I’ve been following politics closely since 1985. That’s 35 years of New Years Days. In all those years, I’d never heard of “Hiring Day” until this year. But I’m not surprised at the effort to make it a story in this political environment.

“Hiring Day,” in the days before the Civil War, was the day that slave contracts expired and/or were renewed. (Think of it like the start of free agency in the NFL, NBA, or MLB.)

On this day, slaves would either be traded to another owner or renewed with their current owner. Aside from the already horrific practice of slavery, this served as an extra insult by often separating families, who may then never see each other again.

Slavery was a tremendous setback for blacks in their quest for equality in the United States, and thanks to constant reminders like this, “Hiring Day” will continue to serve that purpose.

I think we can (or should) all agree that one of our goals, as a society, is to treat people as individuals and not be judged by our skin color, clothing, or any other meaningless aesthetic. But for every step we take toward that goal, we take about five steps back every time liberals remind us of how unfair things were for blacks… decades ago.

There’s no doubt been amazing obstacles thrown in the way of blacks, through segregation, Jim Crow laws, no voting rights… the list goes on. But we’re here, and it’s now, and we need to look forward.

The Democrat Party has a vested interest in making sure blacks today feel the racism of 150 years ago. Never mind all the laws we have on the books today to prevent discrimination. Never mind all of the prominent black entrepreneurs and celebrities who have advanced because of society, not despite it.

Yes, there are black neighborhoods stricken by poverty. But there are also white neighborhoods stricken by poverty. And there are Hispanic neighborhoods stricken by poverty. Poverty doesn’t know skin color, and poverty is always going to be part of any society, no matter how hard they try to eradicate it.

But poverty is also relative. Poverty in the United States is nothing like poverty in third world countries. And there is no inherent racism in our schools, our businesses, our activities, or any other aspect of American life.

There may be racists, but every day, more and more racists die, and they’re replaced by kids who’ve been brought up not knowing skin color.

But we can’t advance to a society without racism if we continue to tell one race, in particular, that they are the victim of constant racism and every bad thing that befalls them happened because some racist white person somewhere willed it to be.

In my opinion, stories like this Hiring Day story from Time Magazine is intended to keep racism alive and keep blacks dependent, feeling like they can’t do it on their own, and looking to the Democrats for help.

If the Republicans, with the worst marketing department in the world, could show a little awareness of their own history and purpose, and could grow a spine, they would step up and start sharing the positivity of conservatism and show black communities the path to prosperity.

Capitalism isn’t specific to race. Anyone who wants to embrace it can succeed from it. We’ve got to stop lamenting a racism that died decades ago and start sharing the optimism and freedom that comes with the capitalism embraced by the United States.