Author: haroldblackphd

Harold A Black

Knoxville Focus

knoxfocus.com

March 4, 2024

A couple years ago I wrote an article on why the progressive media insists that we capitalize the “b” in black when it refers to race. As was the case with the movement of DEI (diversity, equity and inclusion) and the teaching of Critical Race Theory in our schools, the change was motivated by white guilt associated with the death of George Floyd. The Associated Press changed the case justifying it by saying “AP’s style is now to capitalize Black in a racial, ethnic or cultural sense, conveying an essential and shared sense of history, identity and community among people who identify as Black, including those in the African diaspora and within Africa. The lowercase black is a color, not a person. AP style will continue to lowercase the term white in racial, ethnic and cultural senses.” 

What is interesting is that the so-called conservative media has meekly followed suit. Why? I haven’t a clue. The Wall Street Journal capitalizes “b” in its articles but still yields to the wishes of the writers on its opinion pages where some continue not to capitalize “b”. I sent the Journal a query as to why. What I got back was the same Associated Press nonsense. The Journal’s response in part was that “Black is an identifier that is about more than a skin color. The adjective white doesn’t define a cohesive ethno-cultural group in the way Black does, and therefore will remain lowercase in the Journal.” Excuse me? What is the ”cohesive ethno-cultural group” that the Journal talking about? Certainly there is nothing cohesive about blacks in America, Africa, or anywhere else in the world. In fact, American blacks are the perhaps the least cohesive ethno-cultural group in the world. We don’t look alike. We don’t think alike (much to the chagrin of the progressives). Our African ancestors came from hundreds of tribal groups with different cultures and different languages who were as radically different as the Navaho are from the Apaches. Southern blacks are culturally different from northern blacks. There are distinct differences in blacks in education, nuclear family, church attendance by regions in the United States. Outside America, there is nothing virtually common about blacks in the Caribbean, those in South America, Central America, various African countries and those in Europe and Asia save having an African ancestor. So please point out the “cohesive ethno-culturalness.”

Another example of conservatives caving into the progressive nonsense is that of a conservative organization which contracted with me and others to write articles on whether systemic racism exists in education and in housing. In my piece on housing, I did not capitalize black. However, the two white writers capitalized both “black” and “white”. The other black writer capitalized “black” but not “white”. When the papers were edited, the editor capitalized “black” and not “white.” I insisted that my style should remain the same, as did the others. The editor responded that the conservative think tank was adhering the University of Chicago style manual which had adopted the AP spelling. Needless to say, I am disappointed that those who claim to be on the right have succumbed to the dictates of the left. Next thing you know, they will be using their preferred pronouns and calling a trans “male” he and a trans “woman” she. Oh wait. They do that too.

Its whites who make these silly rules. Capitalizing blacks but not whites is an artifice. It is an attempt to elevate blacks above whites in a manner that does not alter any existing inequalities. It is an attempt by whites to feel good about themselves without changing anything material. Ask these progressives “How many blacks are in your country club, live in your neighborhood, go to your church, are in your fraternity or sorority, in your book club, in your poker game, in your life?” If progressives and the left really wanted to do something meaningful, they would address the lack of proficiency in reading and math amongst our school children by raising proficiency levels. They have done the opposite and dumbed down curricula and are deemphasizing math and reading. What is apparent is that the left has no interest in furthering the wellbeing of blacks. Changing our use of the language does not alter a thing. As George Orwell noted, certain word usage narrows the range of thought to the point that individuals in society are not as capable of a broader range of thought. It is time for conservatives to quit adopting the language of the left.

