Down On the Democrat Plantation

    The ongoing flooding disaster in the mid-western United States is exposing, for those who were not previously aware of it, an insidious truth: for decades, blacks in this country have been kept "down on the plantation" of poverty, misery and dependency primarily by the Democrat party. There has been an unspoken quid pro quo. In exchange for democrat votes by blacks, those elected democrats would "take care" of their black constituents in a highly paternalistic fashion. Trillions of dollars have been redistributed "taking care" of black Americans, primarily through the efforts of elected democrats. These unfortunate individuals are less perpetrators than victims. They are victims of all the ills of paternalism that have been intentionally and consciously inflicted upon them by the Democrat party. In spite of those trillions, they are poverty-stricken, ill educated, and lethargic in taking those actions which are in their own self-interest. Nothing could demonstrate the truth of these assertions more clearly than the differences one sees between the reactions of inhabitants to the disasters of Hurricane Katrina and the current massive flooding of the Midwest.

    When Katrina struck, there were immediate demands to be taken care of, by FEMA, by President Bush and by the general government as a whole. New Orleans has still not recovered, and one can only guess at how long it will be before it does. When sufficient care was not forthcoming, or when it was perceived to be too slow in coming, residents were so resentful that violence in that city became widespread. The black residents of New Orleans had been almost completely enculturated into a state of dependency. They appeared to be, quite literally, incapable of taking care of themselves.

    By contrast, inhabitants of the Midwest who are currently experiencing a flooding disaster of far greater proportions, do not appear, at this writing, to be seeking more than minimal help from the general government. The Federal Recluse has heard no recriminations of FEMA or of the president. Quite the contrary seems to be the case. Residents appear to be rolling up their sleeves and getting down to the business of rebuilding. Unlike many of the victims of Hurricane Katrina, these people are taking it upon themselves to put their lives back in order. They have never been the targets of a concerted effort to inculcate in them the self-perception of victim-hood. They have never been the raw material for Democrat ascendancy.

    There is nothing intrinsically inferior about black people that would make them especially prone to dependency. Of all the variables that determine success in this world, skin color, from a rational standpoint, is of absolutely no importance. There are too many counterfactuals to place any credence at all in racism. Millions of black Americans have risen from the most humble beginnings, and, through talent, ambition and force of will have achieved success. There is no reason for the rest to be in such a state of paralytic dependency except for the fact that the seductive carrot of being taken care of by a paternalistic state has been dangled before them. When someone, especially a government, offers to provide for one's needs, it is a difficult thing to refuse. It is a tempting offer, especially when seemingly justified by three hundred years of enforced victim-hood.

The fault does not lie with our black brethren, but with a government, and in particular, with one political party, which has virtually justified its existence for generations in the paternalistic pursuit of "taking care of" black Americans in exchange for their votes. They have been engaged in the hideous practice of keeping the better part of a race "down on the plantation" for purely selfish political reasons. How much these political vampires actually care about their victims, for that is what they are, is highly questionable. Black Americans have been relegated by democrats to the status of tools—things—to be used to achieve and maintain political ascendancy and all the power and perquisites that go with it. Nothing could be more cynical and inhumane. Generations—past, present and future—of dependent black Americans have been turned into sacrificial animals for the benefit of ambitious democrat politicos and their activist henchmen. Those individual politicians and activists who are responsible for this most recent form of American human bondage shall remain nameless, as they should. Their names should be stricken from the roles of this country's history, and we should forget that they were our countrymen.