Sourcing Evangelical Progressivism — Part 2 — Racial Issues

This is the second essay in a series dealing with the ideological source of contemporary progressivism, and the implications for evangelicals.  In Part 1, the correlation was examined between political correctness and Cultural Marxism, and some source documentation was reviewed.  For example, here’s an additional comment from Cultural Marxist co-founder Antonio Gramsci:

“…he needed to get individuals and groups in every class and station of life to think about life’s problems without reference to the Christian transcendent, without reference to God and the laws of God. He needed to get them to react with antipathy and positive opposition to any introduction of Christian ideals or the Christian transcendent into the treatment and solution of the problems of modern life.”

Gramsci’s sentiments are consistent with all Marxists, from Marx and Engels through the Cultural Marxists and on to today’s progressives.  Some more examples of the ideas of Cultural Marxists can be found here.

In Part 1, we examined the application of progressivism to the Massachusetts Transgender “Bathroom Bill” and similar legislation elsewhere, and we noted that political correctness has three important targets to overcome: Christianity, the traditional (and Biblically-based) family, and free speech.  The current controversy over free speech with University of Toronto psychology Professor Jordan Peterson was also cited to demonstrate the conflict with political correctness.

In this essay, we turn to progressivism and its impact on issues of race.

Things have come to light recently which provide a great deal of previously little-known details on political parties in the US relative to racial issues; the most important being the overt racism of the Democrat party from its inception until it was taken over by the New Left (i.e., Cultural Marxists) in the 1960s.  I believe the Democrat party at that point became more covert about its racism, but just as potent in its negative results.

Remember LBJ’s famous statement about getting his Great Society approved?

 “We get this passed and we’ll have those [African-Americans] voting Democrat for the next 200 years.” 

Well, the first 50 years has validated LBJ’s prediction!  Note that it was also under LBJ that the famous Department of Labor’s Moynihan Report came out (1965), which in part identified the deterioration of the family structure in the Black underclass as a leading cause of poverty.  Even though LBJ was initially enthusiastic about doing something to help out, the hard Leftist ideologues in his administration overruled him, calling it “blaming the victim”, and stating that female heads of households were commonplace in Africa, etc.  In other words, Cultural Marxist ideology overruled common sense, and no scrutiny was made of family culture.  Note that the refusal of the Left to deal with dysfunctional family issues in the 1960s has continued to this day.  One has to ask “why”?  The only conclusion that makes sense and accounts for the nonsensical obsession by the Left to not deal with these problems is that they DON’T WANT solutions; they only want VOTES.

Progressive Policies that Harm Blacks

Consider the following list of some progressive policies that harm Blacks:

Leftist Policy Damage to Black Community
Affirmative Action Sets up recipients for failure, demeaning (note: it may have been needed 30 years ago)
Minimum Wage Drives away businesses, jobs
Lack of School Choice Traps youth in failing public schools, and open to Leftist indoctrination
Feminism anti-male rhetoric Destructive, especially to young Black males
Entertainment media support of negative cultural traits Destructive to youth
Welfare, other government assistance with little incentive to leave Enslavement of the poor on the government plantations
Fostering a sense of victimization in every possible way (e.g. “hands up, don’t shoot”) Hopelessness, resentment, separatism rather than assimilation
Opposition to voter ID laws Demeaning, opens door to fraud
Left’s war on law enforcement Lack of law and order, high crime, drives out business
Leftist paternalism, suggesting that Blacks need White help Demeaning, fosters dependency, resentment
Exemption of Black students from behavior rules Lack of self-discipline, fosters unruly behavior
Illegal immigration Takes jobs from Black community
Anti-Christian, anti-family policies Devastating to the Black community
Early sex education, normalization of LGBTQ behavior Increases promiscuity, increase in AIDS and other STDs
Increasing attacks on Christianity and public Christian expression Reduces influence of the Christian church
Continuation of the “Negro Project” via nearby abortion clinics Weakens families, emotionally devastating to women, fosters promiscuity

Similar observations and conclusions are found in John Perazzo: “Victims of the Left – Black Americans” (section headings listed):

