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In this election cycle, there has been a notable swing of Latino voters to the Republican party. One reason has been abortion. Fifty five percent of Latinos are Catholic and the shift has signified the Latinos displeasure with the Democrats’ stand on abortion. Also a shift has occurred amongst Latinos along the southern border as a reaction against the open border policies of the 

Biden administration. Latinos have also left the Democratic party because the Democrats are largely pandering to blacks while ignoring Latinos. 

Black voters have largely remained loyal Democrats even though there has been some movement of black males to the Republicans. Polling has shown that black voters are primarily concerned with crime, inflation, healthcare, and education which should give imply a more sizable shift to the Republicans. The surge in crime has occurred mainly in Democrat run cities partly due to the low bail agenda of many Democrat district attorneys. Inflation was triggered by the profligate spending policies of the Biden administration along with its war on domestic energy. Since education is important to the black electorate, Republicans should emphasize charter schools as an alternative to the failed public school system where most black children are being held captive. That charter schools are important is illustrated by the first campaign for governor by Florida’s Ron DeSantis. He campaigned as a strong advocate for charter schools while his Democratic opponent (who was black) was against charter schools. The percentage of black voters who voted for DeSantis was decisive in a close election. I was amazed that every Republican candidate did not emphasis education in this campaign. Yet few did.

Inflation is an important issue to both blacks and Latinos who generally have lower incomes than do whites and are more adversely affected by price increases given that a higher percentage of incomes are spent on basic necessities. This too seems to me to be an important issue for emphasis. Placing the increase in prices squarely on the Democrats should persuade black voters to reconsider their allegiance. Certainly, inflation, crime and education impact minority populations greater than whites. Every campaign ad should stress these points ad nauseum.

It has been said that black voters have generally been ignored by the Republicans and taken for granted by the Democrats. It is ironic that Donald Trump, roundly cited as being racist by the Democrats and the mainstream media made inroads primarily with black male voters. Yet Joe Biden still garnered 90 percent of the black vote. Stevie Wonder’s Big Brother said it best “I live in the ghetto. You just come to visit me ‘round election time.”

If the concerns of black voters are obvious the question is why aren’t the Republicans addressing them? They may think it is no use, that black voters will vote Democrat regardless. This is despite that while Democrats make sympathetic clucking noises, most problems faced by blacks are a product of Democrat policies. The failing schools are in large part due to the teachers’ unions being more interested in wokeness than in education. Ninety-five percent of the union’s contributions go to the Democrats. The sharp increase in crime is tied to actions like no bail and defund the police. Inflation is squarely on the Democrats. While the Republicans have emphasized the economy in this election – and the economy is the number one issue for all groups – they have not drilled down to its adverse impact on minorities. 

In a sense both parties are ignoring blacks. The Democrats continue to take blacks for granted while the Republicans are assuming that just a small shift in those who consider the Democrats at fault will be enough to win elections. However, I think the reason is that blacks are on the verge of becoming politically irrelevant. Latinos are now the largest minority in this country and have become more important politically than blacks. Even though they are currently underrepresented in the Senate, House and governorships, that will change going forward. Also where Latinos are a significant number of voters, their politicians have little interest in aligning themselves with blacks. Just like areas where there are concentrations of Jewish voters and areas where there are large Muslim populations, blacks will remain important in some cities and states where they constitute a majority or significant minority. However, their overall importance is being diminished. In the future, even the Democrats may not only “come ‘round at election time”.

Harold A Black

I don’t understand the term “cultural appropriation”. Sure I know that the dictionary says “adoption of certain language, behavior, clothing, or tradition belonging to a minority culture or social group by a dominant culture or group in a way that is exploitative, disrespectful, or stereotypical.” That means that the left equates cultural appropriation with white supremacy since minorities by definition cannot culturally appropriate. So its ok for a black person to appear in a play in whiteface or wear the tribal dress of a native American at Halloween. But whites are criticized for wearing dreadlocks – even though it’s a stunning look on certain women. But blacks speak English, wear suits, ties and shoes without being accused of cultural appropriation. Given all the black men who shave their heads, I am surprised that the cultural police don’t condemn head shaving whites. What about all the blacks, men and women, who are sporting blond dreds? Are they appropriating white culture?

