Patterico's Pontifications

4/27/2011

Morality, Race & Pigford

Filed under: General — Stranahan @ 4:28 am



[Guest post by Lee Stranahan]

I spend a good deal of time discussing the specifics of the Pigford case but I’d like to step back for a moment and discuss the moral and spiritual aspects of the case.

When I first met Andrew Breitbart, one of the things that struck me in our initial conversations was that he was deeply, viscerally antiracist. This is, of course, exactly the opposite of the story that liberals are constantly pushing where Breitbart is called a race baiter, apologist for racists and a racist himself. One reason that he gets painted this way is that he’s taken the risk that few have in today’s overheated knee-jerk political climate — he actually talks about the subject of race, and specifically the strange situation that African-Americans find themselves in the modern American political landscape,

I spent three months recently on the road in the South and doing interviews about the Pigford case. Almost all of the interviews were with black Americans who have an involvement with the case. I spoke to attorneys, farmers, activists and politicians with a variety of viewpoints. During this trip, I was struck time and again with just how poisonous our political climate has turned our views of race.

And if there’s one aspect of Pigford I consider the most important, it’s how this one case has played a significant role in hurting the state of race relations. When things stagnate, dangers soon follow. Just as stagnant water brings insects and disease, our stagnant politics of race has brought genuine hardships to our entire nation.

I hope that by exposing the mechanics of how the politics of race is played on Pigford, it will help people move closer to the moral ideal of judging men not by the color of their skin but by the content of their character. I realized before jumping into the Pigford investigation that it was a Gordian knot and I prayed that I would be able to rise to the challenge of explaining it in a way that healed racial division, not exacerbated it.

What I did not know when I started on the road was the extent to which "liberal" groups like Media Matters for America would fight to defend Pigford even when it was clear that the injustices in Pigford were often most unfair to the black community. I naïvely assumed that people on the left would see the unfairness being heaped upon black folks in this case and at least give the facts a fair hearing. Instead, I’ve seen people on left time and again bend over backwards to ignore the truth in Pigford, knowing full well that black farmers are being harmed.

Whenever I debate Pigford with people on the left, I always say “take my word for it”. I’ve offered time and again — talk to the farmers. I’ve offered to give the farmer’s phone numbers to people who attacked the Pigford investigation, because the farmer’s stories are passionate and detailed.

Not once – not one single time I’m aware of — has any critic of the Pigford investigation taken me up on this and spoken to the farmers.

Here’s what eats at me; I can walk away from the Pigford story. At the end of the day, it’s a project for me. But for these farmers, it’s their life. When Pigford defenders like Eric Boehlert and Media Matters, James Rucker and Color of Change, Anderson Cooper, and Ta-Nehisi Coates attack (or worse, ignore) the video interviews with these farmers, it’s really not me or Andrew Breitbart who they are hurting or demeaning – it’s those men who have been trying to bring the truth about Pigford to light for over a decade.

The Pigford story has had a much wider effect because it bolsters the feelings of both black people and white people that our political system is rigged against them. White folks can look askance a system where thousands of black people committed perjury and collected $50,000 checks. Black folks can shake their heads that nothing was done to correct the injustice of the USDA and that white folks like attorney Al Pires made millions. Everybody, black and white, comes away feeling that the dice have been loaded by the other side.

And this is the real moral disaster of Pigford. Those racial tensions that have been stirred up by petty hucksters like "Dr." John Boyd and Thomas Burrell are just a puppet show — a distraction so that politicians from Sanford Bishop to Chuck Grassley to Tom Vilasck to Barack Obama can grease the wheels of the political machine.

At root, Pigford is a story about fraud but it’s a fraud that goes far beyond financial concerns. It’s about the fraud that keeps us separate. It’s about the fraud that is intentionally perpetuated by profiteers and politicians to keep us from recognizing that we must remain vigilant, honest and brave to move beyond the stagnant waters of the entitlement mentality that has only served to keep our brothers and sisters down.

– Lee Stranahan

25 Responses to “Morality, Race & Pigford”

  1. How many times must a man turn his head and pretend that he just doesn’t see……

    ropelight (af09e6)

  2. How many times am I going to have to see Patterico, and Breitbart who will be indicted for racisms any day now, and Lee set out to prove how racist these mouth breathing knuckle dragging neanderthals are? This is the most racist campaign to persecute blacks since Shirley Sherrod was victimized by the white man.

    JD (85b089)

  3. Eloquently put Lee, and moving as well.

    Unfortunately, there are folks in our society, on both sides of the political spectrum, that benefit by reinforcing the divisions in our society; by keeping the walls up that Dr. King spoke of wanting to bring down.

    And because it suits their purpose, both politician and race-hustler will ensure that more outrage! than understanding is continually generated.

    My Regards

    Bob Reed (5f2db5)

  4. Lee, you are indeed focused on the big picture with this post. Well thought out and well done. Much to ponder. And unfortunately much to be very sad about. Small editing point: in the seventh para I think a word was left out. I think you meant for it to say “don’t take my word for it”.

    elissa (267e6a)

  5. ZOMFG – the codewords and covert unconscious racisms in these comments are simply too much to bear. Where did all you redneck hilljack hicktard Grand Kleagle’s come from?

