Since the media seem quite concerned about racists making it to the White House, I thought I'd put together a brief guide to racism in contemporary American politics. It is unofficial in that the policies examined are largely ignored or supported by mainstream-media narratives.
Of course, supporting these policies does not mean one is a racist. Nor are these policies and programs necessarily designed to be racist. Yet these well-intentioned sacred cows trample over the dignity and rights of millions of minorities.
Community Reinvestment Act:
Touted as a tool to encourage multicultural homeownership, the Community Reinvestment Act and other liberal federal policies encouraged and enabled banks to target minorities with predatory mortgage loans. After the real-estate bubble collapsed, millions of minorities were left in foreclosure or upside-down.
War on Drugs:
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With near universal support from both parties, the war on drugs has ravaged urban communities for decades. Much of the federal enforcement measures target inner cities: areas with large minority communities. Criminalization suppresses supply without curbing demand. The resulting scarcity creates exorbitant profit margins for drug lords to chase with violent jealousy. The drug laws force many urban children to grow up surrounded by perpetual gang violence and turf wars.
Beyond the immorality of putting humans in cages for non-violent acts, the disproportional imprisonment of minority males for drug use ravages families. In prison, fathers are often introduced to harder drugs, gangs and violence. Their families struggle for stability and income on the outside.
Welfare:
For generations, condescending politicians have targeted minorities with welfare programs from food stamps to stimulus packages. The programs promise hope but instead keep families dependent on politicians to eat and shelter themselves. Coupled with minimum-wage laws, welfare checks out-price the average entry-level worker from the home. Thus, families are discouraged from staying together. Welfare spending further keeps minority communities hostage by inflating the money supply and causing rising costs of goods and services.
According to the media, to oppose welfare programs is to oppose the interests of minorities. In reality, to oppose welfare is to oppose the accumulation of state power at the expense of minorities' independence.
Immigration:
To gain votes, Democrats often implicate white Republicans as the cause of immigrants' economic woes. Meanwhile, Republicans sometimes scapegoat immigrants as job thieves, despite the fact that their work keeps two vital industries alive: service and agriculture.
The media loves to stir tensions by amplifying the politics of racial blame-shifting. Politicians that call out both sides of the partisan fight are ignored.
Israeli welfare:
Another off-limits political icon the media protect is government welfare to Israel. The media constantly warn that any politician who opposes such welfare is disqualified to seriously run for president. This, despite the fact that foreign welfare acts in a similar manner to domestic welfare: It makes the recipient more dependent and compromised to the provider.
Israeli politicians continue to remind Washington that they are capable of taking care of themselves. Yet politicians continue to throw money at Israel as leverage to maintain hegemony in Middle Eastern affairs. This policy is nothing but a condescending insult to the honor and independence of the Israeli people.
Iran sanctions:
The media parrot the bipartisan narrative that Iran must be severely sanctioned for possibly developing a nuclear weapon. What this means is that instead of offering diplomacy and free trade, ordinary Persians should starve – literally and financially – because Western governments and the Saudi oil cartel do not like Iran's nationalistic leadership. That's what sanctions unintentionally do: impoverish innocent civilians and enable their ruling regime.
IMF and World Bank loans:
The loan programs of the IMF and World Bank often spread poverty to recipient nations. By imposing special-interest-backed conditions to the loans and supporting anti-human rights regimes, these institutions unintentionally keep many Africans in perpetual debt and state oppression. Yet the media assure Americans that any person who opposes such institutions is a heartless nationalist.
While good intentions abound in these policies, each of them insults the dignity of human beings. By placing people into artificial groups, politicians and the media shamefully isolate, degrade and impoverish millions of racial minorities.
There's only one man running for president who opposes every one of these racist programs. Oddly, he's the one man left- and right-wing media alike want to paint a racist.
His name is Ron Paul.
Isaiah 5:20: Woe to those who call evil good and good evil, who put darkness for light and light for darkness, who put bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter.
David Hanson is a writer and public speaker. He is the founder of Hanson & Associates, a political communications firm in Florida. He is a fellow of the Moving Picture Institute. Contact him at [email protected].