It argues that a focus on political power is misplaced, because historically (since the 60’s anyway), increases in political power for black people have correlated with decreases on various measures of quality of life. (Employment, income, etc.)
The article does not offer an alternative approach.
I don’t have the time or resources to do any serious research to follow up on its claims or to see to what extent it’s cherry-picked. But there are two aspects of the article that make me tend to take it less seriously:
The presence of Thomas Sowell as one of the main supporting figures for the author’s viewpoint. I’ve seen Sowell write up some godawful reasoning in the past.
Phrasing used by the author towards the end of which people are “in cahoots” with whom…
But these aren’t strong negative indicators, just the weak kind of indicator that makes one feel an article is probably not worth following up on given past experience.
But is it? Is there a there here? Are there people here on the dope knowledgeable about this who are in a better position than me to say what is worth following up on here?
Is there actually a negative correlation between clout and well-being since the 60’s for black people?
If so, what is the cause? If not, how is the article being misleading?
If there is such a correlation, and if it is causal, what should be done about it?
Who ever thought there was a causal link between political influence and economic development in the first place? Black people weren’t agitating for equal rights because they were poor.
In the article he names some people who have made that connection. The claim isn’t that it’s the only reason people want political power, just that it’s one thing some people have expected to result from political power. That in itself doesn’t seem implausible to me.
There’s correlation but not NECESSARILY causation.
When black Americans have become a large enough majority to take on most of the political power in a given metropolis, it’s usually because the white people moved out en masse. The black mayor and black city council that eventually gets elected may do a horrible job, making the quality of life worse… or they may do their level best to make the city run smoothly and fail, because the tax base and local businesses their white predecessors relied on are gone.
So in short, a right-wing board member of the Wall Street Journal – now descended into the gutter as just another Murdoch paper not fit to wrap fish in – writes an article for Forbes promoting both himself and his book that condemns liberalism for brainwashing blacks. What’s not to believe?
This. Seems pretty obvious. Being shocked that the mayor of Palo Alto ends up with better results than the mayor of Baltimore isn’t particularly exciting news, and has very little to do with either one’s race.
Well, to use a concrete example, Coleman Young became mayor of Detroit at a time when middle-class whites had fled Detroit.
Coleman Young was a horrible man and a corrupt mayor who helped drive Detroit deeper into the ground. But even an idealistic, highly competent white mayor would have faced huge, possibly insurmountable problems running Detroit. When a city is built around one major industry that’s in long-term decline, what is the MAYOR supposed to do about it?
Willie Brown and his political power has indeed impoverished him. Since he became really powerful, he is down to one girlfriend, a few dozen Brioni suits and fancy cars, and actually is forced to write a weekly column detailing the goings-on of his friends.
The last time I checked, Thomas Sowell was a fucking idiot who made his living writing columns for white people that trashed black people. Basically what Clarance Thomas does.
It’s just another right-wing attempt to try to say that blacks should reject so-called “liberal” policies and politicians (of ANY race) and embrace so-called “conservative” ones. They’ve been pushing it for years. Really hasn’t taken hold in the black community, though.
As I keep pointing out, Detroit didn’t go bankrupt until CONSERVATIVES took control of it. And I live right next door to Newark, what exactly is wrong with it?
Maybe there is a correlation if the people you are giving the power to don’t really have your well-being first and foremost in mind. Maybe they just want to maintain their power and keep you voting as a block.
