Megan McArdle writes about racism and conservatives (via Instapundit). The comments are really interesting. Go read them. The opinions range from a self-righteous defense of white guilt to diminishing the contributions of prominent black conservatives because they're not really conservative.

So let me get this straight: Liberals are better than conservatives because they feel bad that there's racism and they're justified in using blacks to make them feel better, but that's not racism that's "promoting diversity".

As Ms. McArdle says:

It's also worth noting that the presidential candidate who has done the most to exploit the racism of others this election season is liberal Democrat Hillary Clinton, whose campaign, though bullish on sexism, has spent a lot more time talking about how it is constrained by political correctness in its campaign against Barack Obama than being concerned with actual racism.

Conservative find discrimination based on race or gender repugnant. As the Democratic primary season has amply demonstrated, identity politics, when taken to its logical end, is absurd. What is the big idea on the Left these days?

How does feeling guilty for wrongs people committed generations ago change the reality today? How does feeling better because you're guilty help? It's irrational. And the policies that liberals espouse are irrational and lead to the exact opposite place they intend. New Orleans is a liberal government let to run amok for years. In the north, there's Detroit and Philadelphia. All three cities have been run by liberal policies. The results have been anything but good especially for black people. And in places like Key West and San Francisco, other places where liberal politics are practiced, poor people of any color cannot live there. Now, who exactly is discriminatory?

And then there are the individual implications. One of my genius friends happens to be black (he's not genius enough to be conservative). He was educated in a fantastic university and not because of affirmative action. But how galling would it be to work your ass off and be presumed to have needed lowered standards in order to make it?

It is irrational to believe that racism doesn't exist. It does. It is also irrational to believe that by focusing on race and feeling guilty, racism will end.

Cross-posted at Dr. Melissa Clouthier.