Harold A Black

March 3, 2024

I just returned from California where my niece Dr. Harriet Black Nembhard was installed as the new president of Harvey Mudd College – often referred to as one of the best, if not the best, undergraduate schools in America. Mudd focuses on the sciences, engineering, computer science and mathematics. However, it is a science based institution with a soul. Mudd’s mission statement is that it “seeks to educate engineers, scientists, and mathematicians well versed in all of these areas and in the humanities, social sciences, and the arts so that they may assume leadership in their fields with a clear understanding of the impact of their work on society.” Its students and faculty have serious smarts. The composite SAT scores are 1480-1560 with ACTs 34-36. It has a small student body of less than 1,000. It is expensive with annual cost of $80,000+, a 10 percent acceptance rate and is the college with the highest starting salaries of its graduates. Its literature says that “Harvey Mudd College (HMC) is one of the premier engineering, science and mathematics colleges in the United States. HMC educates engineers, scientists and mathematicians who become leaders in their fields and have a clear understanding of the impact their work has on society. For more than 50 years, HMC has led the way with interactive undergraduate research opportunities on par with graduate institutions. HMC has a strong focus on the humanities, social sciences, and the arts, exceptional faculty members who challenge students to achieve beyond their expectations and one of the nation’s highest rates of graduates who go on to earn PhDs in the sciences. HMC’s graduates are highly trained scientists, technologists, educators, entrepreneurs and other professionals.” Mudd is also dedicated to diversity and inclusion and does so without relaxing its rigorous standards.

My niece is the perfect president for Mudd. Engineers are generally pretty smart but her selection as president also speaks well for their judgment. Harriet is a brilliant and insightful scholar, internationally recognized for her pioneering work in heathcare engineering. She is also a prominent figure in STEM education. I am proud that she has dedicated her academic research to making a difference and has had impacts on medical research including Parkinson’s disease. She is actually coming home to Mudd which is part of the Claremont Colleges. Harriet has undergraduate degrees from Arizona State and from Claremont McKenna College. She has been in place since July 1 and has already made positive impressions among students, faculty and staff. All are highly praiseworthy of her leadership and of course her intellect.

When she told me that she was leaving her position as dean of the college of engineering at the University of Iowa to become Mudd’s sixth president, I was elated. Given her skills, her perspective, her view of academics and college education, I knew she was going into a perfect situation. Surrounded by very smart faculty and smart students who work hard and expect to be worked hard she has been called to lead through example. It is ideal. Harvey Mudd is fortunate to have her and she will lead them to even greater heights.

Random Thoughts

February 25, 2024

Some have said that the game plan for the Democrats is to have noncitizens voting. Well San Francisco has just appointed a non citizen (a Chinese) to its Board of Electors. That’s right. A person who cannot vote is going to be supervising those who can. The new board member gave her acceptance speech in Chinese. Only in California.

Major League baseball has new uniforms. The players hate them. Also the uniforms have proved to be revealing under certain conditions. I am certain that the Dodger fans were excited to see Shoei Othani. But perhaps they are seeing a little too much of him.

A school system in Georgia has fired a teacher who read a pro gender propaganda book to fifth graders that encouraged kids to go “beyond binary.” Certainly Georgia is not California where teachers are fired for not reading pro gender propaganda. Also certainly not in Biden’s woke federal government where the VA suspended a doctor who openly questioned the policy of allowing males to occupy the same private spaces as women veterans.

The judge who fined Trump $350 million was stupid. That figure is excessive and will likely be overturned. Only Trump haters would cheer such a figure. The judge would have been smarter had he found Trump guilty and fined him $1 million. Trump would have likely paid the fine since appealing it would probably cost him more than that in legal fees. The democrats would applaud the guilty verdict and the rest of us could put that episode behind us.

I have not burned one brain cell over the Trump indictments. However, did you notice that all the attorney generals, Fani Willis, Alvin Bragg and Letitia James are democrats and all are black?

I was asked why black men were increasingly favoring Trump. I guess someone must think that I am the spokesman for black men. I am not. Is there a spokesman for white men? I can give an opinion however. It is that blacks sympathize with Trump being the victim of uneven application of the law. Blacks have been on the receiving end of disproportionate arrest, punishment and imprisonment than whites for the same crimes. Now Trump is being indicted for the same or lesser offenses than Joe Biden. Its clear to all and especially revealing for black men who are constantly reminded that justice is not blind.

I don’t watch basketball. But while going through the channels I stumbled on a women’s basketball game. What was interesting was that all of the players on the floor for one team were white and there were only two black players, both sitting on the bench in warmups. In men’s basketball it is reversed with the players on the end of the bench in warmups all most always being white.

