Barack Obama, the liberal left, and plantation politics

A conservative black friend of mine calls liberal left policies aimed at black people "plantation politics." He correctly recognizes that the liberal left has twisted the mechanism of the federal government to dole out benefits to black people, keeping them perpetually dependent.

Funny how a group, say the Irish and perhaps the blacks, begin to notice more prosperity only after their political status begins to wane.

Perhaps it has to do with the fact that when a politician gains power based upon class or racial warfare, they usually need their constituency to remain weak and impoverished, as long as you can sell the story that "you need me" to simply keep what you have without me, you'd have nothing."

Sadly, it works very, very well on this block of voters. No one on the left wants to admit that during the Reagan years that more blacks moved from lower class to middle class, and middle class to upper class, economically, than in the prior 100+ years. It doesn't fit the narrative, so we end up with "leaders" like Jessie Jackson and Al Sharpton. Sad, very sad.

An enlightened set of policies would empower black people to do for themselves what government is doing for them. The path to success and riches is not through government, but through the private economy--unless, of course, Obama is reelected and completes his subjugation of the economy to Washington.

When the government assumes power to solve perceived problems, it usually results in the opposite effect from that promised by politicians.

The Aid to Families with Dependent Children program is now widely held as the cause of the breakup of the traditional family among the less-educated. It was a case of rewarding mothers for not marrying their children's fathers. Statistics show this welfare has increased poverty immensely.

The rule of law should apply to everyone, but since the 1960's, it has been replaced with various schemes called affirmative action. The results appear to be that no one can distinguish between those who earned their education and those who got a pass because of skin color. It hurt the ones it was intended to help.

Maybe when the 1960's radicals are in old folks homes, more black people will stop listening to the media which promotes the idea that other ethnic groups are the cause of their failures. Today's situation was not Martin Luther King's dream, which was an America where everyone was treated equally, regardless of ethnic background. The world will know if and when that happens, as the Democratic party will begin to lose black voters.


The unfortunate thing about the perpetuation of the black community's socioeconomic problems is that if they would only realize that they can indeed do it on their own, like every other immigrant group such as the Asians, including Southeast and East Asians, the Jews, the Europeans, etc., only then could they make strides that others have made.

Instead of true freedom (which must be felt in the heart and understood by the mind) being won through the Civil Right's movement, what was gained was immediately lost due to the false promise of freedom by an oppressive ideology like that of welfare policies, manufactured by a political elite that has little interest in the black's well-being as a people.

There is no better way to ensure a dedicated and addicted following of voters en masse than the politicians' guarantee of short-cuts and superficial comforts.

Much can be learned from the strife of the original Jews and the Asian communities, which were subjected to great prejudice (and still are in less overt ways), and yet they overcame these adversities without the need for crutches to become the higher income segments of American society. Their success is proof that when one relies mainly on one's own belief in oneself, one's own resilience and fortitude, there can be no bonds to limit one's dreams, and no external master of one's fate.

As Condoleezza Rice once stated: "The single most important civil rights issue this country faces across all economic levels is education." And she is right.

Without the education, the folks at the lowest end of the rung are the first to be laid off, and only the poorer jobs remain when they are available.

Education can instill the values that will reduce that 72% illegitimacy rate, and it does instill a sense of hope for the future. It's a vicious cycle because these people whose needs are the greatest are the same people at the top of the drop out list percentages.

There is no doubt that President Obama has not helped the black population. I wish I had an answer. I don't, but its clear neither does Barack Obama.