America must understand black rage guts 2013 by Therlee Gipson

Introduction This book, America MUST Understand Black Rage, will let you know the Black race was forced into bondage for over four hundred years and is discriminated against to this day. Blacks must be able to participate in this Society as other ethnic groups, Society’s underlining racial oppression by enforcing the Black Codes after Slavery, has hindered the Black man from becoming a man in his own right to become a productive citizen. Silly to wonder why he has become a raving maniac. As you read this book, you will understand. Black’s situations were different. Black boys were kidnapped from different Tribes and forced into bondage for over two Centuries. No reason for Blacks to hold a grudge or revenge. The past is the past. However, let’s just get the record straight on what happened to Black youths in the past. We as a Nation MUST put a stop to this madness and start a new beginning that will ensure all Black men have a job and the responsibility of taking care a family with one wife in marriage with love for self and family. Stop sending jobs overseas because it will cause destruction from within. WAKE UP people. Today every American citizen has the opportunity to read and acquire knowledge, obey rules and respect Laws. Producing children and crime are by choice. The key is knowledge and self control or you will destroy yourself and all those around you will suffer. Black males must step up because there is no one else to do it for them. Black males must instill morals, pride and discipline into all their children. Once mankind stops inflicting hardship and destruction upon the under dog, foster trust, love and understanding by helping our Black youths. Black males must be given a decent job so they can become productive. We must one day overcome these prejudices as we evolve into higher intelligent beings in the future. One day mankind could live in peace and happiness forever. Therlee Gipson (updated September 20, 2015) Copyright© 2013 by Therlee Gipson. ISBN: 978-1492808541 Printed in the United States of America 2

Table of Contents

Page No.

Title Page…………………………………………………………………………..

Introduction………………………………………………………………………..

Table of Contents………………………………………………………………….

3—6

Chapter I Nothing makes Sense……………………………………………………………...

7—10

What is the purpose of life?; King Solomon …………………………………….

8, 9

Where did Slaves go?……………………………………………………………...

Chapter II How did Slaves get to America?………………………………………………….

11—16



African Americans Under Slavery: 1600-1865; The First Slave Codes………..

12, 13



Slavery System in Colonial America; Opposition by Slaves…………………...

14, 15



Run Away Slaves Reward…………………………………………………….

Chapter III Cotton Pickers Needed (The South’s Demise)…………………………………

17—22

King Cotton; Alabama Fever…………………………………………………….

18, 19

Eli Whitney………………………………………………………………………...

20—22

Chapter IV The Kidnapping of Solomon Northup (12 years as a Slave)……………………

23-26

The life of Solomon Northup…………………………………………………...

24—26



Chapter V Slave Code & Black Codes (System of Control)………………………………...

27—42



Slave Codes; Black Codes; Union Occupation; After the War…………………

28—30



Legislation in Southern States…………………………………………………..



Black Codes: Mississippi; South Carolina; Louisiana; Florida; Maryland…….

32— 35



Black Codes: Texas; Tennessee; Kentucky…………………………………….

36—39

Reconstruction and Jim Crow……………………………………………………

The Klu Klux Klan………………………………………………………………..

Legacy and interventions; Comparative history………………………………..

Table of Contents

Page No.

Chapter VI 40 acres & a Mule (Empty Promises)……………………………………………

43—58



40 acres and a Mule…………………………………………………………….



The Civil War…………………………………………………………………..



Home Sweet Home……………………………………………………………..



Grand Contraband Camp……………………………………………………….



Sea Island……………………………………………………………………….



Port Royal Experiment…………………………………………………………



Landownership in the Sea Islands……………………………………………...



"Negroes of Savanna"…………………………………………………………..



Sherman’s Orders………………………………………………………………



Wage Labor System; Davis Bend……………………………………………...

53, 54



Freedmen's Bureau……………………………………………………………..

55, 56



Circular #13…………………………………………………………………….

The William Lynch speech ………………………………………………………

Chapter VII 59—68

The Great Society 

Lyndon Baines Johnson (LBJ)…………………………………………………



Black Struggle to become Democrats………………………………………….



The Civil Right Act of 1964…………………………………………………...



President Johnson appointments first Blacks to his Cabinet…………………...



The Great Society; Federal funding for education……………………………..



National Endowment Programs; War on Poverty……………………………...



Social Programs failure………………………………………………………...



The Legacies of the Great Society……………………………………………..



African-American family structure suffered…………………………………...



The Negro Family: The Case For National Action…………………………….

Table of Contents

Page No.

Chapter VIII Is there Hope for the Black family?.......................................................................

69—76



Theories about African-American families condition………………………….



Dividing the family…………………………………………………………….



Post-1960s expansion of the U.S. welfare State………………………………..



Why marry in the first place……………………………………………………



Rise in divorce rates……………………………………………………………



Black male incarceration and mortality………………………………………..



Implications of the African American family structure………………………..



Poverty………………………………………………………………………….



Educational performance……………………………………………………….



Black high school students……………………………………………………..



Teen pregnancy………………………………………………………………...



Cosby and Poussaint's Criticism of the single-parent family…………………..



Research on the African-American Family…………………………………….

Chapter IX Courage to fight Oppression……………………………………………………..

77—92



Spartacus………………………………………………………………………

78, 79



John Brown……………………………………………………………………

80, 81



Abraham Lincoln …………………………………………………………….



Harriet Tubman……………………………………………………………….



Susan B. Anthony……………………………………………………………..



Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi …………………………………………….



Rosa Louise McCauley Parks ……………………………………………….



Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela ………………………………………………….



Fidel Alejandro Castro ……………………………………………………….



Martin Luther King, Jr. ……………………………………………………..



Barack Hussein Obama II …………………………………………………..



Malala Yousafzai, Pakistani schoolgirl……………………………………...

91, 92

Table of Contents

Page No.

Chapter X Black Madness in Chicago………………………………………………………..

93—98



Over 500 murders in Chicago 2012…………………………………………….

94—96



Chicago’s Black neighborhoods are suffering………………………………...



Showing 2,035+ homicides in Chicago since Jan. 1, 2007 thru Jan. 1, 2013….

Chapter XI The dilemma of Black Neighborhoods…………………………………………..

99—117



Incarceration of Black Youth…………………………………………………..

100



Sagging Pants Fashion originated in Prison……………………………………

101



Self Hatred……………………………………………………………………...

102, 103



Extinction of Blacks in America (E-O-BIA)…………………………………...

104, 105



Sexual Responsibility…………………………………………………………..

106



Black-on-Black Violence………………………………………………………

107



Bullying………………………………………………………………………...

108, 109



Laws by Man, not God…………………………………………………………

110, 111



Deep Rooted……………………………………………………………………

112, 113



Black Marriage and Unity……………………………………………………...

114



Pride of Self and Nation………………………………………………………..

115



Building of a Nation and Black Men Failures………………………………….

116, 117

What United States Must do……………………………………………………...

118, 119

Glenn Beck opinion on homeless Black woman with 15 children……………...

120

Chapter XII The Roots of African American Heritage……………………………………….

121—127

Chapter XIII Black Lives Matter……………………………………………………………….

128—131

Acknowledgement; (*) Source; Public Domain; Contents Disclaimer………..

