My guest this week is Erec Smith, professor of rhetoric at York College and co-founder of the nonprofit Free Black Thought. Erec came onto the show to talk about why an organization dedicated to fostering and promoting the true diversity of black thought is necessary. Now with a podcast, a journal, and the nonprofit itself, Erec is doing more than just criticizing the current state of mainstream-left race discourse. He’s helping to change it. As the
From one "Pisces" to another, thank you Erec for being another voice of reason and substance. I am a subscriber of Free Black Thought, and wish you continued success at the CATO Institute.
What can I say but great conversation! Thx again, Glenn. Good stuff there from Erec, who is new to me.
Ya know, when you said, near the end, that you'd enjoyed the conversation, Erec said he was relieved, he wasnt sure you had, in a sort of lighthearted way. You seemed surprised and thought it was due to your devil's advocate tactics. But here's why I thought he said that - I actually noticed that every so often, after he'd say something, you'd respond w something like, "You're singing to the choir there." Or that you/your audience is "well aware of that" etc. Not that it was a big deal, but I thought at the time it could seem as if you were saying he wasnt really bringing anything new or of great interest to the conversation. So I wasnt really surprised when he said he was happy to hear you found it interesting!
So good to see another black person arguing in favour of personal agency, personal responsibility, and trying harder. I'm with him on the Democratic party - I'm voting indy next year. Jill Stein unless someone better comes along. And who cares what you think about her, she's less insane than Bobby Jr and none of them are going to win anyway, but the Dems will wonder where the hell their lost votes went to. Can't wait for the insane immediate post-2024 screams about a stolen election, mail bags thrown in ditches, GA officials who won't find the lost votes, etc. ;)
As a Black person who would be classified as Woke, this site has confirmed many impressions. Conservatives see most Blacks as pathetic people captive to white Liberals. Blacks who are not in lockstep with Conservatives are the great unwashed. The truth is the Blacks who strongly disagree with the current Conservative movement are living their best lives. We are reading about our exceptional ancestors and traveling around the world. We are told that when white children read about Black history, the white children feel bad. Confederate statues must remain to maintain our history. No one cares about how Black children feel.
Many Blacks live their best lives and then we come here and our told Blacks are pathetic. Stacey Abrams is pathetic. Kamala Harris is pathetic. Carole Swain, on the other hand, is worthy of respect. Those of us living our best lives are not deceived when the Ibrim Kendi’s of the Conservative movement tell us that there is nothing to fear if Christian Nationalists come to power. We laugh.
So moving! Eric Smith joins the likes of Glenn Loury, Coleman Hughes, Roland Fryer, Thomas Sowell, Jason Riley and Shelby Steele fighting black collective victimization rhetoric. I am in! Keep up the positivity! Good guest Glenn!
Glenn asks Erec about crime in a number of cities. Perhaps the largest share of blame belongs to my profession of public health or “APHA and allies”. Public health confuses the public’s understanding of arrest procedure by complaining about “unnecessary or inappropriate stops” by police. Our message is “Cops shouldn’t stop you for this or for that...” Our interference causes the civilian (of any race) to view interaction with cop as negotiation. Civilians who listen to public health concern about civilian rights fail to understand that cop has higher authority than civilian. If public health were to be abolished (The Army could do pandemics) and if activists would go home, there would be much less civilian-police conflict.
On “woke grading at college” - time 40 min: (1) I wasn’t aware of identity-based course-grading standards. But, I read somewhere (probably APHA) that “woke” crime sentencing in the courtroom would result in fewer prison years if defendant is from “historical oppression” category. It sounds like Jim Crow Or Apartheid. (2) The purpose of an elite college is to deliver elite skills/expertise like an Olympics training camp. The goal is to have big muscles or big knowledge at competition. (3) Prasad of UCSF warns about “woke interference in standards and competition”. Medical school applicants who no longer compete on MCAT or grades discover a replacement competition realm - published papers, which favors the competitive students even more.
Democrats do a better job for Blacks economically.
The right way to answering the question of African-American loyalty is to treat blacks as rational citizens voting in their self-interest. And while the sluggish economy of the Obama years may seem like a bad case for Democratic loyalty, that’s not true of Democratic administrations overall. According to a recent paper from Zoltan L. Hajnal and Jeremy D. Horowitz—both political scientists at the University of California–San Diego—there’s clear evidence that when the nation is governed by Democrats, black well-being “improves dramatically” across multiple dimensions.
Specifically, looking at data from 1948 to 2010, Hajnal and Horowitz found that “African Americans tend to experience substantial gains under Democratic presidents whereas they tend to incur significant losses or remain stagnant under Republicans.” On average, under Democratic presidents, blacks gained $895 in annual income, saw a 2.41 point drop in their poverty rate, and a 0.36 point drop in their unemployment rate. By contrast, under Republicans, blacks gained $142 a year, along with a 0.15 point increase in poverty and a 0.39 point increase in unemployment.
