The College Fix

Even though the notion of “colorblindness” is encoded in American law, Miami University’s Brett Milam says this is misguided. Writing in The Miami Student, Milam states that white America’s “operating philosophy” of colorblindness is … “inaccurate and a symptom of white privilege.”

Let’s face it. It’s nice to be white. We can control the narrative and say race doesn’t matter; worse, we can say we’re operating from a higher moral plane by buying into colorblindness. We can say history no longer influences the present, even though it does. We can say that we exist in a post-racial society, even if we don’t. We can ignore the pleas of the black community.

To be clear, the events in Ferguson not only transcend the death of Michael Brown, but are also not solely about race. There’s an important discussion (which I’ll save for a later time) to be had about policing in America and the justice system. However, race is a component so easily dismissed that it needs to be brought under a spotlight.

Milam then proceeds to spout off numerous carefully selected statistics, such as how most crimes occur within one’s own race. With this, he adds “you won’t see anyone talking about white-on-white crime …” Perhaps this is because there is no prodigious disparity between the general population numbers and crime statistics? Maybe such is the reason why some “peddle” (Milam’s word) the so-called “the black-on-black crime red herring” — the vast disproportionality?

Milam also mocks white “control” of the media: Whites “can control the narrative …” he writes. While this may be true in and of itself just due to population figures, such a statement, like that of many progressive utterances about race, treats (racial) groups as group-think monoliths. In other words, which whites “controlled the narrative” in Ferguson, Missouri?

The answer is “progressives like Brett Milam.” They controlled the narrative in the mainstream media. Even as the facts in the Ferguson matter began to emerge, the narrative persisted: Michael Brown had his hands up, he had surrendered to the officer, but the cop shot him anyway.

Hilariously, Milam concludes “Yes, personal responsibility matters, but it’s not nearly the whole picture.” This is after he spends his entire column noting that personal responsibility really isn’t a factor regarding predicaments facing black Americans. And no passage drives that point home more than this:

The other myth — the absentee black father — gets a lot play, but it is also inaccurate. A study published by The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found that black fathers are not just involved in their children’s lives on a daily basis, but even more so than their white or Latino counterparts. Sure, 67 percent of black fathers don’t live with their children, but that doesn’t mean they aren’t involved in their lives.

To wit: The dysfunction in American families, but especially black families, that is out-of-wedlock children is a myth.

Since Milam provides no link to the referenced study, we went looking for it. Here is one link to it. Be sure to read it carefully, especially the accompanying chart, and then ponder the “myth” contention.

Read the full editorial here.

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