongering were it not perpetuated by black people themselves, and rightly so. “The last thing A.A. need is another good excuse to justify underachieving. The fact that there are whites who also underachieve is of no consolation to black americans. Nor is it to white americans similarly situated.”

That wasn’t what I meant in that comment. I was merely pointing out that “white” people fill a wide variety of societal roles, from extremely poor, to middle class, to super-rich, and they don’t tie their accomplishments, or lack thereof, with their race or ethnicity. Presently, in popular culture at least, it’s “black” to be a violent drug dealer who lives in the ghetto and aspires to make rap music. If a black person does well in school and aspires to be a proficient speaker of the English language in a successful career, he is an “uncle tom”, he’s lost his “black”-ness, his “black” identity. There are “white” people who live in ghettos and commit violence, but they don’t identify their behavior as intrinsically “white”. By the same token, neither do the many “white” people of high accomplishment (by and large, at least). The idea that every black person must have some intrinsic and universal “identity” that’s directly correlated to their skin color is ludicrous. It’s a generalization that would be decried as racist hate-mongering were it not perpetuated by black people themselves, and rightly so.

]]> By: THEAMENCORNER http://www.intellectualconservative.com/2006/11/10/the-hunt-for-black-identity/comment-page-1/#comment-32017 THEAMENCORNER Sat, 11 Nov 2006 14:57:09 +0000 http://www.intellectualconservative.com/2006/the-hunt-for-black-identity/#comment-32017 Mr. Twyman is part of a rising chorus of A.A. noting that the rejection of life affirming behaviour is the source of black underachievement not runaway racism. While I apreciate Mr. Mulligan's comments and attempt's at sensitivity. The last thing A.A. need is another good excuse to justify underachieving. The fact that there are whites who also underachieve is of no consolation to black americans. Nor is it to white americans similarly situated. As my grandma would say, "what does it have to do with the price of eggs"? Kim Wade, Jackson Ms Mr. Twyman is part of a rising chorus of A.A. noting that the rejection of life affirming behaviour is the source of black underachievement not runaway racism.
While I apreciate Mr. Mulligan’s comments and attempt’s at sensitivity. The last thing A.A. need is another good excuse to justify underachieving. The fact that there are whites who also underachieve is of no consolation to black americans. Nor is it to white americans similarly situated.
As my grandma would say, “what does it have to do with the price of eggs”? Kim Wade, Jackson Ms

]]> By: Patrick Mulligan http://www.intellectualconservative.com/2006/11/10/the-hunt-for-black-identity/comment-page-1/#comment-32012 Patrick Mulligan Sat, 11 Nov 2006 13:55:26 +0000 http://www.intellectualconservative.com/2006/the-hunt-for-black-identity/#comment-32012 The whole idea of ethnic identity is what is destroying black Americans. Whether the "Black Identity" means selling drugs and writing rap songs, or whether it means staying in school and getting a Ph.d in physics is irrelevant. The idea that your identity should come solely from your ethnicity is ridiculous. There are many underachieving "white" people in America, and there are many very highly competent and responsible "white" people in America, with a whole bunch of people somewhere in between, and the reason why is that they do not all define their goals and aspirations in life by their ethnicity. Whether a "white" guy becomes an unkempt drunken layabout with no goals or whether he becomes a world-class lawyer or businessman, he is not generally concerned with how his personal life is going to reflect on him in terms of his race or ethnicity. Black people in America would do well to focus on personal goals and set their own personal standards for achievement instead of defining themselves by some supposed intrinsic, universal "identity", whether that "identity" is positive or negative. I say "in America" because it seems to me (and I'm certainly not an expert in the field, this is simply an off-hand observation) that this poverty-mentality masquerading as ethnic identity is a phenomenon that mainly affects American black people, or at least to a much further extent than black people from abroad. If it weren't for every non-"white" ethnic group desperately trying to define itself based purely on skin color in the name of "multi-culturalism", I think we would have a less hostile and more productive American society. The whole idea of ethnic identity is what is destroying black Americans. Whether the “Black Identity” means selling drugs and writing rap songs, or whether it means staying in school and getting a Ph.d in physics is irrelevant. The idea that your identity should come solely from your ethnicity is ridiculous. There are many underachieving “white” people in America, and there are many very highly competent and responsible “white” people in America, with a whole bunch of people somewhere in between, and the reason why is that they do not all define their goals and aspirations in life by their ethnicity. Whether a “white” guy becomes an unkempt drunken layabout with no goals or whether he becomes a world-class lawyer or businessman, he is not generally concerned with how his personal life is going to reflect on him in terms of his race or ethnicity. Black people in America would do well to focus on personal goals and set their own personal standards for achievement instead of defining themselves by some supposed intrinsic, universal “identity”, whether that “identity” is positive or negative. I say “in America” because it seems to me (and I’m certainly not an expert in the field, this is simply an off-hand observation) that this poverty-mentality masquerading as ethnic identity is a phenomenon that mainly affects American black people, or at least to a much further extent than black people from abroad. If it weren’t for every non-”white” ethnic group desperately trying to define itself based purely on skin color in the name of “multi-culturalism”, I think we would have a less hostile and more productive American society.

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