RichmondLiberty.org

by Robert Russo

As Libertarians we keep our ears pricked from the start of the campaign season to the end of the lawmaking process asking "so how does that change the way things are?" or "how does this preserve what few rights I still have?". Take the General Assembly for example, there is so much that needs to be done to keep ahead of the widespread fleecing of Richmond, and yet the most newsmaking resolution that has come from the current session to date is on the issue of slavery. The state of Virginia now officially "regrets" its role in the institution of slavery and the mistreatment of Native Americans over its entire history (as opposed to outright apologizing), becoming the first and only state to do so. Former candidate for attorney general Del. Donald McEachin sponsored this resolution along with "Juneteenth Freedom Day", a state holiday set for the third Saturday of June, saying "This session will be remembered for a lot of things. But 20 years hence, I suspect that among those things will be the fact that we came together and passed this resolution.".* Really? Is there not room for more pressing issues or those more indicative of this year or even this century?

Being neither descended from slaves nor slaveholders I don’t know whether to cheer that such a long-awaited admission has finally come, or to question its relevance beside bills of immediacy and necessity. Do the people of Richmond not get ripped off and disadvantaged daily regardless of race or culture, and those in minority neighborhoods more so than most? Is their civic protection not a better expense of the Assembly’s time? And if one wants to fight slavery, there are parts of the world in which it is practiced right now along with child labor and terrorism. Does admitting to the mistreatment of Native Americans mean we’ll start giving them their land back? It is impossible for me to fully understand the depth of an injustice against an entire race, whose memory is passed down through family lines and revived by social triggers throughout our society. I can't speak with any authority on it and I want nothing to do with it.

Simultaneously Richmond’s Museum of the Confederacy will likely be changing its name because of its "negative perceptions", to the chagrin of historians and citizens alike.** Virginia’s culture is swiftly being erased from the once-proud capital of the South to a suburb of DC. The fear of offense is the most rampant political tool of the modern age, and by rampant I mean that it is managed and monitored by no one, not even those who put it to use. They simply unleash it to end careers and transform institutions. Presidential candidates Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama could come forward and say with authority that no misspoken reference to women or Blacks is going to offend them, and rid the 2008 election of that whole distraction from the issues, but they won’t. They will simply watch all this hoopla go on around them as if they can’t stop it.

It was uncovered yesterday that Rev. Al Sharpton is descended from slaves owned by the family of Sen. Strom Thurmond.*** To understand why such a thing is even newsworthy one must know that people act and vote based on the full range of human emotions. Most people who write or speak on politics want practical leadership, ways to make their lives and businesses better. Al Sharpton provides cultural leadership, representing the interests of an ethnic group just by being himself. (And party members seeking platforms aren't necessarily different people from those who want representation of their culture, race or values. Many voters want both.) Mass injustice and mistreatment require great lengths to resolve, which is hard to grasp for those with the responsibility of trying to make society and economy run smoothly because it is an issue outside the box.

In my piece on the State of the Union I spoke of how demoralized people can’t be represented unless their core issue is faced. For some it is abortion, for others religion, and we Libertarians are one of innumerable such groups calling for the one change we can’t yield on. So how do we even address such strong, subjective motives? I had a long traumatic experience in my life, in which the things I value most and consider my birthright were taken from me with great prejudice by those who were supposed to protect such sentiments. Because of this there are people I can’t speak to or even acknowledge because the things that make us who we are have the highest priority and if they are not healed there is no point. We must remind the custodians of formula in government that without justice (even a gesture of regret) there is no consent from the people. Del. Frank Hargrove of Hanover who said of slavery "our Black citizens should get over it"*, was correct, sooner or later people will need to put it behind them. But you can’t just tell people to do so, that’s easy when you haven’t felt the issue first-hand.

*http://www.timesdispatch.com/servlet/Satellite?pagename=RTD/MGArticle/RTD_BasicArticle&c=MGArticle&cid=1149193380480
**http://www.cnn.com/2007/TRAVEL/02/20/confederate.museum.ap/index.html
***http://www.cnn.com/2007/US/02/25/sharpton.thurmond.ap/index.html

Question of the Week: As a party do you believe the LPVA represents just one culture, or do we have sufficient diversity of cultures and ethnicities among our ranks? If we had a more diverse base would it give us less cultural identity? Send your opinions to henrico@richmondliberty.org.

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