The Former Confederate States Have Regained Their Position By A. Peter Bailey

Nov. 9, 2014

Reality Check

The Former Confederate States Have Regained Their Position
By A. Peter Bailey

apeterbailey

(TriceEdneyWire.com) - My reaction to the election of Republicans' Mia Love of Utah as the first female Black Republican ever elected to the House of Representatives and of Tim Scott as the first Black senator from South Carolina was “so what else is new?” That’s the same reaction I had to Democrats L. Douglas Wilder being elected as the first Black governor of Virginia in 1987 and Barack Obama being elected the first Black president of the United States in 2008.

I have long since become immune to symbolic firsts. They are mainly distractions from what we as Black folks really need to be doing, building a national movement that will promote and protect our basic interests. The person or persons who carry out that mission are the ones I will enthusiastically applaud and respect.

The change is now complete. The former Confederate States of America have now regained their position as the dominant force in congressional politics in this country. They had that position in the Democratic Party from the late 1860s until the 1960s. During those years, they chaired nearly every major committee in the House and the Senate. When the Democratic Party, mostly because of Cold War propaganda concerns, passed the 1964 and 1965 Civil Rights bills, most of descendants of the Confederate enslavers began the exodus to the Republican Party. Now the once solid Democratic South has become the solid Republican South. And eventually they will chair practically every major congressional committee just as they did in the good ole’ days.

“How can you be so unappreciative,” some may ask, “South Carolina now has an elected Black senator.” It’s easy for the forces who run that state to reward a Black man who, according to the Chronicle of Charleston, S.C., received a major award from the powerful National Association of Manufacturers for “his votes in the 113th Congress on issues that are critical to manufacturing in the United States.”

My final take from the 2014 midterm election is a reconfirmation of my opinion that working class and middle class Whites in this country are among the most gullible people on the planet. Despite being just one serious illness away from financial ruin, they repeatedly swallow warnings about the absolute horror of government-sponsored health care from politicians who benefit from full coverage government-sponsored health care. They also send their sons and daughters off to fight in wars advocated by politicians and pundits who have never seen a second of military combat and have absolutely no intention of either themselves or their children ever experiencing such. Those politicians and pundits are despicable chicken hawks who loudly shriek from their offices and their television podiums that the country’s national security is at stake to easily deceived working class and middle class white audiences.

Finally, I share the position of columnist/Professor James Clingman who recently dismissed the Democratic and Republican parties. “…I believe we must be independent, not necessarily as a structured political party. We should be independent in our thinking and reasoning. That’s what the game is really all about. If we are not getting anything from the game, why are we playing?”

A. Peter Bailey, whose latest book, Witnessing Brother Malcolm X, the Master Teacher, can be reached This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..