Equality

It's a loaded word, anymore.  Just as "rights" can be.  There are so many emotional meanings tacked onto the literal one that people have started having gut reactions to simple statements.

And sometimes, they're right to.  Sometimes "equality" and "rights" mean "I'm better than you because of x" and "If you tell me no, it's because you're racist." 

Like this guy.  He claims that white people have never been anything but racist.  However, his language choices are suspect: he claims that white people have never favored "rights" for blacks.  Not equal, just "rights."

I have never opposed truly equal rights to those different from me--everyone has an equal opportunity to work their ass off and become successful.  I do, however, oppose lowering my standards to permit them to have chances that they don't deserve.  Especially when those standards include standards of civilized behavior. 

I do oppose the idea that someone else has the right to take money I've earned, or take my belongings.  I've worked damn hard to actually earn both.  I do oppose the idea that someone else has the right to tell me how to raise my kids.  Looking around, it's pretty obvious that I do a far better job of training my children to behave than the busybodies do.  I do oppose the idea that someone else has more right to my home, my car, my job, or my standard of living than I do.  We achieve that standard of living on far less than the welfare dependents spend on their shoes and cell phones. 

I believe in equal rights, not equal results.  What Bob Herbert is talking about is not the first.  He's talking about making allowances because of the color of the skin of the people involved. 

Believing that black people need special treatment and special expectations just because they're black?  That's just racist.