In support of Marion Barry

2012-04-25:

Veteran D.C. politician and leader in the black community Marion Barry
has come under attacks for remarks he has made
observing that many jobs which could (in theory, anyhow) be filled by blacks
are in fact now (as of April 2012) filled by Asians.
As an example of such attacks, see
www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/marion-barrys-latest-offense/2012/04/25/gIQAiFlkhT_story.html.

I think these attacks largely consist of
an attempt to twist Marion Barry's words
into meaning something he did not intend them to mean
(an all too common tactic of the PC community;
it is indeed an irony that Barry is now being victimized by that tactic).

Barry clearly, to my mind,
did not intend to slur Asians in general or Filipinos in general,
or even the particular Asians or Filipinos
who were the direct targets of his statements.

The point he was making, and I think he was quite clear on this,
was to ask

just why is it that,
on the one hand,
it is an acknowledged problem that
the black community has a high unemployment rate,
while on the other hand,
so many of the jobs of providing services to the black community,
such as shopkeepers, restaurant owners,
and nurses in health care facilities,
are in fact Asians?

I think that is a very good question.
I also think that I know the answer,
but it is an answer that the PC community has long stated
is unacceptable to them.
But even if that answer is either wrong or not acceptable,
the question still remains.

It is a literally disgusting but unavoidably true aspect of the PC community
that, rather than squarely addressing
the question that Barry has quite appropriately raised,
they change the subject to his supposed slurs on Asians at large.

But that's our PC community:
Always distorting what its critics say into something they can attack,
rather than addressing the issues that need to be addressed.
The PC community: Twisted facts, twisted logic, twisted minds.

---

2012-05-02:

The day after posting the above remark,
I found a news article which quoted from
a response by the Philippine Ambassador to the U.S. to Marion Barry's remarks.
In particular, Philippine Ambassador Jose L. Cuisia, Jr. said:

Filipino nurses are known to be
competent, hardworking, caring, and possess good work ethic.
These are some of the reasons
why most patients prefer and trust them.

Some of my reactions to that statement:

1. I have never had a Philippine nurse, so I can't speak from first hand experience,
   but that statement is consistent with all I have read about them over the years.
   But could a white American get away with making that statement in the current context
   without being accused of racism?
2. That statement is in essence what the un-PC answer I had in mind in my original remarks.
3. Getting back to Marion Barry's suggestion that the University of the District of Columbia
   could train people to take the jobs now held by Filipino nurses,
   it is important to note that
   of the four characteristics mentioned by the ambassador,
   only one, that of being competent, can be affected by the educational system.
   The other three, the characteristics of being
   hardworking, caring, and possessing a good work ethic,
   are what have always been considered character traits,
   which are shaped by factors outside the educational system,
   most importantly
   genetics, family, and general social shaping pressures.
   To put all the burden on the educational system
   to shape these factors
   seems to me to be an impossible burden.