Editor,
Jason Darensburg reinforces what many know: When confronted with facts they do not like, many liberals resort to hyperbole and ad hominem statements just as Darensburg did in his letter published in Thursday's Daily Lobo.
Darensburg has never met me, does not know who I am, does not know my family or friends, but he says, "I doubt Howell even knows any minorities, so he can't ask them what they think."
How does he know? And what does that silliness have to do with facts?
The statement I made, "The African-American middle class is enjoying growth, because it has intact families and values education. Its incomes are compatible to those of whites doing the same work," is supported by public data from the U.S. Census Bureau, tax returns, filings by banks and mortgage companies.
As a percentage of the population, minorities have increased in the preceding years and have made important inroads into college-level education and professional careers.
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Using those sources and Department of Justice records, we find intact families that work to achieve a middle-class or greater income experience far less crime in the family and produce far fewer pathological children.
Studies from University of California Berkeley, the University of Illinois studies tracking the Great Society families for 40 years and many others all show the same result: Most social misfits come from single women who have multiple children from different males, have a close family member who is in jail and are exposed to substance abuse by close family members.
These are not middle-class families. Darensburg's statement, "If Howell considers Clinton an ultra-liberal" becomes ad hominem with, "he is clearly lacking brain cells."
A few of the many positions that Sen. Barrack Obama and Sen. Hillary Clinton share are greater government involvement in education, higher taxes, socializing our health system and further restrictions on oil and gas drilling. Just read the statements both have made for confirmation.
My primary point is we should vote for the best candidate based upon his or her knowledge of the issues, clearly defined plans to fix a problem and whose judgement in his or her friends and advisers is sound. Race, gender and sexual predilection are irrelevant.
I extend this invitation to Darensburg: Want to meet and discuss such matters? Make arrangements with KUNM for us to be in studio on a Thursday morning during the call-in show.
If you prefer another venue, I will consider it, but KUNM, as the voice of UNM, is the right place.
I am in the phone book or contact me through the Daily Lobo editor, if you wish.
Philip Howell
Daily Lobo reader
