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Did Slavery Benefit Black People?

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by Benjamin T. Moore, Jr.

Did Slavery actually benefit Black People? This silly narrative resurfaces from time to time, promoted by racist white people whom ironically enough, never seem to say this in the presence of Black people unless they’ve got security and strength in numbers close at hand. Presupposing this notion indicates not only an ingrained sociopathic racism, it reveals a paucity of historical knowledge and American history in particular. One might just as easily – in the spirit of a free exchange of ideas of course – ask if the Jewish Holocaust benefited the Jews? After all, they got the “Nation of Israel” out of the deal?

A beginning is a very delicate time… well, not really!

As with most atrocities in human history, this one too began with religion… the Catholic Church in particular.

“We grant you [Kings of Spain and Portugal] by these present documents, with our Apostolic Authority, full and free permission to invade, search out, capture, and subjugate the Saracens and pagans and any other unbelievers and enemies of Christ wherever they may be, as well as their kingdoms, duchies, counties, principalities, and other property […] and to reduce their persons into perpetual slavery.” __Papal Bull from Pope Nicholas V in 1452 known as the Dum Diversas

What the “Dum Diversas” did was usher in a new type of slavery. A type of slavery which had never before been seen in recorded human history. Chattel Slavery. Prior to this, Slaves had rights, they could own property, they could acquire skills or a trade, they knew the date of their release because slavery was not in perpetuity. They could even buy their freedom early if they were talented.

Under the aegis of the “Dum Diversas” once enslaved you were a slave for the rest of your life. You could never again own property. If you were born to parents who were enslaved, you were a slave merely by accident of birth. You were born without a future. Did slavery benefit Black people? Do you think being born into Slavery was a benefit?

One of the attendant myths is that most of the Slaves were sold to the slave traders by other Africans. Did any of this happen? To be sure, it did happen on occasion. However, when you look at the sheer numbers, it becomes immediately clear that the percentage of Slaves captured in battle and sold by other Africans becomes insignificant.

The enslavement of Africans was a booming business. As with all businesses, records were maintained. Profit and loss statements. From capture to being sold at auction was called “The Middle Passage.” During the 400+ years that Slavery was practiced in the Americas, by conservative estimates, over 100 million Africans lost their lives. These were Africans who never made it to the auction blocks to live out the rest of their lives under the misery and degradation of Slavery. Africans were considered expendable and replaceable.

Where the Slaves Went

The other thing to understand is, what became The “United States of America,” received no more than 4% of the Slaves. The bulk of the Slaves went to South America, the West Indies and a few went to Europe. The lions share of the Slaves went to the West Indies. Why? In a word, “Rum.” Slaves were brought in to work the sugar cane plantations. The sugar was used to make Rum. The Rum was sold back in Europe and in the United States. The drug of choice was alcohol in the form of Rum and just as with Cocaine today, the cost in human misery was staggering. Did Slavery benefit Black people? A lot of white people certainly got rich selling the Rum.

The Rum-Slave-Triangle

It was quite common for the slaves working the island sugar cane plantations to simply be worked literally to death. As far as they were concerned, they had an endless supply. No doubt it was the excessively harsh conditions that lead to the Slave revolts and uprisings that eventually led to the liberation which never occurred here. The Slaves in the islands had no choice. They were dead either way.

Slavery in these United States

Haitian Revolution – the beginning of the end of Slavery in the Caribbean

Had it not been for the Haitian Revolution, the Louisiana Purchase never would have happened. France needed the money to put down the Slaves who’d had enough in Haiti. Thus Napoleon made a deal with Jefferson which amounted to a little less than 3 cents an acre. The Louisiana Purchase solidified what was then only the seed of a notion. It was a concept that came to be known as “Manifest Destiny.”

Slaves clearing land for infrastructure expansion

Ask yourself, how did a budding set of colonies, leap forward, catch and surpass the much more mature and established industries of Europe? The simple answer is all the free labor provided by Slaves. The largest cost when it comes to expansion is in building your infrastructure. Your next concern is logistics. How do you supply “civilization” to those people who expand into newly opened territories? They will need food to get started, they will need axe heads, shovels, plows, saws, nails, hammers and a host of other things we rarely consider and take for granted.

Slaves with their children picking cotton.

The only reason the South was so ready to secede from the Union was, because they made heavy use of slave labor. They could always undercut European prices on quality textiles. Because of fear and the mechanisms of oppression and control, Slaves were denied access to educational opportunities. Thus, it was more difficult to make full use of them in the industrialized Northern States. The products of industry created in the North could not compete price wise with the older more mature industrial production in Europe.

