"Everything Old ..."
The recent decision by the Roberts Court to set this nation back on the road to 1789, and the "3/5 Rule", completes a "loop" back to the white supremacy of our beginnings. The most grievous act committed by "W" against this nation was his selection of Roberts and Alito to join Scalia and Thomas on the Supreme Court. The combination of Citizens United and the gutting of the Voting Rights Act, will serve to return persons of color in this nation to the "3/5 - human" status devised by our Founders.
"3/5": that was the part of "human status" assigned to the slaves; the amount of "representation" assigned to the South for their slaves. Our government did not get around to considering the human status of Native Americans or, that blend of African and Native that arrived from Mexico and other parts of the Americas and the Caribbean. De Tocqueville explains that extermination was the path chosen for them by our early leaders. The adults were killed outright; the children were kidnapped and "schooled" to rid them of their "Indian-ness". The Revolution of 1810 in Mexico was all about the "Creollas vs. the Gachupines", and an early attempt to end racism in the Americas.
The circle of "reformation" starts again in 2013: first, they replaced the chains with economic, legal, and social repressions, overseen by religions and government. 50 years ago, some of the legal repression was removed, and "education" became the lead tool for continuing the oppression. The "dreamers" of 50 years ago abandoned their children to un-protected abuses within the public schools, backed up by government and law. We're seeing the results of the damage done to non-white children over the past half-century. Tom Donlan, in Barron's (see yesterday's blog) states:
"Americans who march this week in spirit with the March on Washington of 1963 must adopt a new agenda. It should include transformative education for the poorest people, adults, and children, so they can grow into a role in a strong and expanding economy."
Do we seriously believe that poor and powerless marchers will have the means or strategies to accomplish what he recommends. Public schools are controlled, in every detail, by whites with power and money. Donlan writes: "Poverty is first of all a state of mind, and it is a mental state that Americans of all races are finding harder to break." When and how the state of mind is acquired, he doesn't say.
Donlan hints that poor whites will be included in the next round of exclusion, currently under construction by our Supreme Court, state judiciaries, and powerful institutions like public schools and churches. The Hard Right has been single-focused for the past 50 years in their "backlash" to the March. We see the results of their efforts, full-blown, in our House of Representatives, today.
Stay Vigilant! Words are meant to spur actions! We polish the words -- where are the actions?
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