African-Americans are victims of systematic racism in the modern day US.

Misunderstanding Jim Crow My opponent’s argument represents a clear misunderstanding of the nature of Jim Crow laws. The inclusion of the word “law” in that phrase easily disproves CON’S argument--racial segregation in the south was not a mere product of public zeitgeist playing out among businesses’ profit margins, but of actual state and local laws which required racial segregation in both public and private institutions. The discrimination was de jure, and thus unaffected by the free market. Quite simply, if a private business attempted at integration, the establishment would likely be shut down by state or local authorities. Furthermore, my opponent is correct in his assertion that one may value racial purity over profits, the problem is that such a mindset runs counter to the point of running a business in the first place. To further expand upon this, I would like to raise the point that denying a person service (in a private institution) resides in a legal grey area. Surely there is no shortage of business owners in, for example, Mississippi, who would be delighted to explicitly ban African-Americans from their stores. But the national outrage and scrutiny such an action would invite prevents them from doing so--such an action would limit profits to an unsustainable level, and they would go out of business. University of Iowa Study I never claimed that the University of Iowa study proved an absence of stereotyping among individuals in the lending industry, rather that the fact that African-American women were lended to at the same rate as white men means that race is not a deciding factor. Any rational person can see that an argument for racism is rendered hollow if people of opposing races are treated in an equitable manner. Does Statistical Disparity Mean Racism? My opponent seems to be claiming that because the sponsor of the bill was white, it must have been racist. Never does he address the fact that a vast majority of the Congressional Black Caucus supported the bill. To further explain my thinking, here is some commentary by Harvard law professor Randall Kennedy: “In light of charges that the crack–powder distinction was enacted partly because of conscious or unconscious racism, it is noteworthy that none of the black members of Congress made that claim at the time the bill was initially discussed.” Kennedy added: “The absence of any charge by black members of Congress that the crack–powder differential was racially unfair speaks volumes; after all, several of these representatives had long histories of distinguished opposition to any public policy that smacked of racial injustice. That several of these representatives demanded a crackdown on crack is also significant. It suggests that the initiative for what became the crack–powder distinction originated to some extent within the ranks of African-American congressional officials.” Furthermore, his implication that drug laws are racist because they disproportionately affect black people is nonsensical. The reason drug laws affect black people disproportionately is because black people, unfortunately, commit a disproportionate amount of drug crimes. For my opponent to claim this as evidence of racism is akin arguing murder laws are racist because black people commit a disproportionate amount of murders. (http://www.bjs.gov...). The True Cause of Black Poverty As my opponent objected to my use of the Cato Institute on the grounds of bias, I will do the same with the evidence he took from the far-left Brookings Institute. Nevertheless, I will still address his claim of an increased likelihood of poverty among blacks. In order properly address the plight of black poverty, we must first examine its main cause: single motherhood. Studies consistently show that the number one cause of poverty in America is single motherhood, which has risen among black families from 20% to 70% since 1960. Unless my opponent is to argue that racism in America has significantly increased in the last 56 years, it is apparent that the root of the endemic lies outside his comfortable confine of identity politics. To further my case that single motherhood is the number one cause of black poverty, I present unbiased evidence that African-American two parent households hold a 93% likelihood of living above the poverty line. (http://factfinder.census.gov...)