My Talk About "The Talk"

Read John Derbyshire's essay here.

Last April, a conservative magazine called The National Review fired their longtime writer John Derbyshire for writing an essay for an online editorial called Taki's Magazine. In this essay, he shares "The Talk" he had with his children warning them about the dangers of black people. By posting this, he made a point to let all Caucasian and Asians know that they should avoid black neighborhoods, avoid events where many black people will attend, befriend yet do not envy intelligent and well-socialized blacks otherwise known as IWSB's, according to Derbyshire, and countless of other unintellectual remarks.

I am aware that racism is alive and living but reading this article was mind-blowing. Derbyshire dehumanized African-Americans and viewed us as less than equal. The typical stereotypes that were made prevalent were we cause trouble, the majority of us are unintelligent and that the few of us that are ingenious are "luxury goods". It slightly breaks my heart that not only people still carry those negative stereotypes about an entire race but some of those people are put in with power and spread their preservations to a sea of followers in which subconsciously a small spark of racism is being ignited in their brains.

This is how racism continues to live on generation by generation. I believe racism is taught; it is a learned behavior. Children play with children of all different skin complexions. They do reach an age where they may start to be curious about the differences between themselves and their classmates and/or friends but it is our explanations as adults that plants the seed. Their own experiences with other races help grow that seed but we make the decision to teach them our own feelings about different ethnicities whether they be positive or repugnant. If we would stop linking the way people think and act to their race and start linking it to their own personalities and upbringing, then maybe the racist mind would start to decline. I'm hopeful.