Topic: Ron Paul
Why This Black Man is Supporting Ron Paul A perspective on why Ron Paul is good for Black people and all people in America, and deserves your vote in 2008.by Adeeb Shabazz
(libertarian)
Friday, January 4, 2008
I get the question all the time: "are you supporting Hillary or Obama?" Of course this question comes from people that don't really know this Black Libertarian who has never voted Democratic in his life. When I answer "neither" they usually look puzzled and then ask in wonderment, "well who are you going to vote for then?" When "Ron Paul" is my response, I get varied responses, but the most common is a blank stare, a "Ron Who?" response, or the big question: "Why?".
The American people are VERY uninformed about Congressman Ron Paul, and Black people in America are then quadruply uninformed I am sad to say. We are trained to look to the government for all of our answers and assistance, particularly the Federal Government, not knowing nor realizing that it is not the Federal Government's job to provide such assistance and that attempts over the past few decades by the Federal Government to do so have done more harm than good.
The Federal Government, particularly the Office of the Presidency, has the job of protecting National Security and securing us against all enemies, foreign and domestic. It is not the President's job to create jobs or to start a new assistance program. For those of us who work for a living, which is most of us, what happens is that taxes are raised and taken out of our paychecks, taken from us at the supermarkets and retail stores, taken from us at the gas pump, taken from us in our phone and utility bills, and then taken from us again in the prices that had to be inflated so that all the above could afford to pay THEIR taxes. Well over half of your hard-earned money goes to taxes right now. That's right, I said HALF! If you and your spouse/significant other make only $40,000 a year combined, that's $20,000. What could you do with an extra $20,000. Do we want to pay more taxes, or do something about it?
As a Black man in America what other concerns do I have?
1. I watch daily with sadness as another Black man or woman goes to prison to do hard time because he was selling drugs or in possession of drugs deemed illegal by the state, oftentimes something as simple and RELATIVELY harmless as marijuana. No, I am not endorsing drug use, but what I do know is that Black people are targeted in the so-called War on Drugs in disproportionate measure, while many of these individuals never fired a gun at nor struck another person. While we can argue the evils of drug use all day long, we could equally argue the evils of alcohol and nicotine. The point is the Federal Government should opt out of the War on Drugs that is decimating our Black Male population. Ron Paul has firmly voted against and stood firm against the War on Drugs since the days of Ronald Reagan, and would continue to do so as President.
2. Taxation. As I mentioned above, taxes consume more than half of our incomes. Ron Paul is firmly against invasive taxes such as the income tax, is for the phasing out of the IRS, and the reduction of government.
3. On the subject of a smaller government, the privacy of individual Americans would be protected. We have natural rights, and those rights are supposed to be protected by the Constitution. Ron Paul has a two-decade record of standing firm on protecting civil liberties and would be sure to start a trend of not only protecting our rights at the Federal level, but ensuring that States and their municipalities begin to respect the rights of their citizens of all races, creeds, and colors, or face charges of unconstitutionality.
4. Bringing our troops home. Not only is the Iraqi War unjust in my opinion, it is extremely costly in both lives and money. Hundreds of Billions of dollars have been spent, over $472 Billion to date, and even cost my little city $149 Million so far according to www.costofwar.com. The official death toll of American soldiers in Iraq is 3,879 and total American soldiers wounded are 28,582. The estimated Iraqi death toll is 1,118,846, all according to www.antiwar.com. The numbers are staggering. These are just a couple of reasons why Ron Paul voted against the war from the beginning, the only candidate to do so, and is firmly against foreign intervention and committed to diplomacy. Financially speaking, we could have insured every man, woman, and child in America for a year with the same amount of money that was spent on the war. Which brings me to...
5. Health Care. Ron Paul's stance on Health Care is as follows:
Making all medical expenses tax deductible.
Eliminating federal regulations that discourage small businesses from providing coverage.
Giving doctors the freedom to collectively negotiate with insurance companies and drive down the cost of medical care.
Making every American eligible for a Health Savings Account (HSA), and removing the requirement that individuals must obtain a high-deductible insurance policy before opening an HSA.
Reform licensure requirements so that pharmacists and nurses can perform some basic functions to increase access to care and lower costs.
That $472 Billion and counting is YOURS people! You actually have the ability to insure yourself if the Feds would back off of you and stop stealing your money.
6. Health Freedom. I am not a big believer in Western Medicine. I use it when necessary, but we need freedom to use alternative medicine. Ron Paul ACTIVELY supports this, and mind you he is an M.D. His stance on Health freedom is as follows: I have introduced the Health Freedom Protection Act, HR 2117, to ensure Americans can receive truthful health information about supplements and natural remedies. I support the Access to Medical Treatment Act, H.R. 2717, which expands the ability of Americans to use alternative medicine and new treatments. I also opposed the Homeland Security Bill, H.R. 5005, which, in section 304, authorizes the forced vaccination of American citizens against small pox. The government should never have the power to require immunizations or vaccinations.
