Rep. Gruenhagen : A Manifesto to End Racism in America

Tearing down monuments along with looting and rioting does nothing to address and fix the root causes of racism in our society. Also, demonizing all police will in the long run only make communities less safe especially for minorities.

Our American culture has struggled with racism for decades. In order to end racism in America it is important to understand the roots of modern-day racism and the primary institution which fosters racism in our nation.

Modern-day racism received its so-called scientific rationale from primarily two writings by Charles Darwin. The first was titled “The Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection or the Preservation of Favored Races in the Struggle for Life.” 

Darwin’s second writing was titled “The Descent of Man, and Selection in Relation to Sex”. Charles Darwin was a white supremacist, a racist and a eugenicist as explained in his writings.  Here is a direct quote from this book, “At some period not very distant as measured by centuries, the civilized (European) race of men will almost certainly exterminate and replace throughout the world the savage races”.  Darwin goes on to name “…the Negro or Australian (pygmy) and the gorilla”. 

Note: Darwin’s second book, the “Descent of Man”, is not taught in schools primarily because of its racist overtones, however the primary theory of origins taught in our schools is the Darwinian theory of macro evolution which supports the idea of separate evolved races.

Thankfully, science and biology have advanced and in the ‘90s the genetic code was cracked. Much to the dismay of the disciples of evolution, there was no natural selection gene that can turn one kind of animal into another kind of animal even with the eons of time.  Science and biology now confirm that there are not many different races but that there is only one human race, therefore we are all related. There are different ethnic groups but only one human race, destroying the Darwinian theory of evolution. 

Unfortunately, social Darwinism has permeated many of our government-controlled institutions, especially education. The following examples will demonstrate how social Darwinism has negatively impacted our society and fanned the flames of racism.

For decades Minnesota has had one of the worst achievement gaps between minority and Caucasian students in the nation.  Several years ago, the Minnesota Department of Education reported that only 15% of 10th grade black students could read to their grade level in Minneapolis and St. Paul inner-city public schools.  This destroys the future for these black and minority children, leaving them hopeless and trapped in failed public schools. I contend that the wealth gap between minorities and Caucasians in our society mirrors the achievement gap in our public schools. This is a form of racism.  

One of the greatest civil rights issues of our time is school choice, where parents have control and the funding follows the student, increasing competition between public, private and religious schools. Equal competition between all schools will accomplish what billions of tax dollars spent on a failed inner-city school system cannot. When I was discharged from the Marine Corps I qualified for the GI Bill for higher education. I could attend a public college, or a private college, or a religious college and use the GI Bill’s federal tax dollars for tuition. Using tax dollars to follow the student with school choice should be the same. The U.S. Supreme Court recently ruled it was constitutional. Incidentally, almost all Democrats oppose school choice.  

Before I entered the political arena, I participated in jail ministry for 13 years. A common denominator I found among prisoners is that they cannot read fluently. Most schools have failed to teach proven strategies for reading such as intensive systematic phonics, traditional spelling, and grammar. Instead forms of whole language, inventive spelling and creative writing are primarily practiced which cause reading and writing problems. This results in a high level of misdiagnosing disorders which is a contributing factor to the excessive labeling and drugging of children. If you can’t read fluently it’s difficult to participate in education or the economy. 

Also, the teaching of multiculturalism and diversity tends to emphasize our differences rather than our commonality. We are not German-Americans, or Hispanic-Americans or African-Americans but we are Americans with a German heritage or an American with a Hispanic heritage or an American with an African heritage, etc. Our schools must again teach U.S. history and patriotism.

Another area of government racism is demonstrated in the Great Society programs and the “War on Poverty” of the ‘60s promoted by President Lyndon Johnson. These welfare programs pay government subsidies to women for having children out of wedlock, raising the out of wedlock birth rate of inner-city blacks from less than 20% in the early ‘60s to over 74% today. This has trapped many single parent moms in permanent poverty and government dependency. This is a major reason for the destruction of the traditional black family with devastating consequences for their children. 

To illustrate, please see the attached YouTube video aired by TV personality Iyanla Vanzant interviewing six black men who between them have fathered 87 children with 50 different women. She confirms that suicide rates, illegal drug abuse, and criminal behavior are all exponentially higher for children raised in fatherless homes. 

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Our welfare programs also incentivize criminal behavior. Welfare recipients realize that generating income from the sale of illegal drugs is not tax reportable while the income generated from a legitimate job is tax reportable and jeopardizes their welfare benefits.  

Government welfare programs must be reformed and the anti-marriage penalties should be removed from welfare. U.S. taxpayers have spent over $22 trillion on anti-poverty programs from 1964-2014 and the poverty rate is the same or worse than when these programs were started (source: Heritage Foundation).

