Race relations in America have never been better
BY DAN HANNAN | APRIL 13, 2015 | 5:00 AM
Photo - Flowers and stones are placed near the scene where Walter Scott was killed by a North Charleston, S.C., police officer Saturday. (AP Photo)
Flowers and stones are placed near the scene where Walter Scott was killed by a North Charleston,...
One hundred fifty years ago, Robert E. Lee surrendered. The defeated general was already becoming a legend and, that day, he looked it. His gray uniform was buttoned to the throat, and the April sun caught his magnificent silver beard, high boots and jeweled sword-hilt.

This was the man who had, extraordinarily, been offered the command of both sides' armies; and who, though he disliked slavery and was cool about secession, could not in the end bring himself to draw his blade against Virginia.

Ulysses S. Grant, understandably in awe of his adversary, treated him with exaggerated civility. Instead of asking for Lee's sword at the end of the meeting, Grant raised his hat to the older man, who wearily returned the gesture before going off to break the bad news to his devoted soldiers.

That scene at Appomattox was so correct that it can tempt us into the error of believing that the Civil War was an essentially gentlemanly affair, a regrettable disagreement about sovereignty that somehow escalated. In fact, it was by far the nastiest and bloodiest conflict Americans have fought, and can justly be called the first modern war — a monstrous precursor to the Battle of the Somme, whose centenary, by coincidence, we also mark this month.

Behind Lee, with that great hat in his hand, stood bootless, bloodied, beaten men. Their families had been through the horrors of total war — pillage, starvation, sexual assault. Unless we make an effort to recapture those miseries, we struggle to understand the racial tragedies that followed.

Civil wars have a way of fixing politics for generations to come. Only at the last Irish general election did the two-party system — based on the opposed factions from their civil war of the early 1920s — finally break apart. In Spain, whose own civil war came in 1936, the breakdown is happening only now.

And so it was in the former Confederacy. Policies that in almost any other circumstance would have been intolerable were perpetuated out of a twisted sense that, somehow, the fallen were being honored, the carpetbaggers posthumously snubbed.

Inevitably, there was a reaction. Many Americans felt in their bones that segregation, like slavery, betrayed the republic. They became so angry — so understandably and justifiably angry — that they, like their opponents, began to see everything in terms of race. Anti-racism became the strongest card in their deck, trumping free speech, free contract and free association. Indeed, simply to invoke these traditional freedoms — as Rand Paul did four years ago when, in moderate and reasonable language, he questioned whether the best way to end racial discrimination was through the full force of federal law — is to invite accusations of bigotry.

The rage is understandable; but it's out of date. Let me say something which, while statistically true, is so at odds with the media narrative that I wonder whether I'd have the courage to say it if I were an American rather than a British politician.

Race relations in the United States have never been better.

Yes, that's right. On every measure — from opinion polls to racially motivated murders and assaults — Americans under Barack Obama are the most color-blind generation.

How, you might ask, can I assert such a thing when we have just seen the abominable shooting of Walter Scott, to say nothing of Eric Garner and Trayvon Martin and the rest? How can I even think it when I look at the continuing racial discrepancies in everything from rates of college entry to rates of incarceration?

It is human nature to pay more attention to immediate events than remote ones. The shooting of an unarmed black man by a white cop is a big story — precisely because racial violence, being rare, has a greater power to shock now than it once had.

Its most hideous manifestation, lynching, was the first to go: From over 150 such murders a year in the 1880s to 80 in the 1900s, 20 in the 1920s and zero by the 1960s. The civil rights movement represented not the initiation but the culmination of a change in attitudes.

Remaining forms of discrimination — first by state agencies and then by corporate bodies — were outlawed in the 1950s and 1960s, and later reintroduced in the form of affirmative action. Racially motivated murders and assaults have also fallen sharply, as has every measure of racist public attitudes ("Would you be content if your daughter married someone from a different race?" "Would you move if a different ethnic group were the majority on your street?" etc.).

I never lived through segregation. I understand why those who did might be overly ready to see a racial angle where none exists. I'm prepared to overlook some aspects of political correctness as an overshoot — irksome, for sure, but better than a world where American citizens were denied justice because of their physiognomy.

What I find harder to overlook is the pervasive, determined pessimism about race. Americans have twice now elected a mixed-race president, which strikes me as a pretty handy indicator that attitudes have shifted since LBJ's day. The time may even be approaching when America can discard affirmative action programs and, as an eloquent fellow once put it, judge people by the contents of their characters.

It's not just Appomattox which seems to belong to a different age; it's Selma, too. I appreciate that after so long, it can be hard to let go. But, 150 years on, the aftershocks of that abominable conflict have finally shuddered to a halt. The promise of the Constitution has been met. The system works.

Dan Hannan is a British Conservative MEP.

Race relations in America have never been better
BY DAN HANNAN | APRIL 13, 2015 | 5:00 AM
Photo - Flowers and stones are placed near the scene where Walter Scott was killed by a North Charleston, S.C., police officer Saturday. (AP Photo)
Flowers and stones are placed near the scene where Walter Scott was killed by a North Charleston,...
One hundred fifty years ago, Robert E. Lee surrendered. The defeated general was already becoming a legend and, that day, he looked it. His gray uniform was buttoned to the throat, and the April sun caught his magnificent silver beard, high boots and jeweled sword-hilt.

This was the man who had, extraordinarily, been offered the command of both sides' armies; and who, though he disliked slavery and was cool about secession, could not in the end bring himself to draw his blade against Virginia.