132

Chapter I

What is the purpose of life? What is the purpose of life? There is no other question that is so poignant and so complicated, yet it is a question every human being ask sometime in his or her lifetime. The quest for lifeâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s meaning is as old as life itself and one that many notable people have had to confront at one point or another on their journey to significance. The meaning of life constitutes a spiritual question concerning the purpose and significance of life or human existence. The whole World has suffered since the beginning of time. We live and struggle and we suffer and die. Is that the purpose of life? Then we all go to Hell. Is the cycle repeated over and over? Jesus was suppose to appear on Earth and die for our sins. I question Jesus sacrificing his life to save us from our sins. Seem like his death was all in vain. Why is it that most spiritual leaders are deceitful to God? Most are disciples of Satan pretending to be disciples of God, pretending to spread his words. This don't make sense. Life ideals seem so unattainable spiritually. Even most Preachers don't attain a holy life style in the eyes of God. Another is analytically. And when life is viewed analytically, then it all really gets compounded, especially when we look at all the things that we can neither explain nor understand. That could be the point where Solomon was when he uttered these words: "Nothing makes sense. I have seen it all. Nothing makes sense." Ecclesiastes 12: 8 Bottom line, you should keep your sanity and live a balance life, not to any extreme. Follow no manâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s ideology and predictions because there is no ideology or control that can take over your mind. God gave you life and only he can take it away. God love us so much that we are made in his image. Remember we have a free will, that is what he gave all of us. Worship no man. Only worship God with a sound mind and control the demons within you. Therlee Gipson

King Solomon: While David was in this state his fourth son Adonijah, heir apparent to the Throne after the death of his elder brothers Amnon and Absalom, acted to have himself declared King, But Bathsheba, a wife of David and Solomon's mother, along with the prophet Nathan convinced David to proclaim Solomon King. Adonijah fled and took refuge at the altar, and received pardon for his conduct from Solomon on the condition that he show himself "a worthy man." (1 Kings 1:5-53) In one account (see picture above), known as the Judgment of Solomon, two women came before Solomon to resolve a quarrel over which was the true mother of a baby. When Solomon suggested they should divide the living child in two with a sword, one woman said she would rather give up the child than see it killed. Solomon then declared the woman who showed compassion to be the true mother, and gave the baby to her. Some of the ideals that King Solomon questioned include the profitability of hard work. His question is “What is there to show for all of our hard work here on this earth”? (Ecclesiastes 1: 3), except that “a man may do his work with wisdom, knowledge and skill, and then he must leave all he owns to someone who has not worked for it.” (Ecclesiastes 2: 21). He calls this a “great misfortune”. His conclusion on the relevance of human legacy is “There is no remembrance of men of old, and even those who are yet to come will not be remembered by those who follow”(Ecclesiastes 1: 11). Simply put, there is no use in working hard at leaving a legacy since in just a matter of time after death, the legacy that you worked so hard to leave would just be a blur in the memory of many. Some of the unfairness in life that baffled Solomon are “…a righteous man perishing in his righteousness, and a wicked man living long in his wickedness” (Ecclesiastes 7: 15) and “righteous men who get what the wicked deserve, and wicked men who get what the righteous deserve” (Ecclesiastes 8: 14). In the midst of his quest for life’s meaning, Solomon did what most adults need to do. He reflected on the paths he had taken in pursuit of life‘s fulfillment. (*) (*) Source: See page 132

Where did Slaves go?:

42%

6% 6%

38%

(*) Source: See page 132

Chapter II

African Americans Under Slavery: 1600-1865 The first Africans in the New World arrived with Spanish and Portuguese Explorers and Settlers by 1600 in Central and South America and the Caribbean area. Africans first arrived in the area that became the United States in 1619, when captives were sold by the Captain of a Dutch man-of-war to settlers at Jamestown. From 1701 to 1810 the number reached 6,000,000. Some Africans were brought directly to the English Colonies in North America. Others landed as Slaves in the West Indies and were later resold and shipped to the mainland. The earliest African arrivals in the U. S. were viewed in the same way as indentured Servants from Europe. This similarity did not long continue. By the latter half of the 17th Century, clear differences existed in the treatment of Black and White Servants. (*)

A Slave’s attributes: Let me begin, the Black race is the only race in the entire World that was forced into bondage to work for the White man against their will and suffered for over four hundred years. With that been written. There are many more stories to tell. From the standpoint of the Colonial ruling class, Africans had at least ten major advantages over Native American and White Indentured Servants: 1. Africans were stronger, in the words of one observer, "One African Slave is worth four Native Americans." 2. Africans were cheap — to buy an Irish or an English Servant for seven years cost the same as buying an African for life. Unlike the Irish, the supply of Africans were unlimited. 3. Africans were black — they could not blend into the dominant White population. Thus they could more easily be recaptured if they escaped. 4. Africans had no Government protection, they could appeal to no Monarch nor to White opinion. These advantages influenced the decisions that based a large segment of the Colonial economy in the Americas on African Slavery. 5. Africans were not civilized to the White man’s Culture; therefore unable to read and write. 6. African males were preferred because they could not become pregnant. 7. African males could be disposed of easily, (no offspring’s left behind). 8. African males were not allowed to breed. 9. Africans immune system were stronger and tolerated harsher conditions. 10.Africans were consider as property and could be sold or traded at will. (*) (*) Source: See page 132

The First Slave Codes: A 1662 Virginia Law assumed Africans would remain servants for life, and a 1667 act declared that "Baptism Blacks not allowed did not alter the condition of the person as to his bondage or freedom." to Read......period! Slaves did not accept their fate without protest. Many instances of Rebellion were known to Americans, even in Colonial times. These Rebellions were not confined to the South. In fact, one of the earliest examples of a Slave uprising was in 1712 in Manhattan. As African Americans in the Colonies grew greater and greater in number, there was a justifiable paranoia on the part of the White settlers that a violent Rebellion could occur in one's own neighborhood. It was this fear of Rebellion that led each Colony to pass a series of Laws restricting Slaves' behaviors. The Laws were known as Slave Codes. Although each Colony had differing ideas about the Rights of Slaves, there were some common threads in Slave Codes across areas where Slavery was common. Legally considered property, Slaves were not allowed to own property of their own. They were not allowed to assemble without the presence of a White person. Slaves that lived off the Plantation were subject to special curfews. In the Courts, a Slave accused of any crime against a White person was doomed. No testimony could be made by a Slave against a White person. Therefore, the Slave's side of the story could never be told in a Court of Law. Of course, Slaves were conspicuously absent from Juries as well. Slave Codes had ruinous effects on African American Society. It was illegal to teach a Slave to read or write. Religious motives sometimes prevailed, however, as many devout White Christians educated Slaves to enable the reading of the Bible. These same Christians did not recognize marriage between Slaves in their Laws. This made it easier to justify the breakup of families by selling one if its members to another owner. As time passed and the numbers of African Americans in the New World increased, so did the fears of their White captors. With each new Rebellion, the Slave Codes became ever more strict, further abridging the already limited Rights and privileges this oppressed people might hope to enjoy. (*) (*) Source: See page 132

Slavery System in Colonial America: By 1740 the Slavery System in Colonial America was fully developed. A Virginia Law in that year declared Slaves to be "chattel personal in the hands of their owners and possessors for all intents, construction, and purpose whatsoever." The principle by which persons of African ancestry were considered the personal property of others prevailed in North America for more than two-thirds of the three and a half Centuries since the first AfriSlave Auction in Virginia 1740 cans arrived there. Its influences increased even though the English Colonies won Independence and articulated National ideals in direct opposition to Slavery. In spite of numerous ideological conflicts, however, the Slavery System was maintained in the United States until 1865, and widespread anti-Black attitudes nurtured by Slavery continued thereafter. Prior to the American Revolution, Slavery existed in all the Colonies. The ideals of the Revolution and the limited profitability of Slavery in the North resulted in its abandonment in Northern States during the last quarter of the 18th Century. At the same time, the strength of Slavery increased in the South, with the continuing demand for cheap labor by the tobacco growers and cotton farmers of the Southern States. By 1850, 92% of all American Blacks were concentrated in the South, and of this group approximately 95% were Slaves. Life on the Plantations was hard, and no consideration was given to the cultural traditions of Blacks. In the Slave Market men were separated from their wives, and frequently children were taken from their mothers. Family and Tribal links were thus almost immediately cut. Fifty percent of the Slaves were owned by 10% of the 385,000 Slave owners. This concentration within a limited number of agricultural units had important consequences for the lives of most Blacks. Under the Plantation System, gang labor was the typical form of employment. Overseers were harsh as a matter of general practice, and brutality was common. (cont.) 14

Slavery System in Colonial America: (cont.) Punishment was meted out at the absolute discretion of the owner or the owner's agent. Slaves could own no property unless sanctioned by a Slave Master, and rape of a female Slave was not considered a crime except as it represented trespassing on another's property. Slaves could not present evidence in Court against Whites. Housing, food, and clothing were of poor quality and seldom exceeded what was considered minimally necessary to maintain the desired level of work. Slave owners reinforced submissive behavior not so much by positive rewards as by severe punishment of those who did not conform. In most of the South it was illegal to teach a Black to read or write.

