Black women have always shaped politics because we are ready and able to say exactly what is on our minds. I would like to salute Patrick Buchanan for selecting a qualified African-American woman as his running mate. Ezola Foster stands for what is good for America.
As an African-American conservative woman, I know how hard it is to find a place that is willing to listen to the items that we hold important. The media wants to show only the liberal black woman, but there are many conservative black women across this country. Foster stands tall and says what is on her mind. She has taken on some very controversial issues that I am in total agreement with and put these hot-button issues in the public's view.
First of all, she has indicated that abortion is wrong and should be stopped in America. She is standing up for all unborn children in America. Secondly, Foster says that we need to end affirmative action. I am in total agreement with her because race relations have deteriorated as a result of affirmative action. Black people, who were middle-class, hard-working individuals before affirmative action, don't appreciate people treating them like they got where they are solely based on their race or gender. I have had to tell many individuals to stop treating me like I am some welfare queen because I am not.
It is sad that in America people are first looking at your race and then your gender and stereotyping you into a category. I am supposed to be liberal because I am a black woman, but that is not the case. It is time for America to end this program called affirmative action because of the backlash that many people are now experiencing.
Yes, there are many people who look at my job application and assume that she is black and female so she can get a job anywhere in the country. This is a totally false statement, because in life before affirmative action, black educated women had more options because there were so few educated black women.
For example, my sister got her bachelor's degree in 1959. During that time there were few women who were educated. She had many career opportunities because she was qualified and she didn't have a lot of competition. I must applaud Foster for standing up and saying that many people from the black middle class want to end affirmative action now.
The last hot-button issue that Foster is taking is the issue of illegal immigration. The term illegal means that you are doing something that is against the rules that we have established in our society. If you are an illegal immigrant, you should not have the same rights as citizens. Again, I applaud Foster for telling the truth about the educational system. She indicates that the educational problems that we are having across the country are based on the fact that the schools are crowded. Teachers cannot properly educate a class of students that speak many different languages.
For example, in the California school system, officials have indicated that there are more than 86 languages spoken. In some of the school districts in Utah, the number of children who speak a language other than English has tripled.
I have tried unsuccessfully to get involved in politics in the state of Utah, but I found myself just there in both parties. Neither party would consider me a serious candidate or listen to the social issues I saw as being important to this state. However, the Reform Party might just be a breath of fresh air for individuals who are sick of the same old talk and no action from the two major political parties.
Deidre Ann Tyler is a self-described conservative Christian sociologist who has lived in Utah the past nine years.