It is also interesting to read of all the brouhaha surrounding Iowa’s Caitlin Clark and her setting of an NCAA scoring record. Truth be told, the record is bogus. Clark broke the scoring totals of Kelsey Plum who played for the University of Washington. However, Plum’s “record” of 3,527 points exists because, for whatever reason, the NCAA does not recognize statistics from the AIAA (Association of Intercollegiate Athletes for Women) which was the governing body for women’s sports until 1982. Their record holder is Lynette Woodward who played for Kansas and scored 3,649 points. Many famous figures in the women’s game state that Woodward should be record holder and that Clark’s “record” should come with an asterisk. It is curious that the NCAA has not merged the AIAA’s statistics into its own. The NFL merged the statistics of the AFL when it merged. Major League baseball has merged the statistics of the Negro Leagues. Yet the NCAA is ignoring the accomplishments of women who played before 1981. Moreover, Lynette Woodward is not even the highest scoring women’s basketball player. That distinction is for Pearl Moore who played for Francis Marion college for 1975-1979 and scored 4,061 points. But Francis Marion is a Division II school and the official “record” is for Division I schools.

February is Black History Month. Some wag said it was because there were fewer days in February than any other month. If you are interested in reading about historical blacks that you never knew about, I encourage you to look at Bob Woodson’s 1776 Unites page.

February 25, 2024

This is my daughter’s birthday. So happy birthday. I love you and am proud that you are my daughter.

I voted February 19th in Tennessee’s March 5 primary. No I did not enter a time warp into the future. Rather I voted early. I arrived when the polls opened and there was already a line. We love early voting in my precinct. On election day, the lines are long and the wait is longer, so we vote early. For the life of me I don’t understand the Republican establishment’s opposition to early voting. Clearly, Republicans vote early because in my precinct most voters were Republicans. I can understand the angst that comes from mail in ballots which are ripe for fraud because it seems that only the Democrats have figured out how to cheat. But early voting at polling places is secure. Here in Knoxville we are asked for either a driver’s license or a voter registration card in order to vote. We do not have to show proof of citizenship. However, when one registers to vote, most states (I presume all states) make you swear that you are a citizen. The state is supposed to check to make certain that you swore the truth. Arizona has purged over 400 voters from its rolls when it determined that that noncitizens had registered. Not surprisingly most of the noncitizens had registered to vote when they got their driver’s licenses. 

Perhaps the Republican establishment figures that if voting only occurs on election day, that the Democrats are less likely to vote than Republicans. Economics would postulate that those people willing to stand in long lines for lengthy periods have lower opportunity costs than those who are less willing to stand in line. If opportunity costs are high, then voters are losing considerable earnings by standing in line. Since it is illegal to hire a surrogate to vote for you, the choice would be to either forego earnings and vote or not. Thus, those people with lower opportunity costs such as retirees, the unemployed or stay at home spouses would be the ones to dominate voting. If these voters were predominately Democrats, then the Republicans should embrace early voting. Rather they oppose it. Perhaps the opposition stems from the fact that over 50 percent of Democrats vote early versus 35 percent of Republicans. Also a higher percentage of women vote early versus the men. I hope this isn’t interpreted as sexist, but if women are likely to be the stay at home spouse, then their voting early is contrary to the predictions of economics in that they have lower opportunity costs. However, they do have the greater advantage of being able to vote at any time during the polling window. 

I voted for Ron DeSantis. Yes I know that he suspended his campaign. But DeSantis had proven to me that he would have made the best president. I liked most of the things that he did in Florida and wanted them repeated nationally. I did not like his interaction with Nikki Haley when they were the only two left but hopefully he learned his lessons and will be back for another run in four years. 

