Centennial Review

Principled Ideas from the Centennial Institute Volume 3, Number 11 November 2011 Publisher, William L. Armstrong Editor, John Andrews

11 20 ale it n S m o e4 m Now Pag SuDVD See

AMERICA IN BLACK AND WHITE SEEKS EMANCIPATION II

By Kevin Jackson
Michelle Obama said it would take Baracks election in 2008 to make her proud as a black American. Thats too bad, because for a lot of us, the pride and gratitude at being part of the USA date back much further.

A Unique Distinction This fascination, this troubled legacy, dates from the beginning of our country. Black people had the unique distinction of being written specifically into the founding documents. Though the word itself is never used, slavery is seen in key provisions of the U.S. Constitution. The first is in the Enumeration Clause, Article I, Section 2, where representatives are apportioned. This clause has been intentionally misrepresented by liberals, who claim that that the three-fifths compromise meant that the Founders only valued blacks as 3/5 of a person. Not at all; the intent was quite the opposite. It was in fact an attempt to minimize the power of slave-holders to propagate slavery more widely, by reducing the Southern states voting strength in the House and in the Electoral College.

Come with me on a brief tour of Americas racial history. Well find ironies and surprises Slavery next appears in Article I, Section 9, which forbids at every turn. Well learn that the liberals victim-narrative Congress from prohibiting the importation is just not so. And well see that the politics of Were back of [African] persons prior to the year 1808 2011 have taken us right back to the 60sthe a date that represented a compromise of 20 1960s and even the 1860s. Racially, today, to the 1960s, years. So January 1, 1808, was set as the first America is what I call full circle, flipped. even the 1860s. day of what many Americans hoped would Civil Rights in Reverse gradually become the end of slavery. Think about it. Decades ago, America had white Republicans The Fugitive Slave Clause in Article IV, Section 2, is the marching arm in arm to fight for the civil rights of blacks, last provision in the Constitution relating to blacks. It as white Democrats jeered. required that an escaped person held to service or labor Now, with Herman Cain running for president, Tim Scott helping lead the House, and Walter Williams subbing for Rush Limbaugh, America has black Republicans fighting shoulder to shoulder for the civil rights of all Americans, as all Democrats jeer. be delivered back to the state where he had escaped from. I think this keep em on the plantation approach is one of the few parts of the Constitution that paternalistic liberals would still like to see enforced. One Long Step It has been said that the seeds of the Civil War were sown in these three compromises of the Constitutionespecially Article I, Section 9which prohibited the importation of slaves. To get around this, Southerners (Democrats
Kevin Jackson of St. Louis is editor of The Black Sphere.net, a columnist for The American Thinker, and author of The Big Black Lie. A graduate of SMU, he has consulted for such corporations as BP, Scottrade, and Brown Shoe. This essay is adapted from his speech at Western Conservative Summit 2011, presented on July 30 in Denver. Centennial Institute sponsors research, events, and publications to enhance public understanding of the most important issues facing our state and nation. By proclaiming Truth, we aim to foster faith, family, and freedom, teach citizenship, and renew the spirit of 1776.

With the fight to restore individual liberty and economic freedom by getting big governments boot off our neck, a sort of reverse civil rights movement is afoot. You could say we are working toward Emancipation II: This time even the white folks get freed! It is ironic that the very vote Republicans fought to obtain for black people is now being used against them, and the rest of the country for that matter. The irony of the black votecitizenship exercised by individuals whose ancestors were propertyhas made it one of the most endlesslydiscussed subjects in American politics. And it will be so again in 2012. You dont hear pundits speculating, How will the Irish-Americans vote?

all) decided to make the descendants of slaves, slavesthus creating the potential for slavery to go on forever. Thankfully, Lincoln understood the gravity of the atrocity of slavery, which America ultimately confronted in the Civil War. Then came Fort Sumter, Emancipation, Appomattox, and finally Reconstruction Booker T. Washington (1856- a decade beginning in 1867 1915) deplored the large class that was invidiously labeled [among whom] there seemed to be Reconstruction a dependence upon the government Radical for every conceivable thing, [with] by Democrat historians. By little ambition to create a position for 1876, white Americans had themselves. taken one long step toward making things right with black Americans. There are aspects of this 1870s period which parallel our own modern-day Tea Party movement, and you might think of it as the First Black Renaissance. Blacks got the right to vote. More blacks served in politics than at any time in history. But as Reconstruction ended, Democrats began marginalizing the black vote through intimidation and egregious laws, like Jim Crow.

the 1930s, blacks had voted overwhelmingly Republican, as much as 95 percent. However, by the end of Franklin Roosevelts first administration, one of the most dramatic voter shifts in American history had occurred, and in 1936, some 75 percent of black voters supported the Democrats. Blacks turned to Roosevelt in part because his spending programs gave them a measure of relief from the Depression. The larger reason, though, was because blacks felt that the GOP had done little to repay their earlier support. Compare this with the situation of many blacks in America today, who continue to feel abandoned by the Republicans, yet sense that they are taken for grantedand taken advantage ofby Democrats. Now heres another racial irony: Most New Deal programs discriminated against blacks. The National Recovery Administration not only offered whites the first crack at jobs, but authorized separate and lower pay scales for blacks. The Federal Housing Authority refused to guarantee mortgages for blacks who tried to buy in white neighborhoods. The Civilian Conservation Corps maintained segregated camps.