Opposition by Slaves: All Southern States passed Slave Codes intended to control Slaves and prevent any expression of opposition. Outbreaks of opposition did occur, however, including the Gabriel Prosser Revolt of 1800, the Revolt led by Denmark Vesey in 1822, the Nat Turner Rebellion of 1831, and many smaller uprisings. As a result the substance and the enforcement of repressive Laws against Blacks became more severe. Blacks were forbidden to carry arms or to gather in numbers except in the presence of a White person. Free Blacks, whether living in the North or South, were confronted with attitudes and actions that differed little from those facing Southern Black Slaves. Discrimination existed in most social and economic activities as well as in voting and education. In 1857 the Dred Scott v. Sandford case of the U.S. Supreme Court placed the authority of the Constitution behind decisions made by States regarding the treatment of Blacks. According to the Dred Scott decision, African Americans, even if free, were not intended to be included under the word "citizen" as defined in the Declaration of Independence and could, therefore, claim none of the Rights and privileges provided for in that document. African Americans responded to their treatment under Slavery in a variety of ways. In addition to such persons as Prosser, Vesey, and Turner, who openly opposed the Slave System, thousands of Blacks escaped from Slavery and moved to the Northern United States or to Canada. Still others accepted the images of themselves that White America sought to project onto them. The result in some cases was the "Uncle Tom" or "Sambo" personality, the Black who accepted his or her lowly position as evidence that Whites were superior to Blacks. (cont.) 15

Run Away Slaves Reward:

(*) Source: See page 132

Chapter III

King Cotton: The South has long, hot summers, and rich soils in river valleysâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;ideal conditions to grow cotton. The drawback of growing cotton was mainly the time spent removing the seeds after harvest (see photo on left). Following invention of the cotton gin by Eli Whitney in 1793, cotton production surpassed that of tobacco in the South and became the dominant cash crop. At the time of the American Civil War, Southern Plantations supplied 75% of the World's cotton. British textile manufacturers were eager to buy all the cotton that the South could produce. Cotton-bale production supports this conclusion: from 720,000 bales in 1830, to 2.85 million bales in 1850, to nearly 5 million in 1860. Cotton production renewed the need for Slavery after the tobacco market declined in the late 18th Century. The more cotton grown, the more Slaves were needed to pick the crop. By 1860, on the eve of the American Civil War, cotton accounted for almost 60% of American exports, representing a total value of nearly $200 million a year. Cotton's central place in the National economy and its international importance led Senator James Henry Hammond of South Carolina to make a famous boast in 1858: "Without firing a gun, without drawing a sword, should they make War on us, we could bring the whole World to our feet... What would happen if no cotton was furnished for three years?... England would topple headlong and carry the whole civilized World with her save the South. No, you dare not to make War on cotton. No power on the Earth dares to make War upon it. Cotton is King." Southerners thought their survival depended on the sympathy of Europe to offset the power of the Union. They believed that cotton was so essential to Europe that they would intervene in any Civil War. The South blundered during the War because it clung too long to faith in King Cotton. Because the South's long-range goal was a World monopoly of cotton, it devoted valuable land and Slave labor to growing cotton instead of urgently needed foodstuffs. The cotton gin and over planting doomed Slavery. (*) (*) Source: See page 132

Alabama Fever: Alabama Fever was the land rush that occurred as settlers and speculators moved in to establish land claims in Alabama as Native American Tribes ceded Territory (Taken by the United States Government). It came to be characterized as a movement of farmers and their Slaves (mostly young males) ever further West to new Slave States and Territories in the pursuit of fertile land for growing cotton. It was one of the first great American land booms until superseded by the California Gold Rush in 1848. The term Alabama Fever was used as early as 1817, during the Alabama Territory period. Settlers came primary from the seaboard Old South States such as Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina and Eastern Georgia. There, land fertility had declined to a point that cotton cultivation had become difficult. Alabama had a population estimated at under 10,000 people in 1810, but it had increased to more than 300,000 people by 1830. Most Native American Tribes were completely removed from the State within a few years of the passage of the Indian Removal Act by the United States Congress in 1830. By 1860 the population had increased to a total of 964,201 people, of which 435,080 were enSlaved African Americans and 2,690 were free people of color. Global demand for cotton, spurred on by new industrial textile manufacturing processes, made its cultivation extremely lucrative. Alabama, Mississippi, and Louisiana were producing half of the cotton in the United States by 1834. Along with Georgia, this had grown to 78% by 1859. Cotton cultivation quickly exhausted most soils, causing cotton yields to dwindle within a few decades. In an era before inorganic fertilizers, this made a continually expanding frontier necessary so that settlers and their Slaves could relocate further Westward in an effort to keep production as high as possible. Cotton tycoons even looked at the possibility of conquering and annexing Territory in the Caribbean and Central America for future cotton cultivation, due to increased Northern resistance to the expansion of Slavery in the United States and the arid regions of the West being unsuited for cotton production. The Slave era was doomed again. (*) (*) Source: See page 132

(1765-1825) Eli Whitney Jr. was born on December 8, 1765 in Westborough, Massachusetts, the eldest child of Eli Whitney Sr., a prosperous farmer, and his wife Elizabeth Fay of Westborough. Eli Junior was best known for inventing the cotton gin. This was one of the key inventions of the Industrial Revolution and shaped the economy of the Antebellum South. Whitney's invention made upland short cotton into a profitable crop, which strengthened the economic foundation of Slavery in the United States (regardless of whether Whitney intended that or not). Despite the social and economic impact of his invention, Whitney lost many profits in legal battles over patent infringement for the cotton gin. Thereafter, he turned his attention into securing contracts with the Government in the manufacture of muskets for the newly formed United States Army. He continued making arms and inventing until his death in 1825. The cotton gin (see bottom photo) is a mechanical device that removes the seeds from cotton, a process that had previously been extremely labor-intensive. The word gin is short for engine. The Eli Whitney Students Program, Yale University's admissions program for non-traditional students, is named after Whitney who matriculated into Yale when he was 23. A single cotton gin could generate up to 55 pounds of cleaned cotton daily. This contributed to the economic development of the Southern States of the United States, a prime cotton growing area; some historians believe that this invention allowed for the African Slavery System in the Southern United States to become more sustainable at a critical point in its development; however, it doomed the need for Slave labor needed for picking the seeds from cotton. (cont.) 20

Eli Whitney: (cont.) Whitney received a patent (later numbered as X72) for his cotton gin on March 14, 1794; however, it was not validated until 1807. Whitney and his partner Miller did not intend to sell the gins. Rather, like the proprietors of grist and sawmills, they expected to charge farmers for cleaning their cotton â&#x20AC;&#x201C; two-fifths of the value, paid in cotton. Resentment at this scheme, the mechanical simplicity of the device and the primitive state of Patent Law, made infringement inevitable. Whitney and Miller could not build enough gins to meet demand, so gins from other makers found ready sale. Ultimately, patent infringement lawsuits consumed the profits and their cotton gin company went out of business in 1797. One oft-overlooked point is that there were drawbacks to Whitney's first design. There is significant evidence that the design flaws were solved by plantation owner Catherine Littlefield Greene, wife of American Revolutionary War general Nathanael Greene; Whitney gave her no public credit or recognition. While the cotton gin did not earn Whitney the fortune he had hoped for, it did give him fame. It has been argued by some historians that Whitney's cotton gin was an important if unintended cause of the American Civil War. Before the invention of the cotton gin, Slavery had been on the decline; in fact many Slaveholders had even given away their Slaves. After Whitney's invention, the plantation Slavery industry was rejuvenated, eventually culminating in the Civil War. And the cotton gin transformed Southern agriculture and the National economy. Southern cotton found ready markets in Europe and in the burgeoning textile mills of New England. Cotton exports from the U.S. boomed after the cotton gin's appearance â&#x20AC;&#x201C; from less than 500,000 pounds in 1793 to 93 million pounds by 1810. Cotton was a staple that could be stored for long periods and shipped long distances, unlike most agricultural products. It became the U.S.'s chief export, representing over half the value of U.S. exports from 1820 to 1860. Paradoxically, the cotton gin, a labor-saving device, helped preserve Slavery in the U.S. Before the 1790s, Slave labor was primarily employed in growing rice, tobacco, and indigo, none of which were especially profitable any more. Neither was cotton, due to the difficulty of seed removal. But with the gin, growing cotton with Slave labor became highly profitable. (cont.) 21

Eli Whitney: (cont..) The chief source of wealth in the American South, and the basis of frontier settlement from Georgia to Texas. "King Cotton" became a dominant economic force, and Slavery was sustained as a key institution of Southern Society. However, the Intuition of Slavery was over after the invention of the cotton gin.

