Leah Ward Sears is believed to be on President Obama’s short list for the U.S Supreme Court due to the recently announced retirement plans of Justice Stevens. I was invited by my daughter to a reception for Sears, then Chief Justice of the Georgia Supreme Court. Ward Sears is the first female chief justice in the United States and the first African-American in Georgia to be elected to state wide office.
My daughter works for Cornell University and was arranging a meeting of Alumni in the Atlanta area with the Chief Justice, a Cornell graduate. My daughter’s invitation was contingent on my promising to NOT ask any questions until the cameras were off.
Ward Sears gave a passionate discussion about the breakdown of the black family and the need for more government funding to teach black fathers to be more responsible. During her presentation, she blamed Ronald Reagan for the breakdown of the black family.
I asked her why she blamed Ronald Reagan. She said that he was governor of California when no-fault divorce was passed by the CA state legislature.
I replied, “The breakdown of the family is not just a black problem. You mentioned in your speech that by 1972, 70 percent of all black children were being born out of wedlock. Well today more than 25% of all white children are also born out of wedlock.”
“In 1965, the year that the Great Society legislation was passed, less than 10% of black children were born out of wedlock and 80% of all black children lived in a home with two parents. But that legislation destroyed that because the government gave a 14-year-old girl who got pregnant and had a child out of wedlock, a free separate dwelling away from her parents, free food, medical and dental services plus money for expenditures. It gave an incentive to be irresponsible.”
“Until people recognize what caused the problem, it will never be fixed.”She actually fell back and put her hands up as if to protect herself and kept repeating, “I could not disagree with you more!” But it appeared to me that she had never heard that argument and was processing it.
One of the biggest problems I find with Liberals is that they have been so indoctrinated and self-isolated that they are not even aware that philosophical opponents might have a fact based logical point of view. They really have no idea what conservatives actually think.
Typical of many Liberals, the topic was immediately changed and I was interrogated. Being the only white person still there in the group, I was asked “What do you think the about the Reverends Jackson and Sharpton?”
I replied without hesitation, “They are pimp extortionists and if I were black I would be ashamed to think that anyone would consider that they represent me!” There was a long uncomfortable silence until a black woman blurted out, “Thank you, thank you, finally a white man who is not afraid to speak the truth.”
You would be surprised what will happen when you refuse to keep quiet about politically incorrect off limit topics. Someone might learn something.
James F. Davis is the president of Accuracy in Academia.
