Joe Biden talking about systemic racism on the Fourth of July is pretty outrageous, especially given that he has been in a leadership position in the “system” for 50 years. Also, his main accomplishment was the 1994 crime bill that put more black and brown people in jail for more extended periods.
But he’s going to fix it all, you guys. Just take a listen:
Our nation was founded on a simple idea: We're all created equal. We've never lived up to it — but we've never stopped trying. This Independence Day, let's not just celebrate those words, let's commit to finally fulfill them. Happy #FourthOfJuly! pic.twitter.com/1WrATlx8Xl
— Joe Biden (@JoeBiden) July 4, 2020
Biden’s Faulty Premise
Unreal. I wonder if Joe would be surprised to know Americans expressed greater satisfaction with race relations and the position of minorities four years after he and Barack Obama left office. Gallup surveyed Americans in January 2020 and compared the data to January of 2017:
Gallup poll screenshot.
Hard to believe that was just six months ago. It’s also pretty clear what we see now has been engineered by the far left using George Floyd’s death as a flashpoint. But make no mistake about it. The incendiary event could have been anything ahead of November. The unrest we are seeing was always going to happen in the lead-up to the election.
It is also disgusting to see that the man who wants to lead this nation has bought into the premise of the 1619 Project. America’s very origins are racist and racism is an integral part of our institutions today. This premise is just garbage. Even the premise of the recent protests highlighted in the message falls apart under scrutiny. Police are not wantonly killing unarmed black men. Not even close.
Hey Suburban Voters, Joe Biden’s Housing Policies Will Ruin Your Communities
Biden’s Big Plan
So how is Joe Biden going to end this nonexistent systemic racism? By throwing money at it, of course. His cynically named “Lift Every Voice: The Biden Plan for Black America” is a smorgasbord of government-funded incentives, audits, and regulations.
There are also provisions for wealth redistribution from wealthier communities to poorer ones. Reading the plan, you would swear it is still 1964, and redlining is legal. A centerpiece of the program is the Affirmatively Furthering Fair Housing rule with the Cory Booker strategy to force compliance. The AFFH would put zoning and community planning at the federal level rather than leaving it with state and local governments — an unbelievable power grab.
Biden also uses the ridiculous pay gap statistic between black women and white men to advance the Paycheck Protection Act and other regulations on employers, as if every corporation in America does not already have diversity hiring programs that they actively pursue.
There are also a lot of COVID-19 disparity items in the plan. Because any disparity that requires the discussion of uncomfortable topics, such as lifestyle, must be immediately shut down. Call it racist and throw money and bureaucrats at it. That has worked so well in the past.
The secret to having the best shot at overcoming poverty is well defined. It is about making good choices. According to the Brookings Institution, hardly a right-wing think tank:
In addition to the thousands of local and national programs that aim to help young people avoid these life-altering problems, we should figure out more ways to convince young people that their decisions will greatly influence whether they avoid poverty and enter the middle class. Let politicians, schoolteachers and administrators, community leaders, ministers and parents drill into children the message that in a free society, they enter adulthood with three major responsibilities: at least finish high school, get a full-time job and wait until age 21 to get married and have children.
Our research shows that of American adults who followed these three simple rules, only about 2 percent are in poverty and nearly 75 percent have joined the middle class (defined as earning around $55,000 or more per year). There are surely influences other than these principles at play, but following them guides a young adult away from poverty and toward the middle class.
Biden’s Big Miss
Biden’s education polices all have to do with funding. He is merely throwing good money after bad in the one system that does oppress minority children. The public school system forces them into schools based on their zip code. Yet Joe Biden is firmly against school choice, the one policy that appreciably increases the likelihood of a disadvantaged minority child graduating from high school and not becoming pregnant.
In a recent interview about his latest book Charter Schools and Their Enemies, economist Thomas Sowell makes a definitive case for school choice. At 90 years old, he feels this is the most important book he has written. Sowell concludes that opposition to charter schools is the biggest obstacle facing minority children. Using compelling data, mainly from the Success Academy Charters in New York City, he takes apart the economic and political arguments of his opposition.
His thesis is clear. Funding has nothing to do with academic achievement. Using Baltimore City Schools, where 13 high schools have no student who can pass a grade-level math test, as an example, he demonstrates overfunded public schools on a per-pupil basis have no relationship to academic achievement. Even when charter programs operate in the same building as public schools, the achievement gap is significant.
Biden’s big plan to help black communities is missing the one thing that makes a significant difference in the lives of black children. He refuses to fix the final system that creates an evident barrier to success. Yet he thought to lecture the rest of us. Astounding.
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