10,000 Confederate bodies stretch into the distance. They’d rather die than work their own fields.

People forget that the entire reason for the Civil War had to do with trade tariffs. In order to protect the fledgling manufacturing industries from the predatory trade practices of Europe, the Government of the United States placed tariffs on incoming European industrial products. This levelled the playing field for American manufacturers. Europe in kind did the same thing which affected the price on textiles they were importing from our Southern States. Quite naturally this cut into the profit margins – which were already way out of line due to free labor – of the plantation owners and they went through the roof.

Picketts Charge at the Battle of Gettysburg

The reason they voted to secede was because they believed that they could then negotiate their old profit margins by claiming to no longer be part of these United States. The North disputed and that disagreement led to the Civil War. As the war went on and the body count rose, it became apparent to Abraham Lincoln and others, that the South could continue to fight – logistics – so long as they had a free labor source at home tending their fields, growing their crops and producing the goods and services they needed for their war efforts.

If you actually read the “Emancipation Proclamation,” you will note that it only applied to the Slaves in the rebellious Southern States. If you were a Slave in the North, it did not apply to you. Thus the notion that Abraham Lincoln freed the Slaves is specious on it’s face. His “Proclamation” applied to States he did not control.

Did Slavery Benefit Black People?

The stacking of human beings as though they were cargo.

One of the common arguments of racist is to compare the standard of living and the lifestyle of African Americans with people in various nations on the African continent. To be sure there is a remarkable difference. However, we need to examine some facts. In 1492 the entire European population was estimated to be at 60 million. Compare this figure to the 100 million Africans who lost their lives during the 400+ years the Atlantic Slave Trade was in business. There were more Africans murdered – never made it into enslavement – than the entire population of Europe. When you add to this slaughter, the number of Africans who actually were sold into Slavery, what we’re really talking about is an African genocide. This was the largest holocaust in recorded human history.

There is really only one true resource on this planet. It is the “Human Resource.” All the solutions to all our problems ultimately come from the human mind. They are applied through human ingenuity. Every white person who has ever lived in these United States, traces their ancestry back to Europe. You no doubt are familiar with the old time machine paradox? “Could you go back in time and murdered your grandfather before he met your grandmother?” The point acknowledges that if your grandparents never got together, you wouldn’t exist.

African children in poverty. Yet some white people say that slavery benefited Black people?

Keep this concept in mind when you’re looking at the African Holocaust. There were entire branches of the human family that were extinguished. Some of those minds that were aborted generations before they had the opportunity to be born, may have held the cure to death and ageing. They may have held the solution to a faster than light drive which would make interstellar and intergalactic exploration possible. They may have invented new forms of abundant, efficient clean energy. These marvels are not to be… or if they come may come too late.

Ever hear of “The Real McCoy?” His inventions were so good there were knock-offs.

Even with the racial discrimination that Black people – descendants of Africa – have faced here in America, their contributions have helped to make American society the society we enjoy today.

A few inventions by Black Inventors:

  • air conditioning unit Frederick M. Jones July 12, 1949
  • almanac Benjamin Banneker Approx 1791
  • auto cut-off switch Granville T. Woods January 1, 1839
  • auto fishing device G. Cook May 30, 1899
  • automatic gear shift Richard Spikes February 28, 1932
  • baby buggy W.H. Richardson June 18, 1899
  • bicycle frame L.R. Johnson October 10, 1899
  • biscuit cutter A.P. Ashbourne November 30, 1875
  • blood plasma bag Charles Drew Approx. 1945
  • cellular phone Henry T. Sampson July 6, 1971
  • chamber commode T. Elkins January 3, 1897
  • clothes dryer G. T. Sampson June 6, 1862
  • curtain rod S. R. Scratton November 30, 1889
  • curtain rod support William S. Grant August 4, 1896
  • door knob O. Dorsey December 10, 1878
  • door stop O. Dorsey December 10, 1878
  • dust pan Lawrence P. Ray August 3, 1897
  • egg beater Willie Johnson February 5, 1884
  • electric lampbulb Lewis Latimer March 21, 1882
  • elevator Alexander Miles October 11, 1867
  • eye protector P. Johnson November 2, 1880
  • fire escape ladder J. W. Winters May 7, 1878
  • fire extinguisher T. Marshall October 26, 1872
  • folding bed L. C. Bailey July 18, 1899
  • folding chair Brody & Surgwar June 11, 1889
  • fountain pen W. B. Purvis January 7, 1890
  • furniture caster O. A. Fisher 1878
  • gas mask Garrett Morgan October 13, 1914
  • golf tee T. Grant December 12, 1899
  • guitar Robert F. Flemming, Jr. March 3, 1886
  • hair brush Lydia O. Newman November 15, 18–
  • hand stamp Walter B. Purvis February 27 1883
  • horse shoe J. Ricks March 30, 1885
  • ice cream scooper A. L. Cralle February 2, 1897
  • improv. sugar making Norbet Rillieux December 10, 1846
  • insect-destroyer gun A. C. Richard February 28, 1899
  • ironing board Sarah Boone December 30, 1887
  • key chain F. J. Loudin January 9, 1894
  • lantern Michael C. Harvey August 19, 1884
  • lawn mower L. A. Burr May 19, 1889
  • lawn sprinkler J. W. Smith May 4, 1897
  • lemon squeezer J. Thomas White December 8, 1893
  • lock W. A. Martin July 23, 18–
  • lubricating cup Ellijah McCoy November 15, 1895
  • lunch pail James Robinson 1887
  • mail box Paul L. Downing October 27, 1891
  • mop Thomas W. Stewart June 11, 1893
  • motor Frederick M. Jones June 27, 1939
  • peanut butter George Washington Carver 1896
  • pencil sharpener J. L. Love November 23, 1897
  • phone transmitter Granville T. Woods December 2, 1884
  • record player arm Joseph H. Dickenson January 8, 1819
  • refrigerator J. Standard June 14, 1891
  • riding saddles W. D. Davis October 6, 1895
  • rolling pin John W. Reed 1864
  • shampoo headrest C. O. Bailiff October 11, 1898
  • spark plug Edmond Berger February 2, 1839
  • stethoscope Imhotep Ancient Egypt
  • stove T. A. Carrington July 25, 1876
  • straightening comb Madam C. J. Walker Approx 1905
  • street sweeper Charles B. Brooks March 17, 1890
  • thermostat control Frederick M. Jones February 23, 1960
  • traffic light Garrett Morgan November 20, 1923
  • tricycle M. A. Cherry May 6, 1886
  • tricycle M. A. Cherry May 6, 1886

Did Slavery benefit Black people? It sure benefited white people.  The above list is but a few of the many things invented by Black people that we use every day. You probably are using something invented by a Black person right now. The typewriter for instance is what we call a “foundational invention.” Without the typewriter you wouldn’t have a computer keyboard. The typewriter had to come first.

What if there had been a European Holocaust?

The further back you prune a branch, the more leaves you remove from the tree. All those secondary and tertiary branches that split off, and the branches that split off from them are removed the closer to the trunk you make your cut.

1912 Ford Model T

If an ancestor of Henry Ford had died or Bill Gates and Steve Jobs, they would not exist. Imagine what the world would look like today. If an ancestor of the Wright brothers had been killed, would we have Jet airliners today? Think of some of the people who invented vaccines, or made earth changing discoveries, if their ancestors had been swept up and murdered, what

iPhone 5

would the world look like today?

When you look at Africa, you’re looking at a continent that was plundered of it’s most precious of all resources, the human resource. The things that Africans may have created and invented that would have benefited the entire planet have now been lost to racist greed and the capitalism of human bondage. We are paying for this today whether you realize it or not. I have listed but a few of the contributions that the descendants of Africa have made to Western Civilization… if we can call it that. Even so, imagine what contributions they might have made had they been treated equally, and had access to the same educational opportunities as their white counterparts. A mind is truly a terrible thing to waste. Remember this when some racist fool deigns to open his mouth and spew hate speech with a smile. The answer to the question is, “No, Slavery did not benefit Black people. It benefited white people and in the process may have mortally wounded humanity.”

You Might Be Following A Judas Goat

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At the slaughter house where sheep are processed, there is a goat

The Judas Goat at Work.

known as “The Judas Goat.” The Judas Goat’s job is to lead groups of sheep into the slaughter house where they are killed. Sheep have the peculiar habit of following any member of their herd who seems to know where to go. The Judas Goat is placed within the herd. It grazes with the herd, rubs shoulders with the herd and in all respects acts as though it is one of the herd. It is accepted by the herd. At the appointed time, it leads the herd to the slaughter. To be sure, eventually the Judas Goat will end up on a spit slowly roasting over the fires at a Greek restaurant being carved up for gyros. However, that is small consolation for all the sheep who willingly followed in his treacherous footsteps.

