by P.H. Rolen
The battles won in the civil rights era were perhaps some of the most far reaching equality measures achieved in an epoch. Aside from the ostracism of open cultural racism, subgroups from across many demographics were empowered to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness after generations of oppression. Jim Crow was crushed and the American society rejected institutional discrimination of nearly every form. 40 years after the heyday of the civil rights movement America’s two top presidential contenders last year were a woman and a black man; once unthinkable. Our school children now grow up in fully integrated schools and many never give the notion of race, much less racial discrimination, a second thought. America has become a beacon for the melting pot culture and every ethnicity and demographic group on the planet has equal opportunity to prosper in our great nation.
While researching the Bush administration a few days ago I uncovered a startling sequence of events that went largely unnoticed by the main stream press during Bush’s tenure. These unnoticed events were passed off as benign and in that disregard I believe America took a 20 year step backwards in the battle against institutionalized racism. Reading through the transcripts of Chief Justice John Roberts’ senate confirmation hearing I was astonished to learn that now Justice Roberts was once a member of “Council for the White Race.” Also, when Justice Roberts was an appellate court judge he dismissed a suit brought on by African American police officers in a small Texas town.
The suit alleged that because of budget reductions the hours of the department’s officers were cut back. The Plaintiffs in the suit alleged that only black officers had their hours cut (a validated accusation). One African American officer was released completely. None of the departments 7 white cops were docked time or released from duty. Justice Robert’s dismissed the case without any written rebuttal and did not explain his grounds for dismissal. To make matters worse, during a speech at Liberty University, founded by the late Rev. Jerry Fallwell, Roberts proclaimed that “In the richness of his experience and the innate wisdom accrued from generational rule, a white male will always make a more sound, educated decision than a person of color”
To make the reality even more insidious, studies of books and papers written by both Mr. and Mrs Bush reveal a deep distrust of African Americans. President Bush wrote in his 1993 book “The Presidential Dreams of My Father” “Black folks simply weren’t to be trusted. Even though my friends and I were living in a world where integration and social “miscegenation” was the norm we made a pact with ourselves to never let blacks know what we were really thinking.” First lady Laura Bush’s dissertation paper from Southern Methodist University also revealed pervasive racial indifferences. Titled “Staying Anglo in a Darkening World” Mrs. Bush expressed deep underlying insecurities in adapting to the melting pot environment of Dallas, Texas. “Though I was deeply fond of the Jazz scene and a student of Dr. King, I always felt like it was my dark secret; like I was betraying my powdered Whig forefathers. I was all alone in my heart.” Furthermore, once elected President Bush acquiesced to pressures from the Christian Caucasian community and appointed white Christian Evangelical John Ashcroft to the position of Attorney General. Ashcroft and Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge immediately released a widely disseminated memo to the nation’s law enforcement agencies outlining the dangerous threat of terrorism and insurrection which was deeply rooted in urban areas and in demographics that subscribe heavily to “Hip Hop Culture.”
These outlandish and radical racial motivations possessed by the Bush Administration were hardly mentioned during his tenure as our nation’s president, which is astonishing. The politically motivated, bias rightwing media touched little on the subject and white leaders such as Pat Robertson and Joel Osteen vehemently defended the president as “Holding true to his cultural values.” This neo-systemic racism simply went away. Does anyone else remember these atrocities? No? ; Unbelievable. We don’t remember the Bush systemic racism because none of these stories are from the Bush presidency; they are from today, here, and now. This is the new reality of things today in Obama’s America. All of the above stories are factual to a fault; however, substitute Bush administration officials for the current administration. Outrage anyone?
In George Orwell’s 1945 dystopian classic “Animal Farm” the barnyard possessed an existential systemic caste system. On the animal farm a group of animals, led by the pigs, lead a revolt to oust their human masters and run the farm themselves. In the end they succeed in ousting the human tyrants only to create a new system and become tyrants themselves. “The creatures outside looked from pig to man, and from man to pig, and from pig to man again; but already it was impossible to say which was which.” In a final decree the new animal government sealed the law of the farm and the animal bill of rights with the token amendment of Obama’s new America “All animals are equal but some are more equal than others.” Like my grandfather used to always say “Old boss…Same as the new boss.” It’s a brave new world friends.
*P.H. Rolen is the Chairman of Liberty for All USA.com and the Author of “Liberty for All: The Patriot’s Primer.” He has been featured in the World Net Daily Commentary Page and The Heartland Institute’s Infotech and Telecom Newsletter. He contributes to Major General Paul E. Vallely’s (U.S. Army Ret.)Stand Up America USA and is involved in MT campaign politcs.
