I raised my eyebrows, smiled, and said, Look around you. I seem to be the only one on this podium who isn’t white, wasn’t born in the USA, and wasn’t in favor of affirmative discrimination.

But I know, I know. Asians aren’t “minorities” unless it suits the Left.

Beyond that, I would concede that the first or second black in an all-WASP workplace might have new perspectives to offer, should he/she be so inclined, but the 200th? And exactly what is “minority” or “underrepresented” biology, or engineering, or physics?

Methinks it’s often not just the king who has no clothes, but the whole court.

On the other hand, we have one former KKK officer in the Senate, and he’s a Democrat, and the liberal press has nothing to say about it.

Eventually, high profile segregationists turned Republican.

Got any names? The only “high profile” segregationists still in the political game are in the Democratic Party.

Have you gone to a large university lately, and observed the black students cafeteria, the black students dormitory, the black student center, black studies department, etc etc? Republicans did not segregate black students in that way.

Likewise the neosegregation of all black private and charter elementary schools etc. All black education all the way through college, medical school etc. These are not republican initiatives. Strictly speaking, since integration, there has not been a need to maintain these historically black schools. But republicans donate their hard earned money to these causes just like democrats.

Successful black businessmen often hire blacks overwhelmingly, far above their representation in the population. A white person could not segregate his workforce in this manner. But it is done voluntarily.

Blacks could go to any church they like, but often group together in all black churches. Blacks who have an economic choice of neighborhoods often choose neighborhoods that are predominately black. Successful blacks often move to communities like Atlanta or Washington DC where blacks perform most civic duties.

Republicans don’t make them do all this, and much more that comprises neo-segregation.

Correct. That was the initial alignment. Eventually, high profile segregationists turned Republican.

And just who posed this as a republican vs. the rest issue? Could it be a certain Richard Brandshaft?

Look, a lot of people like to talk just to hear themselves. They would thrive in any sort of class environment that gave them a voice.

Others are insecure, and feel the need to attend a school where everyone looks the same as themselves. All female schools. All particular ethnic schools. etc.

This class looks like neo-segregation coming in the back door.

Foobarista,
“…asked your opinion about this and that “as an American”. When I was living overseas, I always found this uncomfortable…”

I such a situation, I say, “I can’t give the typical American opinion, but my opinion is…” or, “Most Americans disagree with me, but my opinion is…” I can’t read my listener’s minds, but it seems to work.

But as John says, nobody can really speak for the group. Even being a member of the group doesn’t automatically mean you know much about it. Everybody is an expert on their own experiences, of course, but nothing else should be assumed.

My black former coworker, who is from Kentucky, asked me once if living conditions for black folks in the Mississippi Delta are really that bad. Oh yes, I told her; I told her about those conditions, and about the history of slavery in that specific region and how that ties into how things are there now. She told me then that her father’s family were sharecroppers there who snuck out in the middle of the night and moved “north” to Kentucky. No one really talked about it and she didn’t know what sharecropping meant, so I told her all about that and about why her father’s family had to leave in secret. (And were right to do so.)

So here is one significant part of the black experience in America that I, white person X, knew more about than my friend, black person Y. When you get down to individuals you really have no idea what they can or cannot contribute to a discussion.