Joe Biden wants the Atlanta Braves to change their name and get rid of the tomahawk chop. Even I admit that the Braves were inappropriate early on with Chief Knock-A-Homa and his teepee in center field. I hated that caricature and the gap tooth Indian brave on the Cleveland Indians logo. But I don’t want the Braves to change their name even though I am more Native American than Elizabeth Warren.  I don’t know which of the 157 distinct tribes but its most likely Cherokee. What about music? Should white musicians be “allowed” to play jazz? Or blues? But, of course, its ok for blacks to play bluegrass or country like Charlie Pride or The Carolina Chocolate Drops.

As Halloween approached several universities cautioned their students about wearing costumes that “appropriated” culture. Students were warned against costumes that were “racist, crude, or culturally insensitive.” I guess this means that you should not go dressed as a Mexican wearing a sombrero and a serape. Heaven forbid if that costume hinted of illegal crossing! Don’t wear feathers and warpaint unless you are a Native American. No blackface, no dreadlocks, no transphobic (dress on a straight guy). I wonder if its ok to dress up like a nun or priest? And please don’t show up looking like you are homeless. Its absurd because some people are going to be offended no matter what. Take for example the white chemistry professor who is being “investigated” by her university for going to a Halloween party dressed as Michael Jackson and dancing to “Thriller.” What’s wrong with that? She probably wasn’t in blackface since Jackson whitened his skin. When I went to vote, there is a museum at the polling place and one of the workers showed up in a costume dressed like a witch. She had vivid green hair, a stovetop hat and a flowing black gown. I am sure she offended witches. But she looked wonderful. However, there are some costumes that even I would find offensive: Nazis, Klu Klux Klan, slaves, Aunt Jemima, Little Black Sambo, snaggle tooth Indians, minstrel shows.

What about entertainment? I can’t remember the last time I saw an old Tarzan movie. Still the funniest scene was when Tarzan was in New York and got out a cab and proclaimed the hotel valet was from some African tribe. My father loved Sanford and Son but not the old Amos and Andy shows. Could a revival of All in the Family even be considered? What about the Beverly Hillbillies or Gomer Pyle? Was the dominate culture being insensitive to southern rural white folk? But the left is selective in who it criticizes. I don’t recall seeing them condemn Hillary Clinton for mimicking a black accent or Joe Biden telling a black audience that electing a republican will “put y’all back in chains.” As a country we have allowed the small minority who get offended at the least imagined slight to dictate for the rest of us. We have lost our sense of humor. To get it back, we are just going to have to stop being so sensitive and just ignore those who always bemoan “hurtful” actions that make them feel “threatened.” 

November 2022

The democrats did a bang up job this election is pandering to the youth vote. The young had no skin in the game so the issues important to most adults were of no consequence to the youth. They don’t worry about inflation because their parents pay the bills. So energy and food prices don’t register with them. They are woefully ignorant of world events so Afghanistan didn’t matter. The have bought into the gender equity, climate change, trans, CRT stuff so those issues didn’t matter either. However, the two areas that the democrats brilliantly exploited that do matter to the youth are abortion and student loans. By railing about abortion, the young listened. It is no surprise that abortion clinics tend to be near college campuses and that the pro abortion rhetoric and the threat that republicans if in power would move to pass anti-abortion legislation resounded with the young. Also Biden’s bogus student debt forgiveness plan was brilliant. Republicans were against it – loudly so. It was no wonder than the young voted in greater numbers than any year since 2018 for the democrats and against the republicans. In tight races, their vote made a difference.

Did you see where Biden’s “non-binary” nuclear official – the deputy assistant secretary for spent fuel and waste disposition at the DOE’s Office of Nuclear Energy – was charged with stealing a $2,500 suitcase at an airport luggage carousel? He/she/it or is it they/them took the bag, removed the ID and claimed it as it’s (their) own. She/he/it/they/them has resigned. It is difficult to be tolerant toward “them” and pretending that “they” are normal folk. 

