Race and the Emperor's New Clothes

[musingsofacac]

I remember well the story of The Emperor’s New Clothes from when I was a child. To sum it up – two swindlers convince a King he has a beautiful new set of clothes – when really his naked. He marches through the town and all the people must pretend they see beautiful new clothes on him, when some children shout in totally honesty, “he’s naked!”

I feel the same has happened to America – and the world at large when it comes to race. What I mean is this – we have gone from one extreme to the other.

The old extremes in race simply wrote off a man because of the color of his skin. Some men were considered less human than others. If you were black or hispanic or asian – you simply were not allowed into certain occupations. There was no way a black man could be a lawyer, much less the President of the United States! If you were black forget getting into a school or college in most places, and you didn’t eat with whites and they assumed your guilt if you were accused of a crime.

But now in our modern era – I believe the pendulum has swung fully in the other direction. Now if you are black and arrested – we must assume there was discrimination in your arrest. Even if you really committed the crime, it was not your fault – it is societe’s fault for discriminating against you.

If blacks routinely perform the lowest in academic testing – we must assume racism was involved in education. Or if it is not racism in all cases – then it is economics.

If blacks have 75% of their children born out-of-wedlock(while whites only have 25% born out-of-wedlock) – we must again assume this is due to racism.

To top all this off – the great assumption our society is – if all this supposed racism was removed from our society – somehow everything would be just fine for the blacks. Blacks would score equally with Whites, Asians and Hispanics. Blacks would no longer have a 75% out-of-wedlock birth rate. Blacks would commit fewer crimes and would live more responsibly.

Please don’t misunderstand me – I have neighbors who are black that are responsible people, I have friends at church and at work who are black who are great people. I don’t assume because you are black you are criminal, or stupid. But it is one thing to look at individuals, and another to look at a race as a whole. I believe we must do both and be honest.

Every race has its share of intelligent and bright people, morale and hard-working people(including blacks). But that does not mean every race has an equal share of each type of people - to assume so is to defy logic and defy the world around us.

The fact we know is that race is more than skin color. In reality the color of one’s skin does not actually determine their race – it is what is underneath that skin. There are distinctive bone structures to various races – just ask any forensic anthropologist. We also know races have different genetic defects and deficiencies when it comes to disease. We know that some races are naturally taller(on average) and some naturally shorter(on average). We know some races have more dense bone structure than others. All of these are biological facts.

But when it comes to the brain – this is where must throw logic out the window. We must assume that while there are all these other differences between races, there is absolutely no difference in the average brain chemistry of individuals among races. This is not an idea based in logic, it is an idea based in emotion.

Compare Africa to any other continent in the world(culturally,educationally and economically) – let’s be honest and stop saying The emperor has new clothes – when really he is just naked.

 

[Intense]

The Emperor’s New Suit
by
Hans Christian Andersen
(1837)

MANY, many years ago lived an emperor, who thought so much of new clothes that he spent all his money in order to obtain them; his only ambition was to be always well dressed. He did not care for his soldiers, and the theatre did not amuse him; the only thing, in fact, he thought anything of was to drive out and show a new suit of clothes. He had a coat for every hour of the day; and as one would say of a king “He is in his cabinet,” so one could say of him, “The emperor is in his dressing-room.”

The great city where he resided was very gay; every day many strangers from all parts of the globe arrived. One day two swindlers came to this city; they made people believe that they were weavers, and declared they could manufacture the finest cloth to be imagined. Their colours and patterns, they said, were not only exceptionally beautiful, but the clothes made of their material possessed the wonderful quality of being invisible to any man who was unfit for his office or unpardonably stupid.

“That must be wonderful cloth,” thought the emperor. “If I were to be dressed in a suit made of this cloth I should be able to find out which men in my empire were unfit for their places, and I could distinguish the clever from the stupid. I must have this cloth woven for me without delay.” And he gave a large sum of money to the swindlers, in advance, that they should set to work without any loss of time. They set up two looms, and pretended to be very hard at work, but they did nothing whatever on the looms. They asked for the finest silk and the most precious gold-cloth; all they got they did away with, and worked at the empty looms till late at night.

“I should very much like to know how they are getting on with the cloth,” thought the emperor. But he felt rather uneasy when he remembered that he who was not fit for his office could not see it. Personally, he was of opinion that he had nothing to fear, yet he thought it advisable to send somebody else first to see how matters stood. Everybody in the town knew what a remarkable quality the stuff possessed, and all were anxious to see how bad or stupid their neighbours were.

“I shall send my honest old minister to the weavers,” thought the emperor. “He can judge best how the stuff looks, for he is intelligent, and nobody understands his office better than he.”

The good old minister went into the room where the swindlers sat before the empty looms. “Heaven preserve us!” he thought, and opened his eyes wide, “I cannot see anything at all,” but he did not say so. Both swindlers requested him to come near, and asked him if he did not admire the exquisite pattern and the beautiful colours, pointing to the empty looms. The poor old minister tried his very best, but he could see nothing, for there was nothing to be seen. “Oh dear,” he thought, “can I be so stupid? I should never have thought so, and nobody must know it! Is it possible that I am not fit for my office? No, no, I cannot say that I was unable to see the cloth.”

“Now, have you got nothing to say?” said one of the swindlers, while he pretended to be busily weaving.

“Oh, it is very pretty, exceedingly beautiful,” replied the old minister looking through his glasses. “What a beautiful pattern, what brilliant colours! I shall tell the emperor that I like the cloth very much.”

“We are pleased to hear that,” said the two weavers, and described to him the colours and explained the curious pattern. The old minister listened attentively, that he might relate to the emperor what they said; and so he did.

Now the swindlers asked for more money, silk and gold-cloth, which they required for weaving. They kept everything for themselves, and not a thread came near the loom, but they continued, as hitherto, to work at the empty looms.

Soon afterwards the emperor sent another honest courtier to the weavers to see how they were getting on, and if the cloth was nearly finished. Like the old minister, he looked and looked but could see nothing, as there was nothing to be seen.

“Is it not a beautiful piece of cloth?” asked the two swindlers, showing and explaining the magnificent pattern, which, however, did not exist.

“I am not stupid,” said the man. “It is therefore my good appointment for which I am not fit. It is very strange, but I must not let any one know it;” and he praised the cloth, which he did not see, and expressed his joy at the beautiful colours and the fine pattern. “It is very excellent,” he said to the emperor.

Everybody in the whole town talked about the precious cloth. At last the emperor wished to see it himself, while it was still on the loom. With a number of courtiers, including the two who had already been there, he went to the two clever swindlers, who now worked as hard as they could, but without using any thread.

“Is it not magnificent?” said the two old statesmen who had been there before. “Your Majesty must admire the colours and the pattern.” And then they pointed to the empty looms, for they imagined the others could see the cloth.

“What is this?” thought the emperor, “I do not see anything at all. That is terrible! Am I stupid? Am I unfit to be emperor? That would indeed be the most dreadful thing that could happen to me.”

“Really,” he said, turning to the weavers, “your cloth has our most gracious approval;” and nodding contentedly he looked at the empty loom, for he did not like to say that he saw nothing. All his attendants, who were with him, looked and looked, and although they could not see anything more than the others, they said, like the emperor, “It is very beautiful.” And all advised him to wear the new magnificent clothes at a great procession which was soon to take place. “It is magnificent, beautiful, excellent,” one heard them say; everybody seemed to be delighted, and the emperor appointed the two swindlers “Imperial Court weavers.”


Hans Christian Andersen: The Emperor?s New Suit