John Derbyshire's advice to 'nonblack' parents

[Puppycow]

Is the following article by National Review columnist John Derbyshire racist?

Several of his colleagues think it is, and are distancing themselves from it.

The Talk: Nonblack Version

There is much talk about “the talk.”

“Sean O’Reilly was 16 when his mother gave him the talk that most black parents give their teenage sons,” Denisa R. Superville of the Hackensack (NJ) Record tells us. Meanwhile, down in Atlanta: “Her sons were 12 and 8 when Marlyn Tillman realized it was time for her to have the talk,” Gracie Bonds Staples writes in the Fort Worth Star-Telegram.
. . .
There is a talk that nonblack Americans have with their kids, too. My own kids, now 19 and 16, have had it in bits and pieces as subtopics have arisen. If I were to assemble it into a single talk, it would look something like the following.
. . .

He goes on to talk a lot about statistics and gives links to a lot of articles and studies about race and crime rates. Finally he arrives at this practical advice based on all of this statistical analysis:

(10a) Avoid concentrations of blacks not all known to you personally.

(10b) Stay out of heavily black neighborhoods.

(10c) If planning a trip to a beach or amusement park at some date, find out whether it is likely to be swamped with blacks on that date (neglect of that one got me the closest I have ever gotten to death by gunshot).

(10d) Do not attend events likely to draw a lot of blacks.

(10e) If you are at some public event at which the number of blacks suddenly swells, leave as quickly as possible.

(10f) Do not settle in a district or municipality run by black politicians.

(10g) Before voting for a black politician, scrutinize his/her character much more carefully than you would a white.

(10h) Do not act the Good Samaritan to blacks in apparent distress, e.g., on the highway.

(10i) If accosted by a strange black in the street, smile and say something polite but keep moving.

 

[Miss_Kitt]

Yeah, I'd say this guy has "issues" about race. I cannot comprehend why, for instance, a candidate's skin color or ethnicity has any bearing as to how carefully one should scrutinize his/her character! You need to scrutinize ANY public official's character, their stated positions on relevent issues, and their track record--if available--on how they actually acted versus what they said about issues in the past.

I had no idea I was taking my life in my hands by going to Boston! I mean, there I was at Copley, wandering the mall and eating food in a white-minority situation...whoa, scary stuff according to this guy.

I would say, though, several of the following:

**Don't go join a group of people that you don't know in a place you don't know for a social event whose purpose you don't know. In other words, if you know someone very casually, don't assume it's a good idea to go spend the weekend with their friends and friends-of-friends. Save that for people you know well. Otherwise you may discover that the norms of the group differ substantially from your own, which is at best uncomfortable and can actually put you at risk.

**Don't linger in a group of people that you regard as dangerous, stupid, criminal or inherently inferior. They will pick up on your disdain and some may decide to take you down a peg. (I'm not entirely surprised the author nearly got shot at some beach where he found himself (gasp!) amidst a lot of blacks. Not that I'm condoning that as a means of dealing with self-righteous bigots; but I understand how it might rub people wrong.)

**Don't go to social events where alcohol is likely to be served with a group of attendees who are habitually armed. Whether these are redneck gun-toters, gang-bangers, or nervous 'self defense carry' middle-aged suburbanites, booze and guns is a bad combination. (In fact, I'd suggest you not only avoid such events; I'd advise you make better friends.)

**Don't go to areas where most locals consider it advisable to be armed. Having a misunderstanding with someone who is concerned enough for their safety to be packing is a high-risk event.


None of the foregoing is limited to any racial or even economic group. It's just good sense. A lot of human interaction is accomplished by nonverbals, and if you are 'out of your element' you are a target for anyone who is looking for a 'mark' for some purpose. Whether that is aggressive panhandling, mugging, or tell you how Jesus made their life whole while you attempt to wash your hands in the restroom (I am NOT making that up)--if you look uncomfortable or out-of-place, you will be noticed and likely not in a positive way.

I suppose I should be glad to know that this kind of carp is still published, but I still think I need to wash my hands after reading that.

Just my thoughts, MK

 

[theprestige]

Given that John Derbyshire's wife of several decades is Chinese, I suspect that this is probably satire along the lines of A Modest Proposal... On the other hand, statistics don't lie--or do they? Maybe the problem is that we're tracking crimes by race in the first place?