It seems the work of the Judas Goat is so effective it has been adapted to work on people. Just look around. During the last Presidential primaries, when Barack Obama was running against Hillary Clinton, Black pundits began pouring out of the woodwork in support of Hillary Clinton. Tavis Smiley embarrassed himself to the point he has not yet recovered. His purpose? To lead Black voters into the Clinton camp. At a time when all Black people should have rallied around one of their own, suddenly we were inundated with Black leaders – whom we had not elected – filling the airways to share their opinionated wisdom.

The networks dusted off faces I hadn’t seen in years. For a season, diversity was back on our televisions. This time it wasn’t “sit-coms.” Almost any network you watched, you could be sure of seeing several Black faces giving articulate opinions about the day’s events. I found it to be a refreshing change. However, it was not lost on me that over half of my newly discovered brothers and sisters were being used to further an agenda that was not my own. Obama won because of racism. Not the racism of Black people, we only make up 12% of the population. Obama won because of the racism of white people. The Republican war machine was all geared up to face Hillary Clinton. They had attack ads sitting on the shelf ready to go. They just knew Hillary Clinton would be whom they’d be facing in the general election.  After all, what were the odds that a relative unknown – dark horse literally – with a funny sounding name like Barack Hussein Obama would win in the primaries against the Clinton political machine? Did I mention that he’s Black? This is the United States of America founded on a history of Slavery. As far as they were concerned, there wasn’t a chance in the world he could win. They were caught flat footed with their britches around their ankles.

With the election of President Obama, the Republicans decided they needed their own magic Black man. Of course, from their racist perspective, we’re all the same. To this end, they elected Michael Steele and we all know how that’s turned out for them. In two words, NOT WELL! Nevertheless, Michael Steele is a Judas Goat. His primary purpose is to lead Black people away from President Obama. There is nothing in the Republican platform that benefits Black people, other minorities or poor White people. As a matter of fact, if you do not have a net worth of at least 3 million dollars and an income in the high 6 figures, the Republican party doesn’t represent you. But I digress.

Judas Goats are pervasive in our society. Most commercials and ads contain Judas Goats. From the kindly old couple sitting around the table discussing health care myths, to the 3 hicks sitting in a diner sharing their opinions on high level economic issues. They all have one purpose and that is to lead people to vote against their own interests. Judas Goats may even be in your church pulpit.

Knowing how to recognize a Judas Goat is necessary for your survival. It always ends poorly for those who follow Judas Goats. Being informed is of paramount importance. The first thing you need to know is where your best interests lie. I am amazed at how many people have been deceived into supporting Republican tax polices. Most of these people, comparatively speaking, aren’t really paying any taxes. The simple facts are, the poorer you are, the more you tend to rely on the goods and services provided by tax dollars. Poor people are more likely to live in high crime areas. They are more likely to have homes who’s wiring is such that fires are likely. They often drive vehicles that don’t get around well in the snow, so they need their streets plowed. Those who do drive pick-up trucks often live in rural areas where even with 4 wheel drive, plowing the roads is still necessary. The poor quite often have little to no health insurance, so their primary care physician is whomever is the first doctor they see at the emergency room. Yet, because they’ve been duped into following a Judas Goat, you see them at “Tea Party” rallies railing against the very policies designed to benefit them the most. It would be hilarious if it weren’t so tragic.

When it comes to the church, particularly in the Black community, you have multi-million dollar edifices built and sustained by congregations who’s median incomes are barely above the poverty level. If you’re in a church and you know members in good standing who’s homes have been foreclosed on, and the church didn’t come to their aid, you’re probably following a Judas Goat. If your pastor lives in another county from the church because that is where the high dollar real estate is, you’re probably following a Judas Goat. If on Sunday morning, you can pick out the pastor’s car not just because of the monogrammed parking spot, but because it is the most expensive car on the lot, you’re probably following a Judas Goat. If in order for you to be a member or your church, you have to submit copies of your W-2 form, you’re following a Judas Goat. If the deacons, trustees, elders and auxiliary heads of your church also happen to be the most financially successful members of the church, you’re following a Judas Goat. If your pastor has to have an entourage of “armor bearers” doing everything from carrying his /her brief case to helping them dress, you’re following a Judas Goat. If you’ve been contributing to the building fund for the past 10 years and the church hasn’t built a thing, you’re following a Judas Goat. It might be time for you to come up out of the slaughter house.