Whitney died of prostate cancer on January 8, 1825, in New Haven, Connecticut, just a month after his 59th birthday. He left a widow and his four children behind. During the course of his illness, he invented and constructed several devices to mechanically ease his pain. These devices, drawings of which are in his collected papers, were effective but were never manufactured for use of others due to his heirs' reluctance to trade in "indelicate" items. (*) (*) Source: See page 132

Chapter IV

(1808-1857) Solomon Northup

was a free-born African American from Saratoga Springs, New York. He is noted for having been kidnapped in 1841 when enticed with a job offer. When he accompanied his supposed employers to Washington, D.C., they drugged him and sold him into Slavery. From Washington, D.C., he was transported to New Orleans where he was sold to a plantation owner from Rapides Parish, Louisiana. After 12 years in bondage, he regained his freedom in January 1853; he was one of very few to do so in such cases. Held in the Red River region of Louisiana by several different owners, he got news to his family, who contacted friends and enlisted the Governor of New York in his cause. New York State had passed a Law in 1840 to recover African-American residents who had been kidnapped and sold into Slavery. Northup sued the Slave Traders in Washington, D.C., but lost in the local Court. District of Columbia Law prohibited him as a Black man from testifying against Whites and, without his testimony, he was unable to sue for civil damages. However, the two men were charged with the crime of kidnapping and remanded into custody on $5000 bail. However, without Northup's testimony, a conviction could not be secured and the men were released. Returning to his family in New York, Northup became active in abolitionism. He published an account of his experiences in Twelve Years a Slave (1853) in his first year of freedom. Northup gave dozens of lectures throughout the North-East on his experiences as a Slave, in order to support the abolitionist cause.

Family history and education: Solomon's father Mintus was a freedman who had been a Slave in his early life in service to the Northup family. Born in Rhode Island, he was taken with the Northups when they moved to Hoosick, New York in Rensselaer County. His master, Capt. Henry Northup, manumitted Mintus by his will. When free, Mintus took the surname Northup as his own. Mintus Northup married and moved with his wife, a free woman of color, to the town of Minerva in Essex County, New York. Their two sons were born free there. Solomon described his mother as a quadroon, meaning that she was only one-quarter Black. A farmer, Mintus Northup was successful enough to meet the State's property requirements for voters and could vote. He provided an education for his two sons at a level considered high for free Blacks at the time. He and his wife last lived near Fort Edward. He died in November 1829, and his grave is in Hudson Falls Baker Cemetery.

Marriage and family: On Christmas Day of 1829, Solomon Northup married Anne Hampton. She was of mixed race, with African, European, and Native American ancestry. They had three children: Elizabeth, Margaret and Alonzo. They owned their farm in Hebron in Washington County, and worked at various jobs to provide a prosperous life for their children. Northup played the violin well, which ironically is what led to his kidnapping. (cont.) 24

Northup: (cont.)

Work, kidnapping, life as a Slave, and freedom: After selling the farm in 1834, the Northups moved 20 miles to Saratoga Springs, New York for its employment opportunities. Northup played his violin at several well-known hotels in Saratoga Springs, though he found its seasonal cycles of employment difficult. He was very busy during the summer, but work was scarce at other times. He worked at an assortment of jobs â&#x20AC;&#x201C; constructing the Champlain Canal and the railroad, as a carpenter, and playing the violin. Anne worked from time to time as a cook at the United States Hotel and other public houses, as she was known for her culinary skills. During Court sessions in the County Seat of Fort Edward, she returned to Sherrill's Coffee House in Sandy Hill (now Hudson Falls) to earn extra money. Because of the high demand for Slaves in the Deep South, free blacks were at risk of kidnapping, particularly in the border states of Pennsylvania, Maryland and Delaware. The New York Legislature passed a law in 1840 to protect its African-American residents, by providing a mechanism for recovering any who were kidnapped and taken out of State. Kidnappers used a variety of means, from forced abduction to deceit, and frequently abducted children. In 1841, Northup met two men, who introduced themselves as Merrill Brown and Abram Hamilton. Saying they were entertainers, they offered him a job as a fiddler for some of their performances in New York City. Expecting the trip to be brief, Northup left without notifying his wife about his trip. When they reached New York, the men persuaded him to go with them to the circus in Washington, D.C., offering him a generous wage and the cost of his return trip home. They stopped so that he could get a copy of his "free papers," to prove his status as a free man. His status was a concern as he was traveling to Washington, where Slavery was still legal; the City was one of the Nation's largest Slave Markets, and Slave catchers were not above kidnapping free Blacks. Brown and Hamilton sold Northup to James H. Birch (spelled as Burch in Northup's book), a Slave Trader in Washington, claiming that he was a fugitive. Birch and Ebenezer Radburn, his turnkey, severely beat Northup to stop him from saying he was a free man. Birch wrongfully claimed that Northup was a runaway Slave from Georgia. Birch shipped Northup and other Slaves by sea to New Orleans, for his partner Theophilus Freeman to sell. During the voyage, Northup and another Slave, Robert, caught smallpox, and Robert died en route. Northup persuaded John Manning, an English sailor, to send a letter to Henry B. Northup telling of his kidnapping and illegal enslavement. Henry B. Northup was a lawyer, a member of the family who had once held Northup's father as a Slave, and a childhood friend of Solomon Northup. Henry Northup was willing to help, but could not act without knowing where Solomon was held. The New York Legislature had passed a law in 1840 requiring the State to recover any free Blacks kidnapped and sold into Slavery. At the New Orleans Slave Market, Birch's partner Theophilus Freeman sold Northup (who had been renamed Platt) to William Ford, a planter on Bayou Boeuf of the Red River of the South in Louisiana. Ford was a Baptist preacher. In his memoir, Northup characterized Ford as a good man, considerate of his Slaves. (cont.) 25

Northup: (cont.) At Ford's place in Pine Woods, Northup proposed making log rafts to move lumber down the narrow Indian Creek, to get logs to market less expensively. He was familiar with this procedure from his previous work, and his project was a success. He also built textile looms, copying from one nearby, so that Ford could set up mills on the creek. With Ford, Northup found his efforts appreciated. The planter came into financial difficulties, and had to sell 18 Slaves to settle his debts. In the winter of 1842, Ford sold Northup to John M. Tibaut (the name is given as Tibeats in Northup's book), a carpenter who had been working for him on the mills, as well as at a weaving-house and corn mill on Ford's Bayou Boeuf plantation. Tibaut did not have the entire purchase price, however, so Ford held a chattel mortgage on Northup. Under Tibaut, Northup suffered cruel treatment. Tibaut took him back to Ford's plantation, where there was more construction to complete. They were supervised by Ford's overseer Chapin, who saved Northup from a lynching after he fought with Tibaut. Chapin reminded Tibaut of his debt to Ford of $400 for the purchase of Northup. This debt saved Northup's life, for Tibaut did not want to have to pay Ford the money still outstanding on his purchase. After another fight with Tibaut, Northup defended himself from attack with an axe. He ran away, escaping into a swamp and making his way back to Ford. The planter convinced Tibaut to hire out Northup to limit their conflict. Northup was hired out to Mr. Eldret, who lived about 38 miles South on the Red River. At what he called "The Big Cane Brake," Eldret had Northup and other Slaves do the heavy work of clearing cane, trees and undergrowth in order to develop cotton fields for cultivation. With the work unfinished, after about five weeks Tibaut sold Northup to Edwin Epps. While held by Epps, in 1852 Northup secretly befriended Samuel Bass (Brad Pitt) in the movie, an itinerant Canadian carpenter working for Epps. Bass wrote to Northup's family with details of his location at Bayou Boeuf in hopes of gaining his rescue. Bass did this at great personal risk; in the bayou Country, he likely would have been killed had the secret become known before the intervention of authorities. Several letters were written, and one that was sent to Cephas Parker and William Perry, storekeepers in Saratoga Springs, New York, was referred to Henry B. Northup. He contacted New York Governor Washington Hunt, who took up the case, appointing Henry Northup as his legal agent. In cooperation with U.S. Senator Pierre Soule and local authorities of Louisiana, Henry Northup located Solomon Northup. Finally on January 4, 1853, Northup was free again. When confronted with the evidence that Northup was a free man, and told that he had a wife and children, Epps cursed the man (unknown to him) who had helped Northup and threatened to kill him if he discovered his identity. Northup later wrote, "He thought of nothing but his loss, and cursed me for having been born free." One of the few free Blacks to regain freedom under such circumstances, Solomon Northup sued Burch and other men involved in selling him into Slavery. After over two years of appeals, a new District Attorney in New York did not pursue the case, which was dropped in May 1857. The circumstances of Northup's death are uncertain and no contemporary record of him exists from after 1857. Thank God for a good White person for befriending Northup. (*) (*) Source: See page 132