I did not like Nikki Haley. She seemed too fond of direct military intervention into foreign disputes. This must be a South Carolina thing because Lindsey Graham always wants to bomb somebody. I didn’t understand her position of having to register to be on the internet and its chilling effect on free speech. Her response on the cause of the Civil War where she omitted slavery seemed to harken on a fear of alienating the die hearts who champion the mournful “Lost Cause” position on southern slavery. Haley impressed me as being not sincere and an opportunist.  Her core values were not evident. I wish that she had run on her record in South Carolina. For a person of color to be elected and reelected governor there is an accomplishment that should be touted. The confederate flag was removed from the state capitol on her watch. She was the one who appointed Tim Scott to the senate. She supported voter ID laws and opposed the resettlement on Syrian refugees in the state. As governor she focused on small business development and cutting of taxes and burdens on small businesses. Surely these would have made for attractive platforms on a run for the presidency. But somehow she seemed to be more focused on other areas. Perhaps she thought her time as US ambassador to the United Nations was more important in a presidential race than being governor of a small southern state. But Jimmy Carter and Bill Clinton showed that not to be the case. Haley should have heeded their example.

More random thoughts

February 12, 2024

Happy Birthday Abraham Lincoln

Virtually every story I read on the Israeli-Hamas war contains the following statement “More than 28,000 Gazans have been killed, most of them women and children, according to Palestinian health authorities. The figures don’t distinguish between combatants and civilians.” No matter the source, the statement is the same. The Wall Street Journal especially guilty. This statement is from the supporters of Hamas and the world media is taking it as gospel. While I believe that there are deaths of noncombatants I am skeptical – as should anyone – of the figures coming from Hamas which are meant to elicit sympathy for the barbaric terrorist group. Early in the conflict I wrote that the western press would turn on Israel and Israel would be wise to ignore them. The same goes for our inept president and his equally inept secretary of state whose department is solidly pro-Hamas. Biden telling the Israelis how to conduct the war is akin to Kamala Harris giving advice on how to stop the flow of illegals at the southern border.

Speaking of illegals, have you noticed that there are none that are fat. I guess all that walking is a key to losing weight. One illegal said he wanted to come to America where there were fat poor people. I had never thought about that but he is probably right that America is one of the few countries in the world with fat poor people. I bet that the other countries are western and also have illegal immigrant problems.

I watched the Super Bowl with a group of friends and was pleased that the star for the 49ers was a University of Tennessee player, Juan Jennings and that a University of Georgia player Mecole Hardman played a prominent role for the Chiefs. I am not a pro football fan. I will look at a game when I have little else to do. I wore a Kansas City Chiefs cap to the watch party and was asked why. I said that Kansas City was in middle America and I preferred their politicians to those in California (home of the 49ers). I also liked that they had not succumbed to the pressures from the cancel culture crowd to change their name (Kansas City BBQs anyone?). Some of their fans even wear Indian regalia and war paint, including that young boy who got roasted by the woke media. Hopefully, they will continue doing what they are doing and resist the shrill voices from the left.

I don’t understand the Taylor Swift thing. Yes she is cute but I tried to watch one of her videos and couldn’t get through it.

Press coverage of Biden is pitiful. It is amazing how they are making excuses for his lack of mental acuity and blasting the special counsel and his report. Remember when they would jump on every little misstep by Trump and insinuate that he was in ill health or mentally incompetent? Yet they given Biden, the mother of all incompetence, a pass.

Don’t misunderstand. I do not like Donald Trump. His recent statement regarding encouraging Putin to invade a member of NATO that was delinquent on its payments was just plain stupid and dangerous. Remember when Biden said that it would be ok if Russia annexed a small part of Ukraine? And they did. I once said that if given a choice I would vote for Trump because I was sure he would not try to destroy the country, like Biden is trying to do. Now I am not so sure. If those two run it becomes a Hobson’s Choice. However, I am still convinced Biden won’t run and the nomination will be made at their convention. Trump’s 10 percent border tariff and reciprocal tariffs will spark a worldwide recession. Trump is a big spender and will not address entitlements. His foreign policy is a disaster waiting to happen. At least he will slow down the march toward the green cliff that we are currently on.

Just like the COVID death models, I am convinced that the climate models are wrong. There is considerable evidence that the media suppresses that shows that the climate models overstate the predicted change in the earth’s temperatures. Recall that the COVID models said that over 2 million Americans were going to die? At that time I expressed skepticism. I also noted that all of the measures recommended by the CDC and our local health department had no scientific foundation and they like the politicians were just making up stuff as they went along. Now Fauci has finally admitted that the 6 foot separation rule had no scientific basis. Neither did the masks.