Crypto for me has always simply been a money laundering scheme. I am amazed that any rational being would be “invested” in it. I’m reminded of what P. T. Barnum said.

In the “there they go again” file is the World Health Organization renaming monkeypox, Mpox to counter some perceived stigma. The disease once mostly in parts of Africa spread around the world by gay male sex. Instead of Mpox what about Gpox instead?

Some people have wondered why so many billionaires are liberals and contribute to leftist causes. It would seem irrational, since many on the left act as if they despise the wealthy. I think the billionaires see a bigger picture and are trying to insinuate themselves into big government politicians. I call it American socialism where big business and big government align themselves to impose their might on the populace. Small businesses will be squeezed out (Donald Trump anyone?), competition diminished both economically and politically. It’s the government from Hell.

Don’t you get tired of people apologizing? You will never find me apologizing. If I said it I meant it. If some folk don’t like it – tough.

My Dad never thought their would be a black president or a black senator or a black governor in Georgia in his lifetime. He was right. My mother felt the same way and voted solely for that reason for Obama – the first time only. She also lived to see Raphael Warnock elected to the Senate. Only she did not vote for him. Both of my parents would be amazed that both candidates for Senator from Georgia are black. Obviously a case of systemic racism.

When the progressives sought to try to make the rest of us think that all minorities are just alike, they invented the term “people of color.” It didn’t matter that the term never made any sense, they foisted it on us anyway pretending that all minorities were oppressed and hence united in the cause. Yet minorities differ more than they are alike. The discrimination faced by Asian-Americans is different from blacks and Hispanics. Asians are being discriminated against in education but not in the classic sense. While blacks were once denied admission to schools on the lie that they were unqualified, Asians are being denied admission because they are too qualified. Entrance into elite secondary schools and universities is being limited because the schools would have – in their eyes – too many Asians and too few blacks and Hispanics. Thus, the schools want more people of color, so long as those colors are black and brown.

Instead of taking steps to address the root cause of the problem – improving the basic education of blacks and Hispanics – the bureaucrats have resorted to limiting the admission of Asians. Standards are changed, with test scores and standardized tests being deemphasized and replaced by subjective personal characteristics. When I was an active researcher in lending discrimination, I found that all of the lawsuits alleging discrimination in lending excluded Asians from their samples. If Asians were included, then the statistical evidence of discrimination would disappear. If Asian outcomes were compared to whites, then the statistics would often indicate that whites were being discriminated against. Thus, Asians are to be excluded from “people of color” because they have somehow triumphed over oppression.

Minorities are also different politically. While blacks remain mostly loyal Democrats, Asians are revitalizing the Republican Party in California. Lumping all Hispanics together is simply dumb. Hispanics are not a homogeneous group. Cuban-Americans are solidly Republican while Puerto Ricans are typically Democrats. Hispanic residents in border towns have reacted to the illegal immigrant invasion by voting for Republicans. Arizona, Texas and Florida all have solid numbers of Republican Hispanics while Democrats remain entrenched in California, New Mexico, New York and Illinois. Yet even in those states and nationwide, Republicans are showing strong gains in Hispanic communities. There is even some movement among blacks as economic conditions, crime and education are replacing social issues for black voters.

The recent brouhaha in Los Angeles vividly calls into question the supposed unity of “people of color”. The city is mostly Hispanic and solidly Democratic. There is an ugly rift not only between the whites and the Hispanics but also between the Hispanics and blacks. The racial spoils are being fought over. Since the Hispanics are in the majority among the city’s politicians, they have made themselves the favorite minority to the exclusion of blacks.

