Warner Todd Huston over at Right Wing News apparently thinks he has discovered racism in the existence of an all-black swimming meet that drew almost 750 teens from several states to compete in Raleigh-Durham, North Carolina. Huston doesn’t mind that the group is all-black — freedom of association for private organizations and all that. What gets his goat is the legitimate point that if your goal is to compete and create champions, then the members of the group should be selected by merit, not color:
I do have a major problem with this story, though, and it was the above quote from young Kenny Cross of Raleigh. He said, “This is where champions are born.”
That they have fooled this young man into imagining that “champions” can come from a segregated event that is not filled with the best and brightest from every walk of life is a shame. Does this young man really think that only his black friends amount to “champions”? Does he think no other races could become champions?
The thing is, these kids are not competing against the best of all swimmers, they are merely competing with the best from their own small racial block. This is NOT how champions are made. Champions are made through wide spread competition and limiting yourselves to only specific blocks of people is not the way to create champions.
Let me tell you a story to explain why I think teen-aged and young adult blacks may really need all-black swim teams, colleges, whatever — although on their own dime, because, see banner above, “conservative lesbian.” Years ago I read a news story about a black young adult who explained to a reporter that he resented the racism he encountered from all his professors at the predominantly white university he attended so much that he transferred to a predominantly black university. However, much to his surprise, his black professors told him he was exactly the kind of jerk that his white professors had. To his credit, he then realized that his white professors were not being racist when they found fault with him — he was a jerk and it was their job to tell him so and set his feet on a better path. However, thanks to the Alinksky rule for radicals that identity group grievances must constantly be “rubbed raw,” this young man had no way of being able to distinguish between racial insults and accurate, if unflattering, feedback.
That’s why there is a legitimate place for all-black groups, especially when their mission is to develop excellence in children, teens and young adults. The process goes better when the participants don’t have to spend a single second pondering whether prejudice is animating how they are being treated. Removing that variable clears a host of mental and emotional obstacles to achieving excellence. Think of them as a bridge between childhood and adulthood that strengthens these individuals to be able to participate later in groups of diverse races, religions, sexual orientation and so on, with a strong self-confidence that CAN tell the difference between criticism that is justified and racist remarks intended to hurt and to be able to deal positively with both.
Well, in Californa CIF swimming an asian girl Cindy Tran set the national record in the 100 yard backstroke. Asians and Hispanics in California are unless they come from a city that is either Asian or Hispanic are not going to be in an all hispanic and asian swim league, a lot of times in club teams or high school swimming they have to compete with whites not certain why blacks in NC are treated differently.
cynthia curran,
My intuition is that the Left has targeted blacks far more than any other minority to use as a weapon to bring down capitalism — for example, via welfare and the Cloward-Piven strategy, the helplessness that ACORN fosters, and so on. The Left works to “rub raw” the resentments of minorities because anger and fear make people easier to manipulate and control — they seem to have been the most successful with blacks. So what I got from the story of the young man who assumed all criticism of his work by his white professors was racism and only found out they were NOT racist and just telling him the truth when he got the same feedback from black professors was that black kids really may need a bridge from the all-black world of their families to the diverse world of adulthood — and groups like the all-black swim meet are about giving them that bridge rather than having anything to do with racism.
Cynthia
P.S.
It occurs to me that the all-black swim meet and similar groups may indeed have a racist purpose along the lines of black power/black supremacy. If so, much sunshine needs to be shone on that, and videos of the indoctrination posted on YouTube — you know, so we can have that national dialogue on race Eric Holder said we needed to have.
My experience is rather outdated but back when I was working shifts, and that was ten years before I retired, there were damned few black kids around that swam. I do not know why. I have the thought that since so few black kids swim (if that is still true) that a new group might interest those kids, perhaps it might help with the childhood obesity thing all the Pols are screeching about.
Would an integrated league be better? Yeah, probably. Still, if it gets the kids moving a little, good. Maybe we should keep it segregated, though, so white kids will have one last sport they win.
.-= Peter´s last blog ..Stuck In My Craw =-.
I teach in a majority black school (OK, almost all black). Students are SURE that any criticism of their academic performance or behavior is racially motivated, and are quick to get hostile when I say anything not totally positive. However, they readily accept, with good grace, a black teacher saying the same thing, but in even harsher terms.