Earning Tolerance

Tolerance must be earned by individuals, not classes of people. Tolerance can be expanded for errant family members, but in families we tend to have favorites. There are, however, people we don’t want to see, like criminals and drug addicts. It’s not safe. In the US we have a lack of tolerance for Muslims, because we’ve been at war with them for over 40 years and the evidence of the damage they do in Europe is overwhelming.

We have traditionally tolerated those individuals who live respectable lives and do no harm. We have preferred living in communities of other people who are like us. We have a history of banishing those who don’t behave. We’ve seen excesses like witch burning in the 1600s to let us know how far intolerance can go. But now we see predatory lawsuits that are equally unfair and unconstitutional.

Free speech is guaranteed to keep tolerance in balance. Anti-discrimination laws have morphed into tyranny and baseless damages to those who object to the tyranny of the minority.

The problem of Black segregation in the 1960s was caused by the myth of Black inferiority that became systemic in Southern States who had segregation laws. This myth could have been dispelled by exposing the fact that Race has little to do with ability, but culture and government can inhibit people from becoming productive and advancing to 1^st World status. The 3^rd World African tribal cultures were unhelpful. This perpetuated the myth that Blacks were incapable.

Black families in the US were at their peak in the 1950s. They were stable families and were advancing.  But they were largely absent in White manufacturing populations and were barred from employment in Unions, who were steeped in nepotism.

Many uneducated Whites had little exposure to Black families. But for many Whites, even in the South, we were well aware that Blacks were fully capable of academic and scientific achievement.  Outside of the States that had segregation laws, Stable Black families were well received by Whites, but the small unstable Black underclass got all the media attention.

When I was 2 years old, we were on the train, moving from St. Louis Mo. to Hallettsville Texas. I wore my sailor suit, popular in 1945. I was attempting to walk down the aisle to the dining car with my family. The train swayed and I bumped up against a lady seated on the aisle. I told her “I’m a drunkin’ sailor”. She laughed and told my mom that I belonged on the stage. That lady was Ethel Waters, the Black movie star and one that my parents adored.

In high school, I got to know the only Black student at my school. He had won a football scholarship and was an outstanding guy.  While in high school, I worked on the Admiral Steamboat in the Summer and met Willie McRoberts, a Black Seminarian studying to become a Catholic priest, who worked with us on the boat. He took the bus to the riverfront, but I gave him a ride home each day. He would not let me take him all the way home, because he said it wasn’t safe. He was an outstanding guy.

Later in college, I played 6 nights a week in a dirty two-horn blues band and in 1963, Chuck Berry joined us on the bandstand and stayed the rest of the Summer. So, here I was, playing base and singing background and standing next to my hero, the Father of Rock n Roll. Chuck came from a family of snooty college professors who made him get a Masters in Math before they agreed to let him continue with his musical career. Chuck was brilliant, very funny and an honor to be with.

Later in my career, I found myself on a shuttle flight from Kansas City to Salina Ks with Ramsey Lewis and his band. They were going to Salina to play a concert and I was going back to hear that concert and gather up my family to move to Atlanta GA. I got to tell Ramsey about Salina and the audience he would be playing to. It was a great honor to be able to spend that time with Ramsey and his band.

In Atlanta, I was able to meet, interview and hire some brilliant Black design engineers and it further supported my world-view that ability and even genius is not related to Race. In Atlanta, I also met, interviewed and hired many brilliant Asian engineers. Over time, I came to attribute their excellent academic skills to their “Tiger Moms” who demanded academic achievement. One high point was the Japanese design of the Toyota Prius; it was brilliant.

The US government should have exposed the myth and opened employment to Blacks and every other Race by stating the truth that ability is not determined by Race. It is individual initiative, often encouraged by successful, stable families that allows all people to advance.

The Pile-on

The Civil Rights Act of 1964 set up a platform where other groups could lobby to become “protected groups’. By the 1970s, Lyndon Johnson had squandered $billions on the Vietnam War and the “War on Poverty” and Congress decided to pay off the debt by debasing the currency. This would create enough inflation to double the cost of everything.  The Women’s movement was the PR campaign launched to get moms ready to go to work.  Of course, they were added as a “Protected Group” and this list includes prohibitions from discriminating against Minorities, Women, all people over age 40 and the Disabled and barred discrimination on the basis of on Religion. In the 1990s, Gays were lobbying for inclusion In the 2000s, Muslims were lobbying to use Religious anti-discrimination rules to begin their US takeover and Trans-genders were added to the Gay push. The government began its War on Christianity. The government sets up these train wrecks and plays “Let’s have you and him fight”. Our laws are not well thought out and the Muslim scam poses an existential threat to the US. 

The 2008 Mortgage Meltdown was caused by the Community Reinvestment Act of 1993 and HUD antidiscrimination rules that required lenders to make mortgage loans to unqualified buyers and these laws have not been repealed.

I believe the time to repeal the Civil Rights Act has arrived. I really don’t think it is necessary and we do need to restore our 1^st Amendment rights to freedom of association and free speech. The Civil Rights Act is being abused by Gays and Muslims.

Norb Leahy, Dunwoody GA Tea Party Leader