David Webb - The United States is Not Institutionally Racist

thank you madam president ladies gentlemen thank you all for attending it is in more than interesting proposition that America is institutionally racist and before I address the narrative the emotion the misconceptions the misused facts or badly applied facts that have been put out here tonight I'd like to start with a simple quote there is a class of colored people who make a business of keeping the troubles the wrongs and the hardships of the Negro race before the public some of these people do not want the Negro to lose his grievances because they do not want to lose their jobs there is a certain class of race problem solvers who don't want the patient to get well that was said by Booker T Washington this is an esteemed body one that sponsors and invites debate yet just an hour or so ago someone who was invited to this body to test his mettle a chief person to the right hand of Barack Obama to the right hand of Mayor Bill DeBlasio of New York to in many ways as he puts it the right side of the blacks in America al Sharpton accepted and then refused to come and debate for this body Attorney General Eric Holder Attorney General of the United States said that America is a nation of cowards when it comes to race in fact what we stand here and do today and what someone like Al Sharpton does not do shows that the cowardice lies with those who would push a narrative demand retribution when none is required but do not show up to face the public either those who support them or detractors why is that important to what we do here today it has been said before but I will repeat it the proposition that America is institutionally racist requires that something creates an environment two things create an environment for slavery or racism and they are needed for it to exist one is a social contract as in the south during slavery to codified law neither of those things exist in American culture today and in fact if they did exist as such then the UK would also be guilty of same the British social attitudes survey of 20 of 2001 25% of Brits are very or little prejudiced against people of other races in 2013 30% of Brits are very little prejudiced or a little prejudiced against people of other races I also reject that because it is a survey it is a poll it is not a reflection of the British community nor is it a reflection of the American community the issues of racism and Prejudice will always exist that is something we can state honestly and actually it is how we get to the solutions that matter Abraham Lincoln as my colleague said fought a war to preserve the Union that Republic allowed for the people of the United States under our Constitution to amend it therefore removing slavery and then moving forward to the voting and Civil Rights Act and also the suffrage movement for women these are great acts in our society the issues that plague blacks in America or anyone who is disadvantaged have too many factors for me to address in eight minutes or eight hours but in our society we continue to address them with actions not with narrative not with conspiracy theories about DEA creating drugs or not with conspiracy theories about agencies forming groups to go after blacks in some way there are many examples I can counter one by the way by one of the speakers just for a point of information George Zimmerman was not a police officer therefore you should use a better example using wrong examples to present an argument leads us nowhere forward I understand the emotion and I respect my opposition but when you go into the areas of making false charges and living in the past you do not address the issues of the present in the present and factually so when you can do the research regardless this is not a political issue it is not a one or the other issue is a very complex nuanced issue if you find in your heart that America is not advanced as a nation then you must accept that Britain has not advanced that a nation that all of the world in the first world is not advanced in any manner therefore you must accept that all is static and society's never change for the better or the worse to anyone who believes that America is institutionally racist I'll challenge you to do this go into communities and deal with problems by examining the roots of those problems the foundations the foundation of many problems starts with the individual and there are factors there are factors of Education it is right to say that there are disadvantaged people in America 13% of the population is black 17% Hispanic majority white and mixed other race Asian at 3% but when you took take a look at the problem you must address the foundation and the factors education a family structure in the 1960's 80 plus percent of blacks were two-parent homes today that is reversed completely the other way it has a lot of factors which includes entitlement systems the growth of liberalism to a point of progressivism beyond any imagined course education comes from a strong or blended family unit that is your best path to success and when it comes to single parentage of anyone of any ethnicity a single mother has a higher likelihood significantly of being in poverty therefore raising a child in poverty I'm addressing foundation because it is easy to argue as my colleagues have the emotion the misapplication of facts and the narratives but if we do not address the foundation of a problem and we have in America we will not advance as a society and to correct a misspeak bye-bye colleague Charlie wolf he tried to correct them often amongst the cheers and the jeers he meant to say America is not perfect but working towards a more perfect union and that is something we can all take as human beings look for solutions do not fall into false claims do not follow charlatans do not follow shakedown artists who want to draw you into arguments rather than have true debate on substance and that is what we're here to do I thank you for the invitation I thank you for having me and I want to leave you with this thought we talk about skin colour our skin is not an is an organ it does not think it does not formulate ideas it is merely the genetic result of our parents our ability to use our brain and reason a free society such as in America is why we have overturned the blight and the negative aftermath of racism that began with colonial slavery America is a land of opportunity as promised in our Declaration of Independence and preserved legally legally in our Constitution and the Bill of Rights we have amended our Constitution and we have evolved as a nation our people stand proud to support and defend opportunity and freedom for all Thank You president Whedon thank you to the members of this body my colleagues and my opposition

Channel: OxfordUnion

Views: 1,174,355

Rating: 4.8524661 out of 5

Keywords: Union, Society, University, Debates, Debating, Interview, Michael Brown, Ferguson, riots, United States, America, USA, states, racist, racism, blacks, Malcolm X, Al Sharpton, Oxford Union, Oxford University

Id: pv7hsiUirUU

Length: 10min 41sec (641 seconds)

Published: Tue May 12 2015

Reddit Comments

[u/Juddyann]

Amen

[u/heleerz200]

The only people who talk about America being institutionally racist are woke white libtards