What’s more, this was true in relative terms as well. As they write, “[W]hether we look at the gap between blacks and whites or at the ratio of black to white outcomes, the patterns are essentially identical: Republican administrations were, on average, bad for African Americans and Democratic administrations were, on average, good for them, both in absolute and relative terms.”
According to an Associated Press fact-check, household median income was higher for Black people before Trump took office. Furthermore, Trump’s focus on the unemployment rate ignores other economic hardships that Black people face, like low rates of Black homeownership and low Black male labor force participation rates, according to the New York Times.
Trump has also repeatedly mentioned how his administration has funded historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs). “They couldn’t get funded. Nobody was funding them for years and years and decades, nobody was funding them,” Trump said.
This is simply untrue: Under Obama, the federal government invested more than $4 billion in HBCUs over seven years.
And while federal funding for HBCUs has been renewed under Trump’s presidency, Trump has not publicly acknowledged that the renewal is the result of congressional appropriations.
“Congress does all this work and presents it to him in the budget, and he can choose to sign it. This year, he held off on signing some significant STEM funding, making HBCUs beg for it,” Rutgers professor and leading HBCU authority Marybeth Gasman told the Washington Post. “Trump has promised all kinds of things to HBCUs and has followed through on little. Under Trump, the White House Initiative for HBCUs was moved to the White House and is quite quiet compared to the work under President Obama’s administration.”
Very interesting discussion. I guess you could roll a lot of what he said into the discussion around the racism of low expectations. The fact that he said he had heard first hand that there was a policy to keep blacks from getting an education was troubling. The dems want people on govt programs because it gives control.
From one "Pisces" to another, thank you Erec for being another voice of reason and substance. I am a subscriber of Free Black Thought, and wish you continued success at the CATO Institute.
What can I say but great conversation! Thx again, Glenn. Good stuff there from Erec, who is new to me.
Ya know, when you said, near the end, that you'd enjoyed the conversation, Erec said he was relieved, he wasnt sure you had, in a sort of lighthearted way. You seemed surprised and thought it was due to your devil's advocate tactics. But here's why I thought he said that - I actually noticed that every so often, after he'd say something, you'd respond w something like, "You're singing to the choir there." Or that you/your audience is "well aware of that" etc. Not that it was a big deal, but I thought at the time it could seem as if you were saying he wasnt really bringing anything new or of great interest to the conversation. So I wasnt really surprised when he said he was happy to hear you found it interesting!
Does that make sense to you? Maybe ...?
Anyway, take care! Keep keepin on! Enjoy!
Free Black Thought...and free the Chicago 7! :)
So good to see another black person arguing in favour of personal agency, personal responsibility, and trying harder. I'm with him on the Democratic party - I'm voting indy next year. Jill Stein unless someone better comes along. And who cares what you think about her, she's less insane than Bobby Jr and none of them are going to win anyway, but the Dems will wonder where the hell their lost votes went to. Can't wait for the insane immediate post-2024 screams about a stolen election, mail bags thrown in ditches, GA officials who won't find the lost votes, etc. ;)
As a Black person who would be classified as Woke, this site has confirmed many impressions. Conservatives see most Blacks as pathetic people captive to white Liberals. Blacks who are not in lockstep with Conservatives are the great unwashed. The truth is the Blacks who strongly disagree with the current Conservative movement are living their best lives. We are reading about our exceptional ancestors and traveling around the world. We are told that when white children read about Black history, the white children feel bad. Confederate statues must remain to maintain our history. No one cares about how Black children feel.
Many Blacks live their best lives and then we come here and our told Blacks are pathetic. Stacey Abrams is pathetic. Kamala Harris is pathetic. Carole Swain, on the other hand, is worthy of respect. Those of us living our best lives are not deceived when the Ibrim Kendi’s of the Conservative movement tell us that there is nothing to fear if Christian Nationalists come to power. We laugh.
Glenn, you really are a master at examining various aspects of things - such a good devil's advocacy for things that make you cringe.
So moving! Eric Smith joins the likes of Glenn Loury, Coleman Hughes, Roland Fryer, Thomas Sowell, Jason Riley and Shelby Steele fighting black collective victimization rhetoric. I am in! Keep up the positivity! Good guest Glenn!
A great conversation! What do blacks today owe their ancestors? Willingness to progress the long way around without shortcuts or excuses.
Are Conservatives only aware of Kendi and DiAngelo when it comes to race?
