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The other side of a conversation about race As the hyperventilating over Barack Obama’s election subsides, along with disbelief this could happen in America, maybe a white conservative man like me can finally say a few things. We wish the country would wake up to the fact that conservatives are not at all surprised a black man was elected; we have been pulling for black Americans to succeed for a very long time. After all, everyone’s prosperity and achievement make America a better place for all of us to chase our dreams. We applaud millions of successful black Americans and hope they join conservatives in growing numbers with their votes to uphold the values of capitalism, property rights, freedom, limited government and self-reliance that built this country. We also wish the media, when they turn to racial issues, would focus on blacks who provide for their family, pay taxes and hold American ideals dear, instead of always highlighting the grievance class of the uneducated, unemployed and unproductive. But there are far too many of the latter, and if you are one of them, we have high hopes for you to take steps to turn your life around. We encourage you to insist on being treated as the individual you are instead of lumped in a group that is presumed to think and act in unison. You should be outraged when pundits and politicians take your vote for granted by your race. We look forward to your loud rejection of the likes of Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton, who profit by appointing themselves your leaders and presuming to speak for you. We will jump for joy when black activists exchange victimhood for the determination to make the most of America’s opportunities, focusing on responsibilities at least as much as on rights. We feel like cheering when Bill Cosby speaks the unwelcome truth that black girls should protect against pregnancy, black men should take responsibility for their offspring, academic achievement should be celebrated, not denigrated, and the black community should rebuff street values of thugs, pimps, bitches and “hoes” that has infected America’s music culture. Three out of four black babies born to unwed mothers is a modern American train wreck that creates cyclical traps of poverty, despair and crime. It cannot be stopped with government programs, but it can be stopped by personal responsibility. While we pull for you and everyone else to realize the American dream, we hope to end the fiction that racism is a one-way street. You should recognize racism in your own house and do something about it. When conservative Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas is booed because he is expected, as a black man, to hold liberal views, that is fundamentally racist. You blew a golden opportunity to declare Obama’s Rev. Wright a despicable racist. When Rev. Lowry ended his benediction at Obama’s inauguration with “... and when white will embrace what is right,” you should have cried foul. We would love to see blacks stand up for what is right on our side for a change. In 1984 when Jesse Jackson first ran for president and Geraldine Ferraro became the Democrat Vice President nominee, pundits asked each other whether a woman or a black man was electable. Wrong question. The question should have been whether America was ready for a far-left president like Jackson, who morphed over the years from a civil rights activist into a racial shakedown artist. Heck, no! But give us strong conservatives like Herman Cain, Michael Steele, Bobby Jindal, Linda Lingle or Michelle Malkin, and we’d vote for him or her in a heartbeat. Race and gender have not mattered to us for a long time. But our conservative ideals do matter quite a lot, and it is regrettable that our first black president is so far left he easily earns the “socialist” label. I believe President Obama’s programs of anti-capitalism, socialization of medical care, colossal social spending and waging war on the successful, while rewarding the non-producers, will do America grave and lasting harm. I will oppose those programs, and I fervently hope he fails in his attempts to shift America far to the left. Whether you are black or not, if you support President Obama’s programs because of who he is rather than because you are aligned with him on the issues, I hope you recognize it is you who are the racist, not me. [Terry Garlock lives in Peachtree City.] login to post comments | Terry Garlock's blog
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