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MUTH'S TRUTHS
Op-Ed
by Chuck Muth
August 28, 2001


Stop the Whining!


(LAS VEGAS) - You might think the fight over President Bush's faith-based
initiative is about folks who want religious institutions to receive federal assistance for their charitable work and folks who are extremely leery of any co-mingling of government and churches.  Or you might think it's just another partisan conflict between the Republican White House and Democrats in Congress.

And you'd be wrong.  It's really all about race, you see.

In commenting on the resignation of John DiIulio, President Bush's point man
for the faith-based initiative, the Rev. Eugene River - a black minister who
we're certain is in no danger of an IRS audit for discussing politics in public - had this to say:  "The departure of John DiIulio means George Bush officially becomes the president of white America.  The message in Professor
DiIulio's departure is that the black and the poor in the inner cities can
go to hell."

Huh?

How do these "reverends" get away with such outrageous, inflammatory and
stupid remarks?  And just how, by the way, did a partisan political issue
about the proper relationship between government and religion suddenly
become something about race?

Simple:  Because in certain segments of the black community, EVERYTHING is
about race.  If a leaf falls from a tree in a black family's yard, it's the white man's fault.  If a dog bites, or a bee stings - had to be a white man puttin' 'em up to it.  If the flu hits, it's a white conspiracy.  Cable goes out; white guy did it.  Toaster jams; it's just the white man tryin' to keep
the brothers down.

Is there nothing wrong in the black community that whites - particularly
Republican whites - AREN'T responsible for?

I know, I know.  It's not politically correct to say such things and it makes a lot of people uncomfortable, but as a white guy who never owned a slave - and whose father and grandfathers didn't own slaves either - I'm getting pretty sick and tired of being blamed for every failure and problem in the black community as well as being threatened with a bill for
"reparations."

And at the risk of being subjected to a reverse-lynching, let me go on record as saying I'm also tired of all this whining, bitching, complaining and kvetching by the Eugene Rivers, Al Sharptons and Jesse Jacksons of the world.  Give it a break already, for crying out loud.

Rule #1, as taught to me by my non-slave-owning dad:  Life ain't fair; get
over it.

I'm tired of being the whipping boy and scapegoat for every two-bit black
thug who guns down a fellow drug-dealing black gang-banger in the ghetto. Or gets shot by a cop in the midst of committing an armed robbery or fleeing the scene of a crime.  How are these things MY fault?  Do you mean to tell me that blacks aren't capable of knowing right from wrong and making their own decisions in life?

Now, this is not to say that racism doesn't exist.  Of course it does.  But it will ALWAYS exist.  Get over it.  It's as bad as conservatives whining about liberal bias in the media.  Does it exist?  Of course.  Get over it. So stop blaming us "white devils" for every black failure and setback. Whining is not a virtue.

I don't hear Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas whining.  I don't hear
Bush administration officials Colin Powell, Rod Paige or Condi Rice whining.
I don't hear columnists Thomas Sowell, Deroy Murdock or Walter Williams
whining.  I don't hear Rep. J.C. Watts or former ambassador Alan Keyes
whining.  I don't hear athletes Barry Bonds, Shaq O'Neill, Michael Jordan or
Tiger Woods whining (oh, that's right, Tiger's not *really* black).

No, the whining generally comes from the left and from those who are too
scared or too lazy to take the risks necessary to make something productive
out of their lives on their own.  It's much easier to just blame "whitey;" a
convenient excuse for not even trying.

This entire I-can't-succeed attitude is due largely to generations of guilt-ridden white liberals who continually tell young blacks they can't make it on their own and, therefore, need the protection and preferences of government to get their rightful piece of the pie - whether they earn it or not.  So in that regard, I guess whitey really IS at fault.

But shouldn't the objective simply be equal opportunity and treatment under
the law for everyone; not preferences for a chosen few.  And if so, isn't it time to stop whining and get on with it; to stop blaming George W. Bush and the rest of white America for every sniffle in the black community?  I mean, can't we all just get along?

Of course, the Rev. Rivers can say the stupid things he said with impunity
'cause he's a brother.  But by declaring that I'm sick of all this carping and squealing by left-wing black "leaders," I'm sure I'll now be branded a racist at worst - or insensitive at best.  Uh-huh.

Is that the best you can do?  Fine.  Sticks and stones and all that stuff. Just shut up already.  If I want to hear whining, I'll listen to my baby daughter when she can't reach the cookie jar on top of the fridge.  At least SHE has a legitimate beef with me.  I really AM trying to keep HER down.

# # #

Mr. Muth is National Chairman of the Republican Liberty Caucus
(www.republicanlibertycaucus.com).


Chuck Muth
3659 Scotwood Street
Las Vegas, NV  89121
Phone:  (702) 454-0350
Fax:  (702) 454-7798
e-mail:  chuckmuth@earthlink.com