The Europeans are starting to back off their green policies due to the costs to the people who are finally protesting. The Brits have throttled back as well. The Canadians are also getting restless given that their government is trying to mandate heat pumps which are woefully ineffective in bitter cold. I guess it is some comfort to know that we are not the only ones governed by fools. To quote Adam Smith, “Government comprises a large part of the organized injustice in any society, ancient or modern.”

My granddaughter has started her job at Major League Baseball. I told her to go into Rob Manfred’s office and tell him that on Jackie Robinson Day only the Dodgers should wear Robinson’s number 42. All other teams should wear the number of their first black player.

One of the couples at the Super Bowl watch party had a daughter who was at the Super Bowl with her family. Turns out that she works for the NFL. Now if my granddaughter can get me complimentary tickets to the World Series.

February 9, 2024

Chris Murphy a democrat senator from Connecticut calls Illegals “undocumented Americans.” Apparently, Murphy wants illegals to be able to vote (democratic of course). However, the illegals from South America are the antithesis of what the progressive wing of the democrat party wants in America. They are religious with strong nuclear families and a strong work ethic. My bet is that they end up Republicans.

One reader has convinced me that the democrats want the illegals to replace the citizens that are leaving their states so that they won’t lose Federal funds and congressional representation. Makes sense to me. But that places the local democrat mayors in conflict with their national leaders. The local mayors have to deal with the influx of illegals which strain their resources. But it is telling that these mayors want more funding to deal with the illegals rather than advocate policies to expel them. Remember when Trump argued that the census only count citizens and the dems went ballistic? Now we know why. Tennessee’s Sen. Bill Hagerty has introduced legislation that the census count only legal citizens for purposes of congressional representation. Of course there is no chance that the bill will pass the senate.

Joe Biden appeases Tehran. Why? How much money have the Iranians paid Hunter?

Trump appeased Putin and thinks he can use his personal charm to placate Putin, Xi. Kim Jong Un and other petty dictators. He’s wrong. The question is whether he will weaken the NATO alliance and whether he will support Ukraine. If he lets Putin grab territory don’t be surprised if Trump has a Neville Chamberlain moment. Also don’t be surprised if Iran doesn’t get emboldened by Trump’s penchant for isolationism and also expect China to invade Taiwan.

There is very little to like about Donald Trump but even less to like about Joe Biden.

I wonder how many Republican AGs will indict Biden when he leaves office.

The dems strategy was first to indict Trump to make him look like a sympathetic figure to his base to get him the republican nomination thinking that Trump was the only republican that Biden could beat. But since Biden has botched the job of being president so badly, the strategy now appears to just bankrupt Trump making him defend against all the indictments.

Just imagine how the media would have treated Biden were he a republican. Hunter would be in jail. Biden would have been impeached over the border and the illigal possession of classified documents. Sepaking of which, the documents prosecutor looking into Biden’s illegally hoarding of classified documents did not recommend criminal charges – unlike Trump being indicted for the same thing. Rather the prosecutor recommended no prosecution for Biden despite his being guilty on the grounds that a jury would likely be sympathetic to an old man with a bad memory! Mind you this elderly man with a bad memory is president of the United States. 

Random thoughts 

Why are there no fat illegal immigrants? Everyone at the border looks like a marathon runner. I guess its all the exercise from all that walking.

Someone told me that one of the illegals said that he wanted to come to America because it was the only place in the world with fat poor people.

The 24/7 “news” channels often interview their own on-camera personalities. They also spend time talking about what the personalities on their competitors say. Why Fox News thinks what is said on CNN and MSNBC is news is beyond me. Of course, the folks on those networks bash what the Fox News people say too. They probably have an agreement amongst themselves to fill empty space with the empty noises coming from the other side.

Who dictated that we must all now call illegal aliens “migrants”.

A Fox News article about some leftist whose personal pronouns are (they/them) actually referred to that single delusionary individual as “they”. Give me a break.

Why did we need a new border bill? What is wrong with just enforcing the laws on the books?