Chapter V

Slave Codes in the United States: 1688-1739 South Carolina adopts model SLAVE CODES: Written by the English for Barbados in 1688 1. Baptism in the Christian faith does not alter the status of the Slave. 2. Slaves are "forbidden" to leave the owner’s property without written permission, unless accompanied by a White person. 3. Every White person in the Community is charged to chastise promptly any Slave apprehended without such a pass to leave the owner’s property. 4. Any person enticing a Slave to run away and any Slave attempting to leave the Province receives the "death penalty" as punishment. 5. Any Slave absconding or successfully evading capture for twenty days is to be publicly whipped for the first offense, branded with the letter R on the right cheek for the second offense, and lose one ear the fourth offense, a male Slave is to be castrated, a female Slave is to be whipped, branded on the left cheek with the letter R and lose her left ear. 6. Owners refusing to abide by the Slave Code or inflict specified punishment are to be fined and "forfeit ownership" of their Slave (s). 7. The Slave owner is obligated to pay the sum of four Pounds for all fugitives returned to the owner dead or alive by the commander of any patrol company. 8. Slave houses are to be searched every fortnight for weapons and stolen goods. For theft, the owner must punish the Slave by whipping, and for each additional theft, the punishment escalates — loss of one ear, branding and nose slitting, and for the fourth offense, "DEATH". 9. No owner shall be punish if a Slave dies under punishment; intentional killing of a Slave shall cost the owner a fifty–Pound fine. 10. No Slave shall be allowed to work for pay; to plant corn, peas, or rice; to keep hogs, cattle, or horses; to own or operate a boat; to buy or sell; or to wear clothes finer than ordinary "Negro cloth." 11. No Slave shall be taught to "write", work on Sunday, or work more than 15 hours per day in summer and fourteen hours in winter. 12. Willful killing of a Slave exacts a fine of 700 Pounds, and "passion" killing 350 Pounds. (cont.) 28

South Carolina adopts model SLAVE CODES: (cont.) 13. The find for concealing runaway Slaves is one thousand dollars and a Prison sentence of up to one year. 14. A fine of one hundred dollars and six months in Prison are imposed for employing a Black or a Slave as a clerk. 15. A fine of one hundred dollars and six months in prison on anyone selling or giving alcoholic beverages to Slaves. 16. A fine of one hundred dollars and six months in prison are imposed for teaching a Slave to "read" and "write", and "DEATH" is the penalty for circulating incendiary literature. 17. Manumissions are forbidden except by deed, and after 1820, only by permission of the Legislature In some States, Black Code Legislation used text directly from the Slave Codes, simply substituting Negro or other words in place of Slave.

Biblical Justification of Slavery: In the book of Genesis, Noah condemns Ham and his descendents to perpetual servitude: "Cursed be Canaan! The lowest of Slaves will he be to his brothers" (Genies 9:25). To many, this meant all Black people. Slavery was customary in ancient times, and some forms are condoned by the Torah. In the Bible, Hebrews are forbidden to kill Slaves, force a Slave to work on the Sabbath, return an escaped Slave or to slander a Slave. It is common for a person to voluntarily sell oneself into Slavery for a fixed period of time either to pay off debts or to get food and shelter. It was seen as legitimate to enslave captives obtained through warfare, but not through kidnapping for the purpose of enslaving them. Children could also be sold into debt bondage, which was sometimes ordered by a Court of Law. Non-Israelite Slaves could be enslaved indefinitely and were to be treated as inheritable "property." However, this would makes a Negroid African person doom forever because of his or her ethnicity. Thank God for separation Church and State. Because Black people would still be Slaves as I write. That is one reason I donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t believe in certain things that are written in the Bible. (cont.) 29

Black Codes: (cont.) The Union Wage System also went into large-scale effect after the Emancipation Proclamation, upgrading free Blacks from "contraband" status. It began in February 1863 under the Jurisdiction of General Nathaniel P. Banks in Louisiana. General Lorenzo Thomas implemented a similar System in Mississippi. The BanksThomas System offered Blacks $10 a month, with an agreement to provide rations, clothing, and medicine. The worker would have to agree to an unbreakable one-year contract. In 1864, Thomas expanded the System to Tennessee, and allowed White landowners near the Nashville contraband camp to rent the labor of refugees. As the War ended, the Army implemented Black Codes to regulate the behavior of Black people in general Society. Although the Freedmen's Bureau had a mandate to protect Blacks from a hostile Southern environment, it also sought to keep Blacks in their place as laborers under a System of White supremacy. The Freedmen's Bureau cooperated with Southern authorities in rounding up Black "vagrants" and placing them in contract work. In some places, it supported owners to maintain control of young Slaves as apprentices.

After the War: Soon after the end of Slavery, White planters encountered a labor shortage and sought a way to manage it. Although Blacks did not all abruptly stop working, they did try to work less. In particular, many sought to reduce their Saturday work hours, and women wanted to spend more time on child care. In the view of one contemporary economist, freed-people exhibited this “non-capitalist behavior” because the condition of being owned had "shielded the Slaves from the market economy" and they were therefore unable to perform "careful calculation of economic opportunities." An alternative explanation treats the labor slowdown as a form of gaining leverage through collective action. And at the same time, Freed people certainly did not want to work the long hours that had been forced upon them for their whole lives. Whatever its causes, the sudden reduction of available labor posed a challenge the Southern economy, which had relied upon intense physical labor to profitably harvest cash crops, particularly King Cotton. Southern Whites also perceived Black Vagrancy as a sudden and dangerous social problem. Which makes sense. "An idle mind is the Devil’s work shop." (cont.) 30

Black Codes: (cont.) Legislation on the status of Freed-people was often mandated by Constitutional Conventions held in 1865. Mississippi, South Carolina, and Georgia all included language in their new State Constitutions which instructed the Legislature to "guard them and the State against any evils that may arise from their sudden Emancipation." The Florida Convention of October 1865 included a Vagrancy Ordinance that was in effect until process Black Codes could be passed through the regular Legislative process.

Legislation in Southern States: Black Codes restricted Black people's Right to own property, conduct business, buy and lease land, and move freely through public spaces. A central element of the Black Codes were Vagrancy Laws, in which States classified not working as criminal behavior. Failure to pay a certain tax, or to comply with other Laws, could also be construed as Vagrancy. Nine States updated their Vagrancy Laws in 1865â&#x20AC;&#x201C;1866. Of these, eight allowed convicting leasing (a System in which State Prison hired out Convicts for labor) and five allowed Prisoner labor for public works projects. Strict punishments against theft also served to ensnare many people in the legal system. Previously, Blacks had been part of the domestic economy on a plantation, and were more or less able to use supplies that were available. After Emancipation, the same act performed by someone working the same land might be labeled as theft, leading to arrest and involuntary labor. Some States explicitly curtailed Black people's Right to bear arms, justifying these Laws with claims of imminent Insurrection. In Mississippi and Alabama, these Laws were enforced through the creation of special Militias. Regarding the question of how intentionally Southern Legislatures intended to maintain White supremacy, Beverly Forehand writes: "This decision was not a conscious one on the part of White Legislators. It was simply an accepted conclusion." The new Laws established some positive Rights for Blacks. States legalized Black marriages and in some cases increased Rights to own property and conduct commerce.(cont.) 31

