The War On Racism

Race is apparently a taboo subject in America. Don Imus says, "nappy headed hos," and everyone calls for him to be fired. Michael Richards spouted off the "N" word in an angry tirade because he was being harassed. Some kids hung a noose on a tree at school which caused someone to get beat up.

Every time something like this comes up, you can count on Al Sharpton and Jesse Jackson to be outraged. Of course, by outraged I mean overjoyed at another opportunity to exploit the very race they pretend to defend. People, both black and white, march in the streets as if this were the civil rights era, desperately wanting some battle to fight, envisioning themselves as heroes in an era where just anyone can say things to hurt people's feelings.

But why such outrage at Don Imus and Michael Richards? Where is the outrage about the apartheid in Lebanon? Where are the protests against foreign aid to Africa? Why isn't anyone upset about being robbed by the Federal Reserve?

The answer is simple...because the media never told them to be. No force in this country is more effective at spreading racism than the media. Odd, isn't it? The very PC-obsessed people we thought were on the front lines in the War on Racism are the very ones who perpetuate the "racial fault lines" they never stop talking about. Turn on the news right now. They are talking about race, I guarantee it.

And how exactly do they approach it? By endlessly questioning what race will vote for who, and why. They harp constantly that Hillary needs to do this to appeal to black voters, or Obama must do that if he is to appease the whites. They offer up statistic after statistic which attempts to dissect the preferences of each race, and why they are that way. With all their talk about race, how can we possibly stop thinking about it?

But the media is not the source of racism. Certainly, they are just preying upon pre-existing notions. Their race talk would have no bearing or legitimacy if there weren't another force perpetuating it. So what then really keeps all of this going? You already know what my answer is going to be, right?

Of course, it is the State. Without some artificial force to keep racism afloat, with every new generation we would witness far less concern about skin color. The free market, the antithesis of government, encourages the dissolution of skin color boundaries. Some black guy working at a restaurant serves some white customers (hey maybe these white folks aren't so bad!). A white man somewhere fixes a black mans car (well, maybe these people are okay after all!). I'm sure you can think of a million different ways in which the free market brings people together (that is the magic of voluntary association and private property). They don't care what color anyone is, they are just trying to make a living. People will give up racism long before they give up money. The State, however, loves racism. It is one of the key weapons in their arsenal. They love to find ways to divide us, whether it is brown vs. white, Muslim vs. Christian, left vs. right, etc. As long as we are looking at each other we aren't noticing the real source of the problems we face. But how exactly does the State create racism?

The biggest weapon in their race-arsenal is the War on Drugs. Now, you don't see people marching in the street about this giant scam, and yet one harmless comment from Imus and they are all over the place. Well, I guess I can't be too hard on them. They mean well, and I too was once blind (but now I see).

But let's get down to the brass tacks here. The biggest problem with the War on Drugs is that it allows gangs to exist. As I explained in a previous post, without drug prohibition, there cannot be gangs. Sound crazy? Go research it for yourself. How possibly could a gang afford to exist and continue fighting street wars without some kind of massive funding? Where is the incentive for people to even form a gang in the first place? Because drugs are illegal, they exist on the black market. This means that when you buy drugs, you are paying for the person's time, labor, drugs, and the risk that person takes in supplying you. Of those four things, the risk is by far the most costly. Without prohibition there would be no "risk factor", and so drug prices would experience a tremendous drop. Gang members, unable to charge artificially high prices, would be forced to disband and search for other means of feeding themselves. Sure, there would still be drugs and drug dealers, but the only successful ones would be those with respect for private property and voluntary association.

So, right away we can see how much racism is already being caused by the State. Every white person who has something against blacks always conjures up images in their mind of gang members rolling around and causing trouble. Black people associate their culture with this type of violence and sometimes conduct themselves in such a manner. Cities are often heavily segregated. The War on Drugs gives rise to the gangs which create so much stagnation and poverty in inner cities. How can these people prosper with the police and gangs endlessly battling amongst themselves? And let's not forget the ridiculous 100-to-1 sentencing disparity between crack (black man's drug, right?) and cocaine (white man's drug?). Maybe it's because so many politicians use coke that they wouldn't want to risk longer sentences. Oh wait, that's right, they are completely above the law.

It takes a lot of open-minded investigation and information for anyone to realize the true source of the problem, and this is exactly why the State is so successful at turning races against one another. The media doesn't help by feeding upon this State-created confusion and expounding it onto trivial issues, like the "outrage" of Don Imus or Michael Richards.

Beyond the War on Drugs, the State has other means of spreading racism. The genocide is one major example. What do you think when you hear, "terrorist?"...the state has trained us well. The arabs are our arch enemy because they hate the West and are working fervently to build up their "Islamo-fascist" governments so that they can engage us in world war. We must kill them before they have the opportunity!

Of course, if I viewed arabs as some kind of enemy I would love to see them try to build up their governments. That could do nothing but destroy their economy and weaken their defense. Speaking of defense, ever wonder why the might of the American war machine is being pushed back by a bunch of third world impoverished Iraqis? Guerrilla warfare has never lost, ever. Our clumsy centralized military structure (plus the fact that we are on the offensive in a foreign land) prevents us from "winning." Of course, there is no victory, and the neocons are already accomplishing their goal of mass extermination.

But back to the racism, we've all seen the GOP campaign commercials depicting arabs protesting in the streets with ominous music in the background and a serious voice saying, "Can you trust a democrat to handle the biggest problem of our day?" I think the democrats will kill arabs just fine, thank you. And hey, maybe they'll even be more efficient than the GOP!

Just the other day I was standing in line to schedule classes. A young arab couple walked in with a stroller carrying an adorable little arab baby. I couldn't help but wonder how many of these families we have torn apart and destroyed. What a tragedy.

But, thanks to the State, a recent poll I saw stated that 8 out of 10 arabs have a "negative" view of the US. I couldn't help but think, "What the hell is wrong with the other 2?" Maybe they know it is the war profiteers in and around our government, not our people, who are in favor of the tragedy in the Middle East.

So there you have it. The War on Drugs creates massive tensions between hispanics, whites, and blacks, and the War on Terror turns Americans against brown people, and vice versa. Then the media uses all of the confusion to further propagate racial ignorance. Are these the only causes of racism? Of course not, but they make up the backbone of it all. There are other State causes (such as the welfare of the War on Poverty which causes massive malinvestment and poverty), as well as non-state causes. There are historical considerations, among other things, but racism is carried through the generations by force, not by some distant memory.

So many people are always offering their "solutions" to the problem. Let's just stop using the "N" word altogether, both black and white people. Let's just pretend that it's not there. Let's encourage a politically correct dialogue at all times, so we can just ignore racism, and hope it goes away.

Personally, I find violation of property or outright murder much more offensive than simple words. Nothing will go away until we deal with the State-perpetuated confusion. The "N" word will always divide whites and blacks (among other races), and this cannot be solved by simply decreeing that everyone should "stop saying it." It may seem odd at first, but considering the negative force that government is, it should not surprise anyone that the War on Drugs promotes drugs, the War on Poverty creates poverty, and the War on Terror bolsters terrorist recruitment. If we get rid of all these State wars, and allow for competition in the media, then and only then will we be able to move forward. The "N" word would begin to lose power and eventually fade out, maybe coming under some new usage or meaning.

And maybe, just maybe, people like Don Imus can say whatever they want on the radio without worrying about hurting people's feelings, since, of course, people's feelings are the only cost in this insane fiasco called the War on Racism.