Congressional Apology for Slavery: Acceptance Pending

by duo | August 8, 2008 at 10:14 pm

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Many people view the Congressional apology on July 29 for slavery and Jim Crow-era segregation with some reserve. The House’s apology was met with mixed reviews from the black community. Whereas many feel a sense of relief that Congress formally acknowledged the wrongs done against African Americans and our ancestors, the Congressional apology is viewed by others as being too little, too late. In fact, numerous people like J. Whyatt Mondesire, president of the Philadelphia Chapter of the NAACP, regard the apology as a mere publicity stunt.

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http://www.chicagodefender.com/

HOUSE’S SLAVERY APOLOGY REBUKED, CALLED A ‘STUNT’

by Eric Mayes

An official apology for slavery and Jim Crow from the U.S. House of Representatives provoked mixed emotions in Philadelphia recently.

For J. Whyatt Mondesire, president of the Philadelphia Chapter of the NAACP, the apology was a publicity stunt.

“It’s too late, too little,” said Mondesire. “It was a stunt.” Emphasizing that he was speaking personally and not for the NAACP, he continued by saying that a more appropriate gesture would be “a serious conversation about reparations. But I don’t think that will happen.” The House formally apologized to African Americans and their ancestors for slavery July 29. The House of Representatives acted alone with the Senate remaining silent.

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The apology invigorated discussion regarding reparations to African Americans for centuries of government-sanctioned slavery and discrimination, comparing the Congressional apology unfavorably to the reparations paid to Japanese Americans who were interned in U.S. concentration camps during WWII.

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Democracy Now
February 18, 1999
http://www.democracynow.org/1999/2/18/wwii_reparations_japanese_american_internees

WWII REPARATIONS: JAPANESE-AMERICAN INTERNEES

The Justice Department closed the books this week on a $1.6 billion reparations program for ethnic Japanese interned in American camps during World War II, and will settle with 181 ethnic Japanese from Latin America who suffered similar treatment.

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As a Christian, I would like to believe that Congress is sorry for the centuries my ancestors were enslaved and decades of Jim Crow discrimination. The Bible implores us to be ever willing to forgive and forget past wrongs. But what are African Americans to believe about Congress’s apology when it was given in the face of continuous and ongoing discriminatory practices in the government that still negatively impact the lives of many people?

Thus far, 2008 has probably been the worse year for incidents of police brutality in recent history, but officers are seldom punished for beating or killing black citizens. Prison statistics indicate that one out of nine black men between the ages of 20 and 34 are incarcerated today.* Many hold that the disproportionate incarceration rate of African Americans is due in large part to discriminatory sentencing laws, profiling of African Americans, and inadequate legal representation resulting from poverty that is a lasting result of slavery and Jim Crow. African Americans account for approximately 13% of the country’s population according to 2000 U.S. Census, but about 41% of death row inmates.

Of course, one cannot look into the heart of another and determine whether an apology is issued in good faith. All I really know is that mine is the only American family in the 21st Century to have a member secretly arrested and returned to his family as a corpse with no explanation, apology, excuse, full autopsy report, arrest records, and denied any investigation.** I can only assume that my poor brother’s citizenship rights are dishonored because he was a Negro (dated term used purposefully). Apparently, my disabled brother was deemed undeserving of the “right to life, liberty, and pursuit of happiness” protection that resounds throughout our nation’s treasured documents, from the Declaration of Independence to the Bill of Rights. The right to life is held as being an inalienable right for all citizens. Most families expect and receive some accountability for lives cut short. Search as you will, and you will not find exclusion for Larry Neal in those sacred national documents, or for any of the other African Americans who died this century under mysterious circumstances involving police.

According to Wikipedia, an alternative phrase "life, liberty and property,” is found in the Declaration of Colonial Rights, a resolution of the First Continental Congress. Other countries, like Japan and the Republic of Vietnam, have emulated America’s protections for citizens by including that wording in their constitutional documents. Similar phraseology is in France’s guarantee to citizens, "liberté, égalité, fraternité" (liberty, equality, fraternity), and Canada’s “peace, order, and good government.” It is interesting to note that Article 3 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights reads, "Everyone has the right to life, liberty and security of person."***

In view of the fact that Larry Neal has been dead five years and a week and my family is yet denied any accountability, and in the face of other current civil rights violations against African Americans that are unsatisfactorily resolved, I cannot say that I believe in the sincerity of Congress’s apology. I am sorry for that. Perhaps until the civil rights of all Americans are really protected, it would have been better for Congress to remain mute on the issues of slavery and discrimination against black citizens, just as the U.S. Senate and White House did.