7. Education: Our nation's teachers are underpaid and our school systems are failing, and Black students are as usual catching the brunt of this. Ron Paul introduced H.R. 1056, the Family Education Freedom Act, in Congress. This bill would allow parents a tax credit of up to $5,000 (adjustable after 2007 for inflation) per student per year for the cost of attendance at an elementary and/or secondary school. This includes private, parochial, religious, and home schools. He also sponsored, H.R. 1059, which allows full-time elementary and secondary teachers a $3,000 yearly tax credit, thus easing their financial burden and encouraging good teachers to stay in an underpaid profession.
I could go on, and probably will in future artlicles, but this should give you a good idea why I support Congressman Ron Paul for President in 2008. "Isn't he a Republican?" Titles like Republican and Democrat mean nothing to me. Ron Paul has stood up to George W. Bush much more than Sen. Clinton or Sen. Obama. Senator Clinton voted for the Iraqi War, authorizing war-hungry "W" to carry out this atrocity. Senator Obama wasn't in office, but has been soft on the War issue generally.
As a proud Black man, I as much as anyone would love to see a Black man be President, but I will never support any man or woman because of the color of their skin. I need more substance than that, and you should too. Besides, I was at the State of the Black Union 2007 at my alma-mater Hampton University with 13,000 other Black people, including 2 Congressmen, Rev. Jesse Jackson Sr., Rev. Al Sharpton, and former VA Governor L. Douglas Wilder, and Senator Obama found it more important to be in Springfield Illinois that day announcing his candidacy than at Hampton, but now we're supposed to see him as the Black peoples' choice? I think its a bit late for that. Not that his appearance would have changed my stance-because that's based on the issues, but it would have shown consistency.
Remember, you can't have a rEVOLution without LOVE!
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The views expressed in this
article are those of Adeeb Shabazz only and do not represent
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Well written. I think that Individual civil liberties say's alot. Born we are the same wich means we all have the same rights, not special rights. Thanks for help spreading the r"EVOL"ution :)
Posted By: Da Black Anarch
Date: 2008-01-04 12:39:40
Adeeb,
I think this is a great article. I'm an black anarchist. I believe that even a RP government will be too danged much. Black people have had a lot to fear from government. However, I agree that blacks should give RP a second look.
There are people who will bring up the supposed racist comments made in a newsletter that supported him and the donations given him by some white supremacists as reasons why blacks shouldn't support him. I say, any man that will allow blacks to keep our money instead of taxing us (a form of reparations), shrink the government to the point of near strangulation, and let us conduct our affairs without the paternalistic, fundamentalist religious idealogues controlling our lives, is worth a good long look.
The Republican party was the blacks' party after the Civil War. Could RP make it the party of black people again? Give him looksee and see for yourself.
This is the best article that I have read on this site yet (my apologies to my fellow writers). You have helped the cause in many ways. Full Truth, no bull. Thank you. May I ask you one favor? Could you do a piece on how Hillary won her NY Senate seat by pandering to the poor black communities? Basically she pulled in votes by speaking against the Police and Fire Dept.s yet did nothing to fix them when she gained her seat.
FOX faux News and others who are against Ron Paul, Don't know Him and his message. Maybe so full of confusion, where the world and Media had me, it is hard to understand love truth and FREEDOM.
Thanks for the kudos Michael, Da Black Anarch, Walt, AJ, and Chichemo.
Da Black Anarch: I agree with you , I'd love to see true anarchism here. However, being the "realist" I am, mostly through observing people's "government I.Q." I know that they are quite a bit away from accepting anarchism. For that matter, they are far from accepting libertarianism. Most would need to see that their world wouldn't just become chaos if we shrank the government before seeing the light. Ron Paul is a good introduction to Libertarian 101 for the people, and sparks conversations on minarchism, libertarianism, and anarchism amongst those who never considred it before. In that way, I think Dr. Paul is excellent.
AJ: I will seriously consider writing an article on Hillary's pandering to the poor Black communities in New York and delivering nothing as promised. In all likelihood, I will write that article next.
Wonderfully written article! However, this is not solely a "black" issue. There are many young american people out in society today trying to fit in, get by or make sense out of what America has become. Maybe Ron Paul can lead the way and give America back to it's Citizens. Â
I look forward to seeing more of your work. Thanks
Diane, thank you for your comments and praise. I have to wonder why you felt the need, however, to state that this is not solely a "Black" issue? The issues Ron Paul covers of course are of interest and importance to all Americans, that we all know. However I said:
"The American people are VERY uninformed about Congressman Ron Paul, and Black people in America are then quadruply uninformed I am sad to say. We are trained to look to the government for all of our answers and assistance, particularly the Federal Government..." Having tons of friends and associates from all races, persuasions and walks of life, I know this to be true from experience. Black people in America have had a very unique experience in comparison to the rest of America, and while some of that uniqueness was good, a lot of it has left Black people as a whole in a condition that causes us to be the unequal recipient of arrests, incarceration due to non-violent/non-theft crimes, and has also resulted in us looking to the government as a solution rather than the hinderance it has been."
