Racial Politics

Many years ago a great man had a vision for this country which he saw the beginnings take hold. Five days later an assassins bullet felled him. We had just ended a war in which 600,000 Americans lost their lives, fighting each other. How would a second term under Abraham Lincoln been different than what occurred under Andrew Johnson? Would the healing of the country have happened more quickly? Would the abuses of Reconstruction have happened. Would blacks still be struggling for REAL equality 100 years later? We will never know.

I am reading a book by Bill O'Reilly and Martin Dugard, Killing Lincoln, that is a fascinating account of the end of the Civil War and the days leading up to Lincoln's assassination. I am learning many details that they never taught us in school both about the end of the war and Lincoln's demise. History is one of my passions so when a friend loaned me the book I was all over it. I will probably finish it this week and I would highly recommend it.

So it has been 147 years since Abe was killed and what do we have to show for it? Most will argue that the slavery issue was an afterthought for Lincoln and that he was as much as racist as anyone in that time. I am going to let his actions speak rather than historical revisionists and the results of his actions was to emancipate the slaves so let credit fall where it belongs. That is what cost him his life! The question is what tone would have been set by Lincoln. Lincoln was already considering how to bring the southern states back into the fold, rather than what kind of punishment could be levied on them and their leaders. Would the great work of Martin Luther King have been required, and cost him his life, 100 years after this bloody war? By all accounts racial equality has been a struggle in this country and is likely to continue to be.

Fast forward to 2012 and the state of race relations in this country. We have a black president, who, by most objective analyses, has been an abject failure. Not because he is black but because of his policies. But if we criticize his policies, and we are white, we are labeled racists. There will be many people that turn a blind eye to his failures and vote for him again in November BECAUSE he is black. Is this any less racist than voting for someone strictly because they are white or Hispanic? In fact "leaders" in the African-American community are publicly calling for this! Can you imagine the outcry and gnashing of teeth should Newt Gingrich encourage his supporters to vote for Mitt Romney because he is white?

And if you think this is just a national issue check out your local politics. In Texas the Hispanic population is growing at a pace far exceeding the growth in other ethic groups. Consequently you are seeing the emergence of Hispanic leaders seeking the power their numbers would demand. But it has not come easy for them. Challenges to redistricting this year held up the primary elections in Texas waiting for the courts to sprinkle holy water on the redrawn districts. On the local level they had to fight for single member districts to assure fair representation. The end result is that, over the years, there has been a steady erosion of power from whites to blacks and Hispanics. The irony is that we find these minority leaders acting just as racist as the Jim Crow era guys in the south.

What it comes down to is this question: Can you legislate away racism? The answer obviously is no. The people of the world naturally segregate themselves. Racism lives throughout the world. What we can do is make sure that opportunities are afforded to individuals without regard to race. It should not be an asset or a liability. The merits, talents, and abilities of a person should be the only factors considered. And maybe, just maybe, in another 147 years this will not be a current day topic. Doubtful but we can dream!