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Here's a video of a performance that recently rocked the nation – Enjoy!
http://www.trendhunter.com/trends/black-national-anthem

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References:

* National News Article: America’s New Slavery: Black Men in Prison
http://www.blackpressusa.com/news/Article.asp?SID=3&Title=National+News&NewsID=15529

** OpEdNews - Larry Neal’s Secret Incarceration and Wrongful Death Cover-up
http://www.opednews.com/articles/Mentally-Ill-Patient-s-Sec-by-Mary-Neal-080802-527.html

Wrongful Death of Larry Neal Website
http://wrongfuldeathoflarryneal.com

*** Wikipedia Encyclopedia: "Life, Liberty, Pursuit of Happiness"
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Life,_liberty_and_the_pursuit_of_happiness

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The videos below will further illustrate why this author reserves acceptance of the House's apology, choosing instead to wait until such time as Jim Crow is really over in America. This writer will wait until a future time when we truly let freedom ring throughout the United States of America. A time when we

Let freedom ring from the prodigious hilltops of New Hampshire.

Let freedom ring from the mighty mountains of New York.

Let freedom ring from the heightening Alleghenies of Pennsylvania.

Let freedom ring from the snow-capped Rockies of Colorado.

Let freedom ring from the curvaceous slopes of California.

But not only that:

Let freedom ring from Stone Mountain of Georgia.

Let freedom ring from Lookout Mountain of Tennessee.

Let freedom ring from every hill and molehill of Mississippi.

From every mountainside, let freedom ring.

And when this happens, when we allow freedom ring, when we let it ring from every village and every hamlet, from every state and every city, we will be able to speed up that day when all of God's children, black men and white men, Jews and Gentiles, Protestants and Catholics, will be able to join hands and sing in the words of the old Negro spiritual:

Free at last! Free at last!

                Thank God Almighty, we are free at last!

                                                          ~ Martin Luther King, Jr.

Here are the videos offered for your consideration. We have much more work to do before we relegate our country's racist government practices to a place in history deserving of forgiveness as "water under the bridge."

A CHORUS OF FEAR PART I
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=3930808120854021155

A CHORUS OF FEAR PART II
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=932407478921834517

Other Links of Information http://search.yahoo.com/search?fr=ffds1&p=george+boston+rhynes+in+america

A CHORUS OF FEAR PART III
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=4789998525777845937

A CHOURS OF FEAR PART IV
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=7992185722433389243

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Thus saith the LORD, Keep ye judgment, and do justice: for my salvation is near to come, and my righteousness to be revealed. Isaiah 56:1

Mary Neal
Website: http://wrongfuldeathoflarryneal.com

Assistance to the Incarcerated Mentally Ill
http://Care2.com/c2c/group/AIMI

Let Freedom Ring
http://Care2.com/c2c/group/LetFreedomRing

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Karen Hatter

flagged this story as Good Stuff

at 09:24 on August 9th, 2008

Good stuff, Mary. All things mentioned here are important contextual facts related to the Congressional apology.

I admire the courageous ongoing battle you wage, on behalf of your family, for justice for your brother.

duo

at 16:49 on August 9th, 2008

Thanks, Karen! It is true that I started this battle for justice for my family, because like most folks, I was focused only on "me and mine." But along the way, this changed. Through research I discovered that our family's crisis was representative of many thousands of other families who had members with acute mental problems. I was shocked to learn that homelessness, prison, and death had become America's answers to such disabilities. I am very grateful for NowPublic and other Internet news sites that give us an outlet to publicize their plight and to reach out to others who care about human rights and the civil rights of disabled Americans.

Starting last May, we began advocating against criminalizing mental illness, using Larry as our "poster child." My mom and I believe it was for this purpose that Larry suffered and died in jail -- God needed another soldier on His battlefield to combat for the least of these, His brethren. This is His battle, not mine! There are excellent organizations and individuals who already were working to benefit mentally ill Americans, but none focused exclusively on the issue of incarceration. So we started AIMI to work in the tradition of Dorothea Dix and get the mentally ill out of jail! Legislators and our judiciary are making some positive changes regarding our mentally challenged citizens, and my family is pleased for whatever small role our work may play in that.

Thanks for your interest and kind words, Karen, and for the flag!

duo

at 21:25 on August 9th, 2008

I added a selection of videos to illustrate plainly that whereas the House's apology for slavery and discriminatory practices of Jim Crow is appropriate, the apology tends to give the impression that such racism is over. This is far from true, as illustrated by my family's grievances and denial of justice as well as the justice issues presented in the videos posted hereon.

Before this author is ready to accept any apology for the government-sanctioned mistreatment of African Americans, we must first move closer to the ideal of equal justice for all U.S. citizens. I await the day when African Americans have accomplished true freedom, as presented in final portion of Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr.'s great "I have a dream" address. Sometimes, a belated "I'm sorry" is simply not enough. Whereas acknowledgement of wrong is an important first step, mere words have no real substance. America needs to CHANGE!

