intangible

  Slavery ended as a result of the civil war. That's what we are taught. It isn't exactly the truth however. Whereas at the time of the civil war, the late rebellion as those with southern sympathies will often call it, was still profitable it's value was diminishing. Eli Whitney and his cotton gin is often cited as the major industrial advance that precipitated that. But simply put, then as today, machines began replacing men. Machines don't need to be housed, fed, clothed, receive medical care or take a rest. Machine are cheaper in the long haul. Machine don't cause trouble either. The bottom line is, slavery was falling out of favor anyway and most likely would have been abolished regardless. When something is no longer profitable, it is generally discarded. 

 The state of Vermont outlawed that practice in 1777. Maybe I should explain that a bit. In 1777 Vermont declared itself independent from New York. Then, writing it's own Constitution, it becomes a sovereign country! Yes, it was and remained that way until 1791 when it became the 14th State to join the Union. Take that for what its' worth but Vermont declared all men are created equal and upheld that meant no holding slaves. It could afford to do so because there were no plantations in Vermont requiring a large labor pool. You can bet it would have been different had that need been prevalent or desired among the wealthy. You do have to remember also, and this is important, that slave holders and slaves both came in every race , color, ethnic group, or nationality. It wasn't just white guys mistreating black guys! Slaves were held by those that could afford them to benefit them in their quest for wealth. That was the sole reason to have slaves, cheap labor! It had absolutely nothing to do with the color of anyone's skin. The thinking was I'm buying a machine to do the work.

 Congress passed the 13th amendment in January of 1865 abolishing slavery and involuntary servitude in America. The law, of course , did not end discrimination. Discrimination is a moral issue and can not be legislated in or out of existence. It can be tolerated however, justified in some fashion, as evidenced by the Jim Crowe era. That is a different discussion though. Three years later in 1868 the 14th amendment is passed granting citizenship to all people born here or naturalized citizens. In it's purest intent it was a reaffirmation that all men are equal. Equal protection under the law. It wasn't until 1965 when Congress passed the Voting Rights Act that the Jim Crowe era was ended. Still discrimination remained, and indeed still remains to this day. I'll go out on a limb here and say, discrimination in some form will always exist among peoples. The basis for that may lie in different things but it will remain. The reason is simple, you can not legislate morality. Did not the founding fathers separate church from state? Yes, because you can not legislate morality! 

 So, here we are fifty six years after the voting rights act was signed into law and the discussion is voting rights. It was ninety seven years between the passage of the 14th amendment to the passage of the voting rights act. What is the narrative? It is that certain groups would be discriminated against by enacting more stringent laws. Thing is, these laws would apply equally to all citizens. Reference the 14th amendment and the Civil Rights Voting act of 1965 which affirmed that everyone was equal. But the narrative is, that would be unfair. But the underlying sentiment, the part of the narrative that goes unspoken, is that those folks affected by these changes, are somehow inferior to everyone else. Requiring ID, requiring them to actual show up in person to cast their ballots, to be reregistered in the district they actually live in, is somehow a burden. Now, there is no doubt, no argument that in the past, prior to the 13th,14th and civil rights act of 1965 certain groups were oppressed. held to a different standard. That was the reason, the necessity for that legislation. Equality was achieved, equal rights was achieved. Still, discrimination exists. No one is denying that. 

 Why does discrimination exist? It exists as a tool. It can be used for good or bad same as anything else. Discrimination is an intangible thing by its' very nature. Each of us are born with the ability to discriminate. Fact is, we call that learning. It's praised and we are given awards when we learn the "good" lessons and punished when we learn the "bad." What is the good and bad? In society that is defined by civil authority. That's what government is all about. It was the idea that government would be administered only by moral and religious people that drove the founding fathers in forming the nation. Idealists? Yes, I believe they were on some level. They were those at the top strata in America at that time. They certainly believed they knew what was best for the common good. Did they discriminate? Of course they did based on what society accepted as moral and ethical. That's the reason some held slaves. They also generally only took a bath twice year, an accepted social practice in their time. Sadly, but not unexpectedly, that didn't happen. There are those in government whose morality and ethics do not align with society in general. They practice discrimination alright, they discriminate in their legislative actions as it benefits their interests. IE: If it is profitable. 

 Today we hear more about racism than we do discrimination. Why do you think that is? Well it could be simply because discriminatory practices have all been outlawed. Yes, they have, the final stroke of the pen occurred in 1965 ending that as an accepted practice. As a result the word race is inserted in place of discrimination. The story is, a certain race has been made inferior by another! That race is still inferior! That's why holding that race to the same standard is inherently unfair. But wait, you can't say that out loud! The reason you can't say that out loud is because it is a lie. Remove the lie, expose the truth, and the power is gone. I can no longer use that as a tool. There is no where to place blame. The blame now lies with the intangible. We will call that racism. No matter that all races have, and still do, participate in discriminatory practices on varying levels, it must be racism. The only way that race can be made equal to the others is by granting special dispensation to that race. In short, by discriminating against the others. And that is what the 13th, 14th, and civil rights act was all about wasn't it? Removing that special dispensation. It stinks when it works against you though, and that's the bottom line. That was the thinking of those "rebels" that started a war against our Constitution. The thinking of those that  believed, not all men are created equal.