As for white self-delusion, Wise should examine some of his own assumptions:
1) The increasing number of violent incidents in suburban schools are indications of the price white america is paying for "ignoring dysfunction and violence when it only affected other communities, and thereby blind(ing) themselves to the inevitable creeping of chaos which never remains isolated too long."
The fact of the matter is that schools, black and white, are not more dangerous, but are safer than they were a generation ago. While it would be nice to believe the recent mass murders were instances of racist chickens coming home to roost, it would be delusional to think so.
2) "If any black child in America -- especially in the mostly white suburbs of Littleton, or Santee -- were to openly discuss their plans to murder fellow students, as happened both at Columbine and now Santana High, you can bet your ass that somebody would have turned them in, and the cops would have beat a path to their doorstep."
I seriously doubt this. This assumes that someone is listening to what "black children" are saying. The fact is that no one cares about inner city blacks until after they are in contact with the criminal justice system, not before. To believe otherwise is delusional.
3) Whites use drugs and alcohol frequently. Therefore whites are "no more moral, no more decent", than blacks who use them less frequently, according to the CDC.
Since when does recreational drug use have anything to do with "morality?" Drug use is a health problem and should be treated as such. If disproportionately high rates of drug use were found in black communities, in a particular black community, or by black individuals would we take this as an indication of individual or collective "immorality?" I rather doubt it, and I certainly hope not. In any case, the claim that whites are no more or less moral than blacks is obviously correct, but it cannot rest on these ground an it is delusional to claim otherwise. Furthermore, to use a bad argument to support what you believe, no matter how passionately, doesn't help convince anyone who's not alreadly convinced.
4) U.S. News' story on "shocking" rates of black crime fails to be balanced by coverage of flamboyant displays of white criminality. This is claimed to be typical of the broader misconception among whites that crime is less prevalent in their communities than in inner city ghettos.
Blacks are arrested, convicted, and incarcerated at disproportionate high rates compared to whites. It is, therefore, not racist to claim that blacks are more likely to be criminals, according to the technical definition of the term provided by the criminal justice system, it is simply a statement of fact. This disparity has, of course, more than a little to do with Clinton era policies (evidently cheered on by those communities who are victimized by them). To argue that blacks are not more likely to be criminals-i.e. victims of increasing institutionalized racism in the criminal justice system-is to succumb to delusion.
Of course, I am making a tacet assumption: it is counterproductive to support decent and humane politics with bad arguments. I should admit that I have no basis for this.
John