  • How the Left Created Black Victimology and Black Rejection of American Values
  • Affirmative Action: How the Left Has Harmed Blacks through the Bigotry of Low Expectations
  • How the Left Consigns Blacks to Substandard Education
  • How the War on Poverty Devastated the Black Community
  • How the Failed Crusade of “Sex Education” Harmed the Black Community
  • The Crime Wave that Has Decimated Black America
  • How Blacks Have Been Victimized by Leftist Policies Concerning AIDS
  • How the Left Demands Black Conformity of Thought

In discussing the documentary “Hillary’s America: The Secret History of the Democrat Party”, filmmaker Dinesh D’Souza makes the following comparison between the Democrat plantations under slavery, and their contemporary plantations under progressivism:

Consider the comparison between slavery plantations and the contemporary urban plantations, created and maintained by the Left:

Feature Under Slavery With Contemporary Urban Plantations
Dwellings Ramshackle Tenements, projects
Family Disarray by slaveholders Disarray by Democrat policy, Hollywood influence
Violence By slaveholders By gangs, drug dealers
Provision Meager Food stamps, lack of jobs due to violence, minimum wage
Opportunity No education, imprisoned (some escaped) Poor education, demonization of “acting White”, Democrat-provided victim mentality leading to hopelessness (some escape)

How can today’s extreme victimization of Blacks – especially the underclass – by the Leftist policies be considered anything but racist?  Fine, if there were problems with these policies after two or three years when the Left took control at the end of 1960s, maybe give them a little more time.  But after 50 years – with Black “leadership” in charge of all governmental entities in many of our urban centers – the plight along many indices show catastrophic decline: literacy, illegitimate births, aborted pregnancies, crime, infrastructure, business climate, employment.  Yet as mentioned above the Left prohibits criticism of the underlying culture of the underclass, and works diligently to decrease effectiveness of law enforcement in the urban areas, ensuring high crime rates, with little interest in the establishment or retention of businesses in these areas.  And the Left also adamantly opposes school choice for poor families to get their kids out of failing schools, which might offer some hope.  And for many years the Left has ensured policies which incentivize single-parent households, going back to the time of the rejected Moynihan Report.

No, in my opinion, the Left – at the elite level – has no incentive to see positive change; they support “hands up, don’t shoot” to enhance a sense of victimization, but demonize groups that support abstinence until married programs, preferring earlier and more inappropriate sex education for small children.  It’s no wonder that these anti-family policies emanate from today’s Left; their founders wanted to trash traditional families and smash monogamy (and they led extremely licentious lifestyles to “walk their talk”).  Note that the Black community – whose family structure just prior to the Leftist takeover was not that far behind the general population (and that was under Jim Crow and similar institutional racism) – has unfortunately responded “well” to the Leftist founders’ wishes, with catastrophic results.  In what sense is this NOT racism of the Left, since they took over in the 1960s?

Black Conservatives

After nearly 30 years of ministry in the Black community, I have come to see Black conservatism as THE SOLUTION to problems in the Black underclass.  Yet the Democrat party marginalizes, demonizes and opposes Black conservatives and the non-Leftist policies they propose.  In fact, these people are the best hope for the entire country in my opinion, because they have suffered, yet have TRANSCENDED victimhood!

If you’re unfamiliar with the thoughts of Black conservatives, consider the following sample videos:

C-SPAN – D’Souza Exposes the Racist Political Strategy of Democrats (1:02:51)

In this July 28, 2016 lecture, Dinesh D’Souza focuses on the sordid, racist history of the Democrat party, from its formation with slave owner Andrew Jackson, through the civil war (which was actually a war between the Republicans and the Democrats), through the New Deal (where the Democrats first bought the votes of Blacks) up until the present. He explains that there was never a “big switch” where suddenly the Democrats stopped being racists. He discusses the current plantation-like scheme and scam that the racist Left currently uses against Blacks to retain power.

Poverty-Pimp Obama – From Crisis to Control – Clarence Weaver (19:21)

In this interview, motivational speaker and entrepreneur Mason Weaver describes how the Democrats are only interested in creating and managing crises for votes, never to solve problems. He seeks for an America free of the government plantation, with Americans unified, and no hyphenations to promote differences.

Star Parker’s Story (5:52)

A brief documentary of the life of Star Parker before her Christian conversion, and the changes for the good that took place as a result.

