As a man who has fathered a son whose skin is darker than the average African American, and has mild special needs on top that, I am guided in this election by more than just economics, security, and the right of all innocent human beings to life. This election I am burdened deeply by the manipulation of race, the impact of social justice, and the absolute disparity and reproach that an Obama administration would have in store for the African American families of this nation. Understanding this to be the case:
To Black Obama supporters across America,
The election of 2008 is tightening. Those who have followed it since it began over two years ago knew this was coming. Neither candidate will win by a Reagan-esque landslide, regardless of how much the nation's media has rooted for one side. America remains strongly divided over two different philosophical centers, and while neither is perfect--not even ideal, one will have a dramatically worse effect on black homes, black families, black churches, and black communities. And it is you--America's most historically ill-treated--who will suffer most.
Under the Obama administration there will be a calculated effort to reduce the already low number of jobs in most urban centers.
He has been promising it from the beginning. He's just been untruthful in its total effect. He has claimed that he will tax "big business" and "CEO's" in his speeches. But in the fine print of his policy proposal he is threatening to shut down your local grocer, force lay-offs in your business enterprises and head start areas of commerce. Perhaps no one has explained how--so allow me.
Businesses never pay taxes. (It's impossible to make them do so.)
When Mr. Obama wishes to tax the prosperous middle class Barber Shop on the near South Side of Chicago that barely eeked across the finish line with revenues at $265,000 for the year, it will not be the owner of that shop who pays Obama's tax. The one who will pay the biggest cost will be the newest barber on the team. The owner was happy to be able to give that new kid a chance in 2007. There was much pride in him having the chair closest to the window. But because the owner must now spend nearly 45% of his revenue in payment to the Obama administration, he will no longer be able to pay that young man his $20,000 a year base pay and tips.
But cutting jobs won't get the owner of this barber shop down to what he still owes the Obama administration. So now, there must be new revenue generated, which means that this barber will have to increase his prices in the economically depressed area that have been coming to him for decades for their styles. Thus the tax load is not really shouldered by the business. It never is. Businesses do not pay taxes. And in business it's the customer and the worker that pays for all of them.
Under the Obama administration there will also be a calculated effort to create greater poverty.
In two previous notably liberal administrations, socialist ideas were entertained: Bloat government to it's largest degree and cause people to become dependent upon it for their livelihood. Under Franklin Delano Roosevelt the longest lasting experiment with Socialism was instituted. Social Security has now become what people think of as a stream of money flowing from the government. Perhaps in Urban America you know a number of people who get Social Security benefits who aren't even retired (which is what it was originally intended for) or disabled, or even in legitimate need of it. Every check of Social Security that goes to an undeserving recipient plunges Black America into deeper poverty. Since my son is both African American and special needs I've seen some of those abuses up close.
But the result of both the FDR "Great Society" and Lyndon Baines Johnson's "War on Poverty" were both identical. Within a decade, those living off the government were doing worse, and those who had broken free from the government dependency were prospering.
No society has ever taken taxes from one group of its workers, and unjustly given them to those who were not working, and ended up assisting the overall growth of that nation's wealth--especially for the poor and middle class. There is only one way to grow wealth in America: equal education, hiring practices, and social justice for all. To remain dependent upon government to pay your bills, cover your food and rent, and to "take care of" your family is dehumanizing, degrading, and causes shame to the one accepting it. Which is why, the two different times I have been laid off from my jobs, I was then and always will be, highly motivated to work, earn, and grow my way out of economic downturns. There is nothing to be ashamed of in accepting help. There is everything to feel guilty about in living off of it indefinitely.
Lastly - under the Obama administration there is already an effort underway to reshape the values you hold dear.
Black America is not pro-abortion. I know this. In many ways your personal belief that life is sacred is more devout than many "white" sectors of society. Unfortunately, the rest of America doesn't understand this because your "civil rights leaders" of recent years have made deals with devils to keep the racist operation of Planned Parenthood active in your inner city communities where your daughters are now ending seven out of every ten pregnancies with abortion.
Black America do you not know, have you not heard that your ethnic group is the only segment of the population in the United States that is shrinking in number? It has been exactly the policies of Senator Obama and the back-room deals they have brokered with Planned Parenthood that have caused this travesty.
I also know that Black America is especially opposed to "partial birth" abortion, where a baby is sliced, mauled, and mashed at the point of delivery. Yet Senator Obama has been this procedure's biggest advocate in votes in the Illinois Senate and in the United States Senate.
But let's put those forms of death aside. Senator Obama even advocates the allowing of discrimination and starvation of an especially vulnerable class of people: disabled children who were aborted, but had the audacity to survive the procedure! You see, as the father of a black special needs son, I can't tell you all the ways this hardened pragmatism towards the death of children horrifies me...
And lastly, under an Obama administration black churches would be silenced under new laws to ban the preaching of scripture--especially as it relates to sexual purity. His administration and those who support him have already made clear their intention to censor air-waves of anything they find disagreeable. They have also promised to train their fire on pastors, churches, and Christians who believe the full gospel.
My friends, brothers, and fellow citizens in Black America: Barack Obama seeks office to institute radical policies that will make you fiscally, emotionally, and spiritually impoverished for generations to come. And while his stump speech has been rhetorically impressive, it has not dealt honestly with you as to his true intentions. And in the end if Obama is elected, he may very well be the most negative influence upon the totality of the Black American community this nation has ever seen.
This country IS ready for a president of any race. But race alone is not nearly a good enough reason to put into office a man who will enjoy overwhelming, veto-proof power to change the entire landscape of everything you hope for and dream of.
Hoping you choose well on November 4th,
Kevin McCullough