 

[Clayton Moore]

Yeah, I'd say this guy has "issues" about race. I cannot comprehend why, for instance, a candidate's skin color or ethnicity has any bearing as to how carefully one should scrutinize his/her character! You need to scrutinize ANY public official's character, their stated positions on relevent issues, and their track record--if available--on how they actually acted versus what they said about issues in the past.

I had no idea I was taking my life in my hands by going to Boston! I mean, there I was at Copley, wandering the mall and eating food in a white-minority situation...whoa, scary stuff according to this guy.

I would say, though, several of the following:

**Don't go join a group of people that you don't know in a place you don't know for a social event whose purpose you don't know. In other words, if you know someone very casually, don't assume it's a good idea to go spend the weekend with their friends and friends-of-friends. Save that for people you know well. Otherwise you may discover that the norms of the group differ substantially from your own, which is at best uncomfortable and can actually put you at risk.

**Don't linger in a group of people that you regard as dangerous, stupid, criminal or inherently inferior. They will pick up on your disdain and some may decide to take you down a peg. (I'm not entirely surprised the author nearly got shot at some beach where he found himself (gasp!) amidst a lot of blacks. Not that I'm condoning that as a means of dealing with self-righteous bigots; but I understand how it might rub people wrong.)

**Don't go to social events where alcohol is likely to be served with a group of attendees who are habitually armed. Whether these are redneck gun-toters, gang-bangers, or nervous 'self defense carry' middle-aged suburbanites, booze and guns is a bad combination. (In fact, I'd suggest you not only avoid such events; I'd advise you make better friends.)

**Don't go to areas where most locals consider it advisable to be armed. Having a misunderstanding with someone who is concerned enough for their safety to be packing is a high-risk event.


None of the foregoing is limited to any racial or even economic group. It's just good sense. A lot of human interaction is accomplished by nonverbals, and if you are 'out of your element' you are a target for anyone who is looking for a 'mark' for some purpose. Whether that is aggressive panhandling, mugging, or tell you how Jesus made their life whole while you attempt to wash your hands in the restroom (I am NOT making that up)--if you look uncomfortable or out-of-place, you will be noticed and likely not in a positive way.

I suppose I should be glad to know that this kind of carp is still published, but I still think I need to wash my hands after reading that.

Just my thoughts, MK

He goes on to talk a lot about statistics and gives links to a lot of articles and studies about race and crime rates. Finally he arrives at this practical advice based on all of this statistical analysis:
Quote:
(10a) Avoid concentrations of blacks not all known to you personally.

(10b) Stay out of heavily black neighborhoods.

(10c) If planning a trip to a beach or amusement park at some date, find out whether it is likely to be swamped with blacks on that date (neglect of that one got me the closest I have ever gotten to death by gunshot).

(10d) Do not attend events likely to draw a lot of blacks.

(10e) If you are at some public event at which the number of blacks suddenly swells, leave as quickly as possible.

(10f) Do not settle in a district or municipality run by black politicians.

(10g) Before voting for a black politician, scrutinize his/her character much more carefully than you would a white.

(10h) Do not act the Good Samaritan to blacks in apparent distress, e.g., on the highway.

(10i) If accosted by a strange black in the street, smile and say something polite but keep moving.

I'm sure black parents give pretty much the same talk as the highlighted.

It's really boring how people like yourself make it seem that blacks are just tickled pink with whites.

A social experiment is in order.

Select a black and white muscle bound guy.

Send the black guy into a bar in a white neighborhood with a gorgeous white woman hanging all over him for three hours.

Send the white guy into a bar in a black neighborhood with a gorgeous black woman hanging all over him for 3 hours.

Send the black guy into a bar in a white neighborhood with a gorgeous black woman hanging all over him for 3 hours.

Send the white guy into a bar in a black neighborhood with a gorgeous white woman hanging all over him for 3 hours.

 

[Lamuella]

I'm sure black parents give pretty much the same talk as the highlighted.

I'm fairly sure that black parents don't tell their kids "If you are at some public event at which the number of white people suddenly swells, leave as quickly as possible."

or indeed any of the rest of this horrible and bigoted advice.

 

[Clayton Moore]

I'm fairly sure that black parents don't tell their kids "If you are at some public event at which the number of white people suddenly swells, leave as quickly as possible."

or indeed any of the rest of this horrible and bigoted advice.