Mississippi Black Codes: Mississippi was the first State to Legislate a new Black Code after the War, beginning with "An Act to confer Civil Rights on Freedmen." This law allowed Blacks to rent land only within Citiesâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;effectively preventing them from earning money through independent farming. It required Blacks to present, each January, written proof of employment. The Law defined violation as Vagrancy, punishable by arrestâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;for which the arresting officer would be paid $5, taken from the arrestee's wages. Provisions akin to Fugitive Slave Laws mandated the return of runaway workers, who would lose their wages for the year. An amended version of the Vagrancy Law also included punishments for sympathetic Whites: That all freedmen, free Negroes and mulattoes in this State, over the age of eighteen years, found on the second Monday in January, 1866, or thereafter, without lawful employment or business, or found unlawfully assembling themselves together, either in the day or night time, and all White persons so assembling themselves with Freedmen, free Negroes or Mulattoes, or usually associating with Freedmen, free Negroes or Mulattoes, on terms of equality, or living in adultery or fornication with a freed woman, free Negro or Mulatto, shall be deemed Vagrants, and on conviction thereof shall be fined in a sum not exceeding, in the case of a Freedman, free Negro, or Mulatto, fifty dollars, and a White man two hundred dollars, and imprisoned, at the discretion of the Court, the free Negro not exceeding ten days, and the White man not exceeding six months. Whites could avoid the Code's penalty by swearing a pauper's oath. In the case of Blacks, however: "the duty of the Sheriff of the proper County to hire out said Freedman, free Negro or Mulatto, to any person who will, for the shortest period of service, pay said fine or forfeiture and all costs." The laws also levied a special tax on Blacks (between ages 18 and 60); those who did not pay could be arrested for Vagrancy. Another Law allowed the State to take custody of children whose parents could or would not support them; these children would then be "apprenticed" to their former owners. Masters could discipline these apprentices with corporal punishment. They could re-capture apprentices who escaped and threaten them with Prison if they resisted. Other Laws prevented Blacks from buying liquor and carrying weapons; punishment often involved "hiring out" the culprit's labor for no pay. Mississippi rejected the Thirteenth Amendment on December 5, 1865. (cont.) 32

South Carolina Black Codes: The next State to pass Black Codes was South Carolina, which had on November 13 ratified the Thirteenth Amendmentâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;with a qualification that Congress did not have the authority to regulate the legal status of Freedmen. Newly elected Governor James Lawrence Orr said that Blacks must be "restrained from theft, idleness, vagrancy and crime, and taught the absolute necessity of strictly complying with their contracts for labor." Lynching was common in the deep South. South Carolina's new Law on "Domestic Relations of Persons of Color" established wide-ranging rules on Vagrancy resembling Mississippi's. Conviction for Vagrancy allowed the State to "hire out" Blacks for no pay. The Law also called for a special tax on Blacks (all males and unmarried females), with non-paying Blacks again guilty of Vagrancy. The Law enabled forcible apprenticeship of children of impoverished parents, or of parents who did not convey "habits of industry and honesty." The Law did not include the same punishments for Whites in dealing with fugitives. The South Carolina Law created separate Courts for Black people, and authorized capital punishment for crimes including theft of cotton. It created a System of licensing and written authorizations that made it difficult for Blacks to engage in normal commerce. The South Carolina Code clearly borrowed terms and concepts from the old Slave Codes, re-instituting a rating system Look at the insane look in the eyes of the of "full" or "fractional" farmhands and type of people who did the lynching. They their White owners were often referring to Slave bosses as "Masters." (cont.) looked demonic obsessed with Evil. 33

South Carolina Black Codes: (cont.) Responses: A "Colored People's Convention" assembled at Zion Church in Charleston to condemn the Codes. In a memorial (petition) to Congress, the Convention expressed gratitude for Emancipation and the Freedmen's Bureau, but requested (in addition to Suffrage) "that the strong arm of Law and Order be placed alike over the entire people of this State; that life and property be secured, and the laborer as free to sell his labor as the merchant his goods." Some Whites, meanwhile, thought the new Laws did not do enough. One planter suggested that the new Laws would require paramilitary enforcement: "As for making the Negroes work under the present State of Affairs it seems to me a waste of time and energy […] We must have mounted Infantry that the Freedmen know distinctly that they succeed the Yankees to enforce whatever regulations we can make." Edmund Rhett (son of Robert Rhett) wrote that although South Carolina might be unable to undo abolition, "it should to the utmost extent practicable be limited, controlled, and surrounded with such safe guards, as will make the change as slight as possible both to the White man and to the Negro, the planter and the workman, the capitalist and the laborer." General Daniel Sickles, head of the Freedmen's Bureau in South Carolina, followed Howard's lead and declared the Laws invalid in December 1865.

Further Legislation: However, even as the Legislators passed these Laws, they despaired of the forthcoming response from Washington. James Hemphill said: "It will be hard to persuade the freedom shirkers that the American citizens of African descent are obtaining their Rights." Orr moved to block further Laws containing explicit racial discrimination. In 1866, the South Carolina Code came under increasing scrutiny in the Northern Press and was compared unfavorably to Freedmen's Laws passed in neighboring Georgia, North Carolina, and Virginia. In a special session held in September 1866, the Legislature passed some new Laws in concession to the Rights of free Blacks. Shortly after, it rejected the Fourteenth Amendment. (cont.)

Louisiana Black Codes: The Louisiana Legislature, seeking to ensure that Freedmen were "available to the agricultural interests of the State", passed similar yearly contract Laws and expanded its Vagrancy Laws. Its Vagrancy Laws did not specify Black culprits, though they did provide a "good behavior" loophole subject to plausibly racist interpretation. Louisiana passed harsher fugitive worker Laws and required Blacks to present dismissal paperwork to new employers. State Legislation was amplified by local authorities, who ran less risk of backlash from the Federal Government. Opelousas, Louisiana passed a notorious Code which required Freed-people to have written authorization to even enter the Town. The Code prevented Freed-people from living in the Town or walking at night except under supervision of a White resident. Thomas Conway, the Freedmen's Bureau Commissioner for Louisiana, testified in 1866: "Some of the leading officers of the State down there—men who do much to form and control the opinions of the masses—instead of doing as they promised, and quietly submitting to the authority of the Government, engaged in issuing Slave Codes and in promulgating them to their subordinates, ordering them to carry them into execution, and this to the knowledge of State officials of a higher character, the Governor and others. […] These Codes were simply the old Black Code of the State, with the word 'Slave' expunged, and 'Negro' substituted. The most odious features of Slavery were preserved in them." Conway describes surveying the Louisiana Jails and finding large numbers of Black men who had been secretly incarcerated. These included members of the Seventy-Fourth Colored Infantry who had been arrested the day after they were discharged. The State passed an even harsher version of its Code in 1866, outlawing "impudence," "swearing," and other signs of "disobedience." (cont.) 35

Florida Black Codes:

(Except Blacks)

Of the Black Codes passed in 1866 (after the Northern reaction had become apparent), only Florida's rivaled those of Mississippi and South Carolina in severity. Florida's Slave owners seemed to hold out hope that the Institution of Slavery would simply be restored. Advised by the Florida Governor and Attorney General as well as by the Freedmen's Bureau that it could not Constitutionally revoke Black people's Right to bear arms, the Florida Legislature refused to repeal this part of the Codes.

The Florida Vagrancy Law allowed for punishments of up to one year of labor. Children whose parents were convicted of Vagrancy could be hired out as apprentices. These Laws applied to any "person of color," which was defined as someone with at least one Negro great-grandparent. White women could not live with men of color. Colored workers could be punished for disrespecting White employers. Explicit racism in the Law was supplemented by racist enforcement discretion (and other inequalities) in the Law enforcement and Legal Systems.

Maryland: Black Codes: In Maryland, a fierce battle began immediately after Emancipation (by the Maryland Constitution of 1864) over apprenticeship of young Black people. Former Slave owners rushed to apprentice the children of Freed people; the Freedmen's Bureau and some others tried to stop them. The Legislature stripped Baltimore Judge Hugh Lennox Bond of his position because he cooperated with the Bureau in this matter. Salmon Chase eventually overruled the apprentice Laws on the grounds of the Civil Rights Act of 1866.

