To the Editor:

Kudos to Bruce Gardner whose wise comments appeared in the Nov. 26 Opinion section of The Smoky Mountain News and pointed out that the Democratic Party of your parents is not the same we have today. 

Because early Democrats supported their position on slavery using Biblical justification, one must wonder if they aren’t trying to do the same thing today by making it all but impossible for our African Americans to escape the government plantation.

It is a well-known fact that you can take any group or tribe, of any color or location, and quickly make them dependent by giving them free goodies. This is precisely what Democrats have done.

An obvious consequence we see in the African American community is a lack of self respect, but who could possibly have self respect when you are a working age citizen dependent on government handouts? And at a time when Democrats want to keep African Americans dependent, we are going to spend $40 billion a year to finance Latinos who entered the country illegally.

But instead of spending that $40 billion on people who illegally came from another country, the money should be spent on breaking the grip teacher unions have on our horrible schools in places like Los Angeles, New York City and Chicago.  

It was African Americans who helped build this country, not illegal aliens. About four times as many African Americans graduating from New York Catholic High schools go on to college as do their brethren coming from public schools. Yet, to the detriment of African American students, teachers unions donate huge sums to Democratic campaigns and all but prevent any hope of improvement in public schools.

Sadly, during a speech in Chicago, Obama told everyone that it was the illegal aliens from Latin America that helped build this country and implored companies to hire them, all but ignoring the sacrifices African Americans who need jobs and education. 

It doesn’t help when we have people like Al Sharpton, who owes some $4.5 million in back taxes, spending time at the White House and who tells his fellow African Americans that all they need is more government welfare. 

Ignorant and racist views of human nature brought us one of the largest social boondoggles of the 20th century, but with sound and practical leadership we can correct the mistakes of the past.

Hopefully, next time around we will not only elect a president who understands what makes America tick but someone who can bring the races together, and someone who has the courage to stand up to the union control of education in the inner cities. With that, we can provide the path for African Americans to pull themselves up.

Let’s not be seduced by promises of hope and change again.”

Bob Wilson 

Franklin