Bacon's Rebellion

Democracy Thrives in Sunlight

So Much for Racial Reconciliation II

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by

James A. Bacon
in

There’s nothing like reopening old emotional wounds to promote racial reconciliation. I feel so warm and fuzzy I’m ready to start singing Kumbaya… Not.

The rhetoric emanating from Del. Don McEachin’s resolution to exact an “apology” from the General Assembly for slavery, Jim Crow and other assorted wrongs is escalating. Now, reacting to comments by Del. Frank Hargrove (see “So Much for Racial Reconciliation“), the Virginia National Association for the Advancement of Colored People is calling for Hargrove’s censure.

Writes the Associated Press:

In often emotional and seething comments Thursday, state NAACP director King Salim Khalfani and four black religious leaders said nothing short of an apology by the Republican Party and a formal rebuke of Hargrove would satisfy them.

“The handwriting of the past is still riding upon the slaves today because we’ve never gotten our therapy, we’ve never dealt with it honestly because this is Virginia, this is the 51st state – the state of denial,” Khalfani said.

After the news conference, the group confronted Hargrove in his office. “We think that’s very insensitive for you to say blacks should just get over it when you haven’t walked in our shoes,” Khalfani told Hargrove.

I wouldn’t expect much else from Khalfani, who wouldn’t have much of a job if African-Americans didn’t perceive themselves as perpetual victims. It’s in his self interest to keep Africans seething with a sense of injury and injustice, even if the perceived offenses are getting so subtle, nuanced or hard to define than many people fail to see them at all. If the Khalfanis of the world can’t find any real racism to combat, they’ll manufacture some.

But I do expect better of elected legislators like McEachin, who ought to be working on constructive measures — such as improving the educational system, fighting crime, reviving inner city neighborhoods or promoting minority entrepreneurship — that will have a tangible benefit for their constituents.

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3 responses to “So Much for Racial Reconciliation II”

  1. Anonymous Avatar
    Anonymous

    “. . . if African Americans didn’t perceive themselves as perpetual victims.”

    What?

    Do you know any African-Americans?

    There are few who look at life as victims. Most are proud survivors.

  2. Jim Bacon Avatar
    Jim Bacon

    Anonymous 12:52. With my African-Americans friends, the issues raised by Del. McEachin never come up. They’re professionals, they’re successful and they don’t walk around with a chip on their shoulder.

    I will concede this: My statement (the one that you quoted) was too all-encompassing. I should have said that African-American *politicians* cultivate a sense of victimhood. Fortunately, not all African-Americans buy into it.

    What’s frustrating about this whole conversation is that it becomes an exercise in blame mongering. Back in the days when I managed people in a business environment, one thing I consistently avoided doing was assigning blame. If something went wrong, I wanted to know why it went wrong and who was responsible so we could fix it. But I was never interested in assigning blame. It just isn’t productive. You figure out what needs to be done, and you do it.

    That’s what we need to be doing in Virginia. Instead of pointing fingers, we need to figure out what needs to be done. A lot of African-Americans have made it into the mainstream. A lot haven’t. What can we do for the ones who haven’t? How can we improve the education system? How can we maintain a social safety net without fostering dependence? How can we reduce crime, which afflicts African-Americans disproportionately? How can we reduce the number of out-of-wedlock births?

    Issuing empty apologies doesn’t educate one kid. It doesn’t heat one house in the winter. It doesn’t stop one break-in. It doesn’t prevent one illegitimate birth. It’s a distraction that gets everyone riled up and serves no useful purpose.

  3. Jeff E. Avatar
    Jeff E.

    Thanks for saying what many level-headed folks are already thinking but afraid to say for fear of being labeled racists as has happened with the eloquent Rep. Hargrove. The NAACP doesn’t have the right to demand anything from our legislature. Whether or not Mr. Hargrove apologizes is his choice, leave the rest of the state out of this. How many more times does the NAACP have to cry wolf before they become completely incosequential?

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