America's Race War is Imminent, Unless We Redefine Citizenship

Racially Divided America is Not a Canard or Distant History; it is Today March the 18th, AD 2015

This has been one of those "in the wings" projects. I've talked multiple times about Citizenship Reform and my idea for it, that being "Roman Citizenship," or using it as a model for reconstructing "American Citizenship." It's not just a legal reformation, it's a social reformation that should change entirely how we view America and other Americans.

I decided to begin writing this for a very specific reason, and I am prepared to swear upon our LORD in the Eucharist this story is true, and I mention no names and places only to protect and preserve the peace of all parties involved, and I will support no mob formed against or for either side, because that defeats the entire purpose of me writing this. I am close friends with two individuals I know who were until recently dating. That all changed and I only recently found out. The man of the relationship is someone I've come to know well; he's well-to-do, though he has some family troubles. He's independent, attending college, and works as a manager of a local restaurant. He has paid for his college through scholarships and some family help along with paying his own way otherwise. I am unaware of his present living situation, but I know it's stable. The female conversely was attending college full-time; there was no considerable age difference between the two. She still lived with her parents. Both are practicing (though Conciliar) Catholics.

Marriage certificate of Empress Theophanu.

I inquired of the young man as to why the relationship ended; it was promising otherwise. He told me three reasons: she was unwilling to go against the wishes of her parents, her father was a rather intimidating military veteran, and her family disapproved of the relationship because her boyfriend was white.

Apparently upon meeting the boy and discovering this, they were angry and desired the courtship dissolved.

I would never presume to dispute the right of a parent to raise their child in such a way as to dispute who they have access to, but both these individuals were legal adults in the eyes of the law. The authority these parents have over their progeny only extends as far as the natural bond between parents and children. Their parents have no right to forcibly dictate their lives as such.

This was something astounding to me. Most of the White kids I grew up with in the South got the lecture from older family members that they shouldn't date Blacks, but they laughed and ignored it. I certainly did.

Aside from the obvious racism here - imagine the outcry if the races and genders were reversed - there's something more disturbing to me about this whole story that really stirred me to action.

Both parties involved were raised and came from staunchly Catholic families, and both people in the relationship still considered and behaved as such.

Even the Conciliar Church would agree, racism is wrong. I may remember it wrong - and a quick Google search revealed nothing - but there were two or three Catholic priests lynched by the KKK (staunch Anti-Catholics) for marrying blacks and whites. Saint Katherine Drexel - who I've written on before - was an advocate for racial equality and devoted her life and wealth to helping underprivileged African Americans. The Church has never shown discrimination in her theology towards Blacks or any other ethnic group. So what are we to make of this kind of behavior?

I spoke at length in a tumblr post about what causes racial prejudice, which I will link for your convenience. I hope it proves enlightening.

Suddenly it all became very clear to me how evident racial divides were in America. I understand how this looks, "Oh so a black woman's parents won't let her be with a white boy, and now you care, you sexual imperialist."

Well, no. I always realized it was an issue. But this was something right at my doorstep involving two people I considered close friends. The guy was very nervous about meeting his girlfriend's dad the first time because he was a hard-ass with a reputation for scaring off guys, so I gave him advice on how to handle it and not be nervous. When the guy was working late nights as a manager, his girlfriend was often worried about the possibility of the relationship at all. I encouraged her to stick with it, because he's not just doing it for himself but for her too.

Recent events are starting to pile up; this isn't something that can't be ignored. We can't simply revert to a White Majority society. We can't make Blacks have all the power and disenfranchise whites. Either one leads to inevitable conflict. There's only one just solution here, and it's one grounded not just in Catholicism but tradition going back to Rome - the nation America and many others wish to be seen as successors to.

A statue of Saint Maurice, located in Soultz-Haut-Rhin, France.

This isn't a solution limited to America; anyone can make use of it as far as I am concerned. I would like for them all to. What is this solution? Well, let's talk about it.

Romanesque Citizenship

Basis

In the Roman Empire, racial segregation did not exist. There were no government-mandated social castes based on race. Race existed only as a descriptive attribute and to describe your ethnic roots. Ethnicity wasn't denied as something that existed, but it wasn't a basis for hatred. Roman Law stipulates nowhere that discrimination be applied based on race, and perilous few records of such conduct exist. It has been said that Rome would not legalize a marriage between mixed races. This is an utter falsehood; in fact Roman courts in Greece explicitly stated there should be no discrimination in issuing marriages based on race.

Romans did indeed dislike foreigners to a degree, but it was not because of race. It was because of nationality. As anyone familiar with why Saint Paul could argue his case before the Roman magistrates in the New Testament should know, Roman citizens had rights that most did not. One could even have "dual citizenship," meaning they could still be considered a Roman citizen and have all the rights of a citizen in a country that was friends with Rome so long as the two countries were not at war or in a state of constrained relations.

Legion X Gemina by Mariusz Kozik.

So where then do our modern ideas about race come from? Did anyone in the ancient world possess something similar to what we know as racism today? You can kill two birds with one stone on this one and know that the answer to both is the same: the Barbarians.