God gave you a brain and the gift of reason. Don’t insult God by not using your gifts. Don’t just ask yourself what would Jesus do? Ask yourself, what would LOVE DO! The Bible says, “your bodies are the temple of God.” It also says that God does not dwell in temples made by men’s hands. The church was intended to be God’s store house for the benefit of the people in their time of need. It was never intended to be the private game preserve of a pastor or his ministerial staff. The trouble is, most ministries benefit the pastor and the church more than they benefit the community.

I have an acquaintance whom prior to the crash of he housing market, was making in excess of 300 thousand dollars a year. He was a devoted and faithful member at his church. He was a devout tither. This of course put him in line to be an official at his church. For over 5 years he tithed in excess of 30 thousand a year. This doesn’t include offerings and other monetary contributions. When the housing market crashed, he lost everything. He was married with two small children. The bank repossessed his Mercedes and his BMW. He needed 5 thousand dollars to save his home. He went to his pastor and explained the situation to him. He told him of his need. He had no one else to turn to. All he needed was 5 thousand dollars. This was the same church that over the course of the previous 5 years he’d given over 150 thousand dollars. What do you think the pastor did? The pastor told him that he would pray with he and his wife that God would deliver them. They lost their home. He had to move in with his mother-in-law. Because of he stress on the marriage he wound up getting divorced. Do you think he’d been following a Judas Goat? Well, he certainly got slaughtered.

Black Republican Delusion

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The Black Republican Delusion
by Benjamin T. Moore, Jr.

The issue of Black Republicans is a controversy that has been simmering on the back burner/black burner for quite some time now. If one were to ask is there a problem with a person of color being a Republican, I would have to say, “that depends.” Black people identify with Republicans for a variety of reasons. Most often one’s party affiliation mirrors that of their parents and the environment in which they were raised. If you were raised in a Republican household, chances are, you identify as a Republican. This is true in particular for the two main political parties. Being an “Independent” has only become popular in relatively recent history.

Unfortunately what started Black people’s romance with the Republican party is the Myth that Abraham Lincoln freed the “Slaves.” I would suggest they go and actually READ the “Emancipation Proclamation” on-line. As they say, “Google It!” What you will find is that Abraham Lincoln only freed the Slaves in the States that were in Rebellion. These were the States over which whether or not he had any control was being disputed by the bloodiest war in the history of this Nation. It would be not unlike, President Obama raising the minimum wage laws in China or proclaiming that China had to abide by our OSHA standards in their workplaces. In short, not real meaningful.

Nevertheless, at the time when many Black people embraced the Republican Party, the “Party of Lincoln,” few could read or write and they believed what little they could grasp and understand about the life changing events happening around them. Once the South lost the war, there was a lot of Black migration to the North and other States. How could you know or prove that a Black person in Chicago was not from the South? You could not. So effectively all Black people were simply assumed to be free. All you had to do if you were a slave in one of the Northern States, was simply leave.

Make no mistake, Lincoln’s reason for freeing the Southern Slaves had little to do with moral reasons. He was fighting a protracted war with a body count that was unheard of at that time in human history. So long as the Slaves in the South continued to work the fields and supply the goods and services needed to resupply the Southern war efforts, the war could and would continue to drag on. Wars are fought and won on logistics. Why did the Roman Empire last nearly 1,000 years? The Romans built roads everywhere they went. Ever hear the phrase, “all roads lead to Rome?” They knew that with a good system of roads linking their Empire, they could rapidly move troops and supplies to anywhere within the Roman Empire. Yes, horses can go damn near anywhere. Marching men can go everywhere. However the supplies they need to feed them and replace and repair equipment, those things need to be carried on wagons. Wagons work best on roads. It was all about logistics.

Lincoln’s theory was, that when the word reached the Southern slaves that freedom awaited them in the North, they would simply up and head north. This would end food production as well as other crucial industries the South needed, in a state of collapse. The South would have to peel off manpower to return home, tend their fields and produce the goods and services they needed. This would effectively reduce the size of the Southern armies. The reality was, there were a lot of white people in both the North and South who disagreed with Slavery and found the practice objectionable. They seized the opportunity to support Black people being free and treated as full citizens. Prior to the Civil War, the pressures and the very real threats to their lives made it easy for them to remain silent. The “Underground Railroad” was run by white people of good conscience. John Brown so believed in the abolition of Slavery, he fought and gave his life trying to free Slaves. Most of these people identified themselves as Republican.

