There's an old saying that goes "Those who don't learn from history are condemned to repeat it" (paraphrase). On the subject of RACE, that is most assuredly us. Every time we start to go down the right path, we get bumped off it and back into negative, self-destructive behavior by people who have a vested interest in seeing us perpetually divided.
Many years ago, I read a book about rock band The Doors with Jim Morrison as their front man, called "No One Here Gets Out Alive". In the book, the author describes Morrison as a very cerebral man who contemplated the bigger issues in life. One thing that stuck me was his pursuit of knowledge regarding the psychology of crowds. As a artist, he used this wisdom in his performances to excite and invigorate the audience into an almost cult-like frenzy. He understood, as do others, that while the individual is smart, intelligent, and capable of discernment, crowds take on a mindset of their own that is almost totally devoid of the humanity that comprises it.
Keep in mind, Jim was a child of the 1960's and the scholarship he devoured had been around for quite some time. I found no small degree of interest in this concept throughout my life. Reviewing history, one can easily observe the emergence of the practice of crowd manipulation. Even a cursory review of the history of the Roman Empire illustrates how Roman emperors maintained power and control through distraction and deceit. Bread and circuses, it was called. Rulers, despots, and so-called leaders have used the same principles all throughout history as well. But does it happen here in the US? I would argue that America redefined and perfected the practice.
With the invention and implementation of radio, information (and disinformation) could be dealt to the masses with ease. Radio far outreached the influence of print media in any form from it's earliest application. And the crowd was affected. Fast forward to the invention and superfluous rollout of television. The psychology of crowds was honed even further. Further still into out country's adolescence, the Internet was introduced, and manipulation has reached it's zenith. Social media is only the latest incarnation of "bread and circuses" used to keep the masses in the dark, at odds, and afraid and distrustful of one another.
All of these innovations were, at first, heralded as vehicles toward a new enlightenment for mankind. Each was trumpeted as a new possibility to disseminate the knowledge and wisdom of the elders to each and every individual, regardless of their formal education or economic status. Those noble pursuits were quickly supplanted and usurped by flotsam and jetsam. The true evil was in their use to cajole and suppress by a group I constantly refer to as the "power elite". These are people and groups who are above the law, who flaunt their disregard for societal rules and norms. No matter what they do, they remain unaffected, unindicted, and aloof from the rest of us. These are the people I referred to as the ones who most benefit from our discord.
I find it no coincidental that the biggest societal shifts accompanied the emergence of each of these new forms of mass communication. We went from the influence over only a gathered crowd by the town crier, to the geographically limited reach of the local print media. This shift brought America into the age of what the Founding Fathers referred to (and feared) as "factionalism". In other words, party politics and group think. The American ideal was setup to function as governance of a free people, each deciding for themselves, based on their own morays and dictates, how to live out their lives. It was the responsibility of the individual toward self-governance that the Republic, established by the First and Second Constitutional Conventions, was built upon. It was Ayn Rand who said, "We are fast approaching the stage of the ultimate inversion: the stage where the government is free to do anything it pleases, while the citizens may act only by permission." How does that government achieve this goal? Easy. Keep the masses looking fearfully at each other, rather than the wanton acts of the power elite.
In a previous piece of this article, I referred to something called "neo-tribalism". This effect is accomplished by establishing false rules and boundaries between different peoples, herding them into groups based on their differences. This is the exact OPPOSITE of what we set out to do. Mass communication made this oh so easy for the power elite. As radio and television each reached toward their pinnacle of influence, all of the gains we had made in reducing and/or eliminating the previous walls between groups based on religion, national origin, etc, these two factors took a wrecking ball to those gains and began erecting newer, stronger barriers to achieving the "melting pot" we were working towards. They used them to hijack fair, ethical, and righteous movements like suffrage, civil rights, and constitutional government and made them veer off into the deep waters of division instead. Suffrage morphed into "Women's Rights" and then Feminism. Civil Rights, a more apt example for this article, went from being a calling for justice and an affirmation of our original principles to being a vehicle with the subtlety of a broad axe to cleave an ever increasing chasm between White folks and Black folks that continues and grows to this day.
But why? Well, to put it bluntly, it's easier to move the flock when they are in a herd than it is to have to attend to each individual sheep. And that is exactly how they see us. We are a problem to be managed for them. The power elite don't see rugged individualism, a cornerstone of our founding documents, as a positive credo. They see it as a dilemma they must deal with. You can see it after each election night as their tribunes in the Legacy Media break down how each of the tribes they established voted. On every channel, you'll hear some talking head say something like "Ninety percent of the Black vote went to Candidate A". "Candidate B only got 20% of the White female vote this election cycle, where his predecessor got 28%". If you think were are a nation divided only by red states and blue states, you're fooling yourself on an epic level.
