General Discussion
In reply to the discussion: A History of Liberal White Racism [View all]RainDog
(28,784 posts)I think he's great and I'm thrilled that he brings these issues and his perspective to The Atlantic.
The reality of American political life, sadly, Coates explains so well, is that neither party wanted to deal with the reality that the problems from the Civil War and Reconstruction were never dealt with properly at the time, nor at any time afterward.
The federal govt. basically abandoned African Americans to the southern political/business machine after the Civil War.
I think all of those in Congress who had been on the side of the insurrectionists during the Civil War should've been executed, all property of slave holders should've been confiscated, and federal money should've gone into building lives for those who had been treated like property.
This, too, is part of the collusion between political parties to pretend problems were solved when they needed white voters.
If I had been alive at the time of the Civil War, I would've been a radical Republican. Back at that time, members of Congress got into fights on the floor of the house.
When I think about the course of history - sometimes I wonder if we were better off to fight for independence from the British, when you consider Canada has better health care, quality of life, and is no way bounded by "tyranny."
In the U.S. the monied are tyrants.