The New Racism (Re-posted, Updated)
Now just over a year since first posting this, it seems a good time to update and re-post, the subject matter being perhaps more relevant today than it was a mere 12 months ago. -Ologies & -Isms. Copyright 2008 The Gale Group, Inc. All rights reserved.
At every turn, conservatives are attacked for their beliefs and their stand against the overt and covert attacks by the "progressive" left on our God-granted rights to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness - rights, incidentally, embodied within the United States Constitution, which the political leadership has sworn to protect (support) by oath or affirmation. With cries of "RACISM" flung about at every objection made to every attempted usurpation of those rights, it becomes clear why no meaningful discussion is taking place in this nation regarding skin pigmentation, leading to the phrase "nation of cowards" escaping the lips of Obama's attorney general. How can we have that discussion, when every word and every action by those on the right and center-right of the political spectrum is automatically deemed "racist" by the left and center-left? Quite simply, that discussion can never take place; therefore, we will never be a "post-racial" society.
The left cannot allow society to evolve to such a state. If that happened, if the color of one's skin played no role in individual or group outcomes, if all men (and women) were truly equal, those on the left would have no mission, no purpose, no "victim" to exploit. They would have no reason to exist. The instigation of imagined racism and the exploitation of real racism is no more than a survival mechanism for these individuals, a means to maintain political clout and further personal glorification, a way to ensure the lining of their pockets continues, even if it is at the expense of society as a whole.
I took an instant liking to Clifton's term, "Raaaaacism Industrial Complex." To me, it embodies the entirety of the racism crisis being manufactured by the left to obscure the real issue of opposition to policies and legislation that will further infringe upon our rights, liberties, and FREEDOM as American citizens. With every cry of "racism" at defiance toward unconstitutional diktats imposed upon us by our political "leadership" where none exists, the legitimacy of those cases where it does is destroyed. It seems almost as though they are deliberately trying to destroy that dream of Dr. King's that many of us, regardless of color, hold onto: That we will each be judged on the content of our character and not the color of our skin.
Those on the left, those on the right, and all of those falling somewhere in the middle fail to realize that the focus of "racism" is no longer on skin color but zeroed in on the number of Federal Reserve notes (or digital equivalent) one has accumulated and one's ability to accumulate more - by whatever means necessary. The issue is not whether one is black, white, brown, red, or yellow but the instigation of class warfare by the political left in an attempt to destroy the capitalist roots from which this nation grew to prosperity and remake this nation into a utopia that can never exist.
Read on....
***Originally posted September 18, 2008***
The 2008 Presidential campaign has been "history in the making" to the point of making our ears and brains bleed.
The candidacy of Hillary Clinton broke records on an almost disturbing number of levels, the most obvious in being the first woman to have a real chance at getting her name on the ticket (I unequivocally exclude Ferraro; even as a child, I understood that Mondale had a snowball's chance in Hell of winning, which made her a non-issue). While there have been SONS to carry on the Presidential legacy, there has never been a spouse of a past President, TWO FULL election cycles after his term ended and despite his IMPEACHMENT, let alone an individual that literally half the country has expressed distaste or dislike or outright hatred for.
Amazing, really, in all its complexity. All moot, though, once she ceded pursuit of the brass ring to Barack Obama. Maybe. Unless he were defeated at the polls and she ran again in 2012, giving her another shot at being the first Madam President.
Then someone rained on that parade, with the announcement of Sarah Palin as the Republican VP pick. With John McCain being old, and according to Matt Damon's actuary tables and the seemingly indisputable fact that he will not make it through his first term, along comes President Palin.
The first Madam President.
This has just GOTTA piss off some Hillary people. NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO they wail and moan. It's Hillary's turn in 2012, and this woman has no right to usurp her throne! She didn't suffer the way Hillary did to earn that seat in the Oval Office. It kind of gives me the giggles. I'd love to see a woman in office, just not Hillary Clinton. She's married to this guy - WHO WAS IMPEACHED - for years, is of the same political stripe as he, has stood behind and beside him and his policy decisions in every way; therefore, she really cannot be all that different. After all, a lot can be told about a person's character by the company they keep.
Which brings me full-circle back to Mr. Obama. Another maker of history here, having transcended racial boundaries to rise as the first black man as a true contender in November. Yet one cannot look at the company HE chooses to keep without being a little frightened. It has been flogged to death all over the web, Reverend Wright and Ayers and others, to the point of bringing tears; I have no need to flog it some more.
What frightens me on a deeper, more visceral level is not the company he keeps but the messages I hear coming from his direction.
Change just for the sake of change. How many times has his campaign slogan changed? If change is constant, how do I know his positions will not change as quickly as his slogan? To make me even more suspicious, after invoking a mantra of change, he seats a Washington veteran, part of the machine for nearly as long as I have been alive, at the bottom of his ticket? How is that "change"? If, heaven forbid, something happened to "President" Obama and Biden took the reins, will the CHANGE WE NEED truly occur or will yet another of the good ole' boys take their foot off the brake and stomp on the accelerator, after the steering wheel has already been ripped off and thrown out the window?
This election is not about race. Yet in a compilation of about 9 hours' worth of speeches by Obama and his wife, the message I hear is unrelentingly that of oppression of black people and the continued push toward equality. If this is not about race, why raise the issue in nearly every public address? Why affect "blackness" - right down to a southern accent - when speaking to blacks and "whiteness" when speaking to whites? More importantly, why is he universally acknowledged as a "black" candidate when he is, in fact, also half white - the half, I cannot help but point out, that happens to be AMERICAN.
