What I Can Teach You About Racism
Renowned political science professor Carol Swain started out life with every possible disadvantage. She ended up teaching at two of the most prestigious universities in the country. How did she do it? She shares her story and her wisdom in this inspiring video.
How many children did Professor Swain have by the time she was 20?
1234In what one, crucial way was Professor Swain blessed?
she was gifted with exceptional intelligenceshe was born in Americasystemic racism was real when she was bornshe was lucky to be dirt poor when she was youngTalk about systemic racism is pushing untold numbers of young blacks into a dead end of self-pity and despair.
TrueFalseWhat negative message about America is crippling a generation of young people?
White privilege.Police have it out for blacks.That the United States was created to protect and promote slavery.all of the aboveWhich success principle enabled Professor Swain to escape a life of poverty?
work hardlearn from your mistakestake personal responsibility for your actionsall of the above
- The myth of “systemic racism” within law enforcement only ends up making minority communities less safe.
Former NYC Police Commissioner William Bratton on the myth of systemic racism among police: “The damage that is being created among American police forces in terms of their morale, the damage to the potential building of relationships among the public and the neighborhoods that need us most by that broad-brush implication that American policing is fundamentally racially biased is wrong.”
View sourceRelated reading: “The “Ferguson Effect”: Restricting Law Enforcement’s Ability to Protect Americans” – Hans von Spakovsky and Brad Schlozman
View sourceRelated video: “Are the Police Racist?” – Heather Mac Donald
View source- Focusing on “privilege” encourages a destructive victim mentality.
“Victimhood culture” encourages people to attempt to deal with perceived wrongs by appealing to third parties for help and validation and calling for recognition of a new, protected status for the victim.
View sourceHistorian Victor Davis Hanson writes that in current American culture, “The heroism of facing challenges has been replaced by the victimization of enduring microaggressions.”
View sourceColumbia professor John H. McWhorter argues that a sense of victimhood, particularly among the African-American community, is leading to self-sabotage.
View sourceRelated reading: “What's Race Got to Do with It?” – Larry Elder
View source
Let me tell you how my story ends: I become a tenured, award-winning professor of political science at an Ivy League university, and then at one of the leading universities in the South.
Now let me tell you how my story begins: I grow up in rural Virginia, literally dirt poor. I drop out of school in the eighth grade and have three children by the time I'm 20.
I consider myself to be a reasonably modest person, but even I have to admit that's quite a journey.
How did I do it? I worked hard. Not crazy, 24/7 hard—just hard. I made good decisions. Not brilliant, three-dimensional-chess decisions—just good ones. I met people along the way who helped me and sincerely wanted to see me succeed—not because they had something to gain, but because they were decent people. Almost all of these individuals, by the way, were white.
But mostly, I think I was blessed in one crucial way: I was born in America, a true land of opportunity for anyone of any color or background. In this country, where you start your life does not determine where you end up.
That works in both directions, by the way. You can start out with every advantage and waste them all. Or you can start out with nothing and become a success. It all depends on you. Your attitude is far more important than your race, gender, or social class in determining what you will accomplish in life.
When I hear young blacks—or anyone, for that matter—talk about systemic racism, I don't know whether to laugh or cry. I want to laugh because it's such nonsense. I want to cry because I know it's pushing untold numbers of young blacks into a dead end of self-pity and despair. Instead of seizing the amazing opportunities America offers them, they seize an excuse to explain why they're not succeeding.
I was born into a world where systemic racism was real—no-fooling, outright-bigotry, back-of-the-bus real. But here's what you need to know: Yes, that racism shaped the black experience—but even then, it did not define it. Change was in the air. Call it systemic reform.
The modern Civil Rights Movement was in its infancy, and the leaders who fought for equal rights for blacks were men and women of all races. They believed in America and were determined to see it live up to its highest ideals—ideals manifest in the Declaration of Independence and the US Constitution.
Did I know, growing up, that George Washington and Thomas Jefferson owned slaves? I don't think I ever thought about it. If I did, I'd like to think that I would have had enough common sense to know that we can't judge men who lived 250 years ago by the moral standards of our own day.
But I know that Jefferson wrote the words in the Declaration of Independence that made slavery ultimately impossible: that all men are created equal. And I know that Washington, Hamilton, Franklin, Adams and the rest of the Founders risked everything to make my world, my America, possible. How could I not be grateful for that and for the sacrifices so many others have made to preserve it?
The truth is I cannot remember a time when I did not love America and feel pride in the belief that I live in the greatest country in the world. I knew if I diligently pursued my ambitions, I could leave the poverty of my early years, with all its abuse and depression, behind me.
I was fortunate in another way. I was spared the life-sapping, negative messages about America that are crippling a generation of young people. These ideas are poison:
White privilege.
Whiteness as a form of property.
Unconscious racism.
Reparations.
Microaggressions.
Police have it out for blacks.
That the United States was created to protect and promote slavery.
These are the ideas young people are told they must accept. And then they're told to reject the ideas that can save them—the antidote: the success principles that enabled me and millions of other Americans to escape lives of poverty.
These principles aren't complicated: work hard, learn from your mistakes, take personal responsibility for your actions. When I made the decisions to get my high school equivalency, attend a community college, and then earn four additional college and university degrees, I believed that my education would open doors. And it did.
It was only when exposed to academic theories of oppression in graduate school that I was informed that because I was black, poor, and female, I could never do what I had already accomplished.
Thank God, it was too late for these toxic messages to stop me. Don't let them stop you.
I'm Carol Swain, host of Be the People Podcast and retired professor of political science and law at Vanderbilt University, for Prager University.
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