Kevin - you said that the failures of the welfare state was having a more devastating effect on the black community. I think that is incorrect. And I think that type of rhetoric is harmful.
WeÂ’ll have to agree to disagree. If something was deemed to be harmful, and 50% of community A was consuming it and only 15% of community B was consuming it, which community would you predict would experience the larger devastating effect? Obviously, itÂ’d be community A. Right? Do you get my angle here?
On a person by person basis welfare will have the same effect, obviously - white or black.
Also, maybe welfare IS doing more good than harm overall. I dunno, that's up for debate. That would change the nature of this conversation without a doubt.
But I agree that we have to be able to talk about the issues open and honestly - without anyone getting all prickly and just looking for a chance to call someone else a racist. That's why I spent a lot of time defending Paul Ryan and what he said on the other thread.
I think the candidate in the OP of THIS thread did step over the line and I think some other posters on this thread went way too far in holding impoverished black responsible for their situation WHILE giving impoverished whites a pass.
I agree that the rhetoric of the candidate in the OP was over the top and not a great way to start the discussion.
I don't think your comments went nearly as far in that direction (maybe - in hindsight - you didn't go in that direction at all and I just lumped you in - that's wrong. My bad) So I don't mean to get all belligerent with people who might "poke a toe" over the line, but I do think the statement that the welfare state is having a more devastating effect on the black community is incorrect and not helpful.
IÂ’m not upset, and certainly donÂ’t get upset because someone disagrees with me. I was frustrated with CloseCaption, but that was mostly due to the fact he was resorting to name-calling when I was trying my best to use logic and reason in a respectful manner.