Slander -- the staple of liberal discourse
Imagine an election campaign in which the Democrats refrained from slander as their basic strategy. You can't do it, can you? Of course, it isn't just election campaigns. It is a fact of daily life. Let me share a couple of local examples.
In a sunday school class a couple of years ago at our Presbyterian church, we used a book edited by a local minister which focused on several dozen societal problems such as poverty, homelessness, crime, mental illness, education, hunger, etc. Each topic was covered in a short chapter written by someone involved in a local advocacy group.
In the chapter on discrimination, the author focused on the "inequity" (a word he used often) of our local schools. He listed five schools in the inner city which all received grades of "F" from the State Board of Education pursuant to new accountability standards. The grades are determined by performance on standardized tests. He then listed five schools from the western part of the county which is generally the most affluent section. They all had "A" grades. To him, the disparity in grades clearly proved racial discrimination in the school system.
When we discussed the chapter in class, I asked how the difference in grades proved discrimination. Several liberals immediately said that everyone knows that the schools in the rich part of the county get more money. I stopped them to make sure that their charge was accurately understood -- "you are saying that the school board spends more money on the schools out west and less money on the predominately minority schools in the city?" Of course, they answered.
Stop for a moment and consider what would also have to be true for this to be a fact. This was the 21st century. The elected black members on the school board would have to acquiesce (as would all the other members -- are they assuming that all white school board members are racist?). All the education professionals serving in administrative roles (black and white) and all the teachers in the affected schools would have to be silent. Note, members of the teachers unions are among the most loyal groups supporting the Democratic Party. The NAACP, Urban League and other assorted liberal advocacy groups would have to remain silent. The local newspaper, TV news and radio news organizations would have to stonewall the story. All the professors in the College of Education at the University of Tennessee (as well as the other professors at UT and pre-dominately black Knoxville College) would have to be silent. Are they all racist, too? Not to mention all the politicians in city and county government. What about all the activists in the local Democratic Party (assuming that these liberals automatically believe that the GOP is racist)? The list of people who are implicitly slandered by this charge just goes on and on and on.
I decided to contact the school board to ask if they had a breakdown on spending for the affected schools. There was, in fact, a general pattern of disparate spending in the schools. The inner city schools had the highest spending for instruction per student in the county. The schools in the affluent western portion of the county had the lowest. Inner city students received TWICE as much instructional money as those students in the schools in the most affluent areas.
This was about what I expected. The question is why the liberals in the class were so ready to slander so many people in the community, many of whom are fellow liberals.
What kind of skewed view of the world is required for people to assume so readily sinister behavior in people all around them? How removed from reality do you have to be?
In a sunday school class a couple of years ago at our Presbyterian church, we used a book edited by a local minister which focused on several dozen societal problems such as poverty, homelessness, crime, mental illness, education, hunger, etc. Each topic was covered in a short chapter written by someone involved in a local advocacy group.
In the chapter on discrimination, the author focused on the "inequity" (a word he used often) of our local schools. He listed five schools in the inner city which all received grades of "F" from the State Board of Education pursuant to new accountability standards. The grades are determined by performance on standardized tests. He then listed five schools from the western part of the county which is generally the most affluent section. They all had "A" grades. To him, the disparity in grades clearly proved racial discrimination in the school system.
When we discussed the chapter in class, I asked how the difference in grades proved discrimination. Several liberals immediately said that everyone knows that the schools in the rich part of the county get more money. I stopped them to make sure that their charge was accurately understood -- "you are saying that the school board spends more money on the schools out west and less money on the predominately minority schools in the city?" Of course, they answered.
Stop for a moment and consider what would also have to be true for this to be a fact. This was the 21st century. The elected black members on the school board would have to acquiesce (as would all the other members -- are they assuming that all white school board members are racist?). All the education professionals serving in administrative roles (black and white) and all the teachers in the affected schools would have to be silent. Note, members of the teachers unions are among the most loyal groups supporting the Democratic Party. The NAACP, Urban League and other assorted liberal advocacy groups would have to remain silent. The local newspaper, TV news and radio news organizations would have to stonewall the story. All the professors in the College of Education at the University of Tennessee (as well as the other professors at UT and pre-dominately black Knoxville College) would have to be silent. Are they all racist, too? Not to mention all the politicians in city and county government. What about all the activists in the local Democratic Party (assuming that these liberals automatically believe that the GOP is racist)? The list of people who are implicitly slandered by this charge just goes on and on and on.
I decided to contact the school board to ask if they had a breakdown on spending for the affected schools. There was, in fact, a general pattern of disparate spending in the schools. The inner city schools had the highest spending for instruction per student in the county. The schools in the affluent western portion of the county had the lowest. Inner city students received TWICE as much instructional money as those students in the schools in the most affluent areas.
This was about what I expected. The question is why the liberals in the class were so ready to slander so many people in the community, many of whom are fellow liberals.
What kind of skewed view of the world is required for people to assume so readily sinister behavior in people all around them? How removed from reality do you have to be?
posted by Stan at 11:39 AM
1 Comments:
Yes I did. They just shrugged. Next week was another topic -- time to move on.
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