After Reconstruction, for example, the overwhelming number of Black folks in this country were registered Republicans. The reason is simple, Lincoln was a Republican and his party stood strongly against slavery. While I'll save my dissection of Lincoln for another day, his influence was strong amongst the early Black voters. Follow the breadcrumb trail I've laid out when it comes to mass communication and, today, you'll find that well over 90% of Blacks in this country are now registered Democrats. That's not a happenstance. The Left hijacked the Civil Rights movement with false promises, a changed narrative, and absolute pandering the lesser angels of the movement. And they did so quite successfully. Much to the detriment of the very people it purported to want to "help". Year after year, election after election, they would whip out the same old racial bromides, promise to wield the power of the federal government, and make right all of the wrongs they would advocate were keeping Black folks from achieving the American dream. If you happen to be one of those folks that believe in all of their falsities, let me ask a very simple question. How's it going so far?
I don't mean to be trite here, but the evidence is overwhelmingly obvious. They lied. Whenever the truth would get in their way, they would simply change the conversation, modulate the narrative, and use the very same mass communication I've been referencing to provide still more "bread and circuses". Rather than communicate that the way to the promised land for Black folks in this country was through education and assimilation, they continuously stressed the need to address "Black issues". It was they who blurred the lines between the 3 words I based this article on; PREJUDICE, RACISM, and BIGOTRY. They did so as to use them as a manipulation tool to stir up the crowd, much the way Jim Morrison did at his concerts. They and Jim knew that, while the individual would act based on their own interests and beliefs, the crowd could be swayed into the very opposite approach. Such is why we STILL have the same problems now we did in the 50s and 60s for Black people in America. One could make a very effective argument that these problems have further manifested because, while Whites were the driving factor for Blacks problems in the past, it is Black folks themselves who are doing so today. When Marcus Garvey advocated for black separatism back in the beginning of the 20th century, he did so in response to the mistreatment of Blacks by Whites of his time. Today, similar separatist notions are perpetuated by Black folks themselves for neo-tribalist reasons. Assimilation is seen as a sin, of not "keeping it real". In over 100 years, every time we move closer to solving the actual problem and break down the walls between us, the power elite very quietly keeping mixing up fresh mortar.
Why? Because to do so allows them to maintain POWER. It's all about POWER, my friends. All you need to win any election is 50% plus one vote. They will lie, cheat, steal, vanquish, bankrupt, and isolate anyone anywhere. They will foment distrust, disharmony, and dismay so long as they maintain their own power. I'll save the discussion for the rise of Socialism for another day, but have you ever wondered why so many billionaires seem to advocate for it? Do you think it accidental that Bill Gates, George Soros, Warren Buffett and other really RICH guys support Socialist causes? One of the icons of Democratic Socialism, Senator Bernie Sanders, wants to take wealth rather than income. If you're a billionaire, he's talking about YOU. Why do you think so many multi-billion dollar corporations are signing up for all of this Woke nonsense? They are also a premier target of the socialist Left. And yet, they supposedly support it. Trust me when I tell you that the Left's true goals are ALWAYS the EXACT OPPOSITE of their stated intent.
The Democrat Left has trumpeted race issues for decades, not because they have the best intentions of Blacks in mind, but because they have a virtual lock on the Black voting bloc. It's about POWER. Their power. It's not about what we want. It's about what they want. As a parent, I wanted my children to grow up knowing they were loved, knowing that they were the arbiters of their own destiny. I wanted them to know that they could achieve whatever goals they set for themselves if they were willing to listen, learn from history and my teaching, put in the work, sacrifice today for what lies ahead tomorrow, and help create the world they wanted to live in. I challenge ANYONE on the Left to show me where Black mothers and fathers don't want the same thing for their kids.
I'll end this article the same way I began it. We don't have a race problem in this country. We have a truth problem. White folks need to stop lying to themselves and Black folks about what they really believe and really think is going on. Black folks need to stop lying to themselves and White folks about what they really believe and really think is going on. If we, as individuals do this, and let go of the idea of "us versus them" that lead us to neo-tribalism in the first place, there will be nothing the power elite can do to stop the tidal wave of change that will follow. Trust and believe that when this starts happening that they will pull out all the stops, they will unleash the titanic power of mass communication, they will ring every racial bell and blow every dog whistle they can to avert it. But, eventually and inevitably, we will be successful and will, indeed, create the nation we want to live in, free of all of the false narrative, fake boundaries and divisions, put aside all past sins, and blow away the fog of disillusionment that masks the true nature of this country from our eyes. It may take time and it may not, sadly, happen in my lifetime, but "Slow and Steady Wins the Race".
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