Political Questions No One Is Asking

President Barack Obama 2009 - 2017

Politics and religion are two of the most opinionated, controversial, and contentious topics there is. I, for one, have never been a fan of politics. I’ve always viewed one party to be for the people and the other to be for the rich. I learned about the in-betweens somewhere in senior high but I heavily disregarded.

I was binge watching “Twentysomethings: Austin” on Netflix and Isha happened to be concerned about Bruce’s political standpoint. Obviously, their comings from two different parts of the world influenced their political views. However, Bruce’s political stance being “moderate” raised my bunny ears.

Unlearning my ideologies to understand the reason I think and process the way I do has led me to ask foundational questions. So, my first web search was “moderate vs democrat”. I developed a democratic standpoint in 2009 when I was 8 years old. I saw my fellow African American elders excited for the new president and I understood that we were experiencing a racially familiar president for the first time in presidential history. I learned that a moderate political stance is an ideological category that allows a rather neutral view, so basically in between.

I’m intrigued that the moderate party is a thing. However, as I went into images to get a visual, I came across a picture with the democrat, moderate, republican political spectrum. It then came to my deepest interest the ideology behind the party symbolism. I found it funny that the democrats are represented by the donkey aka jackass and the republicans are represented by an elephant. I’ve associated the democratic party with the less fortunate and the republican party with the rich and wealthy. So why must democrats be little jackasses and republics big elephants?

I found some interesting points on world atlas that I would like to share with you.

“The democratic party was founded in 1928 by those who supported Andrew Jackson. Depending on which side of the political divide one is, the symbol can be interpreted either positively or negatively. To the opponents of the Democratic Party, the mascot is interpreted as lacking intelligence, strength, and often loud and stubborn yet for the Democrats, the donkey is smart, brave, and humble. Initially, the symbol was meant to mock and attack Andrew Jackson by his opponents. They insultingly referred to him as a “jackass.” Instead of becoming irritated and irked by the insults, Andrew liked the comparison and decided to use it for his political gain.”

Okay, so now we know that the donkey was meant to be a demeaning symbol. Good to know. Now let’s get to the point regarding Andrew Jackson aka the man on the $20 bill.

Mr. 20 dollar bill

Jackson invested considerably large amounts of money for the time in land deals, and in so doing bought huge amounts of land along the Tennessee frontier. He also became a large-scale planter and employed hundreds of slaves. He was also very aggressive in his policies against the native American tribes, and promoted the Indian Removal Policy, one of the saddest marks on US History. His anti-Native American policies led to displacement and pain on a massive scale.

His government was perceived to be efficient and less corrupt compared to other US governments of the early 19th century. I won’t strip him from his contributions but I’m truly conflicted. His legacy is undoubtedly questionable.

According to history.com,

He strongly supported and profited from slavery. Critics say it's wrong to valorize him since he owned enslaved people, treated them harshly and forced Native Americans to be removed from their ancestral lands, causing thousands of deaths.

During his lifetime (1767-1845), Jackson went from poverty to wealth because he personally embraced the institution of slavery. Enslaved workers grew his cotton, built and tended his house and helped him gain a social foothold in Southern society. Jackson owned as many as 161 enslaved people, buying and selling them, using their labor to build his fortune and even bringing them to the White House to work for him.

So he technically delegated power from the traditional elite to the ordinary voters but used colored people as commodities. Hmm… This man opposed policies that outlawed slavery but yet the descendants of those working slaves are diehard members of this Democratic party. Maybe it’s because of some of the ideologies that were presented at bay.

I am in no way giving homage of any kind to any possible political view. As said before, I am not a fan of politics. However, I am concerned and I have many more questions and a lot more research to do. This blog post is not just to inform you of my speculations but to raise awareness and to incline your interest of such matters.

Thank you for your time. Your opinion is valid here. I am seeking more knowledge and I’m open to your ideas.