In Barack Obama we have a man who in his heritage alone has shattered the black and white boundaries that have gripped this nation since its founding. He was not born with a silver spoon in his mouth, as he has pointed out. He was raised by "regular" Americans, working-class grandparents and a middle-America mother. He attended fine schools. He has served his community, trying to make it a better place. He is a handsome man married to a beautiful woman and they have two beautiful children.
In short, he is part of the living, beating heart of this country and what makes her great. He is almost too good to be true.
You know what they say about that.
I have made an honest effort to get to know my candidates, to make an informed and educated decision, including the 4 principals whose faces are plastered across the planet as well as the other candidates you hear NOTHING about (McKinney, Barr, Nader, etc.). I have come to a number of conclusions, all my own opinions, none of which I expect anyone else to subscribe to.
Black or white, young or old, man or woman, Democratic or Republican or whatever flavor of Independent, as a nation we have strayed from the core principal/doctrine/belief system we should be embracing - proudly - as Citizens of the United States of America; not disowning it, not ridiculing it, not blatantly ignoring it, and certainly NEVER deliberately and willfully undermining it:We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness.
Nowhere do I see "white men" or "black men" or even specifically defining men as separate from women. In the greater context of Creation, "man" being that which He created in His image, this is man and woman, as woman came from man and is a part of him.
In understanding and accepting this value and wrapping myself within it, I move beyond the hyphenation of identities, a practice that only serves to continue to divide us. You (hypothetical person) are no more "African-American" than I am "German-once-removed-Canadian-American," because quite frankly that just sounds ridiculous, even if it describes my heritage. Born in this country, on American soil, I am an American. I have roots in other cultures, just like you (again, hypothetical person), and I have the freedom, as do you, to incorporate those elements into my personal identity. But in the end, I am still just an American.
The skin is a decorative wrapper, God's art on the vessel that stores your soul, your essence, whatever descriptor you use to define that spiritual part of your being. If you're not religious, do not believe His teachings, or whatever floats your boat, then it's just that cosmic sense of humor that determined the amount of melanin in your skin or the construct of your genitalia.
I am not so stupid or naive as to think that many - or even one - people think or feel the way I do. I know that they do not, and I know that there is a racial divide that exists to this day, so many years after the Emancipation Proclamation. I know that there is a struggle, a "battle" that must be won for true equality to prevail. But trying to legislate it to death will not bring about defeat, and inequalities in our society span far more than the color of one's skin; race, age, gender, religious affiliation, and disability are others. The freedoms of one are "inextricably tied" to the freedoms of the others, and all must prevail or none will.
Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., was one of the few truly great men we as a society had the amazing fortune to have touch our lives in modern times, blazing across the pages of our history books in more than just a footnote, a shameful loss to all with the silencing of his voice before his work was complete. Dr. King was the epitome of America's "audacity of hope."
Barack Obama is no Dr. King, no matter how hard he tries to define himself by those standards or other try to do it for him.
This really is leading somewhere, and not just a rant against Obama... I promise.
I read Dr. King's words, and I am deeply moved, hundreds of "what-ifs" flying through my mind. I hear Dr. King's words, and I am swept away in a flood of emotions that I cannot describe, expressed in a tear.
A tear of joy.
A tear of pain.
A tear of hope.
Unfortunately, the bank of justice in America may very well be bankrupt. Bankrupt for blacks, whites, reds, yellows, and browns; bankrupt for young and old and everyone in between; bankrupt for those of all political followings and all religious beliefs.
2. a belief in a policy of enforcing the asserted right of control. — racist, n., adj.
Unless, of course, you can afford to buy "justice."
Nowhere in the great documents founding this country do I see strokes of the quill endowing the man of wealth with more essential power than he who has little or none; making him more equal that the rest, better than everyone else. All men are created equal. Yet in my lifetime, I have never seen a poor man occupying the seat at the head of the nation - no matter how intelligent, fair-minded, honest, loyal, or just plain good he may be. Money makes the wheels of Washington turn; if you have none, you might as well not exist. With no money, you cannot "campaign" your way into a seat of power. With no money, you cannot buy the lobbyists to push your ventures into legislative reality. With no money, your voice cannot be heard.
There are reasons why (in a free market in which the government is not meddling) banks fail... stocks crash... and sometimes other generally bad shit happens... It's the dynamics of the market and the economy. The financial equivalent of "natural selection." By bolstering a nonviable player in the market and preventing its demise, the government (beginning with institution of the Federal Reserve Act and creation of the central bank all the way to buying up the mistakes of Fanny and Freddie and friends) is attempting to manipulate the natural outcome, creating a model to ensure the wealth stays on the top. Allowing the market to run its course could have unspeakable outcomes. Without the artificial market constructs created by those in power, well... some of the "haves" might actually become "have-nots"!
This is the face of the new racism in America; skin color plays no part in this division. The races facing each other in epic battle are The Wealthy and The Poor, "the manacles of segregation and the chains of discrimination" seen every day at the gas pump, in the grocery store, in hospitals and schools across America - seen in the eye of every hungry child, felt in the heart of every mom working two jobs just to put food on the table. They are openly visible to remind us of where we belong, yet hidden in a way that the oppressor will not be forced to see, and perhaps experience a twinge of guilt.
Black and white alike, "living on an island of poverty in the midst of a vast ocean of material prosperity." And every day the chasm widens, a few more "have-nots" falling in, a few more "haves" wiping their brow in relief at being saved from huddling with the unwashed masses.
All the while, our leaders and potential leaders distract us from the real issue with glitter and gloss, promising change but never addressing the root of that which truly needs to be changed - the disparity between the "races," driving the wedge in deeper instead of allowing us to heal and come together as one.
All men are created equal.
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