The Republican effort to impeach Mayorkas as a joke and doomed from the start. Even if the vote were successful in the House, the Senate would have failed to convict. The House Republicans knew this but went ahead anyway. Those criticizing the four Republican members who did not go along with the charade apparently want show over substance. Mayorkas is simply doing the bidding of his boss, Joe Biden. If the House wants to impeach anyone over the border it must be Biden.

The Wall Street Journal was for the border bill claiming that it had provisions that the Republicans wanted but could never get before. The Journal liked the expedited asylum proposal and the tightening of rules for claiming parole. It curiously also like the part that would temporarily close the border if more than 5,000 illegals showed up in a day. The National Review opposed the bill as did Donald Trump who as is his wont is criticizing the Republican on the bill James Langford of Oklahoma who has otherwise impeccable conservative credentials. Most likely, Langford got what he could get in the bill. Still the progressives and open border crowd on the left also opposed the bill. 

Biden started catch and release, stopped the wall and stopped the remain in Mexico policy. He opened the flood gates and the illegals have been pouring in. Some estimate as many as 5 million on his watch and continuing. If this isn’t an impeachable offence then nothing is. 

Biden like Obama before him practices appeasement with Iran somehow thinking that doing so will make them less belligerent. Not likely. Iran wants to erase Israel from the map. The United States remains the great satan. Iran with it dozens of proxies will continue to harass Israel and the US troops in the region and Biden is helping to finance it. Knowing that Israel is not going to be erased Iran is hoping to isolate it by intimidating all its neighbors, especially Egypt, Jordan and the Saudis.

Biden is now seeking to play both ends by giving military aid to Israel with no strings attached plus advocating a two state solution to placate his pro-Hamas left. Only neither the Palestinians nor the Israelis want a two state solution. Both the Palestinians and the Zionists want the other eradicated. The more moderate Israelis want peace, likely with the Palestinians still in Gaza but with a DMZ separating them from Israel. But in any event the Israelis will be fools to have Gaza again run by the militants. Their only choice will be to govern Gaza. But that would present a great opportunity to turn it into a thriving, prosperous area. Singapore anyone?

February 5, 2024

Walmart shrank the size of the salsa I buy from 24 ounces to 16 ounces. The price is the same. I was wondering if shrinkage which is inflationary to the consumer is reflected in the CPI? Consider that the salsa is not the only product I buy that has shrunk. I wish that they would keep the size the same and just increase the price. By keeping the same price but reducing the contents consumers’ real incomes fall. Again if the CPI doesn’t take this isto account then inflation is higher than what is reported.

What are we going to do about the Houthis? They are endangering shipping in the Red Sea with drone and missile attacks. They have also used speed boats to hijack ships. As a result, shipping in the Red Sea has fallen increasing the costs of goods and services. If ships from Asia to Europe are forced to go around the southern tip of Africa rather than through the Red Sea and Suez Canal, it is estimated that inflation will increase by 2 percent. The US and British response has been to use airstrikes to discourage the Houthis. But Saudi Arabia employed airstrikes for seven years in their war against the Houthis and finally gave it up as being largely ineffective. Some want to instead strike Iran, the Houthis mentor, directly to get the Iranians to stop supplying weapons and logistics. Lots of luck with that.

Iran is obviously supplying the Houthis with weapons. They just fired a cruise missile at an American ship. Guess who had to supply them with a cruise missile.

It is obviously to me as an outsider that Biden is afraid of Iran. From Day 1, he has tried to appease them. He wanted to remove the sanctions, restart the negotiations on the nuclear threat and gave them $6 billion for American hostages. What we got in return was a blowing up of the Middle East.

Is it just a coincidence that when Biden came in, the Russians invaded Ukraine, the southern border got overrun with illegals and the Middle East exploded?

Say what you will but the world seemed a bit safer when Trump was president. Was it because our adversaries were afraid of him and what his reaction would be if they attacked our interests?

But Trump is a demagogue – although he likely would spell it demigod. In his first campaign, his rhetoric against Mexicans reminded me of the racist campaigns in the southern democrat politics of my youth. I even remarked that I thought George Wallace was dead. When he became president, he was clearly anti-Muslim with his sweeping travel bans.

