Saturday, October 25, 2008

The Dirty Work



One of the more famous quotes of Carter G. Woodson, the "Father of Black History," and major contributor to the understanding of the link between proper education and true freedom states:

When you control a man's thinking you do not have to worry about his actions. You do not have to tell him not to stand here or go yonder. He will find his "proper place" and will stay in it. You do not need to send him to the back door. He will go without being told.


I believe that the application of this truth can be extended to much of the nonsense we see taking place in the current presidential campaign. Woodson, in his original context was talking about blacks carrying out the desires of their oppressors without being forced or told, being conditioned to conform by years of exploitation.

The absence of direct participation or conspiracy in the despicable acts of rage and hate that are being reported does not indicate innocence. The inflammatory rhetoric of McCain/Palin always results in predictable responses. "He's palling around with terrorists who would target their own country." Response: "kill him!" When Palin blamed Katie Couric and her questions for her poor interview performance, the Palin supporters responded by shouting a racial slur at an African-American media person. While there are numerous other examples, the point is that when there are minds that are not right to begin with or minds that are conditioned to respond to certain negative stimuli, the dirty work will be carried out without direct instruction.

The dangerous and reckless Ashley Todd stunt, which relied on a tried and tested formula of a white woman claiming assault by a black male, is the dirty work designed to engender support for the McCain candidacy and fan the flames of rage in order to create doubt in or aversion to the Obama candidacy. It was the natural extension of robo-calls, terrorist by exaggerated association accusations, cultural difference fears, and not so subtle racial insinuations.

Be not deceived; God is not mocked, for you reap whatever you sow.


Galatians 6:7

4 comments:

SjP said...

What bothers me is that the McCain/Palin ticket continues to turn their eyes away from the obvious impact their divisive campaign strategy has. This is dangerous as we have learned today.

Revvy Rev said...

That was a good post you did on the plot. I don't feel good at all about the direction things seem to be headed.

Unknown said...

This whole episode was shameful. The sad thing is so many many people attempted to blame Obama. Even if...and that's a big if...an Obama supporter had perpetrated this crime...how could it have been viewed as his fault?

Revvy Rev said...

BQ,

The way that the wingnuts ran with the story before it was verified says a lot about our insatiable appetite for garbage, negativity, and desire to discredit.