We are soon approaching the spring season during which, 142 years ago, the south lost the civil war and slowly began to capitulate to the growing sentiment against slavery. Yet one hundred forty-two years later we are still told that nothing has gotten better for the black race.
Part of the problem with our culture is this pounding, politically-correct rhetoric that some mythical racial divide causes all whites to hate all blacks (and in some cases this thesis is adopted sympathetically toward Hispanics). The truth of reality is such that the only divide between races in modern times is caused by over corrective attempts at ‘fairness’.
The most obvious example is the system of racial quotas that require certain companies and services to maintain a number of black employees strictly based upon ‘fairness’. Like it or not, racial quotas only serve to institute racism and draw an employer away from hiring the best possible person. In the real world, everyone must compete for a job based solely upon their qualifications and not upon this race.
Short of self inflicted propaganda, systematic racism against blacks no longer exists. Yet, there are a plethora of leaders in the black community who insist that racism is the primary problem for blacks these days. The Reverends, most obviously, have indeed amassed an enormous following of people of many races who believe that a black man cannot succeed without electing liberal Democrats. They have even been so successful as to convince the people voting that conservatives are racists because they want people to work for what they get. Yet, if you give a man a fish…
The American dream is universal. If ‘African’ Americans are so concerned about being African first why are they not flooding our transportation industries to return to their homeland? The fact of the matter is that America is the best nation on earth and is so not due to anti-racism policies. We are a great nation because we all believe in those unalienable rights. Where else does someone have a right to the pursuit of happiness? Whites, blacks, Hispanics, Asians and fill-in-the-blanks all have more freedom and opportunity in this country than any other place on earth in its entire history.
Since systematic racism, however, did once exist in this nation, it is crucial to understand that the people have moved on from those events and are seeking a better life than malice over history. Bill Cosby has been attacked for taking a stand but he has been absolutely right. No one, in our nation of freedom, should expect the government to institute policies to create the American dream for certain races. Bill Cosby has stood up and said that you have to work hard and earn what you get. The reality of freedom is that the government should never provide a single solution to a problem. Government’s single role in our lives is to ensure the preservation of opportunity and that we Americans utilize those freedoms and opportunities we have to make better for ourselves and our nation.
The politically correct climate has made everyone fear speaking their mind and their beliefs on this issue. Certainly, the word racist has held a sting of its own, most effectively scarring those active in the political world. Yet, I feel, we must call out our belief in universal freedom and declare such inequalities, a matter of the mind and not the system.
When it comes down to it, racism is a personal experience that was widely endured as recently as the 70s. In today’s climate, however, no such problems exist on a systematic level. Certainly, there are still those whites who are racist in their own ways but in order for the system to be set against a minority group; a vast majority of those not oppressed must participate. Even prior to the civil war, enough of the American whites were anti-slavery as to help smuggle immigrants to freedom and ultimately bring about a war to fight for their freedom.
For those who wish to eliminate racism from society we must realize that creating governmental systems will only divide us further. Until people stop living in the mistakes of the past they cannot overcome the far lesser challenges of the present and future. Free peoples must make the choice to move beyond foolish bigotry and foolish belief in ghost bigotry and until we as a people come to the table, without providing coupons to either side, we shall not see the complete abolishment of slavery.
