Thursday, November 19, 2009

Right Ain't Wrong

The Republican Party is not a racist party. No tenet of conservative thought excludes or oppresses anyone based on race, sex, or class. Indeed, the Republican Party has a diverse and colorful history that defies your 21st century impression.

The main stream media has done a wonderful job of creating an association between the right and racism. They have done so by associating terms like “individual liberty” and “self reliance” with characteristics like “cold-hearted”, “indifferent”, and of course, “racist”. They’ve managed to create this association despite overwhelming evidence and matters of historical fact to the contrary.

There’s a page on the new GOP website that’s essentially a party time line.

www.gop.com/index.php/learn/accomplishment

Several historical achievements and milestones are highlighted. To be fair, there is a focus (to the point of being obvious) on milestones related to race and sex. But can you blame the GOP for selecting these events and persons? Someone has to set the record straight. I’ll accept the slant because the account is rooted in fact. It demonstrates a long history of firsts and accomplishments by Republicans of all races and both sexes, and for the benefit of the same.

I will complement my point by submitting to you that ties to racism are clearer and ever present within the Democratic Party. The ideology of entitlement has done more to oppress people of color and impede our collective ascendency than any group, event, principle, or law in the past 80 years. Hundreds of well intended, “compassionate” examples abound. I won’t cite any here – just ask any liberal politician what they’ve done, “for the people”… Your head will spin. Instead, I’ll make my point by counter example.

Let’s consider the NCAA’s proposition 48. Back in the 1980’s, this proposal raised the minimum SAT score of all student-athletes to a floor of 700. The naive assumption was that low-income, inner city blacks would be “shut out” of scholarship opportunities and the chance to escape the poverty and misery of their upbringing. Proposition 48 was deemed “racist”.

Proposition 48 passed. So what happened next? Were Division I college basketball teams suddenly taken over by white boys that couldn’t jump? No. Black high school student-athletes raised their game to meet the new academic standards. They continued to secure athletic scholarships. They graduated from college at higher rates because they were better prepared. The proposition, which was called “racist”, has actually improved the lives of thousands of African Americans. Imagine that – higher expectations yielded a better outcome.

If you’re Black, and a Democrat, ask yourself, ‘why?’ If your political ideology and sense of what’s best for this country line up with the left, that’s fine. But if you don’t know, or consider yourself a Dem because “my parents are”, or because “the left cares about us”, examine your reasoning. Personally, I’d like to see about a 50/50 split in the Black community, right vs. left. At least then, the Dems couldn’t take our votes for granted, and actually be held to account for the impact of their actions in our communities.