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In the civil rights trenches
Could a free people conceivably accept the civil rights laws? Here’s a report from the front: “Specially Ill-Educated”, on the effects of the Federal command to “mainstream” students with behavioral disorders. If a kid kicks and bites but doesn’t injure people seriously it’s been decided in Washington that local educators can’t remove him from class because that would treat him unequally. The situation is bizarre but not anomalous. To govern is to distinguish cases and act accordingly. The basic principle of antidiscrimination laws, therefore, is that people can’t be allowed to govern themselves. They’ll only hurt each other, so everyone must be placed permanently in custody. That principle is now thought to demand comprehensive worldwide bureaucratic control of all social relationships, even the most fundamental and intimate of ties. The relevance of common sense—a.k.a. deeply-rooted social stereotypes—is rejected on principle. Tomorrow is July 4th, still sometimes called Independence Day. It’s the national day of a country whose highest achievement is now thought to be the civil rights laws. Hasn’t something gone wrong somewhere?
Comments
I’d just like to mention for anyone who doesn’t know it (I didn’t know it myself) that the “elimination of all stereotypes” is not merely the way conservative critics characterize the liberal agenda. It is in the actual language of official documents, such as the Convention to Eliminate Discrimination against Women which requires signatory nations to eliminate all sex-role stereotypes, including those related to child-raising. Posted by: Lawrence Auster on July 3, 2002 7:07 PM |