We also see racism in government immigration policies.  Minnesota Democrats support sanctuary cities and they support turning Minnesota into a sanctuary state. We need legal immigration.  We are all descendants of legal immigrants; however illegal immigration is dehumanizing and racist.  Allow me to explain. 

When illegal immigrants cross our southern border, many have to pay thousands of dollars to “coyotes” who exploit them criminally, sexually, and brutally. Many illegal immigrants after crossing the border arrive in arid or desert areas and die of dehydration. This includes men women and children. Some are brutally murdered by drug dealers. If they survive the gauntlet of crossing the border and entering U.S. soil they are then exploited by some employers for financial gain or experience other criminal behavior. Many fear reporting these acts because they are here illegally. If you have any amount of human compassion you will oppose illegal immigration. Again, we need legal immigration which gives these new immigrants the best chance of achieving the American dream and becoming a productive middle-class citizen instead of being trapped in poverty and on government dependency. Illegal immigration also drives down wages, especially for our unskilled American minority workers. We must promote legal immigration and stop illegal immigration.

Next, consider abortion rates. Blacks are about 15% of the U.S. population but comprise approximately 40% of all U.S. abortions.  Planned Parenthood was founded by Margaret Sanger a racist, a white supremacist, and a eugenicist. Also consider that Planned Parenthood receives over $500 million of federal subsidies plus state subsidies each year. We need to elect pro-life legislators and judges so we finally end this form of government subsidized racism.

Several things to keep in mind historically: slavery was a critical issue of disagreement from the very founding of our country. Originally, our Constitution counted black individuals as only 3/5 personhood.  It’s not because our founding fathers were racists, it was because abolitionists of the North wanted to limit the population count of the southern slave states, thereby limiting the number of slave-state representatives in Congress. They hoped this would later give abolitionists a better opportunity to one day end slavery.  (For more info please visit www.Wallbuilders.com which has the largest collection of our country’s original founding and written documents)  

We fought the Civil War with over 620,000 casualties, not to mention those who were severely wounded or maimed, almost all of them young Caucasian boys who endured many hardships and horrible medical procedures. This is the largest number of war casualties in U.S. history, in fact more than all other wars combined. President Lincoln, founder of the Republican Party, was nicknamed the “widow maker” by his opponents. He also signed the Emancipation Proclamation and freed the slaves.

We also destroyed the economy of the South and seriously damaged the northern economy. Many Americans are not aware that the first seven black congressman after the Civil War were Republicans.

In summary, our educational system and federal and state programs have become heavily influenced by the racist theory of social Darwinism especially since the ‘60s. These institutions must be reformed.

There is a current movement for slave reparations of approximately $3 trillion. I believe school choice, where parents control the education and tax dollars of their children, will do much more to end racism in America than the repayment of any slave reparations. Unless we reform the racism that is inherent in our federal and state government institutions and programs, we will not address the root causes of racism and as a result we will continue to see a very divisive and violent society and our children’s future and the future of all Americans will suffer. 

Tearing down monuments along with looting and rioting does nothing to address and fix the root causes of racism in our society. Also, demonizing all police will in the long run only make communities less safe especially for minorities.

Remember our national motto is “E Pluribus Unum”, which means “Out of Many, One”.  By this we understand that the principle our nation was founded on was one of “God-given rights”, a Republic where all people are created equal with the right to pursue life, liberty and happiness, with equal justice under the law, as the ideal we strive for. This will create a more perfect and united union with a growing and prosperous Middle class, building a better future for all our children! 

By God’s Grace and with His help we can solve the critical problems facing our state and nation. Let us commit that we listen to each other respectfully.

Acknowledgements: 

I would like to thank Dr. Thomas Sowell, Starr Parker, Walter Williams, Bob Woodson, Larry Elders, Leo Terrell, Dinesh D’Sousa, Candace Owens and the late Dr. Francis Schaefer and the late Dr. Henry Morris along with many others whose influence, writings and ideas are expressed in this Manifesto.

Glen Gruenhagen

Raised on a dairy farm in Glencoe
Veteran of the United States Marine Corps
Married to Emily for 41 years, with 3 daughters and 5 grandchildren
Small business owner of Gruenhagen Insurance and Financial Services
38 years experience in private business, insurance and financial planning
Holds degrees as a Chartered Financial Consultant (ChFC) and
Chartered Life Underwriter (CLU)
Participated in prison ministry for 13 years
Endorsed by the NRA (National Rifle Association)
Endorsed by the MCCL (MN Citizens Concerned for Life)
Endorsed by the NFIB (National Federation of Independent Business)
Endorsed by the Minnesota Farm Bureau
Member of American Legion and Rotary Club
Elected to the Glencoe Silver Lake public school board for
4 terms, serving for 16 years