Race, politics and solutions

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Race, politics and solutions

The collapse of the traditional family and the civil rights establishment

This is a RUSH transcript from "The O'Reilly Factor," August 27, 2013. This copy may not be in its final form and may be updated.

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O'REILLY: And in the "Impact Segment" tonight as we reported last night, Saturday's big civil rights event in Washington was long on grievance, short on problem-solving. See my "Talking Points" memo from last night on BillOReilly.com.

But there is some good news. A number of black Americans are starting to question why the civil rights establishment is avoiding the key issues on crime and the collapse of the traditional family.

Writing in "USA Today" columnist Duane Wickman made that point. And yesterday the president of the Center for Neighborhood Enterprise Bob Woodson was also critical of the civil rights industry. Mr. Woodson joins us now from Washington.

So as you know we've been reporting on this for about a month. And I believe it's a collapse of the traditional African-American family that's leading to the violence, the bad education and chaos in general. Am I wrong?

BOB WOODSON, CEO, CENTER FOR NEIGHBORHOOD ENTERPRISE: No you're right, Bill. But there has always been a great divide in the black community over this issue. Unfortunately, the civil rights movement of which I was a part in the 60s has declined and morphed into a race grievance industry.

It was Booker T. Washington at the turn of the century said there are groups of blacks who thrive off the grievance of their fellow blacks. If blacks lose their grievance they lose their income. And unfortunately that's what we have today.

O'REILLY: Now do you believe that extends all the way down to the folks or is it just centered in the -- look, we established last night very, very vividly and nobody has challenged it that last Saturday's march in Washington was funded by the teacher's unions very heavily and that the money went into organizations like Al Sharpton's action committee and other civil rights concerns and there is big money involved.

But do the rank-and-file African-American folks in your opinion want the government money to continue to flow and, therefore get behind the grievance industry?

WOODSON: As I said, Bill, in 1965, Bill Raspberry, a banner headline on the front page of the "The Washington Post" and has said "Poor Negroes are not benefiting from the gains of the civil rights movement." And so even from back then until today, the interests of the so-called leadership has -- has often been at odds with the rank-and-file. And this is true on this issue. If you were to take polls, for instance most low income blacks support vouchers for education. The civil rights leadership opposes it.

In Cincinnati, Ohio for instance, Sharpton and others came in when a white police officer shot a black youngster and as a consequence they boycotted the city. Well, the police then -- it resulted in police nullification. So the police said if I'm going to be accused as a racist then I won't patrol in the black communities. The murder rate went up 800 percent Bill in one year. But it wasn't the sons and daughters of those leaders whose children were in those neighborhoods.

And the same thing is occurring in New York where Stop-and-Frisk is threatened which means that if they are successful, that you'll see a tick in the murder rate.

O'REILLY: But the folks here in New York that lived in the black neighborhoods that are affected by Stop-and-Frisk the most don't want it. All the polls show that they are supporting the liberal candidates that are going to throw it out. And that's my question. See, nothing is going to get better. I'm giving up on the civil rights industry. There is too much money and they are not going to come around and look out and try to solve any problems. So they just not. They are going to blame everything on the white establishment as they always have.

But I'm trying to rally the regular African-American people to say look, you guys have got to get to the number of the problem, the collapse of the families is where it is all about, you can't have a good education if there's no emphasis on that and the family.

If you're going to have 75 percent out of wedlock births you're going to have chaos and poverty everywhere. Get behind it start to get the peer pressure working against that but it's not happening.

WOODSON: But Bill, there are -- there are solutions to the problem. For instance, what we do at the Center for Neighborhood Enterprise and other groups are going into those neighborhoods and visiting those families, the 30 percent of the families that are raising children that are not dropping out of school or in jail on drugs and we are finding out how - - what is it that is happening in those households that are causing people in toxic neighborhoods to raise children successfully and we must -- and what we are doing is demonstrating when you invest in those neighborhood leaders, and then take steps to help what they do to inspire others through change. That's what we -- we have to have solutions conferences and -- and bring people together around these remedies.

O'REILLY: All right but you're at loggerheads with the civil rights industry and the liberal white establishment that says we don't want to hear any of that it's all about big government pouring more and more money into the precincts. Now that hasn't worked. Poverty rate is now higher than it was 50 years ago when the war on poverty started. And it's not working.

WOODSON: It really does. Bill. But I still think that we he have demonstrated that in the city of Milwaukee, Wisconsin for instance is at a five-year -- a 25 year low in violence because of the initiatives that we are taking.

O'REILLY: All right it can work but the word has got to get out. Mr. Woodson thanks very much.

WOODSON: And it worked -- we've got to do it.

O'REILLY: We appreciate it.

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