Having served as an Executive Committee officer of my state's Libertarian Party-the only Black one in that time period I might add, I cannot tell you the amount of times I have been the only Black person at a statewide meeting or even the State LP Convention, unless I happen to bring more Black people. The same happens as I attend Ron Paul rallies and meetups. That, Diane, IS a "Black" problem. That problem is: we need more informed Black citizens involved in the fight of liberty, because because we at this point are not showing up in the numbers we should. It is my hope that this article can help not only Black people, but anyone reading it who knows Black people, to get the point of why it is in their best interest to take a serious look at Ron Paul and why he is good for them and all of America.
Thank you once again Diane, I truly appreciate you taking the time to comment.
PJ, my view of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965 is that the abuse of States powers to sponsor racism, particularly in the South, caused a knee-jerk reaction to create a remedy from the Federal Government in a role that they never should have had to be involved in from the start. Being a person born in the 1960's, I did not personally experience the hardships my parents' generation did in terms of unconstitutional and unjust practices used to prevent Black people from voting, however I assure you from the reports and evidence submitted by my parents' generation that these unconstitutional and unjust practices and procedures were real. It is a hard lesson learned that abuse of State powers to invoke fascist-like apartheid systems where state money is raised through taxation and then is used to prevent citizens of any race, creed, or color from participating in our Republic is dead wrong.
Looking at our situation now some 43 years later, I think any good that these Acts were intended to serve has run its course and remedied the situations they were intended to remedy to the best of the law's ability. I don't see any need for a renewal of the Civil Rights Act nor the Voting Rights Act, and see them in our present day only as additions to an already overgrown and intrusive Federal Government. The Constitution of the United States of America and the individual constitutions of the various 50 States should suffice in guaranteeing the right of all its citizens to vote and receive equal representation under the law. What is needed is a constitutional revolution, beacause sadly this nation has never followed the letter or spirit of its Constitution and it is time that it does and is held accountable.
Thank you for being an intelligent American. I don't give a damn what color your skin is. I do care that our politicians do and seem to have forgotten Dr. King's dream of a black person being judged "not by the color of his skin, but by the content of his character."
Good article. Why can't more people like you represent blacks ? It is a shame that racists in civil rights leader clothing like those two scumbags Sharpton and Jackson are seen as black leaders. I would disagree with you when you talk about the "underpaid teachers", at least in my state, where it is not uncommon for teachers to make in excess of $65,000, plus healthcare, plus life insurance,plus pension - not bad for just over 180 days of work! (and they still bitch about being underpaid) Thanks Jeff W
Ron Paul already has many Black supports and if he were Black he wouldn't have a chance of being elected bec his message is FAR TOO RADICAL! Get rid of the IRS, CIA and Home Land Security, go back to the gold standard, bring ALL troups from 130 coutries home immediately, stop giving aid to countries like Israel and stop "nation building" in places like the middle east...if Paul were Black he would be labeled a militant extremist. Can you think of a politician besides Paul who has said that our foreign policy, dating back to when the CIA ousted the democratically elected prime minister of Iran, Mohammad Mossadegh, in 1953 because he wouldn't be controlled by either the British or the U.S., in favor of the Shah who was the puppet of both for the next 25 years, is one of the primary reasons for 9/11 and middle eastern hatred of the U.S. in general? Certainly NOT Obama. Obama, like most of the canidates is a coward; he will say what's necessary to win. In my opinion he is the democratic version of Romney, a good looking guy, with a pretty wife, who looks young and is a political centrist...perfect formula for a successful run at the presidency. One of the two of them will likely be the next president but I want more than that. I want a president whose views will get him killed. That certainly AIN'T Obama.
Paul went so far as to ask in a debate, "How would we feel if China did to us what we did to Iraq?" How common sense is that? I guess sense isn't too common with Obama and the other candidates.
Supporting Obama is an example of the "slave mind" at work in ALL Americans but especially within the collective consciousness of the African descended people who reside in this republic.
Mr. Shabazz! What a wonderful read. It is quite a balm that soothes the wounds from the cutting stares and lashing tongues I get from fellow Black women. You would think I took their MAN! Funny--in this FREE country, it seems I am bound to choose my candidate and political affilliation because of the color of my skin and my gender. Do you think we need a Party Rights bill to protect people like you and me from the intimidation? Nah---just the 2nd ammendment! LOL Forward with Paul in 2008!
Hi Adeeb- what a great article. I'm a white woman, but was curious to see if RP was getting his message out to other communities. I'm so glad to see he is. The Republican and Democratic parties have become so racially divided that I don't want to vote on either ticket. I voted for RP in the primaries, but didn't vote in the election. I'm not gonna vote for the so-called "lesser of two evils" anymore. I think real "change" will come without the two party system. It's sad to see how many ignorant people are voting. I bet half, or more, didn't vote in the primaries or even take a look at either candidates website. This article was very well written and I agree- RP is a great choice for ALL Americans.
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