The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20500
202-456-1111
Attn: President Barack Obama
Wednesday, November 21, 2012
RE: Texans Petition to Secede
United We Stand: Divided We Fall
Dear Mr. President:
There have been recent
published reports about some Texans desiring to secede from the Union. The most
recent includes today’s Fort
Worth Star-Telegram’s editorial. At last count per this writing, there are
now 116,070 signatures on a
petition for such purpose.
Though this number hardly
represents the majority of Texans, we recognize that all citizens are entitled
by the First Amendment of the Constitution the Right to Petition the Government
for Redress of Grievances.
Seeing that you have
obligated yourself to a response on a petition with more than 25,000
signatures, I would like to weigh in on your deliberation on this issue, and
advise you not to make the same mistake made by President Abraham Lincoln.
Instead, you should learn from history, because this secessionist movement in
Texas is not unprecedented.
When Texas seceded from the
Union in 1861, only one-in-four Texans owned slaves. This minority usurped the
authority of Governor Sam Houston, the revered father of Texas, who opposed the
secessionist movement. Lincoln even offered Houston military help to suppress
this uprising. But, for the sake of peace within the state, the governor acquiesced
to the rebellious minority who subsequently evicted him from office by force on
March 16, 1861. He was replaced by Lieutenant Governor Edward Clark.
It is no wonder that this
portion of Texas history hardly appears in the history books. Otherwise, it
would reveal the illegitimacy of the Confederate government in Texas. The Ordinance of Secession was
never put before the majority of the citizens of the state, lest they would
have opposed it like the governor.
A little known fact is that Texas
held large pockets of abolitionists, prior to and during the Civil War. And
though that state was separated from the Union, it was divided against itself
within. There were pro-Union Texans actively fighting against the Confederacy
throughout the war.
In the end, African-Americans
survived, with the help of their abolitionist allies, and not necessarily by
the grace of Abraham Lincoln. Likewise, we believe Texans of abolitionist
heritage will survive this secession movement also, despite economic cuts and
scale backs by the state to our community.
We wish no part in these
hostilities, nor do we concur with this petition for secession. When we pledge
allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and ourselves to be One
Nation, under God, Indivisible, with Liberty and Justice for All, we express
our true patriotic colors. Those who pledge allegiance and wave their flags at every
public event, and then turn against the United States, are hypocrites, because
you cannot cling to two masters: Old Glory and the Confederate southern tradition.
I do not believe most Texans hold
the same sentiments of Peter Morrison, treasurer of the Hardin County, who says,
“Why should Vermont and Texas live under
the same government? Let each go her own way.” What is at issue is this: If the rest of the United
States cannot concur with Texas, then the rest of the states can go their merry
out. Texas is big enough to take care of itself. So says the petition:
Given that the state of Texas
maintains a balanced budget and is the 15th largest economy in the world, it is
practically feasible for Texas to withdraw from the union.
Please note also that the petition requests “peaceful” separation. Otherwise,
suggesting the violent overthrow of the U.S. would be as seditious and criminal
as an Al Qaeda plot. Therefore, so far, the petitioners are within their
rights. But the minority does not have right over majority rule as the usurpation
of power in 1861. Whereas the Texas Ordinance of Secession
was never put before the citizens of the state, no such petition to secede
should ever be enacted with the concurrence of the will of the majority living in
the state.
Therefore, Mr. President, my
advisement would be to let Texas vote its way out of the Union. If there are
counties that still cleave to the Union, they should be allowed to. El
Paso and Houston are already drafting petitions to secede from the state of
Texas. So also is Austin.
The mistake made by President
Lincoln was trying to forcefully hold the Union together. Texas is already
separated from the Union by continued resistance to federal authority and policies.
The basis of the petitioners’ grievance is this: The US
continues to suffer economic difficulties stemming from the federal
government's neglect to reform domestic and foreign spending.
But when a Texan, George W.
Bush, was in the White House, turning a surplus economy into a deficit, there
was not a peep in Texas about secession. The petitioners’ desires to separate
themselves from continuing economic “difficulties” ignores the true origin of our
economic woes.
How can these petitioners
gripe about economic conditions, on the one hand, and boast about the state’s economic
solvency, on the other. If Texas is doing so good economically as they boast in
their petition, then on whose behalf are they complaining? Do they assume
guardianship of the rest of the United States to speak on their behalf? And how
can 116,070 petitioners speak for the entire state of Texas and the entire
American people?
If Texas truly wants to
secede, then let it be by democratic referendum. If passed, the state of Texas should
then be regarded as a foreign government. Abolitionists should not be forced to
pledge allegiance thereto, nor have their freedoms by armed forces or treats of
lynching, as in the past. Instead, pro-Unionists living in the state should be treated
as patriots abroad.
We would support the federal
government closing its facilities and moving to other states. Federal contracts
to the defense industries should be cancelled. Federal construction should
cease. And, federal grants and aid should be cut off or doled out on an
as-needs basis, as to a foreign government.
It is not necessary to be
overly concerned about pro-Union citizens in the state, as Abe Lincoln did in
1861. We will survive, though divided we fall.
Eddie Griffin
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