Reflections From a Murky Pond

In the short time since the November 4th election in which America chose to install Barack Obama as the 44th President of the United States of America I made various comments across the Blogosphere. These comments have ranged from despairing through rationally dissenting and onward into anger. The responses from President-Elect Obama’s supporters have been - irrespective of my tone - largely vitriolic, rude and/or condescending. One non-inflammatory response though has been heavily prevalent:

“The People Have Spoken”

Apparently in the minds of the Democrats and other Obama supporters since an approximately 7% majority of the American electorate chose Obama, Conservatives - and quasi-Conservatives like myself - are supposed to just be quiet and join in to support President-Elect Obama’s agenda.

OK, I can understand that sentiment. Here’s a thought though. Also on November 4th the state of California passed Proposition 8 and added an Amendment to the California State Constitution that outlawed same-sex marriages. This referendum was passed by an approximately 5% margin of the California electorate despite the opposition having spent significantly more than the proponents.

Homosexuals and supporters of their rights are currently engaged in large scale protests across the state of California. They also intend to continue to fight against this constitutional amendment though the courts system - presumably all the way to the US Supreme Court if necessary.

If any of Obama’s supporters are so sure of the rightness and wisdom of the American electorate why don’t they tell the opponents of California’s Proposition 8 to be quiet and accept the outcome of the democratic process? After all -

“The People Have Spoken”

If they’re not willing to trust the wisdom of the American electorate, why should Conservatives do so? I’m fairly sure a large number of President-Elect Obama’s supporters do not approve of Proposition 8 and view its passing into law as an abject failure of the democratic process. I view both Obama’s election and Proposition 8 as failures of the democratic process.

If you’re not willing to tell the homosexuals in California to shut up and accept the outcome of the vote, show the same restraint towards those who supported Sen. McCain for President.

Language shapes or gives shape to human thought. Therefore changes to culture’s language either represent a change in the what or how the culture thinks or are an attempt to induce changes in how the culture thinks.

This becomes quite clear when one looks at how people - mostly in America and other parts of Western Culture - have changed the definition of the “racism” in order to further their own agenda. In the past racism was defined in a denotative manner that contained no dependencies on secondary functions, constructs, or systems.

The Merriam-Webster Dictionary definition:

Racism
Pronunciation: \ˈrā-ˌsi-zəm also -ˌshi-\
Function: noun
Date: 1933

Definition(s):

1. a belief that race is the primary determinant of human traits and capacities and that racial differences produce an inherent superiority of a particular race
2. racial prejudice or discrimination

This was and is the proper definition of racism. It accurately denotes and defines the phenomenon of racism.

Sadly, various Sociologists decided to craft a new definition of racism, one more suited to the agenda of societal change. Their new (mis)definition is:

Racism
Pronunciation: \ˈrā-ˌsi-zəm also -ˌshi-\
Function: noun
Date: 1970

Definition(s):

1. Prejudice plus power

This (mis)definition of racism has its roots in the writings of Dr. Delmo Della Dora, who first devised this corruption of the meaning and nature of racism. It is a purely agenda-driven definition of racism. It’s purpose is to make racism a purely White problem and to free minorities from any and all responsibility for their own bigotry. In other words, this is a claim that no member of a minority group can be racist due the prevailing demographic disparities prevent them from having significant power.

This serves no purpose except as an attempt to lock Whites and minorities into fixed roles of oppressor and victim, with the latter either trying extracting concessions from the former or in rebellion against the former.

Only White people can be racist. This the battle cry of a generation of anti-racist activists, theorists, and minority leaders who have twisted the English language to further their agenda. It is a slogan that hopefully will go down in history as one of the most poorly conceived counterproductive arguments ever made by man.

I’m fairly sure that everyone in the US who’s not deaf has heard a lot about Trinity UCC’s retiring senior Pastor, Rev. Dr. Jeremiah A. Wright, Jr.’s radically anti-American and racist speeches and diatribes. You’d have to work diligently and relentlessly to maintain any semblance of ignorance on the subject.

Few people in America are now indifferent to Wright.

It’s no surprise that Wright’s ongoing hatred of “White America” has had a negative impact on Sen. Barack Obama’s bid for the Democratic Party’s US presidential nomination. I had even posted about this back in July, 2007. In an attempt to mitigate the damage to his campaign Sen. Obama has publicly condemned Wright’s bigotry and distanced himself from his former pastor.

Obama has gone a step further though…

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