It used to be the case that the advocates of “people of color” envisioned a united front against “white supremacy.” Instead, one minority group is not pitted against another in a racial spoils battle. This should come as no surprise. Since the death of Martin Luther King, Jr., there have been few leaders in the minority communities that have preached about a harmonious coexistence between races working together to make all better off. Rather instead of trying to make the economic pie larger, the groups are acting as if it is a zero sum game where in order to make one group better off you must make the others worse off. 

The Biden Administration is a major culprit in the schism between the races with its obsession over diversity, equity and inclusion. Asians and Hispanics know that the Biden initiatives are aimed at blacks and at the very vocal LBGTQ advocates. Asians know that they are being excluded because they do not fit the poor and downtrodden mold. That Hispanics are being pandered to less than blacks is curious since they are the largest minority. No wonder they are demanding more of the spoils pie. The result is that “people of color” has been exposed as a leftwing pipe dream. It has never existed as a unified entity and now more than ever the term should be relegated to the scrap heap.

The Supreme Court is going to hear arguments in a case about racial preferences. Harvard University and the University of North Carolina – Chapel Hill (where I once was a faculty member) are accused of discriminating against Asian-American applicants. The students lost in a lower court but their appeal is going to be heard by the Supreme Court. That the students lost was a surprise and the reasoning of the lower court was a bit bizarre. Data had shown – with no argument from the defendants – that a black applicant in the lowest quartile had a statistically better chance of admission to Harvard than an Asian applicant in the highest quartile. Clearly the Asian applicant was subject to discrimination. The court agreed but yet still ruled in case of Harvard. The Supreme Court had ruled previously in 2003 in Grutter versus Bollinger that schools could use race on a limited and temporary basis as one consideration for admission. The same is true in a ruling in 2013 permitting the University of Texas to reject white applicants in favor of blacks. In the Harvard case, the university argued that Asians consistently scored lower on “personal quality” ratings – a subjective evaluation. It is amazing that the court considered this argument as persuasive. The court concluded that the plaintiffs could not prove that the evaluation results were due to racism. It seems to me that the burden of proof should have been on the university. It is akin to rejecting a black applicant due to the biases of the evaluator. No wonder the Supreme Court is hearing the case on appeal.

Harvard is quite experienced in this area. In the early 1900s, it discriminated against Jews as the percentage of Jewish students rose significantly from 7 percent in 1900 to 27% in 1925. Adopting similar criteria as today’s Harvard, Jewish enrollment fell by half by 1935. As we fast forward, colleges who wished to diversity the racial composition of their student body found that reliance on standardized test scores for admission disadvantaged black and Hispanic applicants. The same was true for GPAs as a criterion for admission to elite public high schools. Thus, school systems in Fairfax County, Virginia, San Francisco and New York changed their admissions criteria that resulted in a diminution of Asian enrollment and an increase in black and Hispanic students. Again the courts will have to decide the appropriateness of such policies.

It is not surprising that the education establishment has come down almost 100 percent behind the continuation of race based admissions. In the briefs filed in the court, not one university supported the position of the Asian students. These schools contend that without race based preferences they would be unable to obtain their desired racial mix. Indeed, most schools contend that being racially blind would reduce their populations of blacks and Hispanics by half. But could admission actually help or harm these students? Evidence suggests that the admission of lower qualified blacks and Hispanics is harmful to those admitted. These critics point to higher dropout rates and lower GPAs than these students would have achieved at a lesser university. I am of a different view. Many of my black students during my university years were first generation college students and just wanted a chance to succeed at a more rigorous institution. Many of them excelled while many did not. One of my doctoral students was admitted with the lowest GPA and test scores in his class. After struggling the first year, he excelled and received his Ph.D. prompting one professor to admit he was wrong to base admissions solely on test scores. My suggestion harks back to a different era. When I was in high school in the late 1950s, HBCUs offered an on campus one year pre-college program to smart black students with low test scores from the all black secondary schools in the segregated south. That pre-college program was intensive instruction in math, English and the basic sciences. At the successful completion of the program, the students were admitted to the freshman class. One of those students I know went on to earn a Ph.D. In physics from Cal Tech – the genius school. So why not have the elite universities devote a small portion of their considerable endowments to replicate the one year pre-college curriculum of the HBCUs? That way there would be no need for continuing ironic discrimination against Asian-Americans in order to achieve “diversity” at their expense.