The next iconic period was the 1920s. Blacks were becoming mainstream in much of the country, and this period ushered in the Harlem Renaissancethe black cultural revolution centered in Harlem, New York. I call this the Second Black Renaissance. The movement was primarily literary, involved art, music, dance, and theater, and fostered black pride and uplifting of the race through the use of intellect. Blacks challenged racial stereotypes and helped promote integration. A passive civil rights movement began during this period, not so much with marching protests, but more with blacks focusing on self-importance and self-worth in the spirit of Booker T. Washington. Switching Parties Shortly thereafter, America hit hard times during the Great Depression, which brought us the New Deal. Until

The Agricultural Adjustment Administration acreage reduction hit black sharecroppers extremely hard. The Social Security Act excluded those job categories blacks traditionally filled. There is no surprise in any of this, since FDR went along comfortably with the prevailing racist attitudes of his time and Racism party. He appointed both Hugo Black, a tainted both KKK member, and James Byrnes, an archFDR and LBJ. segregationist, to the Supreme Court.

The 1960s ushered in the next iconic era for black Americansthe civil rights movement and the presidency of Lyndon Johnson. Johnson believed that problems of housing, income, employment, and health were ultimately a federal responsibility, and he called his vision the Great Society. Great Society: Really? Liberal historians point to all the legislation passed by LBJ in the War on Poverty and claim there were real gains. But in reality, those programs merely repositioned privatesector successes under government control. Like FDR, his hero, LBJ had a racist streak, a plantation mentality implicit in his Great Society agenda.

CENTENNIAL REVIEW is published monthly by the Centennial Institute at Colorado Christian University. The authors views are not necessarily those of CCU. Designer, Danielle Hull. Illustrator, Benjamin Hummel. Subscriptions free upon request. Write to: Centennial Institute, 8787 W. Alameda Ave., Lakewood, CO 80226. Call 800.44.FAITH. Or visit us online at www.CentennialCCU.org. Please join the Centennial Institute today. As a Centennial donor, you can help us restore Americas moral core and prepare tomorrows leaders. Your gift is tax-deductible. Please use the envelope provided. Thank you for your support. - John Andrews, Director
Scan this code with your smartphone to read this and previous issues online. Centennial Review, November 2011 2

This was a man who worried about Negroes getting uppity and spoke of giving them just enough to quiet them down, not enough to make a difference. Shocked? You can look it up. So in 1966 Congress adopted the Model Cities Act to assure adequate housing and to attack urban blight. Hows that working? It certainly managed to corral blacks and keep urban blight from spreading into the white suburbs. The act also began a dependency inducing program of rent supplements. Supposedly to promote learning, Congress passed the Higher Education Act in 1965 to provide student loans and scholarships, the Elementary and Secondary Schools Act of 1965 to pay for textbooks, and the Educational Opportunity Act of 1968 to help the poor finance college educations. All that, and Americas kids today are dumber than most previous generations. The Medicaid Act of 1968 paid for the medical expenses of the poor, and Medicare, established in 1965, extended health insurance to older Americans alongside the Social Security system. Both systems are laced with fraud and abuse, and are now essentially insolvent. Pretty much any program that is currently bankrupting the country was begun by FDR in the 30s and put on steroids by LBJ in the 60s. These two racially manipulative Democrats taught the poor everything but to help themselves. Bookerites vs. DuBoisians A fierce debate among black Americans began in the 1980s. The old battle lines were drawn again with new intensity: the Bookerites vs. the DuBoisians. The black conservative was born, the antithesis of the 60s radical. The Booker T. Washington idea of individual accountability clashed with the W.E.B. DuBois idea of government social engineering. The winner is undetermined as of yet, but most would say its the DuBoisians. So by 2008 we had come, as I said, full circle, flipped. The election of a black president was supposed to end the idea of racism in America, and we were all supposed to be happier than a preachers kid at a biker-chick rally. Instead we find ourselves in the midst of this renewed and reversed civil rights movement. Is there not enough evidence that blacks (and anybody else) can achieve whatever they choose in America and that racism in the mainstream is pretty much nonexistent? Of course there is. But the left doesnt care about reality. I can only imagine how many moderates and lefties who voted for the Obama fantasy feel now about the Obama reality. Probably much like I felt when I learned that Fonzie, the coolest yesteryear Italian on TV, was really a mousy

Jewish guy named Winkler. Say it aint so! The left needs victims to justify itself, and victims need guilty oppressors to blame. What has all this guilt and blame gotten America? Seventeen trillion dollars spent on counter-productive liberal programs to fight the War on Poverty. In case youre wondering, poverty is still winning.

