Economist and author Thomas Sowell told "Life Liberty & Levin" in an interview airing Sunday evening that the left's claim that America is beset by "systemic racism" has no definitive meaning and cannot be "tested" in any empirical manner.
"You hear this phrase, 'systemic racism' [or] 'systemic oppression'," host Mark Levin told Sowell. "You hear it on our college campuses. You hear it from very wealthy and fabulously famous sports stars. What does that mean? And whatever it means, is it true?"
"It really has no meaning that can be specified and tested in the way that one tests hypotheses," answered Sowell, who added that the currency of the phrase reminds him of the "propaganda tactics" of Nazi Germany, where Sowell claimed that if a lie was "repeated long enough and loud enough" it would be widely believed.
I hear the phrase used a lot, but never defined in any way more precise than BIPOCs are poorer, more likely to end up in the criminal justice system, less likely to go to college. But what makes it systemic?
De jure segregation of schools was systemic and only applied to blacks: it has been gone for at least two generations. Failure to investigate or prosecute lynchings was systemic: gone for at least a generation. BIPOCs not accepted to colleges? Gone ever since Affirmative Action admissions of less qualified BIPOCs was ruled lawful in the Bakke decision in 1978.
Individuals who are racist persist, but there is nothing systemic about that.
De jure segregation of schools was systemic and only applied to blacks: it has been gone for at least two generations.
ReplyDeleteWhy do you assume desegregating schools is a good policy? Why do you assume specifically that it helps black students? My impression is that you often start with a moral principle, for example that blacks and whites should be treated exactly the same and as functionally interchangeable, and then you derive a practical conclusion like "segregation harms blacks" and assume it's true without evidence.
Here's some contrary evidence:
"This might be an article people who follow me may be interested in even if it is well understood by everyone. Baton Rouge desegregation led to lower graduation rates among black students, resulted in a white enrollment collapse, and tracked SED student increases." - @Irkutyanin1
"The nominal budget went from $40 to $250 million dollars to implement a smith transition to a school population the remained unchanged in quantity. 40% of students classified as Trainable Mentally Retarded, and most new funds went to special ed. 50% students get suspended." - @Irkutyanin1
Pretty sure that Clarence Thomas has said at least a couple of times that beliefs like yours are just an expression of liberal piety, and not grounded in experience.