Last night I finished reading ‘The Black Seminoles: History of a Freedom-Seeking People’ by Kenneth Porter. It is one of the most worthwhile books I have read since Michener’s ‘Report of the County Chairman.’
Beyond the history of the Black Seminoles, it offers insights into the politics of fear and greed resulting in abuse of minority peoples and the associated violence inflicted on them, passive and active.
For anyone trying to understand the present political climate in the U.S. it is a very good read, showing how certain groups like the Tea Party have always been present in different forms and ascendant at different times. It shows examples of good people fighting the evil and the complacency of bureaucrats sometimes effectively, often to a standstill.
Finally, the book offers a look at the origins and roots of the NRA culture of fear and resultant violence – evil people living in fear of the violence they inflict on others being visited on them. The roots go back to the early southern slave owning culture and continue today. (Is there no coincidence that NRA strongholds are the most conservative states where the most violence has been done to indigenous people, minorities and slaves? Think of the gun culture in central Pennsylvania and the origins of it in the American Indian wars throughout the 1700’s.)
To me, this book is another reminder that injustice needs to be fought continually by the liberals of every generation, lest the evil become ascendant.
Richard T. Gardner lives in Upper Bern Township. His passions are ecology and history because with these we are able to understand our world, our place in it and our future.