You mean this?
(10e) If you are at some public event at which the number of blacks suddenly swells, leave as quickly as possible.

I'm sure black parents fear the above for their children.

Maybe you should watch reruns of Good Times.

 

[leftysergeant]

Send the black guy into a bar in a white neighborhood with a gorgeous black woman hanging all over him for 3 hours.

The only time I got any crap from anybody else for hanging with a beautiful black chick in Fayetteville, NC was when two rednecks tried to shoot us.

Send the white guy into a bar in a black neighborhood with a gorgeous white woman hanging all over him for 3 hours.

The night after MLK was assassinated, I was in a nightclub in Seattle with one other white male friend and three white females. The tables were placed close enough together that conversation between groups was rather easy. All the interaction between us had to do with music.

Did you have some point?

 

[Clayton Moore]

The only time I got any crap from anybody else for hanging with a beautiful black chick in Fayetteville, NC was when two rednecks tried to shoot us.



The night after MLK was assassinated, I was in a nightclub in Seattle with one other white male friend and three white females. The tables were placed close enough together that conversation between groups was rather easy. All the interaction between us had to do with music.

Did you have some point?

You don't really expect anybody to believe you and another couple went into a black bar the night after MLK was assassinated? Do you?

 

[leftysergeant]

I never considered Derbyshire to be all that bright to begin with. This slop is entirely consistant with what the dirtbag has written before.

He's a waste of bandwidth.

 

[leftysergeant]

You don't really expect anybody to believe you and another couple went into a black bar the night after MLK was assassinated? Do you?

Maybe, in the goblin-infested, hideously hostile alternate reality in which you live, it seems far-fetched.

Out here where the sky turns blue as the sun rises, not that strange.

Maybe you and that twit Derbyshire just can't keep your fear pheromones under control.

 

[MarkCorrigan]

I believe him, actually.

 

[leftysergeant]

Maybe people thought I was an Arab. I had just returned from a year and a half in Libya and looked a lot darker than the typical white guy in Seattle, and I had taken to wearing a Berber vest that I picked up in Tripoli.

A lot of it could also have been that I generally try not to look too out of place anywhere I go. Even in the slightly hazardous atmosphere that followed the 6-Day War, I never felt myself in any danger wandering about by myself in Tripoli. I guess the locals thought I was Italian.

 

[Clayton Moore]

Maybe people thought I was an Arab. I had just returned from a year and a half in Libya and looked a lot darker than the typical white guy in Seattle, and I had taken to wearing a Berber vest that I picked up in Tripoli.

A lot of it could also have been that I generally try not to look too out of place anywhere I go. Even in the slightly hazardous atmosphere that followed the 6-Day War, I never felt myself in any danger wandering about by myself in Tripoli. I guess the locals thought I was Italian.

And the three people with you?

 

[leftysergeant]

And the three people with you?

They picked the club on the basis of prior experience there. Pretty mellow people who could get along with just about anyone. I had only met them a few days earlier myself.

I learned very early that not hanging out with jerks of any ethnicity is a good idea, and not being a jerk away from your normal millieu is a good safety strategy.

 

[Tsukasa Buddha]

If I see a person with black skin on a plane...

 

[Clayton Moore]

The only time I got any crap from anybody else for hanging with a beautiful black chick in Fayetteville, NC was when two rednecks tried to shoot us.

They tried to shoot you?

 

[leftysergeant]

They tried to shoot you?

The KKKrap didn't seem to like white guys hanging with black women any more than they did white women hanging with black guys back then. This was in 1968.

Luckily, the lady saw them coming down the street with a window open in time that we could both hit the deck.

 

[Clayton Moore]

The KKKrap didn't seem to like white guys hanging with black women any more than they did white women hanging with black guys back then. This was in 1968.

Luckily, the lady saw them coming down the street with a window open in time that we could both hit the deck.

 

[Hercules Rockefeller]

 

[Howie Felterbush]

They picked the club on the basis of prior experience there. Pretty mellow people who could get along with just about anyone. I had only met them a few days earlier myself.

I learned very early that not hanging out with jerks of any ethnicity is a good idea, and not being a jerk away from your normal millieu is a good safety strategy.

This is remarkably sound advice, lefty.

If more people followed this advice, we could quit worrying about race relations and start concentrating on jerk relations, which is the real problem.