So what happened? Up until the early to mid 1960’s, the Republican Party was the Party of equality and opportunity for all Citizens of the United States. The big change began in 1948 with the formation of the “Dixiecrat” segregationist party. They were in the South which largely identified as Democratic. As you might imagine, there remained a lot of animosity against the “Party of Lincoln.” “Sherman’s March” through the South, laying waste and burning everything in sight, was still in the memories of many Southerners like a raw wound. It seems many white people found having to plow their own fields and actually work for a living objectionable. They longed for and idolized the “good old days” when they were waited on hand and foot by subservient slaves. Their mantra was that the North and the Federal Government in particular had ruined their way of life. So it was they were ripe for a party that promoted the notion of “protecting the Southern way of life.”

Franklin Roosevelt began the integration of the United States military. Made a lot of sense when you’re in the middle of a World War. The United States needed the resources of ALL it’s citizens to win. When Black soldiers who had fought to liberate Europe returned, Franklin Roosevelt made them eligible for the “New Deal” along with everyone else. Harry Truman continued in Roosevelt’s footsteps by creating a “Presidential Committee on Civil Rights” and ordered an end to discrimination. You can imagine how this went over in the “Jim Crow” South. In 1948 when the Northern Liberals led by Hubert Humphrey adopted an anti-discrimination plank at the Democratic National Convention, 35 Southerns walked out. They wanted to remove Harry Truman’s name from the ballot in the South. To do this they formed a short lived “State’s Rights Democratic Party” with Strom Thurmond as their Presidential nominee. The Dixiecrats held their convention in Alabama. When you hear Republican candidates referring to “State’s Rights” they’re paying homage to the segregationist platform of the old Dixiecrat party.

Following his nomination in 1980 Ronald Reagan’s first speech was delivered at the Neshoba County Fair just a few miles from Philadelphia Mississippi where Civil Rights workers were murdered in 1964. In his speech he said:

“I believe in states’ rights…. I believe we have distorted the balance of our government today by giving powers that were never intended to be given in the Constitution to that federal establishment.”

Whenever political candidates blow the “dog whistle” of “State’s Rights” what their target audience hears is, “I believe that the South had the right to secede. I believe the South has the right to discriminate against Black people. I believe the South has the right to own slaves.”  The Dixiecrats began reaching out to conservative Northern Republicans and bit by bit their ideology began infecting the Republican party. The final straw came in 1964 when President Lyndon Baines Johnson signed the Civil Rights Act. Several Dixiecrats simply left the Democratic party and joined the Republican party, but the bottom line was, the Republican party became the place for those whom believed in the ideologies espoused by the Dixiecrats. No, there was no massive defection of Dixiecrats who took over the Republican party. That was not necessary. An idea is like a virus. It can infect and spread. What happened to the Republican party is not unlike the story of the Farmer’s daughter who in a moment of extreme passion was told by her date, “I’ll only put the tip in.”

The “tip” begins with the notion that smaller government is good. Fact is, most people philosophically agree with this premise. Paying lower taxes is good. Who wouldn’t agree with this? The Government would be smaller if it got out of the business of the States. Getting a bit nervous now. Back in the 60’s some States didn’t recognize interracial marriages. Some States in the South had a “poll tax” for Black voters. Some States practiced “Jim Crow” and flagrant segregation. It was the Federal Government that ended these practices. Thus when you join a group you really need to know about more than just the *TIP* of what they believe in. Sooner or later you’re going to get the *SHAFT.*

When it comes to Black Republicans, you have those whom identify as Republican merely because that is their family tradition. Then you have those who are Republican because the espoused tax policies of the Republican party are in their interests. Professional athletes who are worth millions, successful businessmen and woman who again are worth millions, entertainers, actors and others, who have accumulated substantial wealth, are voting their own self-interests when they vote Republican. I’m not mad at them. These are not the people I’m calling deluded. I disagree with their selfishness, but I understand it.

The Black Republicans whom I’m calling deluded are the ones usually who are solidly in the “Middle Class” but identify as Republican for reasons that have nothing to do with what is actually in their interests. Financially, I am pretty close to the Republican Party representing my own personal interests. I pay easily over $100 thousand a year in taxes. Thus, if it were just my wife and myself, I could hold my nose and vote Republican… If they ran a candidate with a brain! The problem for me is, I have family and friends whom have yet to be as fortunate. Some of them cannot afford health insurance. Some of them have been through foreclosure. Do I turn my back on them? Personally, I cannot.