Star Parker: Get Government out of Welfare Now (7:41)

C.U.R.E founder Star Parker describes how the Left has greatly damaged and held back the Black underclass through policy which has torn apart the urban Black family. She is author of the book, “Uncle Sam’s Plantation: How Big Government Enslaves America’s Poor and What We Can Do About It”.

Thomas Sowell – The Reality Of Multiculturalism (15:00)

Economist and prolific author Thomas Sowell comments on the absurdity of multiculturalism. This is part of a longer interview dealing with his 2013 book “Intellectuals and Race”.

Walter E. Williams — Common Sense (9:07)

Gems of wisdom on race, government, economics and culture from the DVD “Suffer No Fools” by Economics Professor Walter E. Williams

Project 21’s Derryck Green Debunks Myth of Conservative Racism (5:12)

Blogger and speaker Derryck Green of Project 21 exposes a series of false accusations that the Left uses to charge conservatives with racism.

Allen West: Faith & Freedom Coalition 2013 (8:53)

Allen West decries the destructive policies of the Left, which have been especially destructive to the Black family, and damaging to urban centers and the entire country. Conservative values are the answer.

Deneen Borelli – Race Card Politics Takes Center Stage at DNC (1:38)

Deneen Borelli outlines the commitment of the Democrat National Committee to play the race card at their 2016 convention.

David Webb – ‘They (NRA) didn’t check my ethnicity when I joined’ (4:19)

At the time of the assassination of five police in Dallas, Tea Party co-founder David Webb laments the racial division caused by Barack Obama during his entire presidency, as well as at the time of this tragedy. Webb also indentifies the negative impact of the Black Lives Matter movement which Obama fully supports.

Worshiping at the Church of Racism (7:03)

Author Shelby Steele discusses how Black leadership is in love with racism.

Black Conservative Quotes

Consider quotes from some Black conservative writers concerning the negative effect of progressive policies on the Black community:

Jason Riley: “Please Stop Helping Us: How Liberals Make It Harder for Blacks to Succeed

In Please Stop Helping Us, Jason L. Riley examines how well-intentioned welfare programs are in fact holding black Americans back. Minimum-wage laws may lift earnings for people who are already employed, but they price a disproportionate number of blacks out of the labor force. Affirmative action in higher education is intended to address past discrimination, but the result is fewer black college graduates than would otherwise exist. And so it goes with everything from soft-on-crime laws, which make black neighborhoods more dangerous, to policies that limit school choice out of a mistaken belief that charter schools and voucher programs harm the traditional public schools that most low-income students attend.

Derryck Green – “The Absence of the Black Church

Because of the postmodern trappings of “tolerance,” “diversity,” and relativism, blacks have willingly relinquished the painful process of self-critiquing their own community.  The moral and spiritual deficiency has led black culture to define “authenticity” as comporting oneself with behaviors and stereotypes that the generations of many black grandparents and great grandparents sought to avoid and overcome. 

John McWhorter – “What’s Holding Blacks Back?

“Victimology, separatism, and anti-intellectualism underlie the general black community’s response to all race-related issues.… Today, these three thought patterns impede black advancement much more than racism; and dysfunctional inner cities, corporate glass ceilings, and black educational underachievement will persist until such thinking disappears. In my experience, trying to show many African-Americans how mistaken and counterproductive these ideas are is like trying to convince a religious person that God does not exist: the sentiments are beyond the reach of rational, civil discourse.”

Shelby Steele – “The Loneliness of the Black Conservative

“Today a public ‘black conservative’ will surely meet a stunning amount of animus, demonization, misunderstanding, and flat-out, undifferentiated contempt. And there is a kind of licensing process involved here in which the black leadership—normally protective even of people like Marion Barry and O. J. Simpson—licenses blacks and whites to have contempt for the black conservative. It is a part of the group’s manipulation of shame to let certain of its members languish outside the perimeter of group protection where even politically correct whites (who normally repress criticism of blacks) can show contempt for them.”

Whereas in Part 1, I noted the impossibility of finding scriptural basis which support the origins of progressivism, here I ask for scriptural basis to refute the above contemporary views of Black conservatives.  For Christians who support the Democrat party, how does one frame the overt racism from Andrew Jackson to LBJ, or the covert progressive racism (at the elite level) which has created and maintained today’s urban plantation for the Black underclass?

