The American Civil Rights Movement: Personal Resonsibility

Figure 1.--Landmark Supreme Court and Feferal legislation fismantling institutional racism significantly improved lives for many black Americans. Others continued to languish in poverty and depressed communities. Here a Boys' Club in Florida during 1897 protest against drugs and teenage pregnancy -- both matters of personal resoonsibility. The Civil Rights community, however, has continve to focus on institutional racism and the charge of 'white privlige' has become a mainstay of prominent civil rights spokesmen. The movement as a whole has been reluctant to focus on personal responsibility or the policies adopted by lineral politicans in majpr American cities.

We note that there are many factors that correlate very heavily with economic success. The Civil Rights movement of the 1950s and 60s focused quite rightly on institutional racism. The Supreme Court decisions like Brown vs Topeka (1954) and Civil Rights Laws of 1964 and 65 fundamentally undercut the foundation of the segragationist system and institutional racism, although this took some time to work its way through the legal system and social values. The lives of blacks improved notably, but many blacks continued to live marginal lives. The Civil Rights movement has cotinued to focus on institutional racism, often using the term 'white privlige'. There has been a general reluctance among civil rights leaders to consider alternative causes of the failure of many blacks to take advantage of the opportunities made available by the historic success in ending institutional racism. Important alternative factors include: 1) pre-marital motherhood, 2) substance abuse, 3) criminality, and 4) educational failure. These factors show wide disparities based on race. In some cases the race disparitiees are minor. In other cxases they are very high. But in all four, the correlation with unemployment and economic failure is very high. These factors are inter related. Drug abuse fuels crimes. Unwed mothers face impediments to both education and unemployment. And children raised by unemployed teenagers without a father face a bleak future. These are all matters of personal behavior and responsibility which are difficult to connect to institutional racism or white privlige. It is notable that Asians coming to America with serious language barriers do very well, in part because they score very high in these personal responsibility indicators.

Pre-marital Motherhood

The percentage of children born outside of marriage has skyrocketed in recent years. There has been a six-fold increase since 1960. Notably this ws precisely when the Civil Rights Bills were passed (1964 and 65) and President Johnson launched the War on Poverty (1964). It is also when Federal and State Governments guided by liberal elected officials began to signifcantly increase transfer payments to low-income Americans. The rate among Blacks is astronomical (over 72 percent). This is not, however, juct a Black problem. The rate of increase is highest among whites and Hispanics. Some are uncomfortable discusing this issue because it puts the innus among often young women in difficult circumstances. Others do not like the idea of making a moral judgement. Here we are not sure a moral argument hould not be made, but our primary argument is simply outcomes. Raisinga child is not an easy undertaking. Teen agers are still children themselves and most do not have the life skills to do, especialky to do it along without a male paerner-especially important in rasising boys. There is also the economic outcome. When a teenager has a child, this makesit very difficult for her to complete her eduction and become a self-supporing adult. The outcome for many of the children imvolved is not bright. Large numbers of these children are being condemned to a life of poverty and depndency on Government programs. We keep hearing that poverty is the result of an unjust social system and institutional racism. But how is having babies before marriage not a simple act of irresponsible behavior and why has the incidence rrisen so dramativally after the initiation of liberal welfare programs?

Substance Abuse

Criminality

Race correlates with crimilal activity. The statistical data here is unrefutable. Cauality is less clear. Some argue that this reflects a weaker sence of personal responsibility. The civil rights community and liberals in general argue that the racial disparities reflect poverty and bias in the criminal justice system. And that blacks are more kilrly to be profiled, arrested, convicted, and sentenced to longer prison terms.

Educational Failure

The gap in academic achievement seems a likely reason for economic failure. The economic failure is a serious impediment to life success. It is not fully understood just why so many black youth are reporting academic failure. Certainly a cause hat has to be considered is the personal decesions some young minorities. It seems ifficult to coonect these decisions to white privlige. In addition much of the failure is reported in the inner cities. And these are municipalies almost entirely controlled by minority or liberal white politicans. Again black educational failure seems outside the control of suposedly racist Whites ans nstitutional racism.

Created: 6:05 PM 8/19/2017
Last updated: 6:05 PM 8/19/2017