"If one begins with the inconvertible truth that systemic discrimination is the cause of all disparities, the exchange of ideas is unwelcome because the give-and-take that comes with such exchange can lead to an appreciation of complexity rather than simplistic sloganeering." - L&L
"The final, and perhaps most significant, problem with identity politics as currently practiced on the left is that it has stimulated the rise of identity politics on the right . . . . the right has adopted the language and framing of identity from the left: the idea that my particular group is being victimized" - Fukuyama via Veith
We might have every reason to expect, given the extraordinary attention directed to this issue, that race relations would be improving in America. But instead, they seem to be getting worse. Why are race relations not improving?
As recently as World War II, the American military was largely segregated. Most units were White with some reserved for Blacks. Black Americans fought heroically for their country, many laying down their lives in defense of the United States. It seems incredible today that those who served with valor could be denied equal treatment with others who fought for the same cause. This is so clearly wrong, that younger Americans may be surprised to learn that such inequality ever existed. It did then, but no longer. Thankfully, such policies are not allowed in today’s America. Genuine progress has occurred.
It’s no secret that not too many decades ago, Blacks were forced to sit at the back of the bus and denied entrance into many restaurants and other places of business, but no longer, because significant progress has been made.
"A civilization that hates itself and a culture that thinks its own customs, values, and traditions are evil and not worth continuing has committed suicide....What a culture or civilization does not pass down to the next generation is lost. It ceases to exist. That is how a society commits cultural suicide." - Veith
"To be sure, science, being a human enterprise, has never been completely free of bias and personal agendas. But the scientific method attempts to limit such subjectivity as much as possible. But to, in effect, require positive bias–though in the name of combatting negative bias–strikes at the foundation of the scientific enterprise." - Veith
"... whichever way the Court rules, no one’s humanity hangs in the balance. Memes like the one pictured at top, though couched in terms of concern for young people who are different from their peers, don’t really help if they instill in their subjects needless fear, unhappiness, and the belief that the world is out to get them." - The Bulwark
"The College Board has abandoned its plan to augment students’ SAT scores with an adversity score, a metric designed to control for privilege in the admissions process, after enduring months of criticism from educators and parents." - National Review
"[Mary] Eberstadt’s new book is Primal Screams: How the Sexual Revolution Created Identity Politics. It’s about our existential crisis, which strikes at the heart of the human person and the family, the most essential elements for civilizational life and health. And this isn’t just another conservative diagnosis of our bad morals. It’s a plea." - Kathryn Jean Lopez