North Carolina Black Codes: North Carolina's Black Code specified racial differences in punishment only for Blacks convicted of rape. (cont.) 36

Texas Black Codes: The Texas Constitutional Convention met in February 1866, declined to ratify the (already effective) Thirteenth Amendment, provided that Blacks would be "protected in their Rights of person and property by appropriate Legislation" and guaranteed some degree of Rights to testify in Court. Texas modeled its Laws on South Carolina's. The Legislature defined Negroes as people with at least one African greatgrandparent. Negroes could chose their employer, before a deadline. After they had made a contract, they were bound to it. If they quit "without cause of permission" they would lose all of their wages. Workers could be fined $1 for acts of disobedience or negligence, and 25 cents per hour for missed work. The Legislature also created a System of apprenticeship (with corporal punishment) and Vagrancy Laws. Convict labor could be hired out or used in public works. Negroes were not allowed to vote, hold office, sit on Juries, serve in local Militia, carry guns on plantations, homestead, or attend public schools. Interracial marriage was banned. Rape sentencing Laws stipulated either capital punishment, or life in prison, or a minimum sentence of five years. Even to commentators who favored the Codes, this "wide latitude in punishment" seemed to imply a clear "anti-Negro bias." When Abraham Lincoln was elected, South Carolina seceded from the Union. Five other Lower South States quickly followed. A State Convention considering secession opened in Austin, Texas on January 28, 1861. On February 1, by a vote of 166â&#x20AC;&#x201C;8, the Convention adopted an Ordinance of Secession from the United States. Not all Texans favored secession initially, although many of the same would later support the Southern cause. Texas's most notable Unionist was the State Governor, Sam Houston (see photo on left). Houston refused two offers from President Lincoln for Union Troops to keep him in office. After refusing to swear an oath of allegiance to the Confederacy, Houston was deposed as Governor. Texas was not a State that depended on Slave labor like the deep South. Texas were mostly cattle country. However, Texas social volatility continued as the State struggled with Native American and Mexican issues. (cont.) 37

Texas Juneteenth Celebration: Juneteenth commemorates the announcement of the Emancipation Proclamation in Galveston by General Gordon Granger, over two and a half years after the original announcement. President Johnson, in 1866, declared the civilian Government restored in Texas. Despite not meeting reconstruction requirements, Congress readmitted Texas into the Union in 1870. Social volatility continued as the State struggled with agricultural depression and labor issues

Tennessee Black Codes: Tennessee had been occupied by the Union for a long period during the War. As military Governor of Tennessee, Andrew Johnson declared a suspension of the Slave Code in September 1864. However, these Laws were still enforced in lower Courts. In 1865, Tennessee Freed people had no legal status whatsoever, and local Jurisdictions often filled the void with extremely harsh Black Codes. During that year, Blacks went from one-fiftieth to one-third of the State's Prison population. Tennessee had a particularly urgent desire to re-enter the Union's good graces and end the occupation. When the Tennessee Legislature began to debate a Black Code, it received such negative attention in the Northern Press that no comprehensive Code was ever established. Instead, the State legalized Black Suffrage and passed a Civil Rights Law guaranteeing Blacks Equal Rights in commerce and access to the Courts. However, Tennessee Society, including its Judicial System, retained the same racist attitudes as did other States. Although its Legal Code did not discriminate against Blacks so explicitly, its Law enforcement and Criminal Justice Systems relied more heavily on racist enforcement discretion to create a de facto Black Code. The Legislature passed two Laws on May 17, 1865; one to "Punish all Armed Prowlers, Guerilla, Brigands, and Highway Robbers"; the other to authorize capital punishment for thefts, burglary, and arson. These Laws were targeted at Blacks and enforced disproportionately against Blacks, but did not discuss race explicitly. Tennessee Law permitted Blacks to testify against Whites in 1865, but this change did not immediately take practical effect in the lower Courts. Blacks could not sit on Juries. Still on the books were Laws specifying capital punishment for a Black man who raped a White woman. Tennessee enacted new Vagrancy and Enticement Laws in 1875. (cont.) 38

Kentucky Black Codes: Kentucky had established a System of leasing Prison labor in 1825. This System drew a steady supply of laborers from the decisions of "Negro Courts," informal Tribunals which Kentucky did not secede from the Union and therefore gained wide leeway from the Federal Government during Reconstruction. With Delaware, Kentucky did not ratify the Thirteenth Amendment and maintained legally Slavery until it was Nationally prohibited when the Amendment went into effect in December 1865. After the Thirteenth Amendment took effect, the State was obligated to rewrite its Laws. The result was a set of Black Codes passed in early 1866. These granted a set of Rights: to own property, make contracts, and some other innovations. They also included new Vagrancy and Apprentice Laws, which did not mention Blacks explicitly but were clearly directed toward them. The Vagrancy Law covered loitering, "rambling without a job" and "keeping a disorderly house." City Jails filled up; wages dropped below pre-War rates. The Freedmen's Bureau in Kentucky was especially weak and could not mount a significant response. The Bureau attempted to cancel a racially discriminatory apprenticeship Law (which stipulated that only White children learn to read) but found itself thwarted by local authorities. Some Legislation also created informal, de facto discrimination against Blacks. A new Law against hunting on Sundays, for example, prevented Black workers from hunting on their only day off. Kentucky Law prevented Blacks from testifying against Whites, a restriction which the Federal Government sought to remedy by providing access to Federal Courts through the Civil Rights Act of 1866. Kentucky challenged the Constitutionality of these Courts and prevailed in Blyew v. United States (1872). All contracts required the presence of a White witness. Passage of the Fourteenth Amendment did not have a great effect on Kentucky's Black Codes. White Americans, particularly in the South, had established their beliefs about Black people during multiple generations of living in a racist Society. Whites believed that both that Black people were destined for servitude and that they would not work unless physically compelled. Culturally, free Blacks no longer felt compelled to show conspicuous difference to White people. The racial divisions which Slavery had created immediately became more obvious. Blacks also bore the brunt of Southern anger over defeat in the War. (*) (*) Source: See page 132

Reconstruction and Jim Crow: The Black Codes outraged public opinion in the North because it seemed the South was creating a form of quasi-Slavery to negate the results of the War. When the Radical 39th Congress re-convened in December 1865, it was generally furious about the developments that had transpired during Johnson's Presidential Reconstruction. The Black Codes, along with the appointment of prominent Confederates to Congress, signified that the South had been emboldened by Johnson and intended to maintain its old Political Order. Railing against the Black Codes as returns to Slavery in violation of the Thirteenth Amendment, Congress passed the Civil Rights Act of 1866, the Fourteenth Amendment, and the Second Freedmen's Bureau Bill. The Memphis Riots in May 1866 and the New Orleans Riot in July brought additional attention and urgency to the racial tension State-sanctioned racism permeating the South. After winning large majorities in the 1866 elections, the Republican Congress passed the Reconstruction Acts placing the South under Military rule. This arrangement lasted until the Military withdrawal arranged by the Compromise of 1877. In some historical periodizations, 1877 marks the beginning of the Jim Crow era. The 1865â&#x20AC;&#x201C;1866 Black Codes were an overt manifestation of the System of White supremacy that continued to dominate the American South. Historians have described this System as the emergent result of a wide variety of Laws and practices, conducted on all levels of Jurisdiction. Because legal enforcement depended on so many different local Codes, which underwent less scrutiny than Statewide Legislation, Historians still lack a complete understanding of their full scope. It is clear, however, that even under Military Rule, local Jurisdictions were able to continue a racist pattern of Law enforcement, as long as it took place under a legal Regime that was facially race-neutral. In 1893â&#x20AC;&#x201C;1909 every Southern State except Tennessee passed new Vagrancy Laws. These Laws were more severe than those passed in 1865, and used vague terms that granted wide powers to police officers enforcing the Law. In Wartime, Blacks might be disproportionately subjected to "work or fight" Laws, which increased Vagrancy penalties for those not in the Military. (cont.) 40

The Klu Klux Klan: The first Klan was founded in 1865 in Pulaski, Tennessee, by six veterans of the Confederate Army. The name is probably derived from the Greek word kuklos (κύκλος) which means circle, suggesting a circle or band of brothers. A general System of legitimized anti-Black violence, as exemplified by the Klu Klux Klan, played a major part in enforcing the practical Law of White supremacy. The constant threat of violence against Black people (and White people who sympathized with them) maintained a System of extralegal terror. Although this System is now well known for prohibiting Black Suffrage after the Fifteenth Amendment, it also served to enforce coercive labor relations. Violence often occurred in response to perceived affronts; sometimes it was plainly genocidal. Fear of random violence provided new support for a paternalistic relationship between plantation owners and their Black workers. Although there was little organizational structure above the local level, similar groups rose across the South and adopted the same name and methods. Klan groups spread throughout the South as an Insurgent Movement during the Reconstruction era in the United States. As a secret vigilante group, the Klan targeted Freedmen (Blacks) and their allies; it sought to restore White supremacy by threats and violence, including murder, against Black and White Republicans. In 1870 and 1871, the Federal Government passed the Force Acts, which were used to prosecute Klan crimes. Prosecution of Klan crimes and enforcement of the Force Acts suppressed Klan activity. In 1874 and later, however, newly organized and openly active Paramilitary Organizations, such as the White League and the Red Shirts, started a fresh round of violence aimed at suppressing Blacks' voting and running Republicans out of office. These contributed to segregationist White Democrats regaining political power in all the Southern States by 1877. (*) (*) Source: See page 132

