Interestingly, affirmative action has worked for women far more effectively than blacks. A study revealed some keen insights.
Women were discriminated against primarily because of their gender. When that barrier was removed, collectively they quickly attained equality with men.
Blacks experienced a similar effect except as your quotes point out it was not "universal". A subset of blacks living primarily in the rural south, or major urban black neighborhoods did not respond to the removal of the barriers that had held them back. Studies reveal that education not skin color was holding them back... so perhaps rather than a "check", books are the answer.
I will end up actually "cutting the check", at a personal level. As mentioned, most of grandchildren are black. So not to worry, they stand to benefit from generational wealth. But if you are waiting for others to do the same, I don't think that will happen. So, I hope you have a Plan B.
Who are the bourgeois? Do blacks become part of the bourgeois when they amass a certain amount of wealth. Are Jews, who have been persecuted for thousands of years, members of the bourgeois? Are Asians with average median household incomes 33% higher than whites, the bourgeois? Are Native Hawaiians and other Pacific Islanders on par with whites for median household income part of the bourgeois? Generalities sound lame. Define the term.
Are the 75% of blacks that earn more than 50% of whites part of the bourgeois? Are those blacks prepared to give their income and wealth to the whites that earn less than they do. Will you support those poor whites, when the time comes?
My guess is that you feel on the whole most blacks would benefit from income and wealth redistribution. They wouldn't. Blacks would disproportionately benefit, but most blacks would lose out (around 75% of blacks would suffer a reduction of income if we distributed income equally).
The problem with these black thought leaders is they see blacks not as people, but members of an identity group. But redistribution happens at the individual level. So, many successful blacks would be writing checks to poor whites and other groups.
Any attempt to redistribute income and wealth would fall heavily on blacks. It might serve to level class differences but would likely produce huge pushback among successful blacks. Do you feel right taking away, what those blacks sacrificed to achieve?
But let's give your idea a try... first we will equalize wealth and income between blacks to see how it works. Always worth trying one's own cooking before subjecting others to it.
If blacks still support the concept after you have income and wealth from 75% of blacks to lift up 25%, then we should look at expanding the idea. Do you want to give Tiger and Michael a call and ask them to write a check? Let me know how it turns out.
