Saturday, February 20, 2010

Racism and the Zernike Kerfuffle

Instapundit has links to Roger Simon ("So what’s the deal with this clinging to racism – or racial accusations – on the part of some liberals? Well, I think it reflects a significant and growing insecurity that they are no longer the cool guys.") and Dan Riehl:
I’d bet money that were Zernike to hear similar rhetoric with the same dialect from a friend or colleague, she wouldn’t give it a second thought, let alone mis-characterize it as racist. One way or another, that is what they do to all of us on the Right. And whether they do it intentionally, or not, doesn’t matter. We can’t allow them to keep getting away with it.
And what if citizens left, right, and center realize that racial reconciliation will not come from a benighted leader, but that a step toward a more perfect union can be taken by we the people?

Years ago we were segregated by law. Today we are segregated by our choices—where to live, where to go to school, where to worship, who to spend our free time with. But, there is one thing which unites us: we are the American race. We need to crowdsource racial reconciliation because we all have contributions to make. The first contribution is to self identify to pollsters and the census as "American".

Over many years, probably decades, the data collected will show which communities have trended from racial animosity towards a united American identity and which haven't. At that point we will learn what drives racial reconciliation and what stymies it. What we take away from this racial introspection will drive policy, lifestyle, religious, and charitable decisions and take us, yes, imperfectly, toward that more perfect union.

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