The modern religious right formed, practically overnight, as a rapid response to the Supreme Court's landmark ruling in Roe v. Wade. Or, at least, that's how the story goes. The reality, Randall Balmer, a Dartmouth professor writing for Politico Magazine, says, is actually a little less savory to 21st century Americans: The religious right, who liked to call themselves the "moral majority" at the time, actually organized around fighting to protect Christian schools from being desegregated. It wasn't Roe v. Wade that woke the sleeping dragon of the evangelical vote. It was Green v. Kennedy, a 1970 decision stripping tax-exempt status from "segregation academies"—private Christian schools that were set up in response to Brown v. Board of Education, where the practice of barring black students continued.Marcotte's argument makes perfect sense. Even in the deep South, even churches were segregated, although a lot of Christian groups also fought against segregation. Xenophobia in America has become accepted, and in the deep South, it's engrained in parts of the culture. Not as bad as it once was, but it will take generations for it to cease. And here in New York as well, which has some of the most segregated schools in the nation, surprisingly. Of course, changes will hopefully render that moot.
America is a nation that was born in a world of racism and superstition. Michael Moore brought it up constantly in his movie Bowling for Columbine. To put it even better, America is a nation with a culture that is destructive and unhealthy.
I'll update this entry as I'm rushing it to post to meet my ten blogs a month quota.
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