The Biden Administration just sanctioned four Israeli citizens for attacks on Palestinians in the West Bank. Its probably a coincidence that this occurred after all the pro-Hamas protests in Washington and elsewhere, the threats from the Muslim American community to sit out the election and the pressure from the pro-Hamas members of his administration. Biden is trying to have it both ways. The majority of Americans support Israel in its efforts to eradicate Hamas from Gaza despite all the negative publicity from the main stream media against Israel. Biden is not going to alienate these voters by not supporting Israel. But he can keep pushing for a cease fire and criticizing Netanyahu. That he has done.

I am almost feeling that this presidential election with be a Hobson’s choice. Again I am reminded of what a close friend of mine said “OMG don’t tell me that I will have to vote for Donald Trump again!”

Biden’s actions against liquid natural gas are a puzzlement. Yes I know it is contended that he did this to shore up his green base. That makes little sense because the greenies are not going to vote for Trump.

I still find it hard to believe that the Democrat establishment will allow Biden to run. Not with these poll numbers. I keep reading that some think that Michelle Obama should run. Why? At least Hillary Clinton was a US senator and Secretary of State. What are Obama’s credentials other than she is married to Barack?

But perish the thought: Gavin Newsom could beat Trump.

Knoxville Focus

knoxfocus.com

February 5, 2024

Harold A Black

When Roosevelt first ran for president most blacks were Republicans. This is not surprising given that the Democrats were opposed to abolishing slavery, resisted Reconstruction, instituted the Ku Klux Klan, the White Citizens Council and Jim Crow laws. Roosevelt serving as Woodrow Wilson’s undersecretary of the navy help resegregate the military. He received only 20 percent of the black vote in 1932 in his first presidential election. All that changed by the time he ran for reelection in 1936 when he got 71 percent of the black vote. What happened to cause the massive shift in black votes? Note that these were mostly northern blacks because southern blacks, in the main, were denied the right to vote. In the south, if blacks were not explicitly denied by law the vote, they were denied de facto. My mother said that in Jones County, GA blacks could always register to vote. Her father would take blacks in his wagon to register (as Republicans) at the country courthouse. However, on election day blacks were not allowed to cast their ballots inside the courthouse. Rather, there was a ballot box outside guarded over by a white deputy (there were no black deputies in those days). Mother said they put their ballots in the box but had no idea if the votes were ever counted. Moreover, there was a literacy requirement. When I first registered to vote at age 18 the white clerk took my application and had me read a section of the US Constitution and then asked me to interpret it! She scarcely paid attention to what I was saying and registered me (as a Republican). However, in the same year in Augusta, GA a professor at Paine College (the local HBCU) was denied registration because the white high school educated clerk did not like his interpretation of the passage from the Constitution. But by this time, even most southern blacks were registered Democrats despite being in the same party as virulent racists.

Roosevelt had converted blacks to Democrats by paying lip service to blacks and using his wife Eleanor as an ambassador. He established a “Negro Cabinet” composed of leading blacks of the day and a few of the blacks in his administration. Eleanor Roosevelt was close friends with Mary McLeod Bethune the founder and president of Bethune-Cookman University. Bethune actively campaigned for Roosevelt in 1936 and argued that many of Roosevelt’s New Deal programs would help blacks devastated by the Great Depression. So while Roosevelt was projecting an image of caring, the Republicans did little to counter. In reality, Roosevelt resisted efforts by the Negro Cabinet for significant change in the legal status of blacks and in integration lest he alienate his racist southern base. He never invited Jesse Owens and black Olympians to the White House after their triumph in the Berlin Olympics. He kept the military segregated. But most of all, the housing policies of the agencies in his administration actively caused black home ownership to fall.

The two Federal agencies chartered in the 1930s were instrumental in promoting racism in housing. The Home Owners’ Loan Corporation (HOLCC) was established in 1933 to refinance home mortgages that were in default. The HOLC made maps of neighborhoods and color coded them according to risk. The most risky neighborhoods were colored red leading to the term redlining. However, the HOLC made loans in these areas which were in many cases black neighborhoods. This was in contrast to the actions of the FHA which as a matter of course denied Federal insurance guarantees to black borrowers. In fact, the FHA targeted black borrowers as well as black neighborhoods when denying guarantees. While the HOLC concentrated on existing housing, the FHA focused on new housing. The denial of loan guarantees therefore affected the growth in new homeownership and had an adverse impact on new black homeownership.

