Is the party on the Left really the ones helping minorities? Or are they, instead, buying votes by giving people things, thus tying them to “the plantation” just as they did in the South? The data keeps piling up that the Left believes Blacks (and other groups they label as victims) can’t compete with everyone else. As such, they must be continually “helped,” even if they don’t want to be.
I find it offensive that the Left assumes that Blacks are “less-than.” What happened to “equal?” Many people of all races, sexes and creeds have had less than optimal starts in life. These are people that may need some help to achieve their potential. But the Left continually preaches the idea that Blacks need affirmative action (racial quotas), preferential grading, handouts and more because they can’t really measure up. Dems don’t say this in words, but they demonstrate it in deeds. Some prominent Blacks have stood up against this, but unfortunately, the lure of free stuff and accommodation can be tough to refuse.
Studies have proven that when you expect little from a person, no matter their actual aptitude, they will perform less well than they can. One study gave a teacher IQ test results from her class, but re-sorted them so that the children who had high IQs were given low ones and the kids that did less well were marked as high IQ students. The results showed the kids who might be considered to have challenges did much better than they had in prior grades where the teacher had low expectations for their achievement. Parents have seen this themselves. When they try to cut their kids too much slack, the kids get lazy and don’t push. When they challenge their kids, believe in them and expect the best, kids rise to meet their expectations.
It’s not just kids. When Clinton cut welfare considerably, many poor welfare moms found jobs, and found new pride when they could come home with money they earned and set an example for their children. At work, a great boss expects you to achieve, and reaps better results from his team because of his belief in you.
When we expect little of people and reward them for failing, we relegate them to lifelong failure. And that’s just racist.
The Legal Profession
The latest racist move showed up recently in Washington, where the high court ruled that the Bar exam was no longer necessary for applicants to become lawyers. The American Bar Association (ABA) endorsed it, years after studies showed that even that standard wasn’t necessarily a high enough bar to ensure that people hiring lawyers got represented well in court. Some states’ exams are harder than others, and JFK, Jr. notably failed it several times in New York. But instead of saying that the bar wasn’t a good test, the actual reason comes out in the following quote.
The new policy statement also calls on states to create licensing pathways that “mitigate the disparate exclusion from the profession of racial and ethnic minorities and individuals of low socioeconomic status.” The reason given is that there were disparities in bar pass rates. For some reason, they didn’t actually look at why this disparity exists. Could it be that some students were admitted with less-than-optimal grades from college and found law school too difficult? We know this happens in college admissions. Too often, kids who’ve had bad public-school teachers end up being “social-promoted” without actually having learned what they needed. This sets them behind and limits their opportunities. You can’t fix it by pushing them forward without help.
Going Forward
Instead of continually lowering the bar to “help” minorities, instead we should be looking at the schools, ensuring that every child gets the basic education they need. When they graduate, tests should show that they can read and do math (in some high schools, many students don’t meet those standards). Small class sizes make sense for those who struggle with the material. For the rest of us, 35 is a reasonable class size. Focus on helping kids in the early years so there is no question that they have a fair chance at a great future.
Reach out to parents who can’t read or help their kids in school and see if they can’t get some of the basics. Stop promoting kids who struggle; help them achieve. And expect the best from every child. Then, we could stop pretending that lowering the standards for professions, and cutting people “a break” is the right answer.
Let’s start believing in equality of all people. Otherwise, you are judging people’s abilities on the basis of their skin color. And, isn’t that racist?