While I appreciate the point that you are trying to make, I’m sorry to see that you think this article is an exercise in cruelty. The fact of the matter is that while we should look for ways to help those affected by segregation, we also need to look out for ourselves — all of us, as human beings, are entitled to that. One of the major points of this article, which I think should be clear, is that while the negative sentiment against whites is troubling, it is part of the larger problem of society increasingly discriminating against whites in the name of equity. There is absolutely no doubt that the lingering effects of segregation are very much present, but like many others I disagree that there is a systemic/institutional racism against non-whites. Disparities in criminal sentencing, for instance, are a matter of bias that possibly exists in individuals, not in any system of racism like segregation or apartheid— that sort of system was outlawed by the Civil Rights Act of 1964.

I fully understand that the conditions widely faced by the black community are, in large part, what prompt the heated rhetoric by many individuals within it. When I talk about wrong ways versus right ways to address our disparities, I’m not talking about the manner in which people protest against said disparities. Rather, I’m talking about the actual ways that we can attempt to resolve said disparities. I mentioned promoting diversity in the workplace and abolishing qualified immunity. As I said in other comments, I also believe that an argument for reparations can be made for those individuals and immediate descendants affected by segregation. Those reparations would, of course, need to be given on the basis of whether or not they were truly affected by it, and not on the basis of race — otherwise someone who moved to this country from Ghana last year might end up receiving them as well. A New York Times article details this problem regarding affirmative action, and how it’s inspired division between blacks descended from slaves and those whose families immigrated here voluntarily. We also need to be cautious about the exact kind of reparations that would be offered, in light of the well-known fact that financial initiatives have held people back from improving their circumstances. I don’t blame the problem on poor blacks being lazy. I blame it on mismanagement by our government.