Question

Individualism and personal responsibility: is this a pretest for racism? (or a genuine commitment to self-reliance?)

Answer 1

This seems kind of backwards to me. It doesn't seem racist to me to believe that everybody, of whatever race, should exhibit personal responsibility, and has the right to take command of his individual fate. That seems like color-blind sex-blind equal justice to me.

What strikes me as racist is to assume that, if we insist that everyone take personal responsibility for their lives, ONLY minorities will be unable to do so, and suffer. That assumes minorities are less capable than everyone else -- which is a racist attitude. It's quite similar to the attitude of slaveowners in the antebellum South, who opposed freeing the slaves in part because they said the slaves couldn't take care of themselves, they'd just starve to death, or turn to crime, if they were forced to be personally responsible for their own lives.