It's not about race, it's about literacy. Democracy requires informed populations. Our literacy now is 98% in the US- at the time of the revolution it was amazingly high for that time- 90% in New England!!! (compare this to the abysmal rates in England at the time of between 50 and 60%- close to what rates are in Iraq today....) Even farmers could read and understand the issues of the day. This was crucial- and the evidence for that is that NE was a hotbed of revolution, whereas the South, with much lower literacy (we're only counting white men, remember), was strong for the Tory cause- economics tied into this as well, but in educated Urban pockets in the South you find stronger revolutionary feeling that in less educated rural areas- regardless of economic status.
I suggest to you, that democracy cannot be imposed, and that it must arise in an educated population, that understand the concept, and is ready to embrace it with all its difficulties- race is not important, but literacy most certainly is. |