These Republicans have bought into the “tip” or wedge issues that the Republican party promotes to specifically target them. For years now, the Republican Party has marketed it’s self to “Blue Collar” workers. I have a relative who *thought* he was a Republican because he had started his own business. I asked him how much he was netting from his business. Proudly he said, $40 thousand a year. I pointed out, “that’s a job!” He was working 12 hour days, 7 days a week and barely scraping by. He wasn’t making enough, to pay enough in taxes for Republican policies to benefit him. If his wife didn’t have good insurance from her job, he’d of been completely screwed having to buy his own health insurance. Good thing too. He recently had a heart attack and had to have 6 stints installed. Without his wife’s insurance he’d be bankrupt today.

Then you have those who are seduced by the poison pills crafted for religious people. Abortion and Marriage equality. Let’s deal with abortion first. The problem with this issue is, *IF* you are truly pro-life, you are pro ALL life. This means you are also against the death penalty. Why shouldn’t you be? With the advances in DNA technology, hundreds of people have been moved from “death row” and released. What nobody wants to talk about is, based on these statistics, the State has murdered innocent people who were not guilty of the crimes of which they were convicted. Yet, many so called “pro-life” Republicans fully support the death penalty. If you’re pro-life, by definition you have to be against war and military conflict. Let’s be clear, whenever we go to war there is ALWAYS what we euphemistically refer to as “collateral damage.” That is a tidy way of saying innocent civilians get killed. When civilians are killed in our foreign wars, we call it collateral damage. When they brought down the “Twin Towers” over here, we called that terrorism. Yet, many “pro-life” Republicans have no problem with and support an expansion in military spending and have no problem with our government turning to the “military option” without exhausting all methods of diplomacy and sanctions.

If you’re pro-life and want women to have their babies, there is a cost associated with this. Children require care, opportunity and education. Many of these needed essentials are provided by publicly funded clinics and programs. Yet, Republicans are all for cutting funding for WIC, food stamps, Head Start, inner city schools, etc. The message is, we care about the fetus, but once it’s born, you’re on your own. If the child grows up, we’re all for sending him or her into our military where often they do not come back. Many who do return bear the marks of war in their bodies and guess what! We are cutting the funding to the programs designed to help them deal with their wounds and reintegrate into society. Pro-life? Not really. Yet, it makes for a great wedge issue to seduce the uninformed.

Marriage equality is another good one. This one comes wrapped in a sugary “family values” coating. The irony is, many of the most stalwart defenders of family values and marriage equality are people who are on their 3rd, 4th and in some cases 5th wives. They’ve had numerous affairs. Have children that span multiple marriages, yet the words “family values” doesn’t seem to split their lips when it spews from their hypocritical mouths. The United States of America is a secular society. Freedom of religion and freedom *FROM* religion is something we enjoy and heretofore have been extremely proud of. This is *NOT* a Christian nation any more than it is a Buddhist, Hindu, Muslim or Jewish nation. So strongly did the founders believe in this principle, they encoded it into our Constitution. Once we penetrate the veil of the separation of Church and State, where do we stop? Should working on the Sabbath be declared illegal? Should eating pork be banned? How about banning the eating of meat period? There are religious groups here who pay taxes just like everyone else who teach that eating meat is to be avoided. There are many books with many people believing in those books. In point of fact, amongst those who identify as Christians, there are disputes. Yet they’re claiming to read from the same book. This is why you have all the different “Christian denominations.” Each can prove that all the others are in error.

What is marriage? Is it a sacred covenant between a couple and God? Is it a status recognized by the State? It is both. From the religious perspective, you go to your religious institution and have your marriage solemnized by a cleric from your faith. However, you also get a marriage *license* from the State. Why? If it were purely a religious institution, you would neither need nor want recognition from the State. Why do you want State recognition? Because there are benefits granted by the State to married couples. According to law, all citizens are equal. This is why the statue of “Lady Justice” wears a blindfold. Thus the State should not discriminate against any two adults of contractual age wanting to enter into a marriage arrangement. Your marriage is unaffected by my behavior. I lived with my wife for 10 years before getting married. During that 10 years, quite a few people simply assumed we were married. Most simply didn’t give a damn and NOBODY went and filed for divorce upon learning that we were not married. When we did finally get married – had more to do with the IRS and the beating we were taking on taxes – nobody’s marriage was affected.

