Jim Crow Liberalism

by Patrick J. Buchanan

Posted 05/08/2009 ET

Updated 05/08/2009 ET

Having lost both houses of Congress and the White House in two straight elections, Republicans are going through an identity crisis, its leaders holding town hall meetings to "listen" to the people.

"What should we focus on? Should we drop the social issues? How do we get the young people back?"

Such angst and soul-searching is not the mark of the leader, but the mark of a man suffering from doubt and despair.

Why is the party in trouble? Simple. Dubya got a hold of the keys, got high on neocon hooch, and crashed and rolled the family SUV.

He launched an unnecessary war against a country that had not attacked us. With his utopian No Child Left Behind scheme and his Medicare drug plan, he did his passable imitation of LBJ, and blew a hole in the budget.

Touting globalism, he presided over the loss of one in every four U.S. manufacturing jobs and ran up $5 trillion in trade deficits. He refused to defend the Mexican border against an invasion, then pushed an amnesty for the invaders.

This was no Reaganite. This was the neocons' apprentice.

How does the party reconnect with Middle America? How does it win back the Reagan Democrats who went home disgusted?

Become again the party of Frank Ricci.

And who is Frank Ricci?

He is a fireman in New Haven, Conn., with 11 years in the department, who suffers from dyslexia, but nonetheless has pursued his dream of becoming a lieutenant and a captain.

Six months before the promotion test, Ricci quit his second job. He bought $1,000 worth of the textbooks he was told to study, had a friend read them onto tapes to compensate for his dyslexia, studied every spare hour he got, and sat for the test, to compete for one of eight lieutenant slots open.

Frank made it. Frank Ricci came in sixth.

It was after the results of the test were made known that the problems arose. For, of the officers who had made the cut, all were white, except for one Latino.

Concluding the test results would, if used by the department, have an "adverse impact" on the black community, New Haven tossed out the results and called for new exams to ensure a "fair" outcome.

Thus, because he is a white man whose people came from Italy, Frank Ricci is to be denied a promotion he worked for and won, and be robbed of his American dream by the liberal bigots who run New Haven.

Had Frank Ricci and half of the other top performers been black, all would be on their way to becoming lieutenants and captains.

What is being done to Frank Ricci is exactly what was done to black folks for decades. Great black ballplayers who might have become legends like DiMaggio and Lou Gehrig never got the chance because they were black. Black students were denied admission to prep schools, colleges and military academies because of their color.

Now, what was done to them is being done to white folks. And it is just as wrong as it was then.

In 21st century America, race discrimination endures.

All we have done is switch the color of the victims with the color of the beneficiaries. Today it is white males applying for jobs and promotions as cops, firemen, government workers, who are held back because their color does not comport with the desired "diversity."

What New Haven has done to Frank Ricci is like the U.S. Olympic Committee throwing out all the trial heat results in the 100- and 200-meter races because not a single white runner qualified.

New Haven contends the "disparate impact" of the test hurts the black community, proving discrimination. But does the relative absence of blacks in the National Hockey League prove discrimination?

If the Republican Party wants a future, it will become again the party that stands on the principle that "No discrimination means no discrimination," that stands with the victims of state bigotry, and that stands up to hypocrites like the Jim Crow liberals of New Haven.

Affirmative action began as a mandate to cast a wider net and ensure all had an equal shot. It has become a mighty engine of state injustice that seeks to remedy the consequences of past racial sins and crimes, by committing new ones.

In Michigan, Washington and California, none of them red states, majorities have voted to abolish affirmative action. Only Colorado failed in a dead heat last fall. A Republican drive to write into federal law an end to all race and gender preferences, as well as to all race and gender discrimination, is a cause whose time has come.