    JD (b98cae)

  6. Excellent, thought-provoking post, Lee. Well done.

    no one you know (325a59)

  7. JD, you’re the one who doesn’t know what you’re talking about!! DIDN’T YOU READ that Mr. Stranahan’s talking about black farmers being harmed?! It’s people like you who are doing the EXACT SAME THING that Mr. Stranahan’s talking about and making this thing all about race when everyone with a third of a brain knows this is about injustice and corruption!! But corruption means nothing to you does it — you just want to call names and shut people up!! and great job on the bigoted KKK reference too you idiot!!!

    /heh

    no one you know (325a59)

  8. It’s sarcasm.

    And yes liberals don’t believe anymore on liberalism the left has hijacked the term.

    DohBiden (15aa57)

  9. California is driving out buisnesses with their taxes.

    Sorry for the O/T.

    DohBiden (15aa57)

  10. Lee, if your campaign against pigford is all about helping black people, where is your support from the black community? Do you have any endorsements from black-led organizations or from any black individual involved with helping other black people fight racial injustice?
    Have you tried to win such backing, but failed? Or, perhaps, have you not even tried because you think that gaining the support of the black community is unnecessary for helping black people fight injustice?

    Big Median (2b1825)

  11. Big Median – Try watching his videos for answers.

    daleyrocks (bf33e9)

  12. It’s sarcasm.

    Comment by DohBiden — 4/27/2011 @ 7:07 am

    I know, hence the “/heh”. Am flattered my reply looks real though. 😉

    no one you know (325a59)

  13. Big median comes along to prove that he/she/it is an unmitigated idiot.

    JD (b98cae)

  14. Comment by Big Median — 4/27/2011 @ 7:16 am

    Could you define “the black community” for us, please?

    (thisshouldbeinteresting)

    no one you know (325a59)

  15. “Big median comes along to prove that he/she/it is an unmitigated idiot.”

    JD – And a racist.

    daleyrocks (bf33e9)

  16. Big Median aren’t you supposed to be breaking mumia abu jamal out of prison.

    DohBiden (15aa57)

  17. If assbandits like big MFM median did not have the race card to throw around, they would have nothing. He/she/it is just a mediamatterz thinkregress idiot spitting out the talking points of the day, and shows up to call people racists in almost every one of the threads about this topic. Never based on anything, mind you, just his desire to call you a racist.

    JD (318f81)

  18. I’ll just start with this, BM…

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VmjtN5u431I

    Lee Stranahan (708cc3)

  19. If I tried to parody a leftist sycophant invested in pushing the leftist narrative on race, it would not be possible for me to parody or go far enough over-the-top to reach the levels of idiocy that big MFM median reaches.

    JD (318f81)

  20. Why do you people call yourselves liberals when your not?

    DohBiden (15aa57)

  21. It’s about the fraud that keeps us separate.

    I agree. I like how you focus on this as a moral disaster perpetrated by short sighted “hucksters” and a political machine.

    At some point, democrats who have at least some control over their political machine need to stop and ask why they got into politics in the first place. If they did so to help make America a better place, it’s time to fight against this corruption and try to heal a wound.

    Obama could make this his sister souljah type moment. Plenty of Democrats get it and those who don’t would mostly follow his lead.

    It’s difficult for conservatives to lead the fight against hucksters, because many assume that’s just their political machine fighting the race hustling liberal machine. These kinds of issues make me wish we actually had a class of leaders worthy of the elitism they tend to feel. Where are the democrats who are worthy of working in our sacred capitol or white house to say this kind of crime will not stand?

    Anyway, great writing, Lee.

    Dustin (c16eca)

  22. Considering what’s at stake in farming, I suspect that black farmers who were actual victims of discrimination suffered a good deal more than $50,000 in damages. But there’s this strain of thought that says it’s somehow more equitable to benefit as many people as possible. So the money is distributed in equal amounts to all kinds of people, regardless of actual harm or lack of harm.

    That is not only adding a second injustice on top of the first – it is also trivializing the real cruelty of racial discrimination, and instead treating all blacks as if they are the same. Doesn’t matter if they farm, or if they fix cars, or if they don’t even work at all. They all get the same amount because of the pigmentation of their skin. Not only regardless of whether they suffered any losses, but also regardless of their merits, of their contribution to agriculture, etc. they’ll all be treated like little pegs on a board. Tap them all in to the same height.

    This is the essence of collectivism. Everybody gets treated like a peg.

    Gesundheit (d7ea47)

  23. Dustin – thanks so much.

    Gesundheit — bam. Nail. Head. Hit.

    Lee Stranahan (708cc3)

  24. Comment by DohBiden — 4/27/2011 @ 8:17 am

    Because Leftist/Liberal/Progressive sounds soooo much better than the more accurate Fascist Asshole!

    AD-RtR/OS! (b8ab92)

  25. Is it possible that liberals feel buoyed by the thought that reparations under any guise are “just” and there is no issue here? And that the blacks who are complaining are just selfish and not thinking about the greater good of the “black community” achieved through the fraudulent payouts and the political benefit accruing to Obama and the Democrats? Winning skirmishes in a long war and all that.

    in_awe (44fed5)


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