First off the Barbarians did indeed have a culture and even complex languages and social structure. I use "Barbarians" in a blanket term here. I understand some dislike the use of the term. You see, Barbarians were mostly tribal. Their communities were largely based around race; bands formed of those who looked alike or spoke the same language, and these eventually became tribes and the basis for most barbaric civilizations. Roman indeed started as a small tribal kingdom like most other nations it would go on to conquer, but the Romans had a unifying idea: their civilization.

The Romans genuinely believed in the superiority, benevolence, and magnanimity of their civilization. Historical record when compared to others seems to agree with their belief in themselves. Romans did not mindlessly destroy pagan culture; what they found useful they preserved, and histories were indeed recorded. What Romans had already perfected or improved upon they discarded along with whatever was a threat to good order. In many cases pagan cultures willingly assimilated with Rome because they saw benefits in it. Rome's goods were better than what everyone else had on offer, and they gave their homage with their gold to Rome. Romans did not necessarily hate and sneer at the Barbarian without cause; many times Barbarians threatened Rome and provoked it to action, and Rome answered their tyranny mercilessly. But they made alliances with many tribes and nations that were not Roman and treated them a "Friends of Rome." Many times the Barbarians opposing Rome were actual minority groups within their countries and not the majority. After the smoke cleared, life went on. It was an effective model for a thousand years.

Blessed Charlemagne Assists Louis XII of France in Prayer

Christendom's legal and philosophical roots were in Rome in part. What the Catholic Church has baptized and made good or found to have good in it was not suppressed in any way, shape, or form. I think the volumes of learning that have survived from the period attest to this. As such one is hard pressed to find overt episodes of racial discrimination among Authentically Catholic nations, especially in the Middle Ages when Christendom peaked. Many laws were passed in the New World to prevent racial discrimination and naturalize natives as citizens of their respective Empires. Going further back we can see Charlemagne with his commitment to respecting local customs as a good example of how Rome's ideas influenced their thought. But when Saxons start acting up, you'd better hope you weren't involved.

Practical Application

But how can this be useful to us as Americans? It's very simple; we adopt the same model of citizenship. In our Constitution and/or Bill of Rights we must enshrine the idea of American Citizenship as something great and good: "Every human being, besides his rights God gives him as man, has certain inalienable rights and duties as an American Citizen by virtue of his patriotic citizenship. Every American Citizen - be they man, woman, child, foreigner, and regardless his religious creed and applicable to young through old - shall have equal rights and treatment in all matters be they law, pay, treatment, social conduct, education, religious observance, etc.. This rights shall be guaranteed by the protection and enforcement of the Lawful Authority of the Government of These United States of America, and all Americans shall be bound to this same law to fulfill the duties this also requires. These rights and duties of citizenship shall be altered and/or abridged for none on basis of wealth, ethnic origin, or religious creed. Willful failure to fulfill the duties of an American Citizen constitutes loss of the privileges of one till such a time worthy penance has been done to regain it before not just the Nation but all Americans."

This would suffice to give clear, undeniable, and physical evidence in our law that we have a clear code of ethics which mandates equal treatment based on our citizenship as Americans. It also makes clear we have certain duties to fulfill as well, willful failure of which to fulfill them equates to their loss. Paying taxes, military service in times of need, abiding by the law, respect for legitimate civil authority, assistance of peacekeeping officials, respect for fellow citizens, etc.. These are all things that can and must be defined if this is going to work. I've tried getting input from others on what these duties and rights might be. The "rights" bit is always the easy part; the "duties" bit always seems to be what gets people for some reason. I think a possible reason might be an explanation for why we find ourselves in this situation in the first place.

The Founders envisioned the United States of America as an "Empire of Liberty." They foresaw it as a nation built not on simply survival alone but lofty ideals and principles - like Rome and Christendom (namely the Holy Roman Empire). Empire-building is arduous work. It requires grit, struggle, rigor, sacrifice, conviction, courage, zeal, and faith of the supernatural sort. To truly build an Empire is a highpoint of human achievement and it requires the culmination of all virtues to make it a reality. Those who are not built on such things do not last long, nor endure beloved in the hearts and minds of men universally for all time.

George S. Patton once said that all real Americans love the sting of battle. That Americans were born to win and win it all. I can only wonder how a man like General Patton would balk at the America we see before us today: an America that individually disdains struggle, rigor, imperialism, its military, its history, et al. I can only worry at how Ol' Blood and Guts might overreact - don't get me wrong, he's one of the best cavalry commanders in history, but I wouldn't make Patton head of state for any amount of money.

The truth is overcoming racial mistrust and learned prejudices is harder than simply accepting and rolling with them. It's hard to be the odd man out among people who look and sound just like you, and likewise it's hard to learn to get along with people you've learned to hate or that you have obvious differences with. But everything worth doing has an element of challenge to it. There is no Master Race; the ubermensch exists within all of us in our universal ability as human beings to do great things.

Plain and simple: Americans have a choice to make. They can either be dragged down by racial strife or they can rise above it. Catholicism alone provides an ample vehicle for this - George Washington himself wrote to the Carroll family of the importance Catholicism would ultimately play in America's future as a nation as mankind became, quote, "more and more liberal." When we are at such a momentous turning point in our nation's history, what better time than now to take up the Cross and fulfill the prophecy of the man who might've otherwise been our first king?

A painting of George Washington rallying his troops at the Battle of Princeton.