. . . For with their mouth they shew much love, but their heart goeth after their covetousness. Ezekiel 33:31

duo

at 07:44 on May 28th, 2009

Question: Why do my NP links that appear on the web take folks to one of the photos rather than to the article where the full document can be read, all the photos and the comments viewed? That is the case with this article, the Duanna Johnson article, and others. What's up? I recognize that my articles embarrass wrongdoers, but hopefully, they will be inspired to improve and readers will insist on it. Hiding from the truth is not an option, grown-ups.

Regarding Jim Crow being over, please see this article:

Jim Crow Crowned Prom King in Georgia - Watch Out, Troy Davis!
www.nowpublic.com/strange/jim-crow-lives-prom-night-monroe-county

The beat goes on.

Mary

duo

at 01:38 on June 2nd, 2009

Well I be! Turn your head, and your title changes! Should be "Congressional Apology for Slavery: Acceptance Pending." Now it says "Congressional Apology: Acceptance Pending." Got rid of that nasty word "slavery." I'll fix it back now. Seems I spend half my computer time fixing stuff back. That's why my icon is dogs.

ANNOUNCEMENT: I revisit all my articles and refer folks to them all the time. I return and check my links, too, because sometimes the news or videos my links refer to become unavailable and I have to change them. Those are the advantages to writing online over writing in a newspaper - you can CHANGE stuff. The problem is, my cyberstalkers get busy changing my work behind my back sometimes. If I return to an article and find that my data is fraudulently edited, the links redirected, or my intellectual property is gone, I will know it. Goodness, cyberstalkers! Ask for a new assignment, why don't you? I'm on top of things, and you are in an ILLEGAL profession. Think about it. MLK and I catch hell with this censorship. Check out my MLK article wherein I reported that he is still being censored 41 years after his assassination:

MLK's Final Speech Fraudulently Edited to Change History
http://my.nowpublic.com/culture/mlks-final-speech-was-fraudulently-edited-change-history

If anyone is ashamed of slavery or Jim Crow, it is too late to change the past. CHANGE the present. Let the slaves out of prison, starting with the homeless who are being corralled into jails in Ft. Lauderdale, FL who I read about tody, and stop having Jim Crow proms. It is a shame to teach children your racist ideas. LORD have mercy! This is the 21st century.

I started an online diary because I run into too much online censorship to add it to my sharebook all the time like I used to or put it in comments to articles and at AIMI. In fact, my censorship is so regular now that writing about it those places choaks out the message for justice that I try to deliver. So I'm going to keep the censorship messages to a minimum at NP, and put it all in my Censorship Diary at my new Care2 group: LET FREEDOM RING. Visit today at http://Care2.com/c2c/group/LetFreedomRing - All I ask is that the cyberstalker who hounds me at NP save some diary space for other cyberstalkers on other sites, please. Today, you almost took all the space!

Question for Fellow Writers: Do y'all watch over your Internet input diligently? You should. Even President Obama is concerned and had to make a position for a cybersecurity coordinator.

A Request: I wish all these folks - queries that show on html edit view - would just get RSS feeds for my articles and stop making these huge gaps in my articles! Just look at MLK's speech. It's a mess. Just send me your email addresses and fax numbers and I will send you a copy like I do some friends, or ask your cyberstalkers to do it.

LET ME SHOW YOU SOMETHING PRETTY FINE:

duo

at 16:01 on June 2nd, 2009

I want to show you what prejudice looks like. Open this link: http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/aia/part1/1h280b.html

The captain of the slave vessel Zong ordered 132 Africans thrown overboard to collect insurance money off of them. The "cargo" were men and women who were bound and tossed into the cold Atlantic. The captain deemed it better to arrive in America with a few healthy slaves than a load of sick ones who would decrease his bottom line. He and the ship's crew did not even SEE the humanity of these people. They were simply "cargo."

Racism causes people like Zong's captain to be blind to the humanity of another race of people. Therefore, anything goes. Sub-human life has never been afforded the protections and care of human beings, and racist people are incapable of acknowledging the humanity of people who don't look like themselves. That is why slave owners could heap hundreds of years of anguish on a people and still see themselves as being good Christians. Slave owners felt no more commonality with their slaves than a honey farm owner feels for his bees. Bees are merely living things he has control over from which he derives profits. Murders and cruel usery still result from the failure of racist people to recognize human value in people like my brother, Troy Davis, Sean Bell, Oscar Grant, Kathryn Johnston, and many U.S. inmates.

Many times black people go into court expecting the judge to treat them as citizens when the judge cannot even see them as being human, much less citizens deserving of constitutional protections. That is the ugly truth. The slaveowner mentality also makes it possible for judges to still think well of themselves while making money by incarcerating people along racial lines as prison profitters. Racist judges think noting of denying justice to blacks who enter the halls of "justice" in America on criminal or civil matters. Profit for white supremacists is the reason Africans were brought to this continent in the first place, and that mindset continues.