Thus the notion that two people of the same sex, who call themselves married, and are receiving benefits from the State, somehow wreck havoc on the marriages of others, is purely specious. The issue is a non-issue created and promoted by people who do not believe in it themselves. It is designed to trick, deceive and bring the Churches on board. I don’t know how many times I’ve heard quasi literate preachers thumping their Bibles with great conviction, telling their mentally malleable congregations that “they cannot vote for a candidate who supports Gay marriage or Abortion.” They of course have no problem rolling over in bed right into the arms of a Party that takes food from the mouths of children, believes in putting innocent people to death and profits from unnecessary wars in which children are called “collateral damage.”

There is another type of Black Republican. This one is the worst. This Black Republican suffers from self-loathing feelings of inadequacy. These are often the most vocal. They are also the ones you’ll see appearing in the media commenting on various media outlets. His or her delusion comes in basically two flavors. The first, manifests in this time when we happen to have a Black President and stems from their inability to conceptualize that there exists a Black person who is literally light years beyond their capabilities. Because they cannot conceive of this reality, they are quick to look for ANYTHING that points to conspiracy or a rigged system. After all, they worked hard. They went to school. They’ve applied themselves… but they haven’t met with the success they believe they deserve. Thus, they look at President Obama with suspicion and mistrust. How could he truly be all the things they are not? Black preachers envy his oratory skills. Republican Black professionals can’t conceive his organizational abilities. Thus it must be a fluke! Some trick played on them and they hate him.

To these wights I would remind them of his visit to the Republican Caucus early into his term. the Republicans were laying in ambush for him. They were going to teach him a lesson. They invited the cameras in because they wanted his defeat and unmasking preserved on tape for posterity. They were going to put this young upstart Black President in his place. President Obama walked into that den of lions without a teleprompter. Without a laptop. Without a staff to aid him and defanged and whipped every last Republican single handedly. So severe was their beating, their first response was “Never Again would they have him come to their caucus!” Then they caught themselves and amended that to, never again with cameras rolling. My question to them is simple: Could any of them have walked into such a hostile environment and fared even half as well? The answer is no.

The other manifestation of the deluded Black Republican takes the form of a Black person who has been so culturally conditioned by the institutionalized racism in our society, they’ve come to accept and believe the myth that white people are simply superior to Black people. My grandfather who had his own business back in the early 1920’s called it, “the white man’s ice is always colder” mentality. Back then you really had an “Ice Box.” You would purchase ice for your ice box from ice vendors who went around with large blocks of ice on the back of wagons and would sell ice to people in the neighborhood. This was how you kept your perishables cold. There were actual Black people who wouldn’t buy from a Black ice vendor because they simply believed that what the white man was selling was superior. Sadly this mentality still exists in some Black people today. They will go on the air and attack President Obama and his policies, often armed with nothing more than Fox News talking points. When you ask a couple of more questions, they are embarrassed. They will defend the polices of George Bush in abject defiance of historical fact and they will support Mitt Romney who from childhood to adulthood was immersed in a religion that taught that Black people were inferior and cursed with Black skin. I’m sorry, but there are some bye-gones that cannot be allowed to remain as bye-gones.

Both of these types of deluded Black Republicans can be recognized by the vituperativeness of their attacks. A lack of logic and their inability to substantiate their positions with facts. I too can disagree and often do with a great many people on a great many issues. However, I always have a rational reason for my disagreement. I can present my reasons on demand. For instance, don’t tell me that your objection to President Obama is his tax policy when he’s cut taxes for small businesses and the middle class. Don’t tell me you disagree with President Obama over his foreign policy when his administration has had success after success. Bin Laden is dead and GM is not. Don’t tell me your problem with President Obama is his refusal to unilaterally change the Constitution and our legislative process, declaring by Presidential fiat abortions illegal. He swore an oath to uphold the Constitution. That also covers protecting full equality for all citizens even in their marital decisions.

If you are a multi-millionaire and you are a Black Republican, I’m not mad at you for voting in your own self-interests. If you are a Black Republican because that is your family tradition, I can understand that as well. Just don’t give me the boiler plate reasons which now have no basis in truth. Fiscal responsibility is no longer the hallmark of the Republican party. The national debt has gone through the roof under Republican administrations. Don’t tell me it’s because of smaller government. The Constitution shredding “Patriot Act” was passed and enacted under a Republican administration. Don’t tell me it’s because you believe that Republicans are better on security and national defense. The attacks on September 11, 2001 occurred on a Republican administration that had advance warning. Once you accept the “Tip” you will invariably get the “Shaft.”