More on Mayor Nutter

Patrik Jonsson, Staff writer for the Christian Science Monitor, yesterday continued the coverage of Mayor Michael Nutter's criticism of blacks in Philadelphia.

the apparent willingness by many whites and some black leaders to assume that poverty and the dysfunction it brings can only be alleviated by the individual, not greater society.

"Apparent willingness"? How about explicit statement? This is an editorial statement in a news story and it is wrong. Poverty does not cause dysfunction: Dysfunction causes poverty. Poor neighborhoods may have a lot of criminals in them, but that is because criminals are dysfunctional and therefore by and large poor. Dysfunctional people may be poor without being criminal. Pointing out that there are rich criminals does not change that.

Society cannot educate you: you must take an eduction when it is available or remain unemployable at any but the lowest level: pure ignorant labor. The Man does not oppress children in school: Other dysfunctional children and their equally dysfunctional parents do. The only Man holding back children is the Man in their own heads.

For half a century "society" has subsidized unwed motherhood, unemployment, the myth that the Man won't let them succeed, and other dysfunctional behavior. Just like subsidizing opera, one gets more of what one subsidizes.

Surprise, surprise.

Eliminate all welfare, eliminate all subsidies to unwed parents, eliminate subsidies to dysfunctional behavior, stop tolerating those who blame their own failure on others, including the mystical Man, and in a generation I think the problems will be largely gone. While you are at it, make early release from prison conditional on learning to read, write, and do basic math.

If "society" caused this, then society has a responsibility to stop subsidizing this bad behavior. I blame the individuals who blame society.

Nutter's strong language enables white society in America to downplay poverty as the root cause of the black community's problems, says Columbia University political scientist Frederick Harris, author of the upcoming book, "The Price of the Ticket: The Rise and Fall of Black Politics in the Age of Obama.” "If this discourse was led by Ronald Reagan, for instance, people would call him on his racism, but now that you have a black face to these explanations it gives it legitimacy," he says.

"People would call him on his racism." Right: The only possible reason a white person could criticize individuals who are black is white racism. If this quote is accurate, Dr. Harris assumes white critics are racist: Isn't that assumption itself racist?

I have come around to thinking that the proper response today to being called a racist is to smile broadly and thank the speaker, for the speaker has publicly admitted they have nothing with which to refute any point made by the 'racist'. The speaker can only retreat into shutting down the conversation by accusing the other of being racist. Today, calling another a racist is nothing but an admission of the speaker's inability to refute anything the 'racist' said.