Al Reynolds: A Clarification

In case my take on Al Reynold's racist outburst came over too obtuse and inadvertently sympathetic, I'm posting this comment by Sagacious Hillbilly which says kinda what I meant to say anyway:

This is a broad statement made by a right wing racist pr*ck who likes to paint minorities with a broad brush. Black men DO NOT prefer to deal drugs, no matter how it's worded. Sometimes it the only choice for some in certain socioeconomic levels, but that's NOT what this dick wad was talking about. "before the women have to support them all?!" Do I really need to dissect the loud and clear racist overtones of that bullsh*t?

Yea, let's talk about the poverty that is invading the middle class. Let's talk about the lack of hope that is infecting a huge percentage of today's youth, but let's do it in a manner where that is not making it sound like one group or another is particularly prone to these conditions because of their own nature.

Like I said, that's pretty much what I was trying to say. Nope. I was not defending a racist... so apologies to anyone who thought I'd lost my damn mind and been ingesting Tea Party Kool Aid. I wasn't trying to suggest broke black guys were naturally inclined to becoming drug dealers - any more than broke white kids in rural sh*t holes who fall into dealing meth. Simply that poverty and lack of opportunity make dealing a too tempting option for those without the economic resources enjoyed by upwardly mobile suburban kids (black or white).

See? This economic sh*t is hard to discuss without pushing race buttons. Maybe that's why the disparity in this country just keeps on growing... people are too inclined to imagine poverty as pertaining only to minorities. And the more conservatively inclined don't care for them much anyway.