Secession: The New Racism

Residents in thirty states across the country have filed "secession petitions" to the Obama administration's "We the People" program, which is featured on the White House website. * 

The Civil War, no matter what one calls it ("War Between The States," "The War of Northern Aggression" or whatever), was about slavery.  South Carolina and the other southern states chose to secede from the Union in order to preserve slavery and President Lincoln fought to preserve the Union.

Today, these people saying that they want their state to secede from the Union are so transparent that it is ridiculous. Face it, they are racists who are offended that a black man has been elected, (not once, but twice), to live in the White House and lead our great country.

At one point, even the governor of Texas, Rick Perry, a Tea Party kind-of-guy, was floating the possibility of Texas seceding, but in an attempt to become more mainstream and rational,  has since  changed  his mind.

One would have thought that Americans had put racism behind us, but apparently there are still some among us  who consider the color of one's skin, whether it be white, brown or black, an indication of one's worth and character.

On the other hand,  that racism should rear its ugly head at this point in our history is to be expected. Racism is based on fear, and the demographics of the last election give the old power structure of wealthy, white males something to fear. They are no longer the majority. Their overwhelming support of Mitt Romney was of insufficient  importance.  The people of color (Asiatics, Latinos, and Blacks), the women, and the young carried the day for President Obama. On top of that, Pew Research predicts that the number of Latino voters will double to 40 million in the next twenty years. That is the new reality, and the wealthy, white males are reluctant to admit it. 

As a consequence, the more extreme among them are calling for secession.

It is interesting to imagine what a state like Arizona would be like after it seceded. For one thing, many of these people who want to secede live in states that receive more federal money than they pay in federal taxes. In fact, most of the "Red States" like Arizona get more than they pay.

But what would  Arizona be like after secession? Will they simply defund health care, education, transportation, and infrastructure projects? Will they have a border patrol to keep out undesirables from the other fifty states? Will they require a passport to enter ?  Would people from Colorado have to go through customs to enter Arizona? Will they levy import fees on gas tankers delivering gasoline from out of state? 

The list of questions could go on and on, but the bottom line is that a particular state needs the rest of us more than we need that state. Seceding is the equivalent of committing suicide because the sky is blue.

*(In response to the calls for secession, there is another petition: "Strip the Citizenship from Everyone who Signed a Petition to Secede and Exile them." I guess one extreme always generates another.)