The last few weeks of political activity fueled by “Tea Party conservatives” expressing a desire to shrink all government led to a government shutdown. Some Tea Party folks mostly object to taxation. Some object to “excessive government regulations. ” Some object to Obamacare, either because it represents socialized medicine, is partly financed by taxation, or because it represents an achievement of the Obama Administration. This latter objection is largely caused by racial bigotry. Bigots also tend to not like government in general. Here are some historical facts and reasons why bigots might not like government in general.

From the time of the founding of the United States of America, slavery was an institution in the South. It was acknowledged in the Constitution wherein black slaves were counted as three fifths of a person for the purpose of establishing state populations and number of representatives in Congress. The Abolitionist movement eventually led to the secession of the Southern states to form the Confederate States of America. The CSA claimed that the secession was over “states’ rights” but the right in question was the right to enslave Negroes. A civil war ensued and the North won. Slavery was abolished by the victorious government. Bigots did not like that. One of them shot President Lincoln.

Subsequently Negro men were given the right to vote, before white women, by the way. Bigots did not like that either. Over the course of the 150 years following the “War of Northern Aggression” Negroes were allowed by governments, state by state, to marry whites, to go to school with whites, to vote without passing intentionally difficult literacy tests or paying poll taxes, to sit wherever they wanted on public transportation, to go into any public restroom, drink from any water fountain, swim in any public pool, eat in any public restaurant, and hold public office: legislative, executive, and judicial. And today the President of the United States is a “Negro.” Bigots have just been driven crazy by all these governmental actions and by the fact that less than fifty percent of the American electorate clearly doesn’t share their racial bigotry. Added to that is the state by state advancement of the rights of gays to marry each other and recognition of true freedom of religion, even freedom to have no religion, and the world of the bigot is slowly but steadily shrinking and collapsing.

I do not know how many folks joined the Tea Party mostly because they are bigots but I am afraid that it is a larger percentage than most of us would like to admit. They are justifiably worried that their world view and model of America is under attack. Show them no mercy.

Stephen Baird October, 2013