July 2, 2020
Jason L. Riley is an American journalist, a member of the Wall Street Journal editorial board. He is a senior fellow at the Manhattan Institute and frequently appears at the Journal Editorial Report, other Fox News programs and occasionally on C-SPAN.
Biography and Publications
Riley was born in Buffalo, New York, and earned a bachelor's degree in English from the State University of New York at Buffalo. His first jobs in journalism were for the Buffalo News and USA Today. He joined The Wall Street Journal in 1994 as a copyreader on the national news desk in New York. In April 1996, he was named to the newly created position of editorial interactive editor, and joined the editorial board in 2005.
In 2008, he wrote Let Them In: The Case for Open Borders,which he promoted on Colbert Report and other venues.
In 2014, Riley published Please Stop Helping Us: How Liberals Make It Harder for Blacks to Succeed. The book was praised by Thomas Sowell of National Review, who wrote "Pick up a copy and open pages at random to see how the author annihilates nonsense." New York Times Book Review critic Orlando Patterson, however, described one chapter as "thoroughly misinformed [which] not only trots out the usual inaccuracies about hip hop's influence but, failing to recognize the diversity of African-American cultures, proceeds to libel the entire group".
In his 2017 book False Black Power?], Riley champions economic success as a more important strategy for the empowerment of black people compared to political leadership.
According to Salon, "The American left should start paying attention to the Wall Street Journal's Jason Riley. His name is on the rise".
The following video is an interview of Mr. Riley about his book, Please Stop Helping Us. Some of his points and topics covered are:
Government is not the solution
It’s culture, values and habits
Fathers
School choice
I have his book on my Kindle but my “virtual bedside table” is getting pretty crowded. I thought this 20 minute discussion was worth watching to get the highlights of the book.
It’s interesting that the left blames the right and the right blames the left. Neither one seems to have done a good job so far. We’ve had Nixon, Reagan, Bush 1 and 2 and Trump on the right. We’ve had Carter, Clinton and Obama on the left. I would think that’s enough time for one side to stop saying this what needs to be done and to get it done. ☹️
Huzzah to Brother Nesbit's comment!!! All the government should be doing is enforcing equal access and opportunity, NOT equal outcome! How many more generations will be saddled with reverse discrimination in the form of affirmative action. If private companies want to give selective preference to minorities or women, fantastic! But, don't continue to force it on everyone three generations later simply because the numbers don't crunch properly....
Lucian, let me pick on your closing paragraph a bit. You state: "It’s interesting that the left blames the right and the right blames the left. Neither one seems to have done a good job so far." We’ve had Nixon, Reagan, Bush 1 and 2 and Trump on the right. We’ve had Carter, Clinton and Obama on the left. I would think that’s enough time for one side to stop saying this what needs to be done and to get it done."
You seem predisposed to believe that government must do something - "get it done." What is "it?" What is the goal? How do we know "it" is done? Can we measure it?
In the 1960s, the goal was…
One of my favorite parts of teaching U.S. History since Reconstruction was handing out five different essays by five different black American authors written in the late 1800s. All five had different views of what was the problem in and with the black community in America, and each offering its own very valid and interesting solution for those problems. Since the 1960s, there has been only one solution with two variations -- federal spending and federal programs -- which just entrenches the black underclass. We really do need to have a debate/discussion on the issue, with a variety of opinions, lead my blacks themselves, such as Mr. Riley.....