The flap over Henry Lewis Gates and arresting officer James Crowley was supposed to be a “teachable moment,” but other than the predictable outcries of “white racism lives!” the incident has proven to be of little pedagogical value. Nevertheless, it does illustrate a profound if disquieting truth—how blacks react to efforts to curtail crime, especially when they themselves are the victims. … [Read More]

The debate over Sonia Sotomayor’s nomination to the Supreme Court has generated millions of words but nearly all of it comes down to two opposing positions. On one side are defenders of legal neutrality—it’s the law, not whose ox gets gored, and Sotomayor’s open embrace of group identity politics is incompatible with the rule of law. On the other side are … [Read More]

The Subtle Art of Exclusion Freedom of association, like private property, is a core American legal principle whose importance to liberty seemed so self-evident, so fundamental that the Founding Fathers apparently took it for granted. At best, the First Amendment alludes to it when it prohibits Congress from infringing on the right of free assembly. And, happily, for about 175 years, … [Read More]

Which of these four things is inherently incompatible with the other three? a) Egalitarianism, b) Self-esteem, c) Equal Outcomes d) Academic Excellence  President Obama recently offered up his solution to America’s educational deficiencies, notably merit pay for teachers, more early childhood intervention and national standards, all topped off with the expected paean to achieving educational excellence to compete in the knowledge-driven … [Read More]

Eric Holder’s “nation of cowards” comment wasn’t simply a roundabout way of making the tired old accusation of “institutional racism.” It signaled the acceleration of a trend toward the state policing not only of behavior but attitudes, ideas, and the interpretations of facts. Your thoughts might be impure. Attorney General Holder is here to help.  On February 18th 2009, Eric Holder, … [Read More]

An earlier version of this essay was delivered at the H.L. Mencken Club’s Annual Meeting; November 21-23, 2008. Under the general topic of malevolence, wickedness, and evil, a vocabulary exists for self-imposed harm, for example, self-mutilation or self-abuse. But such words always denote individuals—not collectivities—inflicting harm. It is almost unthinkable that, say, an entire ethnic group would knowingly injure, let alone … [Read More]