I read a comment on social media a few days ago, where someone incorrectly identified the political establishment of the Republican party. The comment was in response to a statement that read, "no white person alive today ever owned a slave. No black person alive today ever owned a slave. We can't move forward if we want to keep living in the past."
Recently, the division in America has mostly derived from issues of racism, the history of slavery, and political ideologies. These national issues currently at the forefront led to the tragic events in Charlottesville, the removal of several historic statues, monuments, and other memorabilia, and insurmountable acts of violence in numerous cities
According to Tucker Carlson of Fox News, it has been suggested politicians have encouraged police to stand down unless death is imminent.
Isn't the main purpose of law enforcement to protect its citizens? Rather than just standing back and watching, shouldn't they be more proactively trying to calm the storm before it becomes catastrophic?
Birth of the Republican Party
According to "Team of Rivals: The Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln," by Doris Kearns Goodwin, the Republican party came to fruition a few years before President Lincoln took the oval office. It was comprised of former Whigs, Free-Soilers, and only anti-slavery Democrats. The entire party was never formed solely by Democrats, nor were Democrats ever the majority, which was the comment posted on social media. This statement's invalidity struck me as astonishing, to say the least.
In the late 1850s, the country became extremely divided between the north and the south. On the political slope, most northerners leaned right, while most southerners leaned left. Above all, citizens were split amid the slavery issue.
The Republican party was established for several reasons, but its most well-known purpose was to prevent slavery in the new territory.
The old territory, where slavery already existed, would be left alone. Lincoln hoped to prevent future conflict with the south. The emancipation of slavery was always at the top of his agenda, but it was to be tread upon lightly. Once prohibited in new territory, the focus could shift to old territory. A lot was at stake during these decisive times and Lincoln was a methodical man, carefully planning every step of this process.
Slavery was abolished in the end, but not before 620,000 casualties. The Confederate Army surrendered to the Union, uniting the states of America once again.
Race should not be an issue in 2017
In my lifetime, racism has never been at the forefront until recently. It's a major issue across the country. It seems the liberal media can't get enough of it. I recently watched a YouTube video where an African-American provided his thoughts on the issue. He stated that before Obama endorsed Black Lives Matter, racism had been stagnant for several years.
Like slavery, racism has been a problem for a long time. However, it shouldn't be a modern-day issue. Segregation was abolished long ago and diversity is everywhere.
A person's qualities shouldn't be characterized by traits out of their control, such as gender, race, ethnicity, etc.
Racism can be directly linked to ideology. Certain hate groups mostly only appeal to people who mirror their majority skin color. Furthermore, they host several events permitting attendance to people who don't share their race. The group's ideologies create conflict on its own, but since they are oftentimes racially divided it leads to race-baiting or a race war.
Statues and slavery
Several liberals are wanting to rip America's history down. On one side, I empathize with people that must see memorabilia each day demeaning to their ancestor's. The other side of me wonders why these bad memories can't be easily forgotten.
If we continue to dwell on America's pastime, how can we ever sustain the present and optimistically head into the future?
Reported by Tucker Carlson of Fox News, 41 of the 56 men who signed the Declaration of Independence owned slaves. Does that make what they wrote illegitimate? The left wants to tear down all Confederate statues and then move on to all slave owner memorabilia. Should the Washington Monument be destroyed because George Washington owned slaves? Should we not recognize the Declaration of Independence's significance because Thomas Jefferson did also? Should this historic national document bear no importance or meaning?
Most races have experienced slavery at some point throughout history.
Like one's past, societal history has provided many successes and failures. We retain our successes while altering our failures. Mistakes aren't made for the purpose of relinquishment. Instead, they present an opportunity door for us to persistently knock on until we're able to crack the code and enter. The point is that parts of history have been mistakes that we've learned to change for the better. Even though the Confederacy wanted to continue slavery, the Civil War memorabilia should be left alone. It represents the emancipation above and beyond anything else.
America was founded on debate
Liberals want to abolish free speech by implementing an amendment to police hate speech, which is entirely subjective.
The whole point of the first amendment is to protect speech that offends people.
What happened to people engaging in rational conversation with someone who doesn't agree with their view? Today, most liberals just can't seem to do that. Their stubbornness eclipses sensibility. America was founded on debate and opinion. We hash out our differences, ideas, views, and beliefs. Debate is what drives our productivity. Nothing is ever good enough. We're never satisfied and we constantly argue seeking improvement. That's what makes America the most powerful country in the world - freedom of speech.
America today is much like America in 1848. The same current national issues were at the forefront then.
The result of that was the Civil War. People need to take a step back and think about that. Do we really want to engage in another civil battle? What do we hope to gain? How would that impact our children's future?
With ISIS looming and the unpredictability of North Korea, it seems the country should be uniting. Instead, we're fighting amongst each other over statues. If recent events have shed any light on what's to come, the magnitude of future violence could be devastating.