It is past time for progressive evangelicals to recognize the cognitive dissonance in embracing an ideology (i.e., Cultural Marxism, which controls the Democrat Party) whose primary goal is to destroy Christianity and the traditional (and Biblical – including Black) family.

In closing, consider the following 10/22/2016 quote by a Black Christian:

Darrell Bernard Harrison

I read an article a moment ago about a black female who took to one knee while performing the national anthem last night during an NBA game. So, in the spirit of fairness and balance, I thought I’d post a list of issues about which black people would never take a knee:

– the legal murder of more than 17 million unborn black babies since Roe v. Wade in 1973
– the refusal of the federal government to allow parental choice in determining at what school their children should be educated
– the 73 percent rate at which black children are reared in single-parent homes
– the 72 percent out-of-wedlock birth rate of black children
– an increasingly burdensome tax code that forces black parents to work longer hours resulting in less time spent with their children
– a punitive healthcare law that is forcing many black households into bankruptcy because the premiums and penalties are unaffordable
– a double-digit black unemployment rate which is influenced by a liberal immigration policy that encourages and accommodates violating the law under the guise of “fulfilling a dream”
– an increasingly high rate of HIV- infected black men and women in black urban and suburban neighborhoods
– the decades-long impact of liberal policies that have only served to exacerbate poverty and government dependency in urban communities, despite the fact that 95 percent of black voters support the political party that endorses those policies
– the rate at which black people commit violent crimes against other black people

Not trying to start an argument. I’m just sick of the hypocrisy.

DBH

 Recommended Books

In addition to the videos of Black conservatives referenced above, given below are a listing of books by Black conservative that deal with various aspects of the war against Blacks waged by the progressive movement.   Note that the last three books include “Plantation” in the title, referring to the urban plantations discussed above.

Thomas Sowell

Thomas Sowell: Intellectuals and Race

Thomas Sowell exposes the intellectual shallowness of some of the policies toward racial minorities by the Left, including diversity, multiculturalism, and affirmative action. He points out the irony that intellectuals pay no price for their many destructive ideas.

Black Rednecks and White Liberals

Thomas Sowell provides a series of essays which shed new light on the causes of the dysfunctional minority urban culture. For example, the pronunciation of the word “ask” as “axe” did not originate in the south under slavery, or in Africa, but rather came to North America from poor white culture in rural England where the southern settlers originated.

Shelby Steele

Shelby Steele – Shame: How America’s Past Sins Have Polarized Our Country

Shelby Steele discusses how progressivism used “poetic truth” to gain power and assumed (but false) moral superiority. Such “truth” is not based in fact but in ideology. The impact of failed progressive policy with respect to minority communities is lamented.

Burgess Owens

Liberalism or How to Turn Good Men into Whiners, Weenies and Wimps

Former Super Bowl champion safety Burgess Owens discusses the negative effect of Marxist policies on Black men. He exposes the white racism associated with boards of directors of the NAACP and BET, and the general failure of so-called black leadership because of their basis in Marxist ideology.

Ben Kinchlow

Black Yellowdogs: The Most Dangerous Citizen Is Not Armed, But Uninformed

Former CBN co-host Ben Kinchlow provides an insightful look at racial issues in the US from the time of slavery until the present. He identifies the policies that have been especially damaging to the Black community.

Star Parker

Uncle Sam’s Plantation: How Big Government Enslaves America’s Poor and What We Can Do About It

Star Parker points out that America has two economic systems: capitalism for the rich and socialism for the poor. She shows that this double-minded approach keeps the poor enslaved to poverty while the rich get richer. She proposes that the solution should be a faith-based rather than a state-sponsored plan.

Deneen Borelli

Blacklash: How Obama and the Left Are Driving Americans to the Government Plantation

This book demolishes the lies of self-styled African-American leaders and is an impassioned call for a community to break free of the progressive policies that hold them back from achieving the American Dream.

Mason Weaver

It’s OK to Leave the Plantation: The New Underground Railroad

This 1998 book discusses the “plantation mentality” that is causing Americans to become co-dependent. It is historical however does look at the authors personal journey from a Berkley militant to a conservative businessman.