The Wall Street Journal had an article about a nurse who was fired because she refused to take a test to reveal any implicit bias. Her reasons mainly involved her insisting she was not biased in the administration of her duties. Moreover the most common administered test of implicit bias is notoriously uneven, indicating bias one time and no bias another time for the same individual. While I am sympathetic to her view, I would love to take such a test because I would be curious to find any implicit biasness. 

I know what are my explicit biases. I do not like “progressives”. I do not like those who hate the Constitution and the foundations of our republic. I don’t like those who prefer mob rule. I don’t like socialists. I do not like communists. I do not like fascists. I don’t like racists. I don’t like white supremacists. I hate the rebel flag. I don’t like Black Lives Matter. I don’t like those who hate the first amendment. I don’t like those who want to annul the second amendment. I don’t like those who hate the Founding Fathers. I don’t like Critical Race Theory. I don’t like the Green New Deal. I do not like the Squad. I don’t like those who think minorities are victims. I don’t like the cancel culture. I don’t like the “woke” military. I don’t like “spokesmen”. I don’t like those who would perform transgender surgeries on children. I don’t like discretionary monetary policy. I don’t like the politicization of the FBI, the CIA, the IRS, the Department of “Justice.” I don’t like “settled science.” I don’t like the term “misinformation” or those who use it on conflicting evidence. I don’t like those who would silence opinions on campuses, in schools, in the press, in the media or anywhere in the universe. I don’t like open borders. I don’t like inflation. I don’t like teacher’s unions. I don’t like colleges of “education.” I don’t care for those who are not intellectually curious. I don’t like the dumbing down of education at all levels. I hate it that our kids can’t read or do math or write coherent sentences. I do not like the uptick in crime. I do not like low or no bail for repeat offenders. I do not like those who just are too nice to say no to those who are saying that every white person is racist. I don’t like those attempting to change our language (re: Latinx and womxn). I don’t care for vaccine mandates or mask mandates or lockdowns or those government officials who abuse their authority. I don’t like violent movie trailers. I don’t like snobs. I don’t like climate change zealots. I don’t like ESG or woke corporations. I don’t like whiners who always feel “threaten” or are “hurtful”. I don’t care for those who want to know my pronouns. 

So I admit my explicit biases. But that does not mean that I treat people differently in my professional capacity. When I was in a leadership role in the federal government, I consciously made it a point to treat everyone fairly. As a professor I endeavored to do the same – although students may not have agreed. It was the work that mattered and not who they voted for in the past election. I have strong beliefs and those are built on my upbring and my education in economics and finance. Anyone who loves the basics of those disciplines tends to be laissez-faire and pro-markets. Given that those principles are baked into the foundation of this country (read Alexander Hamilton), one also understands the power and freedom for all built into our founding documents. I occasionally get an email saying “How can you write what you do because you are black?” My answers is always “I write what I do because I am black.” I have always said “prove me wrong.” If you do, then I will adopt your opinion.

Those are some of my explicit biases. What are my implicit biases and if I have any, then so what?

Liz Chaney

Liz Chaney has completely lost it. She is sending $500,000 in attack ads to Arizona to try to defeat Kari Lake. She also is endorsing a democrat Elissa Slotkin in a Michigan congressional race. In both races, the republicans questioned the outcome of the presidential race. So I guess that is consistent with her obsessing about Trump and her participation in the sham January 6 witch hunt ( no offense to witches). What is Chaney doing? She will likely change to being an official democrat rather than a de facto one. Perhaps she will run again for the congress but this time from her native Virginia. Although she represented Wyoming in the congress, she was born in Madison, Wisconsin and grew up in northern Virginia while her father was a representative from Wyoming. I don’t believe that she has ever lived in Wyoming for any length of time.

