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America is Not Racist: A Statement from the Claremont Institute

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Like many, I have been searching for the right note to sound in response to what has transpired in the streets of our country over the past couple of weeks, not so much about the heinous crime that sparked the protests, which probably fully 95% of Americans agree was a despicable act of murder, but rather what to think about the rioting that followed and subsequent response.  I have made an attempt in my last post, “Civilization in the Balance”, but then I was struck by a statement from the Claremont Institute that came so close to the perfect notes that I decided to post it in full, as follows:

“The pretext for this entire nationwide riot is that America is a racist country. That is not true. America is not a racist country. America is a country that has strived, imperfectly but passionately, to live up to its founding promise that all men are created equal. There is not—and will never be—a greater barrier to racism, or to tyranny in any form, than this American idea.

The reckless charge that American law enforcement is “systemically racist” is also not true. As with any large organization of men wielding power, some will abuse that power. But police do not systematically target innocents—either by race or any other criteria. Any fair-minded review of the available data demonstrates that.

Why is it that so many of our citizens believe that America is racist to its core? Because this lie has been preached by our universities and media like the Gospel for a generation. From there it has traveled throughout society, particularly among the elite. Even most leaders on the Right are unwilling to refute this destructive untruth. In failing to do so, they promote the falsehood, the riots that it has engendered, and ultimately America’s destruction. This is to say, the riots are the handiwork of the elite. A country that has been taught it is ignoble will not defend itself against its enemies, domestic or foreign.

As we see written in flames in these riots and hear in all the commentary on them, the great divide in America is between those who believe that America is evil and needs to be destroyed, and those who believe that America is good and needs to be preserved. A version of that question is what the 2016 elections were about, and what the elections in 2020 will be about. The nation has a party devoted to transforming the American way of life; it needs a party devoted to preserving the American way of life.

America must have a full accounting of how the riots happened, who made them happen, and who let them happen. Those in power must be held to account. Most fundamentally, the lies that have been the core curriculum of American education must be replaced with the truth. The only way America can survive is as a united country dedicated to living out the true meaning of its creed. The elite want to rob us of that future. The rest of us should pledge our lives, fortunes, and sacred honor to stopping them.”

As always, I appreciate your comment.

 

 
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Comments

  1. Gregory Stachura says

    Jim,

    I had read the statment when it was distributed to Claremont readers. I fully agree.

  2. Vern Wuensche says

    I agree with you Jim. It is stated so perfectly, particularly the point about the systematic falsehoods taught to all Americans by the media and the elite. AND the point that we MUST ALL pushback!

  3. David Richards says

    Mark Levin had two conservative blacks on his program last night. One was Shelby Steele. Neither one believed that America is racist and both denied “systemic racism”. This is anarchy, pure and simple.

    • Jim Windham says

      I saw the program. Both are great and neither receives the wide circulation of their ideas that they deserve. The Woodson Center does good work with the right messaging, but it is swamped by the funding from the left. Write a check!

  4. Steve Tredennick says

    Shelby Steele for black commentary; Victor Davis Hanson for white commentary and probably many others of less media profile speak truth with wisdom to what is going on and how, as a nation, we have let it come to this. The soon-to-be not so silent majority will speak loudly in November!

  5. Kelly Rushing says

    Jason Riley, African-American conservative pundit had some interesting comments yesterday when asked if he thought we would have change from all that’s going on. He said, “I hope not”. To the extent that I can recall, he answer was based on what he called a false pretext. Of the thousands of African-Americans violently killed each year,a very small percentage have any connection to the police.

  6. Reg Brockwell says

    Another organization trying to correct this false liberal narrative is Urban Cure headed by Star Parker who also wrote Uncle Sam’s Plantation. I can recommend a check to them also.

  7. Dr Tom says

    America IS racist. Racism is not race-specific, and in the present instant it is blacks and their non-black allied cohorts who are racist.
    We must not repeat the folly of the Seattle School Board, which has long defined racism as something perpetrated only by whites.

    But we will.

    We have witnessed a step in the irreversible decline of America with the mob riots in more than 75 American cities including Des Moines and Davenport, Iowa (!) and associated looting, arson, tossing of Molotov cocktails (!), mostly by blacks. This is the deliberate anarchic trashing of the planet’s greatest-ever country. Because of one black cop? I think not. It is an organized rebellion, perhaps led by Antifa and BLM, and surely mediated via the so-called “social” media.

    Diversity is not a good. Diversity is a sham. I want to live among people like myself, and that is a pretty universal attitude. I want to worship with people who share my Christian faith, not with Satanists!

    The Progressive and degrading secularization of American society is triumphant. Look at the tattoos as an example of such degradation of cultural values: it is a regression into New Guinean primitiveness.

    For an objective view and data, read:
    https://www.city-journal.org/terrifying-collapse-of-the-rule-of-law?

    • Anonymous says

      Jim..as usual, your thoughts match most conservative thinkers.

      I believe the Republican and Democratic leaders should now prepare a 10 point (maybe even a 5 point) outline for their 2020 platform along with specificity on how they intend to implement the items and the effect it will have on our national budget.

      If done honestly (very difficult in politics) I believe more voters would agree with the Republicans platform.

      Thanks for your thought provoking articles, and the time it takes you to prepare them.

      Bruce Harper

  10. Danny Billingsley says

    I served in law enforcement for many years with white, black, Latino and Asian officers. While I have witnessed rare incidents of individual racism, I have never seen systemic racism towards citizens we were sworn to serve or within the ranks between individuals or by supervisors or command staff. In fact, great efforts were made to insure a diverse workforce and instill the ideals of fairness toward all we served. To be sure fairness did not mean softness, coddling or tolerance of criminals or actions we have recently witnessed in cities across out nation. Fairness does not mean friendliness either. If an officer is being friendly while dealing with folks, they’re very likely missing important signs. You don’t have to be friendly to be fair.

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The Publisher of The Texas Pilgrim is James M. Windham, who founded the publication in April 2000 as a vehicle for commentary on current events, public policy, and culture. Believing that … Read More >>

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