When Whites Just Don’t Get It, Part 2

SEPT. 6, 2014

Nicholas Kristof              

    

ampaign: nyt2015_sharetools_mkt_opinion_47K78 -- 271975, creative: nyt2014_sharetools_mktg_opinion_47K78 -- 375123, page: www.nytimes.com/yr/mo/day/opinion/sunday/nicholas-kristof-when-whites-just-dont-get-it-part-2.html, targetedPage: www.nytimes.com/yr/mo/day/opinion, position: MiddleLeftIN my column a week ago, “When Whites Just Don’t Get It,” I took aim at what I called “smug white delusion” about race relations in America, and readers promptly fired back at what they perceived as a smugly deluded columnist.

 

Readers grudgingly accepted the grim statistics I cited — such as the wealth disparity between blacks and whites in America today exceeding what it was in South Africa during apartheid — but many readers put the blame on African-Americans themselves.

 

“Probably has something to do with their unwillingness to work,” Nils tweeted.

 

Nancy protested on my Facebook page: “We can’t fix their problems. It’s up to every black individual to stop the cycle of fatherless homes, stop the cycle of generations on welfare.”

 

Read more here.