Were constantly scolded about the lack of diversity, here in the most diverse country on the planet because liberals know its easier to transform America if they can keep us jumping through hoops, going on snipe hunts. Liberalism Diagnosed

W.E.B. DuBois (1868-1963) called for opposition to policies marked by the industrial slavery and civic death of black people, even though such opposition involves disagreement with Mr. Booker T. Washington.

Liberals seem to want America to be anything but America. To them, our love of the greatness of America is silly, worthy of ridicule. Because What has of our belief in things like the Constitution, all this guilt the Bible, the sanctity of life and marriage, or the right to bear arms, were barbarians in gotten us? their eyes. How can you not love America? Maybe the reason liberals dont know how to love this country is that they dont really love themselves. They are restless for the next fad, the next ism. All they need is proof that an idea hasnt worked anywhere else, and they are all in. If liberals cant create jobs, they try to convince you they saved yours. If you dont buy that, they say things like: It could have been worse! or Obama just needs more time! Obamas budget reminds me of the wife asking her husband, Should I get a bikini or an all-in-one? The husband replies, Better get a bikiniyoull never get it all in one. This president promised to cut the deficit in half in his first term. He bet on socialism and ended up doubling the deficit. Then when he asked for more debt-ceiling room, his supporters whined, We raised it for the white presidents! Yes, and it was wrong then, too. But because nobody wanted to be labeled a racist, Obama got more room for him to create debt, in order to convince us that he will cut debt. Liberals called that innovative thinking. I call it crackhead logic.
Centennial Review, November 2011 3

Centennial Review
November 2011

Centennial Institute
Colorado Christian University 8787 W. Alameda Ave. Lakewood, CO 80226
Return Service Requested

America in Black and White Seeks Emancipation II

By Kevin Jackson Today under Obama, the liberals racial victim-narrative no longer persuades. The challenge now is for Americans of whatever color to choose between self-determination and dependency.

According to liberals, the reason we cant pay our bills is not because of Obamas policies. No, its because of the people, the conservatives, the Tea Partyhow dare they want responsible, accountable government that follows the Constitution? Liberalism steals ambition from people. This is why too many black people feel like merely inhabitants of their neighborhoods; because we dont live there. Living there implies LIFE. Life is vibrant; inhabitants just exist.

wardrobes, and pocket change. In other countries, the poor are happy to eat and have running water. Most dont.

Liberalism has killed the entrepreneurial spirit that fueled the black middle class in the 1950s, before LBJs Great Society. To call liberal policies a disaster is to be too kind. Liberalism has created an ecosystem where when America sneezes, black America gets pneumonia! Time to Fight Back

Our poor are spoiled. Economists say there are some three million jobs currently available, however nobody wants them, because welfare pays better. Incentives are debased, as is the language itself. What is an Are we entitlement anyway? You are entitled to what you earn, everything else is a handout. Whats all citizens this about government making investments? or clients? The government doesnt invest, it taxes, then spends. Period. The government doesnt want us to know that we have gone from being citizens for whom they work, to being clients whom they keep on the hook. We have all been born into this new form of slaveryall of us, whatever our colorand it has cost us $17 trillion and counting. Emancipation II is overdue. Its time to fight back. G. K. Chesterton wrote, The true soldier fights not because he hates what is in front of him, but because he loves what is behind him. Whats behind us? What are we fighting for? Im fighting for my nations proud heritage and my kids endangered future. How about you?

Yet its also true that our countrys widely-distributed economic growth has raised poverty to such a level that Americas poor represent the rich of other nations. Americas poor have subsidized housing, subsidized food, cars, cell phones, video games, flat-screen TVs, big

Western Conservative Summit 2011 Order Now on DVD

See for Yourself Why Our Denver Straw Poll Foretold So Much
Fulfilling Americas Promise was the theme when a thousand delegates from 25 states gathered in Denver on July 29-31 for the second annual Western Conservative Summit, hosted by Centennial Institute, Colorado Christian University, and two dozen partner groups. Nearly every minute of this exciting weekend is now available in a professionally produced four-DVD set. The set is $30 postpaid. In addition to the four presidential contenders (pictured), speakers included in full are Tucker Carlson, Foster Friess, Frank Gaffney, Dennis Prager, Arthur Brooks, Kevin Jackson, Pat Caddell, Cal Thomas, and Kate Obenshain. Excerpts (due to copyright restrictions) are shown for Mark Steyn, Juan Williams, and Brad Stine.
Former Sen. Rick Santorum Former Amb. John Bolton Order online at www.CentennialCCU.org Or use envelope provided Or write Centennial Institute, 8787 W. Alameda Avenue, Lakewood CO 80226

Herman Cain Straw Poll Winner

Governor Rick Perry

Scan this code with your smartphone to order DVD.

Centennial Review, November 2011 4