Really.

Did I jack Juan Williams over the silly discussion he had with Dr. Dyson over his book? No (then again, there wasn't a lot of substance to the discusion). I was prepared to wait for Cobb to finish the book.

Okay, the truth is I'm as interested in a book sub-titled "The Phony Leaders, Dead-End Movements, and Culture of Failure That Are Undermining Black America-- and What We Can Do About It" (probably has the same ghost writer Jesse Lee Paterson uses for his speeches) as I am anything else Jesse Lee Paterson's ghost writer says.

I thought he would quietly peddle his book to Conservatives, and that would be fine. But noooooo...he has to repeat a bunch of old dead arguments in the Washington Post.

If systemic racism remains a reality, there is also a far more sinister obstacle facing African American young people today: a culture steeped in bitterness and nihilism, a culture that is a virtual blueprint for failure

At some point I should respond to this sort of nonsense in some more substantial form than a blog post.

Mr. Williams starts with the class warrior's standard opening.

With 50 percent of Hispanic children and nearly 70 percent of black children born to single women today these young people too often come from fractured families where there is little time for parenting.

My more substantial response would draw on the DHHS' 1995 Report to Congress on out-of-wedlock childbearing...the next one is due this winter, it ought to be interesting...and biology, the point being that this view is so simplistic as to be an obstacle to understanding what's going on with marriage in the world. The trend Mr. Williams notes here is worldwide in scope.

Their search for identity and a sense of direction is undermined by a twisted popular culture that focuses on the "bling-bling" of fast money associated with famous basketball players, rap artists, drug dealers and the idea that women are at their best when flaunting their sexuality and having babies.

And that culture is...American culture.

Come on Juan...who is making the money here? And who is doing the associating? We want fast money, Juan. And again, "we" is America...I dare you to find a white guy who would turn down fast money.

Me? I got no problem with fast money associated with famous basketball players. Or actors. Or pundits. All what you'd call pure rent...that punditry is less valued than basketball is not Shaq's fault. Don't hate the player, hate the game.

Fast money associated with rap artists fall into the same category. This is America...I am not telling Black folk to leave money on the table. I may well tell some of them they aren't handling it right, maybe set up a baby business school for prospective players.

You want to stop that you have to hit the demand side. Make white people stop buying it.

Who associates fast money with the idea that women are at their best when flaunting their sexuality and having babies? I mean, other than ALL OF WESTERN SOCIETY?? Don't put that on us.

And you can think I'm trying to avoid responsibility all you want...the fact is, I have none of these issues personally so if anything I'm asking for more responsibility. I'm just saying you have to take it too because the problem is global.

You want to focus on Black folks then do it right. That means recognizing when what you perceive as Black folks' issues are part of the general drift of society. Being accurate is the only way to figure out where to apply your efforts.