Cultural Appropriation

I don’t understand the term “cultural appropriation”. Sure I know what the dictionary says “adoption of certain language, behavior, clothing, or tradition belonging to a minority culture or social group by a dominant culture or group in a way that is exploitative, disrespectful, or stereotypical.” That means a minority cannot culturally appropriate? So its ok for a black person to appear in a play in whiteface? Or wear the tribal dress of a native American at Halloween?

Whites are being criticized for wearing dreadlocks – even though it’s a stunning lock on certain women – but blacks can speak English, wear western suits, ties, shoes without being accused of cultural appropriation. Joe Biden wants the Atlanta Braves to change their name and get rid of the tomahawk chop. I guess the same would be true for Florida State which originated the chop. Even I admit that the Braves were inappropriate early on with the Chief Knock-A-Homa and his teepee in center field. I hated that caricature and the gap tooth Indian brave that resided there. I also hated the Cleveland Indians logo – which also featured a gap tooth Indian. But I don’t want the Braves to change their name even though I am 1 percent Native American (I don’t know which of the 157 distinct tribes but its most likely Cherokee. What about music? Should white musicians be “allowed” to play jazz? Or blues? But, of course, its ok for blacks to play bluegrass or country (The Carolina Chocolate Drops).

Joe Biden

I don’t recall a more disastrous first two years of a presidency than Joe Biden’s. His administration deliberately tanked the economy in the name of climate change. The anti-fossil fuel strategy transformed the country from energy independence to importing a million barrels of oil a day. Its attack on refineries has led to a critical shortage of diesel fuel which imperils the entire economy and may be enough to plunge the country into a depression – rather than a mere recession. Afghanistan, COVID mismanagement, energy prices, inflation, supply chain woes, baby formula, low labor force participation rates, immigration, fentanyl, IRS, DOJ, FBI, woke military, woke Fed – did I leave anything out? That this administration will be in power for two more years is truly scary. Republican takeover of the House and Senate will lessen some of this lunacy but not all. Biden, like Obama before him, will test the limits of executive actions (perhaps the president has too much power). Yet 40% of voters approve of his administration and would vote for him again. What am I missing? As goes the Chinese curse: we live in interesting times.

Harold A Black

That the Left overplays its hand seems to be universal. In this country, the majority of its citizens do not approve of the Biden Administration. Pushing gender identity and Critical Race Theory in all cabinet departments, including the military, the Afghanistan fiasco, the open southern border, vaccines mandates, turning the FBI into domestic terrorists, prosecuting those who vocally disagree with the administration, disastrous energy policy, failures in foreign policy, inflation, energy prices, the surge in crime, drug deaths, supply chain fiasco, baby formula shortage, the war on parents protesting federal dictates to their schools, the incredible preponderance of executive orders and the massive increase in spending mostly payoffs to their supporters have created an economic disaster that few of us thought could occur in such a short period of time. Most pundits predict that the voters will repudiate the Democrats in the midterm elections and vote in a Republican majority in both the House and the Senate. Personally, I don’t understand how anyone could vote for a Democrat who does not repudiate Biden’s policies. Yet their silence is deafening. The Democrats are trying to run on abortion and against Donald Trump. One of my friends says that the only good thing Biden has done was to defeat Donald Trump and would vote again for Biden if Trump runs. 

In Europe, right wing parties have arisen in response to the socialists in the EU and won elections in Poland, Sweden and Italy. I found it amusing the reactions to Italy from both the left and the right in this country. Those on the left called the party with the most votes – the Brothers of Italy – a fascist organization due to its past. Yet Democrats were this country’s most vocal racists. They opposed the freeing of the slaves and rioted when the Emancipation Proclamation was announced. Democrats were the Klu Klux Klan, the Dixiecrats and Jim Crow. Yet the Democrats dismiss as fascists the Brothers of Italy when they themselves are the political descendants of racists. Those on the right have talked about the massive victory in Italy and that American politicians should take heed and speak directly to the issues. Yet the Brothers of Italy only received 26% of the vote – not exactly a ringing vote of confidence. It is only when all the votes of their coalition are totaled do they reach 44%, still not a ringing vote of confidence. However, what is notable is that Italy’s soon to be prime minister, Giorgia Meloni does not mince words. She preaches God, family and country. For that, the mainstream media smears her and her party as far right fascists. 

