It's time we finished the work of Lincoln.
By Christopher Cook

Finish the work of Lincoln?

That's a pretty bold claim.
But we're the New Wide Awakes. Bold is what we do.

What was Lincoln's work?

In spite of what revisionist historians have tried to say, the truth is that the abolition of Slavery was a driving force in Abraham Lincoln's life. Before he was president—even before his Republican Party was founded on a platform of abolition and civil rights—Lincoln was deeply concerned with the issue. In the end, it can truly be said that Emancipation was his greatest accomplishment, and the culmination of his life's work.

But to say that we're "finishing" that work is to make two very controversial claims.

First, it clearly means we're saying that the work is unfinished -- that Emancipation is not yet complete.

Second, it means we're saying that we have a vision of how things will be when that true, complete freedom is achieved.

Bold? Yes. But we believe we're right, and like the original Wide Awakes in whose footsteps we walk, we're not afraid to take a stand, to tell the truth, and to fight for what we believe.


Unfinished Work: The Three Plantations

With the Emancipation Proclamation and the North's victory in the Civil War, the first freedom was achieved: Slavery was ended. However, black Americans soon found that they did not have the same rights and freedoms as everyone else. Forces conspired to prevent them from voting and serving in public office, from earning a decent living, from educating their children, and, in so many ways, from competing on an equal footing in American society. They had left the plantation of Slavery, only to find themselves on a new plantation, one of segregation, Jim Crow, lynching, and the KKK.

For 100 years, attempts were made on their behalf to change that—to establish civil rights and security for black Americans—and for 100 years, those same forces thwarted every attempt.

Then, in the 1960s, those forces—which for all of American history has conspired to expand slavery, and then to preserve segregation—began to relent. It appeared that they wished to make a change, and to make amends. Institutionalized segregation was ended, and a new era began.

The end of segregation was a watershed moment, and since that time, many amazing gains have been made. But in the more than four decades since, many other things have gotten worse—some, dramatically so.

After 40 years, blacks still lag behind in income, standard of living, and even in life expectancy.

Forty years of welfare policies have not brought about the freedom from poverty that they claimed they would. Instead, these policies have resulted in metastasized poverty, despair and hopelessness, and a multi-generational dependence on the government.

In 40 years, the problems of crime, drugs, and gangs haven't improved, they've grown dramatically worse. Entire sections of America's major cities have become war zones, such that the good people of those neighborhoods have become trapped, living in fear for their property and their very lives.

The children in these areas are warehoused in failing schools that have themselves become places more of violence and fear than of learning. The students are robbed of a decent education, the parents are continually denied school choice, and the ultimate victims are the children. The dropout rate for inner-city black children is an appalling 50%, and the achievement gap between black and white kids—something one would think would have improved over 40 years—still remains unacceptably large.

In those same 40 years, black family cohesion has plummeted. Once, the black divorce rate was equal to the rate for white families. Today, nearly 70% of black children are born out of wedlock—one of the highest illegitimacy rates of any population in the industrialized world.

In the last 40 years, 15 million black babies have been aborted. Black women, 13% of the female population, account for 36% of all abortions. Seven out of ten abortion clinics in American cities are located in minority neighborhoods, but in these same areas, only two crisis pregnancy centers can be found. For each 1000 black babies born, almost 500 are aborted. This is three times as many as white babies, and over the last 15 years, that ratio hasn't shrunk, it has grown. Blacks continue to shrink as a percentage of the American population. It's almost as if a slow genocide is taking place.

Over the past 40 years, mainstream culture has popularized the most dysfunctional elements of black culture. Rather than elevating role models and promoting good values, many white media executives have gone out of their way to glamorize crime and dysfunction, and to reinforce the ugliest of stereotypes.

And, perhaps the most surprising...
Over the last 40 years, black Americans have become, essentially, politically powerless.

But how can this be? There are black politicians. There's a black congressional caucus. And blacks are an integral part of one of America's two main political parties.

And there's the reason right there. By giving near-complete allegiance to the Democratic Party, blacks have essentially ensured that they have no real voice in Washington. Here's the equation:

The Democrats know that, no matter what they do—or don't do—for black Americans, they'll get 90% or more of the black vote.

The Republicans know that, no matter what they do, they won't get much more than 10% of the black vote.

Therefore, neither party has any incentive to take blacks and their issues seriously.

No other group in America votes so monolithically. Whites, Asians, Hispanics, and Jews are all found in greater percentages among the voters of both parties. Thus, both parties must address issues of concern to these groups. But since the black vote is never "up for grabs," neither party bothers doing much of anything.

Sure, the Democrats do what they have to do to keep this important constituency happy. Mostly, it involves a lot of rhetoric and handshakes, a few visits to black churches around election time, and the continuation of the failed, disastrous policies of the last four decades.

The Republicans, for their part, ignore the black community for a different reason. For 112 years, the Republican Party fought for black civil rights— first to end slavery, then to end voter disenfranchisement, segregation, Jim Crow, lynching, and institutionalized discrimination. But when the great electoral shift was finalized in the 1960s, the Republican Party essentially gave up trying.

In spite of this history and historical kinship...in spite of the fact that Republican policies advocate economic empowerment for ALL people regardless of race...and in spite of a natural harmony on many social issues, Republicans and blacks seem as far apart as they've ever been.

The Democrats have discovered an equation that works. Keep telling blacks that they cannot compete without help. Keep them dependent upon government assistance. Keep them feeling separate and alienated from the rest of the culture. And, most of all, keep them convinced that their only hope is to continue voting Democrat. Essentially, they've created the third plantation, one of economic dependence, perpetual victimhood, and electoral vassalage.


The Solution

The Democrats know that their survival as a national party depends on the black vote. Therefore, they will do and say whatever they must to keep blacks on their electoral and economic plantation.

But this isn't about Democrats anymore. And it's not about Republicans either. It's about freedom.

We are not recommending a wholesale move of black voters back to the Republican Party. That would just be trading one allegiance for another. No, the solution is freedom, real freedom. Black Americans must feel free to be Democrats, Republicans, or independents. To be whatever they want. Unbound from any single allegiance, the black vote becomes "up for grabs," which means that ALL parties must work to address important issues in this community.

And then, then the real work begins. Over the last 40 years, much has been achieved, but many other problems have arisen or gotten worse. To be truly free, we must begin to solve some of the pervasive problems affecting black Americans.

It's time for a change.

• It's time to break free from the bondage of economic dependence.

• It's time to end the captivity of ungovernable neighborhoods and failing schools.

• It's time to transcend the boundaries of cultural stereotypes imposed by the media elite.

• It's time to dissolve the bonds of presumed political allegiances.

• It's time to defy the institutionalized destruction of marriage and children and restore the greatness of the family.

It's time for freedom.