Ulysses S. Grant, understandably in awe of his adversary, treated him with exaggerated civility. Instead of asking for Lee's sword at the end of the meeting, Grant raised his hat to the older man, who wearily returned the gesture before going off to break the bad news to his devoted soldiers.

That scene at Appomattox was so correct that it can tempt us into the error of believing that the Civil War was an essentially gentlemanly affair, a regrettable disagreement about sovereignty that somehow escalated. In fact, it was by far the nastiest and bloodiest conflict Americans have fought, and can justly be called the first modern war — a monstrous precursor to the Battle of the Somme, whose centenary, by coincidence, we also mark this month.

Behind Lee, with that great hat in his hand, stood bootless, bloodied, beaten men. Their families had been through the horrors of total war — pillage, starvation, sexual assault. Unless we make an effort to recapture those miseries, we struggle to understand the racial tragedies that followed.

Civil wars have a way of fixing politics for generations to come. Only at the last Irish general election did the two-party system — based on the opposed factions from their civil war of the early 1920s — finally break apart. In Spain, whose own civil war came in 1936, the breakdown is happening only now.

And so it was in the former Confederacy. Policies that in almost any other circumstance would have been intolerable were perpetuated out of a twisted sense that, somehow, the fallen were being honored, the carpetbaggers posthumously snubbed.

Inevitably, there was a reaction. Many Americans felt in their bones that segregation, like slavery, betrayed the republic. They became so angry — so understandably and justifiably angry — that they, like their opponents, began to see everything in terms of race. Anti-racism became the strongest card in their deck, trumping free speech, free contract and free association. Indeed, simply to invoke these traditional freedoms — as Rand Paul did four years ago when, in moderate and reasonable language, he questioned whether the best way to end racial discrimination was through the full force of federal law — is to invite accusations of bigotry.

The rage is understandable; but it's out of date. Let me say something which, while statistically true, is so at odds with the media narrative that I wonder whether I'd have the courage to say it if I were an American rather than a British politician.

Race relations in the United States have never been better.

Yes, that's right. On every measure — from opinion polls to racially motivated murders and assaults — Americans under Barack Obama are the most color-blind generation.

How, you might ask, can I assert such a thing when we have just seen the abominable shooting of Walter Scott, to say nothing of Eric Garner and Trayvon Martin and the rest? How can I even think it when I look at the continuing racial discrepancies in everything from rates of college entry to rates of incarceration?

It is human nature to pay more attention to immediate events than remote ones. The shooting of an unarmed black man by a white cop is a big story — precisely because racial violence, being rare, has a greater power to shock now than it once had.

Its most hideous manifestation, lynching, was the first to go: From over 150 such murders a year in the 1880s to 80 in the 1900s, 20 in the 1920s and zero by the 1960s. The civil rights movement represented not the initiation but the culmination of a change in attitudes.

Remaining forms of discrimination — first by state agencies and then by corporate bodies — were outlawed in the 1950s and 1960s, and later reintroduced in the form of affirmative action. Racially motivated murders and assaults have also fallen sharply, as has every measure of racist public attitudes ("Would you be content if your daughter married someone from a different race?" "Would you move if a different ethnic group were the majority on your street?" etc.).

I never lived through segregation. I understand why those who did might be overly ready to see a racial angle where none exists. I'm prepared to overlook some aspects of political correctness as an overshoot — irksome, for sure, but better than a world where American citizens were denied justice because of their physiognomy.

What I find harder to overlook is the pervasive, determined pessimism about race. Americans have twice now elected a mixed-race president, which strikes me as a pretty handy indicator that attitudes have shifted since LBJ's day. The time may even be approaching when America can discard affirmative action programs and, as an eloquent fellow once put it, judge people by the contents of their characters.

It's not just Appomattox which seems to belong to a different age; it's Selma, too. I appreciate that after so long, it can be hard to let go. But, 150 years on, the aftershocks of that abominable conflict have finally shuddered to a halt. The promise of the Constitution has been met. The system works.

Dan Hannan is a British Conservative MEP.

And the award for the biggest racist of the year goes to....KHH1 Take a bow, and give the audience a speech, you white man hater you!

You are living proof that a BLACK man is 100% racist and dishonest. Engineer this week, astronaught last week, poodle dog trainer the month before and what lies will you come up with in a few months time? You will claim to have walked the moon and scooped up some cheese from it....of all the posters on this website you and you all on your own have made the most dishonest statements EVER made and they have all been about YOU and what you CLAIM to be....you are insane. Totally insane. Now that it is has been said so clearly about what sort of dung pile you are...go find a fork in the kitchen drawer and do something with that nappy head of yours. Yep...I give to you what you have been dishing out...it is what you have EARNED with all your black hate garbage you post and all your LIES! You will not ever be anything more than a dung heap. You lie about what you do as a career, and I do not think one single time you have posted anything truthful no matter what it would have been about. You do not know what is truth and love to lie far too much. That is a sickness. That is YOU!

I look at OPP as somewhat of a poll and I have concluded that unfortunately the majority of the right have racism in their hearts and minds. I have seen "nappy headed" as a comment dozens of times. "you belong in Africa" directed at me and I am not Black.The new one is being absolutely racist and saying "you are racist" when called on it. Rand Paul does not believe buisineses should serve Blacks if they don't want to The president is despised by many just because he is Black not just for his policys.. Black lives do matter yet Rightys blame all the bad things that happen to Blacks on Blacks and call them looters wanting an excuse to do so when protests turn ugly because of the blindness and deafness and the don't care attitude of the majority. It is appalling and I know the bigots will come after me after this posting. I don't care. I am not out to impress them. It will just reinforce what I just wrote.