The other day I linked to an op-ed by Leonard Pitts Jr. I called my post My hero for a day, and this was the "Quote of note."

It is telling how mutely we absorb that fact, which gives tacit approval to this means of controlling a population whose mere existence we have historically found threatening and inconvenient.

...it's no accident African-American children are always so well represented in those lousy places.

So our concern for them now feels--well, let's call it belated. And self-deluding.

Those children were right where we wanted them to be. 

I checked Google and I see that one is just making the rounds in newspapers. I'm wondering if this editorial will also make the rounds because he discusses his email, wherein folks prove the "Quote of note" above was absolutely correct, if overgenerous with pronoun selection.

In response, a woman named Charlene demanded to know, ''When is the black community going to take responsibility for themselves?'' An individual named Don wrote, ''Why are they in jail? Because most young blacks are thugs, dope dealers and car thieves in my experience.'' A fellow named Jay wrote that, ''AA women need to stop having children out of wedlock. . . . Raise a child in a home with a mother and father and you will see the stats for crime go way down.'' Some people, using statistics freshly pulled from their backsides, sought to ''prove'' black kids commit pretty much all of the crime in the country.

And one individual said Martin Lee Anderson's guards "did us all a favor.''

As I said, some people find the existence of black children inconvenient.

You want to talk responsibility? I'm fine with that. Much of what ails African America lies squarely within its power to fix; I've been saying that in this space for many years.

But the fact is, the need for greater personal responsibility, important as it is, does not of itself account for all the dysfunctions that beset the African-American community.

Uh-oh...facts! It's on, now...

Not really. Mr. Pitts is rather calm, and it's not a really complex issue he's describing. But I enjoyed it.