This is a winning issue for the GOP, for it is rooted in principle and comports with what is written on the human heart. Down deep, even liberals know that what is being done to Frank Ricci is not right.

`````

I've seen similar things happening for years. I remember when a person had to be a certain height to be a police officer. It happened that few women and Latino and Asian men generally did not meet that height requirement. Was that requirement designed to keep "certain segments of society" out of the police department? Possibly. At one time signs in windows said "Irish need not apply". The height requirement might have been a bit subtler, but not a bit less discriminatory.

There are always things that do need to be changed. The height requirement for police officers certainly seems to be one that was justified. And certainly, the color of one's skin shouldn't make a difference as to whether or not one can perform a job or not. I can't think of any job where color would make a difference.

The ability to pass a test isn't always an indicator of whether someone can do a job or not. I've had supervisors who were "book smart" and "people stupid." They had everything intellectually needed to supervise, but no one under them had any respect for them. My dad used to talk about a long-ago neighbor of ours who worked for a mining company in Pennsylvania. If I recall correctly, he had a fourth-grade education, but had the respect of every man under him, and everyone above him because he knew the mining business inside and out. He was like E F Hutton, when he spoke, everyone listened.

I also know of a business where everyone laughs when they announce the promotion results because they expect the tests to be graded on a curve so that "a golden child" will pass the test. Everyone knows who will be "curved in", and sure enough, when the test results were posted, that "golden child" was on the list. Maybe last or next to last, but never anywhere near the top of the list.

The ones who are "curved in" may be ideal for the job, but just lousy at taking tests. I've know people like this. Many times they were asked to sit in for a promotional exam, but didn't take it because they just didn't do well on tests. Sometimes management would get them to test and "curve" them in and it worked out for everyone. I suspect more often than not, they just never got beyond whatever job they were doing.

I just can't see where anyone benefits by not promoting the people who would be the best person for the job, regardless of height, color of skin, or how well they take tests (or not). Do people really want to get a job because of their skin color? What difference could that make to how well they can do the job? I understand the history behind Affirmative Action and all the other programs and laws that have been passed to be sure that everyone got the same opportunities as others.

I don't think I'm much different than other people. I'd rather get a job because I was suited for it, rather than because I'm a woman, I'm white, I'm middle-aged, or whatever. I readily admit I've applied for jobs and promotions because I knew someone who told me about it, but that only got me the application or interview. The only time I've gotten a job because of who I knew, I had to prove myself every day I worked there. Most people assumed I couldn't be fired because of my relationship with management, but trust me, that particular management would have fired me sooner than anyone else.

I'm just saying that when you try to correct one injustice, another injustice may be done. The Frank Ricci's of the world should get their shot because they worked hard, studied hard, and passed the required tests. All things being equal, should that promotion list be thrown out because there it wasn't diversified enough? Maybe if more people had studied as hard as Ricci did, more minorities would have been represented on that list.

It's not just the Republican Party that needs to learn the lessons of the past. We as Americans need to put the race card behind us, and learn to judge people by what they do and say, not by a racial indicator, sex or age.

I was born before the Civil Rights Era. I saw the marches, rallies, and the deaths caused by criminally stupid people. I've always known that no one race, sex, or age is better than another. It's been hard for many of us to really wrap our minds around what we learned as youngsters. I never heard anything in my household that indicated that blacks were inferior; quite the opposite. But there was always something somewhere that said there was a "difference". I honestly believe that I've gotten beyond even that now. I am now learning to get beyond political differences others may have.

No political party is really better than another either. I do not and will not believe that one particular party is out to destroy America or that members of a particular party hate America. That may be the perception of others, but it's not mine. I believe that everyone involved in politics got involved because they want to make America the best country in the world, and give everyone the same opportunities.

That's a fine sentiment, for everyone to have the same opportunities. In the Frank Ricci example, everyone should have the opportunity to be promoted. But, here is the difference as I see it: not everyone should avail themselves of that opportunity. Not everyone is capable of handling more responsibility. Just because someone can do the job doesn't mean they should do the job, and there are some who just can't do it but think they should be promoted because (insert reason here).

Do you remember the book The Peter Principle? It's premise is that everyone rises to the level of their incompetence. They are great at their jobs until they get to a certain level, then they begin to level off until their level of incompetence. I personally would prefer that people be in the jobs they excel at rather than in a job where they are mediocre, or maybe even dangerous.

I'm glad that the Republican Party is trying to reinvent itself. I just want to be sure that the people in any position, from the burger flipper to cop on the beat, the teacher, doctor, scientist, pilot, the President of the US, or any other job, is the best person in that position, and didn't get there because they knew someone, passed a test, had the right "color" skin, sexual preference, or ran a great campaign.

Can we get beyond looking for the differences and start seeing people as just that? People?