Back when I was poor and young, in those pre-electronic days when mail was the primary means for contacting one another at a distance (ok, the phone was primary, but mail was number two), I used to write to all sorts of fringe political groups. I would write a wheedling letter, trying to get free brochures. Sometimes I got nothing, sometimes some group such as Christian Technocrats, the Black Israelites or the Warlords of Satan would send me a huge packet of propaganda. It was a cheap hobby, and it amused me. And from time to time one of my artist friends would find my propaganda pile useful as source material.

Back in those days one of the groups with which I corresponded was the Church of the Creator, one of the many faces of the "Christian Identity" movement, itself a nice name for the non-Nazi version of the white power movement. The Church of the Creator, and kindred groups, were often full of interesting theories. One that struck me as particularly amusing was how the Jews created the Freemasons who controlled black activists (communists figured in there too, but I forget where). If a more bizarre combination of groups could be imagined, I am not up to the task. They also had many theories about the then emerging AIDS epidemic, some centering on blacks having intercourse with apes, but a few were of the now familiar "engineered disease" variety. They also saw a conspiracy behind every corner, and thought the government, answering to Jewish-Masonic controllers, was out to get the white Christians.

What amused me most though, were the corresponding black groups. They were, admittedly, fewer in number, but blacks were only 13% of the US population in the late 1980's, so you would expect about a 6 to 1 ratio*. What amused me was that the blacks were preaching almost exactly the same thing. Oh, sure they didn't blame blacks, and not that many hated freemasons, but they despised the Jews every bit as much as the Chritsian Identity folks. And if you replaced "white" with "black" and "Europe" with "Africa", most white power tracts could pass for black power tracts with no problems.

After reading each side write at great length about how genetically different whites and black were, and how they could never understand one another, it was refreshing to see how much they could come together, even if it was only an agreement on hatred and intolerance.

So, having read a lot of propaganda from the extreme ends of the racial divide, I have to say Reverend Wright's speeches come as nothing new.

What does surprise me is the reaction of the media.

Just imagine the opposite, and I don't mean about Obama. Let us leave him out of this for a moment, and just focus on the media's reaction to Wright.

Imagine a white church where the same things were preached. That the government created AIDS, that blacks were a threat to whites, that whites need to be separate from blacks, that the state is out to get the white man, that all ills can be laid at the doorstep of blacks.

I am sure you can see the media reaction. They would be publishing denunciations in a moment. And no excuse would deflect their ire. If anyone tried to say "This sort of thing goes on in white churches all the time, you just don't know how common it is", they would be up in arms, calling for all white churches to denounce such a foolish statement.

So, why is the media so readily promoting the justification that "all black churches are racist"?

I think it has to do with the attitude a lot of whites have towards blacks, especially liberal whites. Liberals tend to be filled with good intentions, but that also makes them a bit condescending.  As their world view requires that the government help out everyone, it makes them see others as not quite competent. Those who need help often end up being treated like children, and so liberal tend to treat them that way.

Look at the defenses they offer. "Blacks are filled with rage over centuries of oppression so they can't help but accept Wright's tirades."  In other words, blind hatred of all whites and acceptance of utterly mad conspiracy theories is explained because of past wrongs. That is not the defense of a competent adult, but of a child. "He is angry, so he is acting up." The way white liberals view blacks is often quite condescending, thinking that blacks cannot overcome a history of racism without government aid, and excusing any misbehavior as an "understandable outcome" of racism.

We would not accept such excuses from whites. And it is condescending and insulting to make them for blacks.

I think perhaps the time has come for real racial healing. But, unlike the solutions proposed on the left, I think a good first step is to hold everyone, regardless of race, sex, religion, or anything else, to the same basic standards. If we are going to denounce racism, then denounce it all. No support for black student unions if we refuse to accept a white student union, no excusing black race hatred if we denounce white race hatred, no "understanding" of criminal behavior on either side, no patience for those who excuse their personal failings either by racism or reverse racism or any other racial theory**, we need a single yardstick for judging behavior. No excuses made for anyone, just a bare minimum of behavior we expect others to uphold.

It is a small first step, but an important one. And, best of all, it is one we can all enact today, with no government action required. All we need to do is agree that we will individually treat everyone exactly the same.

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* Originally I said "5 to 1", as I was overestimating the hispanic, asian, and other populations falling outside of the black and white groups. But I later recalled that in the 1980's I believe whites constituted about 80% of the population. 13 goes into 80 about 6 times, so the ratio I now have is correct.


** I do not deny racism or reverse racism, nor do I deny that either one hurts some individuals. Then again, many just use it as an excuse. And, even if they are not simply looking to excuse themselves, the fact is that racism on an individual basis will probably always exist to some degree. As that is likely, we need to get over worrying about some residual individual racism and just move on. Dwelling on race does no good for anyone, whether white or black. (I do think government should be color blind, but that is another topic. And even if one suffers from government racism, that does not excuse him from getting on with his life. Yes, try to fix the state, but an injustice does mean you should spend the rest of your life dwelling upon it and doing nothing else.)