Please read, digest, and comprehend this DISCLAIMER! My graduate school was part of a consortium. Meaning that I could attend and get credit for classes at any of the 13 participating member schools, one of those schools was Howard. Howard is a Historically Black College (HBC). While there I took a class called Sociology of Religion, by Ron Hopkins. THE FOLLOWING IS A SUMMATION OF HIS ARGUMENT ABOUT SOCIETY AND PARTICULAR AMERICAN POLITICS IN THE LAST HALF OF THE 20TH CENTURY.
Race is the driving force in the American political system. Prior to 1964 Civil Rights Act and 1954 Brown decision, what separates politicians in DC, primarily race. The Rights revolutions of the 60’s (women, gays, blacks) all sparked an upheaval and discontent among white men who feared a loss of power. As more and more minorities gained power and influence in the American political system the more white men pushed back. The Christian Coalition is an example of white men invoking God and Religion to back up their claims that place women and minorities in subservient roles. Dr. Hopkins would argue that race doesn’t cease to be a driving force in American Politics because suddenly blacks can vote, or women gain equal rights, or the buying of houses must be dealt without prejudice or preference. White men behavior like any threatened or frightened animal would they attack at what they see as threatening them, i.e. minorities. The rights revolutions were monumental in the American political landscape. They brought forth tectonic change that forever altered the American experience. The response to those changes brought forth a change that has reverberated throughout the American experience. White men (particularly) those who held to the beliefs of blacks as being inferior latched on to whatever they could to continue their political dominance.
Political conservatism use to mean small government (think Anti-Federalist). With the Right’s Revolutions political conservatism went through a reshuffling a redefining of self. Conservatism became more about defining and ending programs that disproportionately aided the poor, the tired, and hungry. Is the Right-Wing stance on abortion really about protecting life or is it about controlling women? If it’s the first then why not protect life in all its form and manifestations? Again if race is not important why create a character to embody and demonize welfare (the welfare Queen) when in fact more whites are on welfare? To make a percentage argument here still proves that point. Characterizing welfare as something Black in fact makes race the dominant issue. Mandatory minimums (different penalties for essentially the same crime) again make race the dominant issue. Crack is cocaine, why does a person with crack get more jail time then a person with powder cocaine. The answer crack cocaine is used by blacks, powder cocaine by Wall Street brokers. Race is the issue.
These thoughts are an approximation of what my professor argued. I would like to know do you agree/disagree? But more importantly I want to know if you can understand and see his point. Race is important, particularly to people of a certain age. I know many of you feel like race is a dead issue but is it really? Think about your life at Central and beyond…
