One reason that the "Black Live Matters" movement is so pernicious because it implies that there is a large swath of people who believe that black lives DON'T matter. In the newspapers, news shows, social media etc. the overwhelming majority don't argue with the axiomatic no-brainer assertion that one shouldn't kill or even discriminate against blacks. This is quite a miracle since only 50 years ago millions and millions of Americans were openly racist. There are of course individuals who are racist but there always have been and always will be. Nothing to do about that. Demonstrating violently or peacefully is not going to change that.
In addition - it divides the country along color lines. A human being is a soul enclothed in a body and tagging people for better or for worse based on the color of their skin is demeaning and DIVIDES US.
I don't call a taxi and ask for a driver with a specific skin color. All I care about is that he knows how to drive [and isn't drunk]. I don't go to a restaurant and ask for a waiter with a specific skin color. All I care is that he can bring me my food. We have enough divisions in our society without dividing ourselves based on race. But that is what is going on here.
People are actually APOLOGIZING for being white because they have been the recipients of so called "white privilege". Like white people get a large check in the mail every month just because they are white. And they don't have to study for exams in school. They just write on the test paper that they are white and automatically get a good grade. Let us not forget the break we get on taxes because we are white. It is amazing how this is such a big secret even we "whities" don't know about it.
Don't believe this narrative that is being relentlessly pushed now in our society. Blacks are at times subject to racism and this is unfortunate but not the result of anything that is officially sanctioned by anyone. We should of course wipe this cancer from our midst and nobody should suffer because of the color of their skin but that doesn't make our society racist. Have blacks had it as good as they do today in the USA any time in world history? I don't believe so.
Obama was a big "achdus" guy. America as a unified people. E pluribus unum. "From many one" [in yiddish]. Not red states or blue state but the UNITED STATES! People LOVED that message. But now we are being divided into two disparate nations. The poor, beleaguered, long suffering, victimized blacks and the evil, rich, oppressive whites. NO! That is not how the country should be viewed and such a perspective causes untold harm.
One issue that is not discussed at all because it is not PC is that over 70 percent of all black children grow up in single parent homes. This single parent is usually a mother who has to work like a dog making minimum wage [not because she is black but because she doesn't have the skills and education to perform higher paying jobs] to support her kids who lack a strong father figure to guide and discipline. This is a recipe for disaster and it causes endless disasters. And the cycle of poverty, broken homes, lack of higher education, often turning to the streets and crime, perpetuates itself. There are a disproportionate amount of black people in jail because they commit a disproportionate amount of crimes [as strange as that may sound to some ears]. Young black men have to be taught responsibility. You don't get a girl pregnant if you are not going to support and raise the child. Black girls have to be taught that they should not be getting pregnant unless they are in a long term stable relationship [we call it marriage] with a responsible male. They should preferably wait until they finished college or at least high school. It is an epidemic and it is not racist to lament it. If you care about someone you point out their flaws in order that they correct them. The Jewish community has a lot of problems but this isn't one of them, thankfully. We all grow up knowing that having a child is a lifetime responsibility and we wait until we are married to have one.
What black people have to do is break this terrible cycle and use the freedom America offers to break out of their poverty and ghettos. The Jews came to America en masse with no knowledge of English and barely a penny yet within a generation or two they were at the top of the socioeconomic latter. NOBODY helped them [except for Hashem]. They were no food stamps or health insurance or affirmative action. Nothing. They just worked their tails off [which is why Jews don't have tails] and made sure that their kids received a good education. From the crowded tenements on the lower east side and tiny apartments in the Bronx the children quickly moved up to their fancy mansions in the suburbs. It is a good model to try to emulate.
Walking around all day feeling victimized is doing nobody any good. On the contrary. When one of my children feels victimized I first identify and validate the pain and then mercilessly and cruelly insist that the child take control of the situation and not be the nebuch. Black people have indeed been victimized too often and now is a great time to change not only the image that many whites have of blacks but more importantly their self image.
