Comments on: GEORGE ZIMMERMAN SPEAKS

By: Truthiz

Truthiz — Tue, 10 Apr 2012 14:36:26 +0000

My apologies DJ, if it seems like I'm *thread-jacking* your post. I just find this related story quite fascinating and I want to share. But I promise THIS is the last entry!In another response to Derby's piece, the Atlantic has posted…Max Fisher: "The Talk: What Parents Tell Their Children About John Derbyshire" A satirical re-writing of the National Review columnist's unfortunate article advising white parents on what to tell their kids about race. Read: http://www.theatlantic.com/national/archive/2012/…

By: Truthiz

Truthiz — Tue, 10 Apr 2012 13:47:09 +0000

A reader at The American Conservative (TAC) blog comments on Derby's article: [...] My quick reaction to Derb is that only someone not raised in the US would be so oblivious to context, tone, nuance, empathy. It’s not as if white and black Americans haven’t been engaged in efforts untangle the race thing for a couple of centuries, at least. No one ever perceived it would be easy– wiping out the stain of America’s original sin, and integrating into the national polity descendants of an enslaved population. And yet, America has done pretty decently–no, pretty well. And, yes, probably some sense of racial good manners helps matters along, and such manners may mean not jumping at every opportunity to trumpet the disparate group results of (so-called) intelligence tests. (I’m sure Paul Wolfowitz had higher SAT scores than, say, Colin Powell–but the latter would be an infinitely wiser steward of American foreign policy.) But Derb writes as if he’s setting down brave truths that Americans are too timid to voice. Maybe there are good reasons to not air every bit of racist public safety advice one might tell one’s kids (and Noah has correctly pointed out that Derb’s are quite exaggerated by the standards of prudent New Yorkers) What might they be? Well perhaps good citizenship, which means trying to ensure fairly harmonious relations between races. Good citizenship doesn’t mean caving in on issues of law and order, schools standards, or anything else. But it may mean simply recognizing black Americans as one’s fellow citizens– and writing accordingly. And really– of all the groups which deserve criticism in this country–is it really courageous to vent against the poorest and least powerful? Can’t a writer’s nerve be better deployed? And for the record, (and as he knows) I’ve long admired Derb’s writing, and hope he has a long future of publication ahead of him– here and elsewhere. [...]

By: Truthiz

Truthiz — Tue, 10 Apr 2012 13:15:58 +0000

And in another related story…..It appears I missed a real barn-burner of a piece authored by the NOW former writer at NRO, Mr. John Derbyshire. Derby's piece was featured on Taki Magazine's online site, last Thurs. (April 5th) which INSTANTLY set off a MAJOR firestorm in both, the *Left* and *Right* blogospheres. Fearing "guilt by association," NRO promptly FIRED Derby on Sat. April 7th. Below is the link for any reader who might be interested. A word of caution: It's um…quite a piece. John Derbyshire: "The Talk: Nonblack Version"http://takimag.com/article/the_talk_nonblack_vers…A spent a great deal of time yesterday reading some of the most intelligent, thoughtful and well-written responses (from the Left and Right) to Derby's piece. My pick for the best: Noah Millman: "A Quick Word On The Derb" Excerpt:Which brings us to the supposed point of the column. That point, I take it, is to argue that just as African-American parents have to brief their sons on how to keep themselves from ending up like Trayvon Martin, white parents have to brief their sons on how to keep themselves safe from personal violence at the hands of African-Americans. But there’s a profound lack of parallelism between the two conversations. “The Talk” is about how you are perceived by others, and how to comport yourself so as to counteract that perception. Derbyshire’s talk is about how you should perceive others. There’s no analogy. They have nothing to do with each other. […]Read: http://www.theamericanconservative.com/millman/20…