When my father attempted to purchase his first home in 1938 in Madison, GA, the FHA denied him a loan guarantee. Although both my parents had college degrees and were well known in the community (Mother taught second grade and Dad was the principal at the all black elementary school), they were forced to rent rather than purchase their home. As a result, Dad detested Roosevelt and would never register as a Democrat.

February 1, 2024

1. The Biden Administration is lecturing the Israelis on how to conduct their war with Hamas. Surely, the Israelis are too smart to pay attention and will ignore their suggestions.
2. The theft and subsequent destruction of the Jackie Robinson statute in Wichita is destressing. The statue was bronze and cut off at the ankles. Its remains were found incinerated. Major League baseball has said it will replace the statue but over $140,000 in private donations have been made. I can make no sense of the act. I welcome any suggestions. Stating that this is a “hate” crime is too simplistic.
3. When Russian natural gas stopped flowing to Europe, Joe Biden pledged that the shortage would be made up with American liquid natural gas. The business boomed with billions of dollars invested in ships and terminals. Now Biden has betrayed our allies and investors by stopping all new LNG licenses in order to appease the climate doomsday crowd. Of course the Europeans were stupid to shutter their coal and nuclear plants in favor of “renewable” energy. But what should be a boon for American business has been stopped by another Biden folly.
4. French farmers are once again up in arms about their government’s actions. Remember the yellow vest movement that sprang up from rising fuel prices? The same is happening now. Again they are protesting high fuel prices but also the rising costs stemming from environmental “protection” regulations. But the French are not alone. There are farmer protests in Romania, the Netherlands, Denmark, Germany and Belgium. It’ll be interesting to see if the overzealous drive toward climate change will be derailed by the farmers.
5. I am not one to be jealous or envious. The one exception was the late great Wayman Tisdale. He was best known as an all-star basketball player. He won a gold medal at the Olympics and is in the basketball Hall of Fame. But also, he was a great jazz bassist with one album being number one on Billboard’s contemporary jazz chart. I really like his music and marveled at his talent on the basketball court and in jazz. He developed bone cancer, had his right leg amputated and because of his size was subjected to massive doses of radiation treatments. He lost his battle but had been always cheerful and optimistic. His attitude reminded me of my father’s. When Dad was told he had terminal stomach cancer that was inoperable, he responded “why not me?” rather than “why me?” He, like Tisdale, never indulged in self-pity or felt sorry for himself. He had lived a good life and was grateful for that.
6. I along with several others have written essays for the Liberty Fund on whether systemic racism exists (“Systemic racism in education and healthcare,” Liberty Matters, October 2022. https://oll.libertyfund.org/liberty-matters/systemic-racism-in-education-and-health-care). Those essays seriously question whether systemic racism continues to exist despite all those who contend that it does. One thing I have found in my research is that black bankers and white bankers make similar decisions on accepting applications from blacks. Both sets of bankers also price accepted applications from blacks similarly. Likewise, the research on the actions of car salesmen is similar for black and white salesmen. Detailed multivariate analysis on the use of force by police shows that blacks are not more harshly treated than whites – contrary to the popular narrative, Moreover, when blacks took over control of elected offices, the economic wellbeing of black citizens did not improve from when whites ran the cities. Lastly, disparities in educational proficiency widened when blacks took control of boards of education, school administrations and teachers. So the question is whether systemic racism is so embedded that it does not change when blacks are in power.
7. Lastly, systemic racism appears to always stem from a legal foundation. But it is not just the Jim Crow laws of the old south. Franklin Roosevelt’s Federal Housing Administration denied housing loan guarantees to black applicants (including my father) and was largely responsible for widening racial home ownership differentials. Several banking regulations seeking to protect consumers have resulted in less credit being available for minorities forcing them to borrow from higher interest rate lenders. Minimum wage legislation and restrictions on business licenses have also contributed to increased unemployment and more welfare dependency among blacks. As one writer put it “please don’t help us anymore.”