You don’t really mention class. We’re not supposed to talk about it in America. You wrote:

” Some small towns, Midwest industrial cities and rural towns are now populated with unwed mothers, unemployment citizens, drugs dealing and white on white violence. All the ills that are casually attributed to black culture. Is any one ready to attribute these ills to European descended culture?”

To answer your question. No, these white pundits you mention would never attribute it to European-descended culture. Really, they attribute to the lack of European-descended culture. They will never say so. There is an entrenched underclass made up of whites and blacks in America, that we’re not supposed to mention.

I won’t provide a 9-point diatribe against blacks, but I don’t think you honestly discussed the issue of race and class in America. It seems to me you are sensitive to the term “cultural dysfunction” as a racist slight against blacks. I think “cultural dysfunction” is an important phenomenon around the world. All it really means is that a culture has been built up that is maladaptive to success and happiness, at least in some respects. It happens in white and black America, its happening in Muslim theocracies, it’s happening in parts of Africa.

It’s one thing to not accept outright racism, but you don’t come across as honestly scrutinizing the issue of culture. You write, ” I hope to illustrate some of these ways and upcoming blogs in a manner that separates the dysfunction from the culture.”

It reads like you’ve already started with the position that no ills can be attributed to a people’s culture, and I don’t think that’s honest. Take for example one charge leveled at Blacks in America: the culture doesn’t embrace education.

The same could be said of hillbilly white folk, muslim or christian fundamentalists anywhere, and so on. Do any of us really doubt that this impacts success and happiness of the larger group? You describe yourself as a salty scholar. You must have come across people who don’t value “book-learning” in your life. People who don’t value education. They exist in every culture and race (sadly) … the issue is how strongly and widely such views are held. It is not honest to discount the notion of cultural dysfunction because it makes us squeamish.