Democrats and True Racism

by Matthew Gauntt

I was taken aback with the events of this week involving Geraldine Ferarro and her comment regarding Barack Obama. More importantly, I was surprised by the reaction to her comments and condemnation that encircled her regarding racism.

Before I continue on this theme, I need to share a personal and embarrassing story about my life.

Sad to say, I grew up a racist. I grew up in a relatively small town in Kansas, and in a time where racism was common. I was definitely part of the problem instead of part of the solution. I saw real racism. I saw a black family in a nearby town that was not allowed to buy groceries at the local supermarket, had crosses in their yard and eventually was forced to move. The town I grew up in was a military town, so I had lots of black classmates. I remember a mini race riot at my junior high where someone got their eye poked out. I saw fist fights at my little league game between a white father and a black father. I know others have seen worse, and I know that towns in Illinois, both downstate and in the Chicago area had similar events.

Then I got the opportunity to go to college in Boston for my first year. My first semester roommate was a black man from my home town. My roommate second semester was a black man from Barbados. In both roommates, I saw very intelligent, compassionate and highly worthy men. My second semester roommate and I attended the same church. He was one of the best men I have had the pleasure to know in my life. It was easy to say that he was a much better man than I. He had a character that I knew I wanted to emulate. Fortunately for me, I got the opportunity to purge my racism. I was so proud of myself that I had grown as a man, or at least I thought. . .

Several years later, I was living in Lincoln, Nebraska. One summer night, I was out with friends from my church evangelizing on the downtown streets, inviting people to church or a bible study. I observed something interesting about myself. I was intimidated to talk to a dynamic white man, but I really wasn’t intimidated to talk to a dynamic black man. Given two men, both equally forceful, dynamic, etc., one white and one black, I gravitated towards the black man. I wondered about this and searched my soul. The conclusion that I came to was that deep down, I really believed that I was better than the black man, because I was white. I was ashamed of myself and my behavior. As I have matured, I have tried to continually purge that part of myself. I’m not perfect, but I continually try. The important part is that I recognized the dark part of my heart.

Now, back to the Democrats.

George Neumayr at the Spectator had a wonderful article this week regarding racial paternalism. What lurks underneath the guiding principles of liberal ideology is the root of the evil I discovered on the streets of downtown Lincoln about myself, that only successful white people can really help blacks and minorities. I don’t believe that on the surface liberals believe themselves to be racists. That’s exactly the point; they don’t realize what they are doing. However, the effect is the same.

Liberal policy has given us the “Great Society”, welfare, racial preferences, etc., etc. We have higher teen pregnancy and higher incarceration rates among blacks in this country. Both knowingly for some, and subconscious for others, liberal policies have resulted in minorities that are reliant on government instead of achieving what they can so easily obtain on their own by using the talents and inner drive that they have within themselves.

What we see now in the Democrat party are three different motivations. There are certainly some Democrats that look at Barack Obama, his ideas, his vision and principals. Some like Ferraro are now threatened by the minorities that they have “helped” for so long. There are still others that are attracted to Obama out of an inner guilt and arrogance, similar to “I can show my friends how open minded and cultured I am by supporting a black man”. This third group is what Ferraro was trying to point out.

I sincerely hope, aside from party politics, that liberals will come to see in themselves what I saw in myself 20 years ago, that paternalism is only deeply rooted racism. For our party, I sincerely hope that we can speak to conservative ideals and the power that it brings to the soul of man to open the entrepreneurial spirit, providing the light to a self-sufficient and fulfilling life. THIS is the message that we need to relay to both whites and minorities alike, because no matter what democrats portray, we are all alike; black, white and other, and none of us need governmental paternalism.