Here in this country, few of the leaders of the Republican party are like Meloni. Their utterances are milquetoast. Sure there are some representatives and senators who do not mince words. Yet their legislative leaders have sat on their hands while the Biden Administration is undermining the foundations of the country and literally ripping the country apart. You would think that the Republican leadership would shut down the business of the government while the border remains wide open, while Biden is throwing billions at his green energy cronies and attempting to alter the social fabric of the country. But they are not. I think that there would be a more resounding victory if Kevin McCarthy and Mitch McConnell took their cue from Meloni and emphasized God, family and country. They have a template from Harriet Hageman who handed Liz Chaney an emphatic beatdown. Her “fed up” speech was one of the best I have ever heard (https://www.c-span.org/video/?c5026082/user-clip-harriet-hageman-fed-speech). I know McCarthy and McConnell are looking forward to becoming majority leaders but I wish for stronger leadership from the Republicans.

Harold A Black

Critical race theory (CRT) is being used in many public school systems as an excuse to deflect from their inability to teach our children how to read, how to spell and how to do math. We have a system – the Education Industrial Complex – in which only the teachers care about teaching the children and they are handicaped by having to rely on methods that are a proven failure. The textbook authors, publishers, colleges of education, teachers’ unions, accreditation boards and sadly our local school administrators and PTAs don’t care about teaching students. If they did, they would not accept the dismal reading and math proficiency scores in our schools. It is embarrassing. Instead of correcting the problem – and there are well established methods that can do so – many school systems have trotted out CRT as an excuse. CRT asserts that systemic racism in the public schools is the reason for the poor academic performance of black children. Even if that were true, then what excuse is given for the poor academic performance of white children? As a friend of mine who teaches physics in a major southern city has said “What do I tell my white students who are struggling?” 

That racism once existed in public education is undeniable. Black schools in the segregated south were woefully underfunded. In K-12 I never had a text that did not have some white school’s name in it. Local school boards were generally all white as were virtually all of the school system administrators. It could be inferred that any difference between black and white student achievement could be the result of systemic racism stemming from the inequality of facilities and equipment. However, the overt systemic racism of the past is gone. Is the racism of the past so deeply embedded in our schools that the differentials in achievement persist even though many urban school systems have significant numbers of black teachers and black administrators? 

The basic reason that most kids – regardless of race – struggle in school is highly correlated to economic status. Poor children often find themselves in classrooms where they do not speak the same language as the teachers and other students. In essence, they have to learn English as a foreign language while at the same time trying to master the schoolwork. It is a daunting task for most and many simply fail to catch up. In grades 1-3, students learn to read and thereafter, read to learn. Some years ago I approached the then Knoxville school superintendent with a proven program that catches up students who have reading deficiencies and asked to implement it in our worse performing schools. He rejected it because the accreditation board would not approve it because it contained too much reading! I kid you not. 

The Education Consumer Group (https://education-consumers.org) has produced charts showing that in certain schools, poor children perform as well or better than in schools where there are few disadvantaged students. These may be charter schools or schools that have rejected the standard teaching method employed in most public schools. 

The reading scores for American students are abysmal. Nationally less than 34% of fourth graders read at grade level. Less than half of Tennessee’s third graders read proficiently. In Boston, fewer than 25% of black children are proficient readers, yet I bet you they are proficient in CRT, gender identity and climate change. The poor reading results results cannot be explained by claiming systemic racism nor can they be corrected by teaching Critical Race Theory. I defy its proponents to show me one study that demonstrates that reading proficiency is improved in those schools where CRT is taught. That evidence does not exist. Systemic racism cannot explain racial disparities in student proficiency. Those disparities have more to do with economics than with race. Systemic racism is being used by our public school “educators” as an excuse to mask their failure to teach our children. 

