My Little Racist Pony

Oh, Wonkette, how do I love thee for dredging this up:

Adele Fergusen wonders Why Do Blacks Continue to Support Democrats? She then opines:

Remember Ronald Reagan’s story about the kid who had to shovel a huge pile of manure? He went about it with such joy he was asked why and said, “With all that manure, there’s got to be a pony in there somewhere.”

The pony hidden in slavery is the fact that it was the ticket to America for black people. I have long urged blacks to consider their presence here as the work of God, who wanted to bring them to this raw, new country and used slavery to achieve it. A harsh life, to be sure, but many immigrants suffered hardships and indignations as indentured servants. Their descendants rose above it. You don’t hear them bemoaning their forebears’ life the way some blacks can’t rise above the fact theirs were slaves.

First of all, I'm not sure how Adele has missed out on every single white candidate for office telling the heartwarming story of their immigrant ancestors raising themselves up by their bootstraps. It's Hallmark Channel movie of the week fodder.

But that's besides the point. Adele also missed out on that key component- the choice factor. You see, all those immigrants rose above their circumstances through their own volition. Fergesun implies that a previously godless people were saved and brought to better through slavery. The culturally elitist and nationalistic overtones of her argument defy belief; I can almost hear the chants of USA! USA! in the background.
What does Adele know about those peoples' lives prior to be slaves back in Africa? Has she never seen a picture of Goree Island, a major slave port? It's an island paradise! Well, at least it had been prior to becoming a slave port. It was still an island paradise, but then, only for white folks. The assumption that all those black people are better off having suffered through centuries of torture and humiliation insults not only African-Americans, but also the people living in Africa, who have been reduced to a godless, primitive society.

Racism is still alive and well today in the USA. And what's worse is that it's not the blatant and violent racism that led to the early victories of the Civil Rights movement, but a much more insidious and naive kind. The War on Terror or the Global Strife Against Brown People or whatever we're calling it this week has just given us a new vehicle for racism. Why do blacks continue to support the dems? Adele Fergesun answered her own question without even realizing it.