The Conservative Cause

The Conservative Cause

I just saw a "dust up" between a conservative and progressive on a T.V. political show. During the discussion, the conservative made his point that his parents had "brought him up the right way", that he appreciated it, and government had nothing to do with it.

He then continued that parental upbringing, values as he said it, were what government should sponsor (but not legislate)...values are what we need to go "back to" in America was his slogan. Conservatives always want to go back. American history has a lot in it that it should NEVER go back to.

Of course, Christian Conservatives push their values agenda on us everyday. Rick Perry of Texas is running basically on a "return to conservative values" and shrinking government. Perry famously stated that Texas should consider "seceding from the union" if the federal government continued to grow. This would be a regression of historical proportions.

He then participated in a values revival meeting, just prior to his running for President.

Let's look at this "values" argument, especially from the southern Christian conservative's point of view.

A conservative believes in family values, based on Christian values, first and foremost. They see government as intrusive into these values, except when things like abortion are concerned, then government can intrude as strenuously as necessary to outlaw them; an interesting contradiction.

Conservatives like the man in the discussion, also rely on "family values" rather than government programs to educate, and socialize children. An upper middle class upbringing basically is the remedy for all economic ills.

There is a basic mis-perception in this approach. The white middle class values of family cannot apply to all the people.

The reason is history. The "family values" approach, decrying the lack of them in poorer, more people of color populations, conveniently misses the historical antecedents for these often anti-social behaviors.

It is true that in inner cities, crime, drug use, drop outs, you name it, are huge problems. It is true that in spite of huge improvements, the African-American population in the United States still has large unemployment rates, drug use rates, and yes, crime rates. It is also true that Native American populations have the same problems.

Conservatives use these rates to say, "See what not having family values can do", or "Those people deserve what they get, look at their behavior". Lately, a "blame the poor" movement has taken hold, with Tea Party members actually blaming the poor and unemployed for "lacking initiative to work which has been killed with large government programs."

They myth is firmly established in the conservative, that large government programs in education, or social welfare, kill individual initiative and produce lazy "welfare cheats" who feed at the "public trough".

Now for the history: 1. the United States had the worst slavery system in human history, that maimed an entire group of Americans, and social, economic and political effects of that tragedy are still affecting American today. 2. The United States effected a genocide on Native Americans, stealing their lands and obliterating their culture with lasting effects. 3. the United States has consistently discriminated against immigrant groups throughout its history, often with violence, making it very difficult to assimilate into the successful economy.

These are historical facts that are still adversely affecting people of color in the United States. To assume that "everything is now fixed" because of a few generations of time is ridiculous. The damage to families and culture are not easily fixed with "time".

For example, slaves were not allowed any education. They were especially forbidden to learn how to read. This legacy is still in evidence and is a large part of the educational underachievement of African Americans today.

Conservatives would say, no way..that was over a hundred years ago. They will shout, "we can't be held accountable for what our great grandparents did".

But educators know better. Stanford University, one of the leading Departments of Education in the United States, has released several studies that show that family background and income are the greatest predictors of educational achievement.

When African Americans fled the south in the early 20th century to find work in the north, this was a huge liberating force that ultimately led to the civil rights movement of the 1960s. With the economic disaster of 2008, the changes to the northern city economy which had been deteriorating for years was manifest. African Americans, who had prospered more than ever before on assembly lines, were thrown out of work, and are currently sliding back into the poverty of Jim Crowe.

Native Americans have NEVER moved upward economically. Most still live on reservations, or have been able to "pass for white". The "Indian Casino" has helped some, but for the most part, Native Americans live in extreme poverty.

When conservatives complain about "those people" they are talking about African Americans, Native Americans and Mexicans (who are mostly Native Americans).

This is because the conservatives of today in American are the "Dixie-crates" of the south.

Rick Perry uses the same phrases as the notorious segregationists George Wallace, who's "states rights" were code for "keep the black man down". The leaders of the conservative Republicans (basically all Republicans in Congress) are from the SOUTH. This is not by accident, Jim Crowe is not dead, it is still manifest in the Republican Party of 2011.

Wallace ran for President, on the states rights anti-federal government platform, and was getting traction when he was gunned down. His is the same platform of Rick Perry, southern "states rights" that is aimed at the racial minorities who have been discriminated against throughout American history.

When the tea party rails against the size of the federal government, and push for smaller government, they are really pushing for a return to the anti-civil rights society of the past. When they rail about "taking their country back" they are calling for getting rid of the "black guy" in the white house. When "voter registration I.D.s Laws are passed, these are a return to the poll tests, that essentially disenfranchised entire generation in the south.

Family values and the revulsion against the poor, comes right from racist, violent, genocide ridden American History, that enslaved millions and massacred millions. Millions were enslaved for HUNDREDS of years, millions were killed in a few years. These are historical facts, and the social and economic reasons for these injustices still exist in many American's hearts today.

States Rights has ALWAYS meant racism and intolerance in the United States. It is a code that still carries Jim Crowe, segregation, and social and economic injustice.

These are what conservatives really mean when they talk about their "core values". These "core values" are racism, hatred, and injustice. "Their America" is the America of Jim Crowe, of bigotry, and of hatred.