Tom Finneran: The Minefields of Race

Friday, March 28, 2014

Tom Finneran, GoLocalWorcester MINDSETTER™

Our mothers told us not to play in traffic. Why then run out into traffic to go play in a minefield, particularly the minefield of race? I must be nuts. Six years into President Barack Obama’s administration, the issues of race in America are as ugly and as volatile as ever.

Two episodes have caught my attention. One, a recent speech by Paul Ryan, and the other, continuing reports about astonishingly high black unemployment.

Episode one – You remember Paul Ryan. He’s the Republican Congressman from Wisconsin, an influential budget writer in the Congress and Mitt Romney’s vice-presidential running mate in 2012... he’s an interesting guy, a guy I can listen to and learn from.

In a recent speech he raised the high-voltage subject matter of the “inner city” and its “culture”. He spoke of inter-generational dependency, illegitimacy, missing fathers, and high school dropouts, raising the issue of what I call permanent poverty. Poor Congressman Ryan. The reaction to his remarks, particularly from liberal Democrats, would make one think that he was riding shotgun with the lynchmen of the Klan.

He even seems to have provoked America’s greatest fraud, the repellent Al Sharpton, who questioned Congressman Ryan’s right to speak about the rights and responsibilities of black Americans. Can you imagine getting lectured by Al Sharpton about anything under the sun? He is an acute embarrassment and an example of an America gone off the rails.
But forget Sharpton. Ryan’s other critics are accusing him of outright racism, playing to white bigots while attacking the urban poor. Talk about missing the elephant in the room.

I find it ironic that when Barack Obama speaks about illegitimacy rates in the inner city, missing fathers, high school dropouts, and other inner city pathologies, he is widely praised. As he should be. These are huge and growing patterns of social dysfunction and they should not be swept under the rug. They must be thought about and talked about from the bully pulpits of America.

Why then the assault and accusation of racism upon Congressman Ryan for saying the same thing as President Obama? Is it because he is white? A Republican? From the rural Mid-West? Why are these subjects verboten, off-limits to all but a chosen few? Do Congressman Ryan’s critics want no one but themselves allowed to think or speak of the problems of persistent poverty? Do they claim to have solutions to the grim reality of thirty-year old grandmothers with no education, no skills, no job, and no father figure in their households?

Both Congressman Ryan and President Obama deserve praise for raising these issues. Given his own mixed race and therefore heightened credibility, the critical observations of “inner city culture” are perhaps more meaningful when they come from the President. Nonetheless, Congressional Republicans should not be scorned for offering ideas about solving persistent problems which grow worse with each passing day. Is there nothing to be gained by the addition of another heart and soul to the urgently needed debate?

There was a compelling statistic which floated out of the presidential primary debates of 2012 and which I believe has been cited by President Obama himself. The statistic indicates that if a young person a) finishes school, b) lands a job, and c) waits to get married before having any children, then there is negligible chance that that person will end up poor. On the other hand if a young person drops out of school, can’t or won’t get a job, or has babies before marriage, their chances of ending up poor are sky high. Don’t blame Paul Ryan for looking at hard facts and wondering whether America will step up to the carnage in its midst. His voice and his ideas should be welcomed.

Episode two involves the political war over immigration and the coalition of Republicans and Democrats who seek enhanced and accelerated immigration. I cannot imagine how this debate develops in isolation from the nightmare of black unemployment. Unless and until our immigration laws are strikingly changed to favor the educated, the skilled, and the entrepreneurial, then enhanced immigration will only worsen the job market for unemployed minorities. Why would we want to expand the supply of low-skilled labor when there are millions of unemployed black Americans who desperately need work?
How is it that the anxieties and desperation of unemployed American citizens are given such short shrift while we exalt to the point of absurdity the attributes of low-skilled immigrants? There is a disconnect here that is amazing. The Congressional Black Caucus should be all over this issue, speaking up for a neglected constituency of Americans who simply want and need a fair shot at economic opportunity.

Those stirring words chiseled on the Statue of Liberty can move anyone to tears. But the “tired, poor, and huddled masses, yearning to breathe free” of today are our very own American neighbors. Who will speak for them?

Related Slideshow: 16 Questions for President Obama

With the announcement that President Barack Obama will be giving the commencement address at Worcester Technical High School's graduation in June, GoLocal asked elected officials and community leaders in Worcester if they had the opportunity to ask the President one question -- what would it be, and why?

Tom Finneran: The Minefields of Race

Related Slideshow: 16 Questions for President Obama

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Tom Finneran

Jim McGovern

Tim McGourthy

Chris Pinto

Tony Economou

Morris Bergman

Gary Rosen

Kate Toomey

Michael Graham

John Giangregorio

Paul Giorgio

Carol Claros

Jordan Berg Powers

David Le Boeuf

Victoria Waterman

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