The beginning of the end for affirmative action Webb is 100% correct. The only thing he got wrong is the fact that the ill-effects of official gvt sponsored reverse racism goes back to the late 1960s and early 70s. In those years , and amazingly, it was white Appalachians who were getting shafted, as they still are, despite being approximately equal in number to African-Americans. Indeed, their numbers may be somewhat higher is you add in the white poor in southern Indiana and Illinois and the Ozarkans in Mo and Arkansas, who are basically the same people. Yet all the anti-discrimination programs, etc, have been black focused. Or almost all. Of course the reason is obvious, blacks are highly visible in most major cities while Appalachians are mostly rural and invisible unless you visit Kentucky or West Virginia or western NC, etc. But there are white poor in many other places, and it is also obvious where the far Right does its most recruiting, and why hard Right views have some traction in these populations. Blame affirmative action and blame a widespread ideology that has arisen on the Left. To say it again, admitting that this is a gross oversimplification, the Right is stupid but the Left is evil. The excesses of my own generalization need to be emphasized. This is not meant to be taken literally in every case. On some issues it is the Right that is evil and the Left that is stupid. Moreover, each sometimes does good things and each has its share of articulate and well-meaning leaders. But hopefully the point is understood. Billy ================================================ WPost Webb calls for end to most affirmative action programs, criticizes 'myth' of white dominance
Just as race issues _have returned to the forefront_ (http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/07/22/AR2010072201691.html?hpid=topnews) of political debate, Virginia Sen. James Webb (D) on Friday reiterated his opposition to some affirmative action programs and suggested that white Americans are being "marginalized" by current government policies. _In a Wall Street Journal op-ed_ (http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703724104575379630952309408.html) headlined "Diversity and the Myth of White Privilege," Webb writes: "Forty years ago, as the United States experienced the civil rights movement, the supposed monolith of White Anglo-Saxon Protestant dominance served as the whipping post for almost every debate about power and status in America. After a full generation of such debate, WASP elites have fallen by the wayside and a plethora of government-enforced diversity policies have marginalized many white workers." This is not a new topic for Webb, whose complicated views on race-based programs _were an issue_ (http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/06/05/AR2006060501327.html) in his 2006 Senate campaign, when some of his fellow Democrats complained that Webb sounded like a Republican. In _a 2000 book review_ (http://www.jameswebb.com/articles/wsj-statusofquotas.html) , also published in the Wall Street Journal, Webb wrote that affirmative action "has within one generation brought about a permeating state-sponsored racism that is as odious as the Jim Crow laws it sought to countermand." Webb has said he supports some preferential programs for African Americans but not for other ethnic and immigrant groups. He reiterated that point in Friday's op-ed. "I have dedicated my political career to bringing fairness to America's economic system and to our work force, regardless of what people look like or where they may worship," Webb writes. "Unfortunately, present-day diversity programs work against that notion, having expanded so far beyond their original purpose that they now favor anyone who does not happen to be white." Webb's latest airing of his views comes during a week when racial issues have dominated the headlines, after the firing of Agriculture Department official Shirley Sherrod sparked heated debates on alleged "reverse racism" and whether the Obama administration -- and society as a whole -- is capable of _engaging in mature discussions_ (http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0710/40007.html) of racial issues without descending into acrimony. Some conservatives have cited _the controversy over the New Black Panther party_ (http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/linkset/2009/02/25/LI2009022502075.html) and some comments by U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder to promote the idea that the current White House is biased against whites. Webb makes no such allegation in Friday's column, though he does complain that immigrants who have come to America in recent decades "have frequently been the beneficiaries of special government programs. The same cannot be said of many hard-working white Americans, including those whose roots in America go back more than 200 years." Webb notes that, "[c]ontrary to assumptions in the law, white America is hardly a monolith." This is also a frequent topic for the Virginia senator. He authored a well-received book, "_Born Fighting_ (http://www.amazon.com/Born-Fighting-Scots-Irish-Shaped-America/dp/0767916891) ," that focused on "how the Scots-Irish shaped America." And _in yet another Wall Street Journal column_ (http://www.jameswebb.com/articles/wsj-joesixpack.html) , a 1995 piece titled, "In Defense of Joe Six Pack," Webb pointed out that there were huge variations in income and educational status among white Americans. He argued then that "less-advantaged white cultures by and large did the most to lay out the infrastructure of this country, quite often suffering educational and professional regression as they tamed the wilderness, built the towns, roads and schools, and initiated a democratic way of life that later white cultures were able to take advantage of without paying the price of pioneering. Today they have the least, socio-economically, to show for these contributions." Webb even claimed "the prospect of a class war is genuine" among those who have felt left behind by government policies. Now that he's in the Senate, Webb is advocating a significant shift in government priorities when it comes to race. "Where should we go from here?" Webb asks in Friday's piece. "Beyond our continuing obligation to assist those African-Americans still in need, government-directed diversity programs should end. Nondiscrimination laws should be applied equally among all citizens, including those who happen to be white." By Ben Pershing | July 23, 2010; -- Centroids: The Center of the Radical Centrist Community <[email protected]> Google Group: http://groups.google.com/group/RadicalCentrism Radical Centrism website and blog: http://RadicalCentrism.org
