"The least intelligent ten percent of whites have IQs below 81; forty percent of blacks have IQs that low." -- [his link]But that is just the point where the insults and inhumanity reached their peak. Derbyshire starts the piece by talking about "talk that most black parents give their teenage sons," then he produces a heartless, insulting lampoon of something painful that black parents have to do.
Though I'm not black, I've had such a talk with my son. He didn't have a girlfriend in high school, so we had "a talk" before he went to college. He's well-educated about sexual function, STDs, and contraception, but political-correctness might have kept the school from teaching him this: some girls will trap men by getting pregnant "accidentally." It's a hard truth that I wish wasn't, but I want him to know about it and be wary. So I told him. No, he hadn't heard that information before, so it was important that we had "the talk."
I know "the talk" isn't easy, so how incredibly insensitive of Derbyshire to use that as a vehicle to throw out advice to his kids to avoid blacks in public situations for their own safety. Then, he heaps on many other insults unrelated to crime statistics, such as the quote above. Finally, he closes with his envy of intelligent blacks who are in "high demand." But he doesn't express it that way. He says:
"To be an [intelligent black] in present-day US society is a height of felicity rarely before attained by any group of human beings in history." -- [his link]I'm practically unhinged over this essay. I have a bit of familiarity with Derbyshire. A commenter in this blog linked to one of his posts. A couple weeks back I decided to read more. I didn't find columns, but I found his radio show ... for about 3 minutes until his pompous, time-wasting jabber became too much.
I have an aversion to a certain kind of high-class drawl that is soooo... slooow... and... deliberate.. that it shoooows... how serious... and... learned... the... speaker is. I can't stand William F. Buckley speaking, or Gore Vidal, or Christopher Hitchens. Well, I found out that I can't stand John Derbyshire either.
So I need you, some of the readers here, to read Derbyshire's column and tell me if it's as bad as it makes me feel.
Please don't speak. (Gore Vidal)
Photo credit: newsbusters.org
Extras: A list of words I used in describing Derbyshire:
- offensive, smug, nasty, insults, inhumanity, lampoon, insensitive, envy, pompous, time-wasting, jabber, bad.
- cumbersome, the 'N' word, geniuses, morons, convicted murderers, investment bankers, hostility, more anti-social, a degree more anti-social, ferociously, inconvenience, harm, passively, racial solidarity, swamped, least intelligent, amulet, status marker, luxury good.
A different conservative response to Trayvon Martin. More on Derbyshire from Conor Friedersdorf and The American Conservative.
6 comments:
I'd previously read excerpts of the Derbyshire piece in Ta-Nehisi Coates's blog. I tried reading the whole piece as you requested, but I couldn't stand it. Yes, it is unbearably smug and nasty. Yes, it is as bad as you think. You don't have to read the whole thing. A random sample of paragraphs is sufficient to establish that the piece is dreck.
So MP, have you had "the talk" with your children about over-educated, aristocratic white guys who talk sooo... slooow.... Don't let them learn on the street.... ;-)
Do you remember David Brudnoy, who used to have a show on AM 1030? He also wrote for National Review and definitely falls into this category of writer. I've heard it said that he would occasionally use the term "Negro" in a non-pejorative way, refusing to give up an old word because of political correctness (I never heard it on the radio, however). But unlike Derb, he was no racist and was probably one of the more socially conscious folks to write for National Review, even if he wrote between sips of Bordeaux.
@Couves, you got me on that. I have a deep prejudice against anyone who speaks that way, whatever their color. But maybe I find it particularly bothersome in pundits, whether I might tend to agree or not. Maybe I passed it on to my kids, but not on purpose.
I don't know David Brudnoy. I've rarely read NR until a month ago. I understand when some people hold onto old terms with no malice, partly because there is no malice.
MP - I thought your aversion to certain commentators was funny... I was just trying to make you laugh, apparently without success.
You probably would have liked Brudnoy. I thought you might be familiar with him because he was on Boston talk radio. He's passed on now, but he gained notoriety for writing about his experience as a homosexual with AIDS. I can still remember listening to the broadcast he gave from his deathbed.
@Couves,
Au contraire, I enjoyed your comment. Rereading my response, I can see that I omitted any humor. Oops. (I used the expression before it was famous.)
I'm in western Mass, so I don't get the Boston stations. We miss some riches, but make up for it with trees, grass, and rocks. And streams. Lots of chipmunks, but I could do without them. Occasional bears.
I love western MA. Really, I love just about every part of New England.
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