David Clarke's opus: "Middle Class Like Me"

Milwaukee County David Clarke is on a tear against blacks again -- well, he would say against violence in the inner city. But if you read his screed, sent to Charlie Sykes as usual, you might wonder what his point is.

Clarke and his admirers portray him as a conservative intellectual. Maybe he's just too smart for me. Read this, posted on Sykes Writes, and note my highlights:

This violence has nothing to do with racism, poverty, lack of jobs etc. There is another issue relating to this violence that people are ignoring. Another major cause is middle class flight. Ever since the eighties a steady stream of strong, intact middle class families is leaving the city. What remains then is the underclass and those who can't afford to leave. Middle class families create stability in communities and keep things like crime and violence in check.

Milwaukee's central city is spreading out and is in the midst of urban decay. This is something that is not easily reversed or even halted. This is something that blacks themselves are going to have to solve. Government and the do-gooder liberals are powerless to solve this.

What government should do is enact policies that strengthen families and fix K-12 ed. That's all they can and should do. I would imagine that some lib will call for the creation of yet another social service program costing millions of dollars-an anger management program. It's laughable.

So this has nothing to do with poverty. It just has to do with all of the families who are not in poverty moving away, leaving those in poverty behind. Am I missing something, or does that sound like it has something to do with poverty?

Clarke just can't understand what's wrong with these poor blacks. Why didn't they grow up in a middle class family like he did, with parents who would send them to private schools, like his parents did? Sheriff Clarke, needless to say, does not live in the inner city. He was lucky. He didn't have to try to pull himself out of poverty. (If Clarke ever got around to publishing his ideas in book form, it wouldn't be titled, "Black Like Me." Maybe "Middle Class Like Me.")

Who wants to be around all of those poor people? Certainly not Sheriff Clarke. Besides the violence, they don't dress nicely, either.

What on earth do you think David Clarke is talking about?