NPR on ACORN: The Hard-Core Bigotry of Low Expectations

Today NPR took notice of the most recent ACORN scandal. Credit to Frank James for covering this story in a fashion that puts most of the MSM to shame so far.

“Instead of wasting its funds on lawsuits, ACORN might want to consider doing more intensive training of its workers and testing them with its own undercover testers.”

Unfortunately, Mr. James concludes his piece by indulging in what George Bush (or one of his speech writers) so eloquently referred to as “the soft bigotry of low expectations.”

“It’s also important to keep in mind that ACORN’s workers are coming from the same low-income neighborhoods the organization serves, with all that entails — poor schools, high crime and the sorts of social problems that have been documented for decades.”

“So the flaws conservatives are pointing out about ACORN are not so much problems associated with that organization per se but more about the problems of being poor and minority in urban America.”

It’s true that the neglect of school children in the inner cities and elsewhere is morally wrong and possibly criminal. It is arguably the systemic root of much of what ails America. And it’s true that liberal government policies dating back three generations have served to warehouse the poor while creating perverse financial incentives to underachieve, i.e. welfare policies that encouraged the poorest to forgo savings, to ignore career and college ambitions and to have multiple children outside of marriage. Even so, it is sick and condescending to assume that the poor and disenfranchised lack any moral compass. The aforementioned behavior, financially speaking, is perfectly rational — thanks to our government. The implicit suggestion that these people “don’t know better” than to abet child prostitution is the height of racism and arrogance.

Such lack of expectations born of liberal guilt is tragic, but telling.

This isn’t The Wire, Mr. James. These aren’t street level drug dealers at the mercy of a politically confused Drug War. These are employees of a government funded organization who blithely conspire to rape little girls. And I do thank you for pointing out who trained these people. Yes, ACORN did. But why fail to mention that this organization has yet to apologize, or to thank James and Hannah for bringing this horror to their attention?

I’m not asking for coverage from the mainstream media. I’m asking for their outrage.