Wednesday, March 02, 2011

Confession and Apology

I had every intention of finishing my Black History series, but I realize right now may not be the time. You see, as I studied, I found that the Democratic Party consistently opposed civil rights and even repealed some of the laws that did get passed. They actually managed to remove Black Legislators who had been elected.

I guess I wanted to lay the facts out and then ask – why on earth do African Americans so vehemently support the Democratic Party? I realize that now the Democratic Party is the party of entitlements and welfare. Maybe that is why.

But, what started it? The Republican Party fought hard to give and protect equal civil rights.

That said, I now wonder about our public employees. I have not said much, but our state (Wisconsin) is broke. We do not have enough rich people to tax.

The public unions gladly take your dues and usually get Democrats elected for you. But have they really helped you? Why don’t you have the supplies you need if they are working for you? Why not put that money into your local schools and keep some control for yourself instead of paying dues?

Maybe the unions should give back just a little of that money to our schools for some of the basic supplies that are needed.

I know that there have been times when unions have really helped the poor workers. Now, however, they seem to clog the system with demands that are bringing the state down. Does it really have to take more than a year to negotiate a contract?

So, now the Democrat Senators have fled the state. I understand that the pink slips would not have gone out if they had come back. Are they actually helping the situation by doing this?

I do not believe the Republicans want to beat the workers into the ground. In fact, your average Republican is probably low and middle class. We live and work here too. Wisconsin does have some of the best civil service protections in the country.

I’ve read. I’ve studied. I have nothing to gain but maybe a state that won’t go bankrupt. I’m being transparent and honest. I want to understand and welcome your comments. I will not argue. I most likely will not comment. I only reserve the right to remove any comments that are vile and obscene.

With that, I hope to return to Black History next February when I can concentrate on the wonderful richness that these Americans have given our country.

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1 Comments:

At 4:32 AM, Anonymous Jim Rapp said...

Hi Sheila,

I was enjoying your Black History pieces and I'll look forward to your resumption later on. This is an historic time we are living in and I think it is important that we all discuss it (and keep on loving each other while we do it).

I'd suggest one thing to consider in wondering why Blacks now overwhelmingly support the Democratic Party is that the Parties have not remained the same throughout our history. We've retained the names Democratic and Republican, and even combined them at times such as the Jeffersonian and Jacksonian era. But there have been vast shifts in what the parties have stood for at different times.

I'm enjoying Mark Noll's book, "America's God". He is an honest and complex historian who sees that in the end, Americans exchanged their theologically defined "God" for one defined by Republican (Democratic - I don't think he makes a strong distinction) values. I believe that is true.

For my part I have to unlink my faith in God from my choice of a political party. Neither party represents my God or my faith. But I have to choose policies to support or oppose and there I try to choose between those offered by the competing parties. In most cases I lean left but certainly not in all of them.

Keep writing. I'm reading. Jim :-)

 

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