Importantly, parents can take matters into their own hands and catch up their kids themselves. A proven method, Funnix, is available online. I know it works because I along with several retirees used it to teach second graders to read in an after school program at one of the lowest performing Knoxville schools. It is highly recommended (https://education-consumers.org/computer-based-instruction-produces-catch-growth/). Lastly, if any school system institutes instruction in CRT, I encourage all parents, regardless of the achievement level of their children, to organize to replace the entire school apparatus, except the teachers. Fire the entire school administration, vote out the PTAs and the Board of “Education”. They do not have the children’s interests at heart and need to be replaced.

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Harold A Black

George Will once referred to the Republicans as being the “dumb” party – although some have called it the “stupid” party. Either may be apropos when it seems like its leadership is trying to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory. Mitch McConnell is no friend of Donald Trump and Trump is no friend of Mitch McConnell – although Trump should be forever thankful that McConnell blocked Merrick Garland from sitting on the Supreme Court. McConnell said that the Republicans chances of taking back the House are greater than taking back the Senate. It is an obvious indictment of the Trump-endorsed MAGA candidates who won their primaries in Georgia, Arizona, Pennsylvania and Ohio. McConnell’s Leadership Fund has responded by cutting off campaign funding to Blake Masters in Arizona although the incumbent Democrat Mark Kelly is vulnerable. The question is why isn’t Trump with his considerable resources and his PAC stepping into the void and helping out Masters? Mind you, Kelly voted against hiring additional border patrol personnel while his state is being flooded with illegals. That alone makes him vulnerable. Yet while the Democrats are spending over $60 million to get him re-elected, Masters is struggling for funds. It will be interesting to see how much of an impact dollars will have on this race where the incumbent seems to be more aligned with the national party than with the interests of his local constituents. 

On the other hand, the Democrats don’t seem to have any problem with supporting fringe candidates in Pennsylvania and Wisconsin. Fetterman in Pennsylvania seems to have no positives. Aside from always wearing a hoodie and sporting a variety of tattoos he appears to have never had a job, instead relying on the largesse of his rich parents. He actually pulled a gun on a black jogger – sounds like what happened in Georgia. He favors letting one third of Pennsylvania’s inmates loose and low bail. You would think that in today’s climate, Fetterman would be toxic. Instead the Democrats have stood behind him unflinchingly. Lastly, he suffered a severe stroke and has trouble speaking. To hide that fact, he has refused to debate and has limited campaign appearances where his speech is obviously impaired. He is perhaps taking Biden’s cure from campaigning from his basement. Biden won so why can’t Fetterman? I am clueless as to why anyone would vote for him unless voters have an intense dislike for the Republican, Dr Oz. By the way, the three contenders in the Pennsylvania Republican primary all sought Trump’s blessing. If it had gone to David McCormick instead, the Republicans would easily beat Fetterman. Instead, the polls show him leading Dr. Oz.

In Wisconsin, the Democrat is Mandala Barnes, who like Fetterman is the state’s lieutenant governor. Barnes is a climate change zealot and anticapitalist. He asserts that the free enterprise system is leading the world down a path to destruction. Someone needs to point out to him that the world’s greatest polluters are China and Russia. Unlike Fetterman who wants to reduce Pennsylvania’s prison population by a third, Barnes wants to cut it in half. He has called for defunding the police. He wants to abolish Immigration and Customs enforcement, favors government funded health care, college tuition for illegals, eliminating the Senate filibuster and packing the Supreme Court. Somehow, the polls show him leading the incumbent Republican, Ron Johnson.

I wish McConnell would put aside his personal enmity for Trump and wholeheartedly support the Republican senate candidates. He may not like Masters or OZ. He may not like Herschel Walker in Georgia. But Georgia’s Warnock and Arizona’s Kelly have been a rubber stamp for Biden’s policies and Fetterman and Barnes are just plain frightening. If McConnell and the Republicans continue down this path, they are indeed the “stupid party.”