Obama race speech, Post 2

Obama's "race speech" was good. Very good. So good that even Charles Murray, writer of The Bell Curve, said Obama "talked about race in ways that no other major politician has tried to do, with a level of honesty that no other major politician has dared, and with more insight than any other major politician possesses." In the pages of the National Review, no less.

One reason it was good is that it represented Democratic acknowledgment, for the first time, that the liberal approach to race of the past 30-35 years has driven a wedge between black people and working-class white people. That's an important thing to realize.

But the other important thing to realize is why it had to happen. Obama gets this right too, when he talks about the anger that exists in much of black America. The rantings of Obama's preacher Jeremiah Wright may have been bitter and anti-American, but they do represent ideas that are firmly entrenched in black America, and Obama is absolutely right when he says that if you want to understand African-American society, you've got to understand that anger. That's why there was no room for angry blacks and working-class "Reagan Democrats" in the same big tent back in the 70s and 80s. The Democratic coalition split because it had to split.

Now the question becomes: What do we do about "black anger"? That anger obviously has hurt, rather than helped, the black community. It has re-segregated blacks and nonblacks, and cut off many poor African-Americans from the potentially helpful apparatus of the state. And it has permanently reduced the political clout of African-American voters, since candidates friendly to the black community will inevitably be tarnished by their association with anti-American rhetoric. Basically, black rage - which is against America more than it is against whites - has been an unmitigated disaster for blacks.

So how do we get rid of black anger? It would be nice if we could go back in time and prevent slavery and Jim Crow from happening, but we can't, so that's not an option. And no amount of money payouts (as "reparations") will heal the wound. Affirmative action might convince some middle-class blacks that America is on their side, but (as I previously argued) it probably perpetuates racism among working-class whites. What options does that leave us?

I actually have only one idea for mitigating black rage - let in African immigrants. Black people who choose America willingly, and who struggle hard to succeed here - as all immigrants do - can demonstrate to the descendants of slaves that America no longer hates black people. Case in point: Barack Obama. I don't know if immigration will be enough to entirely heal the black-nonblack divide, but it's something, and so far the Republicans are bringing nothing.

Rhetoric is important. Convincing black people that they can succeed, that America is on their side rather than against them, is the key to ending their rage. Who can give that message? People like Barack Obama. He's the first, but if we carry out a wise immigration policy he won't be the last.