Recent personal readings:
Black Tudor Society by Onyeka Nubia (blacks in Tudor England)
Dismal Freedom by J Brent Morris (escaping enslavement via swampland)
I Always Wanted to be Somebody by Althea Gibson (Jim Crow era success)
Without Concealment Without Compromise (Black Civil War surgeons)
Thunder of Angels (book used as basis for the film Boycott)
Pullman Porters 1925-1945
African American Almanac (400 years of excellence)
Black Angels (Black nurses who helped to fight TB)
New Brownies Book (republishes DuBois’ periodical encouraging children)
Hattie McDaniel and Butterfly McQueen
Passing For Who You Really Are (support for “multiracial whiteness”)
The Black Intellectual Tradition: Reading Freedom in Classical Literature
Each book is about not accepting barriers. Conservative understanding of what is available seems limited.
Books for Black children provide tons of encouragement and role models. Conservatives are the ones who need a Black stereotype of the Woke.
Glenn asks Erec about crime in a number of cities. Perhaps the largest share of blame belongs to my profession of public health or “APHA and allies”. Public health confuses the public’s understanding of arrest procedure by complaining about “unnecessary or inappropriate stops” by police. Our message is “Cops shouldn’t stop you for this or for that...” Our interference causes the civilian (of any race) to view interaction with cop as negotiation. Civilians who listen to public health concern about civilian rights fail to understand that cop has higher authority than civilian. If public health were to be abolished (The Army could do pandemics) and if activists would go home, there would be much less civilian-police conflict.
On “woke grading at college” - time 40 min: (1) I wasn’t aware of identity-based course-grading standards. But, I read somewhere (probably APHA) that “woke” crime sentencing in the courtroom would result in fewer prison years if defendant is from “historical oppression” category. It sounds like Jim Crow Or Apartheid. (2) The purpose of an elite college is to deliver elite skills/expertise like an Olympics training camp. The goal is to have big muscles or big knowledge at competition. (3) Prasad of UCSF warns about “woke interference in standards and competition”. Medical school applicants who no longer compete on MCAT or grades discover a replacement competition realm - published papers, which favors the competitive students even more.
Two of my intellectual heroes on the same podcast!? I look forward to this episode of The Glenn Show. Hell, I look forward to every episode of TGS!
Democrats do a better job for Blacks economically.
The right way to answering the question of African-American loyalty is to treat blacks as rational citizens voting in their self-interest. And while the sluggish economy of the Obama years may seem like a bad case for Democratic loyalty, that’s not true of Democratic administrations overall. According to a recent paper from Zoltan L. Hajnal and Jeremy D. Horowitz—both political scientists at the University of California–San Diego—there’s clear evidence that when the nation is governed by Democrats, black well-being “improves dramatically” across multiple dimensions.
Specifically, looking at data from 1948 to 2010, Hajnal and Horowitz found that “African Americans tend to experience substantial gains under Democratic presidents whereas they tend to incur significant losses or remain stagnant under Republicans.” On average, under Democratic presidents, blacks gained $895 in annual income, saw a 2.41 point drop in their poverty rate, and a 0.36 point drop in their unemployment rate. By contrast, under Republicans, blacks gained $142 a year, along with a 0.15 point increase in poverty and a 0.39 point increase in unemployment.
What’s more, this was true in relative terms as well. As they write, “[W]hether we look at the gap between blacks and whites or at the ratio of black to white outcomes, the patterns are essentially identical: Republican administrations were, on average, bad for African Americans and Democratic administrations were, on average, good for them, both in absolute and relative terms.”
https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2014/05/democrats-are-good-for-minorities-minority-voters-are-making-a-rational-choice.html
According to an Associated Press fact-check, household median income was higher for Black people before Trump took office. Furthermore, Trump’s focus on the unemployment rate ignores other economic hardships that Black people face, like low rates of Black homeownership and low Black male labor force participation rates, according to the New York Times.
https://www.vox.com/21524499/what-trump-has-done-for-black-people
Trump lies about his role in funding HBCUs.
Trump has also repeatedly mentioned how his administration has funded historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs). “They couldn’t get funded. Nobody was funding them for years and years and decades, nobody was funding them,” Trump said.
This is simply untrue: Under Obama, the federal government invested more than $4 billion in HBCUs over seven years.
And while federal funding for HBCUs has been renewed under Trump’s presidency, Trump has not publicly acknowledged that the renewal is the result of congressional appropriations.
“Congress does all this work and presents it to him in the budget, and he can choose to sign it. This year, he held off on signing some significant STEM funding, making HBCUs beg for it,” Rutgers professor and leading HBCU authority Marybeth Gasman told the Washington Post. “Trump has promised all kinds of things to HBCUs and has followed through on little. Under Trump, the White House Initiative for HBCUs was moved to the White House and is quite quiet compared to the work under President Obama’s administration.”
https://www.vox.com/21524499/what-trump-has-done-for-black-people
Blacks vote rationally. They are not the unthinking mass that forms the Conservative stereotype.
A note for Eric's dad.
Job well done sir.
Very interesting discussion. I guess you could roll a lot of what he said into the discussion around the racism of low expectations. The fact that he said he had heard first hand that there was a policy to keep blacks from getting an education was troubling. The dems want people on govt programs because it gives control.