Legacy and interventions: This regime of White-dominated labor was not identified by the North as involuntary servitude until after 1900. In 1907, Attorney General Charles Joseph Bonaparte issued a report, Peonage Matters, which found that, beyond debt peonage, there was a widespread System of Laws "considered to have been passed to force Negro laborers to work." After creating the Civil Rights Section in 1939, the Federal Department of Justice launched a wave of successful Thirteenth Amendment prosecutions against involuntary servitude in the South. Many of the Southern Vagrancy Laws remained on the books until the Supreme Court's Papachristou v. Jacksonville decision in 1972. Although by 1972 the Laws were defended as preventing crime, the Court held that Jacksonville's Vagrancy Law "furnishes a convenient tool for 'harsh and discriminatory enforcement by local prosecuting officials, against particular groups deemed to merit their displeasure.'" Even after Papachristou, police activity in many parts of the U.S. discriminates against racial minority groups. Gary Stewart has identified contemporary gang injunctionsâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;which target young Black or Latino men who gather in publicâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;as a conspicuous legacy of Southern Black Codes. Stewart argues that these Laws maintain a System of White supremacy and reflect a System of racist prejudice, even though racism is rarely acknowledged explicitly in their creation and enforcement. Contemporary Black commentators have argued that the current racially biased regime of mass incarceration, with a concommitant rise in prison labor, is comparable (perhaps unfavorably) with the historical Black Codes

Comparative history: The desire to recuperate the labor of officially Emancipated people is common among Societies (most notably in Latin America) that were built on Slave labor. Vagrancy Laws and peonage Systems are widespread features of post-Slavery Societies. One theory suggests that particularly restrictive Laws emerge in larger Countries, ( compare Jamaica with the U.S.) where the ruling group does not occupy land at a high enough density to prevent the freed people from gaining their own. However, it seems, the U.S. was uniquely successful in maintaining involuntary servitude after legal Emancipation. (*) (*) Source: See page 132

Chapter VI

40 acres and a Mule: 40 acres and a mule refers to a concept for agrarian reform for Black farmers, following disruptions to the Institution of Slavery provoked by the American Civil War. Many people believed they had a moral right to own the land they had long worked as Slaves, and were eager to control their own property. Freed people widely expected to legally claim 40 acres of land and a mule after the end of the Civil War, long after Proclamations such as Sherman's Special Field Orders, No. 15 and the Freedmen's Bureau Act were explicitly reversed. Some land redistribution occurred under Military Jurisdiction during the War and for a brief period thereafter. Federal and State policy during the Reconstruction era emphasized wage labor, not land ownership, for Blacks. Almost all land allocated during the war was restored to its antebellum owners. Several Black Communities did maintain control of their land, and some families obtained new land by homesteading. Black land ownership increased markedly in Mississippi during the 19th Century, particularly, which had much undeveloped bottomland behind riverfront areas developed before the War. Most Blacks acquired land through private transactions, with ownership peaking at 15,000,000 acres in 1910. Free Negroes in the U.S. faced severe discrimination, and were maintained as a distinct racial group by laws against â&#x20AC;&#x153;miscegenationâ&#x20AC;?. Perceived as a threat to society, and particularly as a dangerous influence on slaves, free Negroes were not welcome in most areas of the United States. Most lived in Northern Cities, where some acquired substantial real estate. In the South, Vagrancy Laws allowed the State to force free Negroes into labor, and sometimes to sell them into Slavery. Nevertheless, free Blacks across the Country performed a variety of occupations, and a small number owned and operated successful farms. White Abolitionists did not agree on how freed people ought to be treated. While some advocated full redistribution of land, others did not support any type of race mixing. Plans for a Colony began in 1801 when James Monroe asked President Thomas Jefferson to help create a penal Colony for Rebellious Blacks. The American Colonization Society formed in 1816 to address the issue of free Blacks through resettlement abroad. By 1860, the ACS had settled thousands of Blacks in Liberia. But Colonization was slow and unappealing to many, and as mass emancipation loomed there was no clear understanding of what might happen to millions of soon-to-be-free Blacks. This issue had long been known to White authorities as "The Negro Problem". (cont.) 44

The Civil War:

As the Northern Army began to seize property in its War with the South, Congress passed the Confiscation Act of 1861. This Law allowed the military to seize rebel property, including land and Slaves. In fact, it reflected the rapidly growing reality of Black refugee camps that sprung up around the Union Army. These glaring manifestations of the "Negro Problem" provoked hostility from much of the Union rank-and-fileâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;and necessitated administration by officers. The Institution of Slavery deprived multiple generations of the opportunity to own land. Legally, Slaves could not own property, but in practice they did acquire capitalâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;and generally perceived themselves as the lowest-ranking members of the Capitalist System. As legal Slavery came to an end, the Freed people fully expected to gain ownership of the land they had worked. (cont.) 45

Home Sweet Home:

Grand Contraband Camp: After secession, the Union maintained its control over Fort Monroe in Hampton on the Coast of Southern Virginia. Escaped slaves rushed to the area, hoping for protection from the Union Army. (Even more quickly, the town's White residents fled to Richmond.) General Benjamin Butler set a precedent for Union forces on May 24, 1861, when he refused to surrender escaped Slaves to Confederates claiming ownership. Butler declared the Slaves contraband of War and allowed them to remain with the Union Army. By July 1861, there were 300 "contraband" slaves working for rations at Fort Monroe. By the end of July there were 900, and General Butler appointed Edward L. Pierce as Commissioner of Negro Affairs. Confederate raiders under General John B. Magruder burnt the nearby Town of Hampton, Virginia on August 7, 1861, but the “contraband” Blacks occupied its ruins. They established a shantytown known as the Grand Contraband Camp. Many worked for the Army at a rate of $10.00/month, but these wages were not sufficient for them to make major improvements in housing. Conditions in the Camp grew worse, and Northern humanitarian groups sought to intervene on behalf of its 64,000 residents. Captain C. B. Wilder was appointed to organize a response. The perceived humanitarian crisis may have hastened Lincoln's plans for Colonizing Île a Vache. A plan developed in September 1862 would have relocated refugees en masse to Massachusetts and other northern states. This plan—initiated by John A. Dix and supported by Captain Wilder and Secretary of War Stanton—drew negative reactions from Republicans who wanted to avoid connecting northward Black migration with the newly-announced Emancipation Proclamation. Fear of competition by Black workers, as well as generalized racial prejudice, made the prospect of Black refugees unpalatable for Massachusetts politicians. With support from orders from General Rufus Saxton, General Butler and Captain Wilder pursued local resettlement operations, providing many of the Blacks in Hampton with two acres of land and tools with which to work. Others were assigned jobs as servants in the North. Various smaller camps and colonies were formed, including the Freedmen's Colony of Roanoke Island. Hampton was well known as one of the War's first and biggest refugee camps, and served as a sort of model for other settlements. (cont.) 47

Sea Islands: The Union Army occupied the Sea Islands after the November 1861 Battle of Port Royal, leaving the area's many Cotton Plantations to the Black farmers who worked on them. The early liberation of the Sea Island Blacks, and the relatively unusual absence of the former White Masters, raised the issue of how the South might be organized after the fall of Slavery. Lincoln, commented State Department official Adam Gurowski, "is frightened with the success in South Carolina, as in his opinion this success will complicate the question of Slavery." In the early days of Federal occupation, troops were badly mistreating the Island's residents, and had raided Plantation supplies of food and clothing. One Union officer was caught preparing to secretly transport a group of Blacks to Cuba, in order to sell them as Slaves. Abuses by Union troops continued even after a stable Regime had been established. Treasury Secretary Salmon P. Chase had in December deployed Colonel William H. Reynolds to collect and sell whatever cotton could be confiscated from the Sea Island Plantations. Soon after, Chase deployed Edward Pierce (after his brief period at Grand Contraband Camp) to assess the situation in Port Royal. Pierce found a Plantation under strict Army control, paying wages too low to enable economic independence; he also criticized the Army's policy of shipping cotton North to be ginned . Pierce reported that the Black workers were experts in cotton farming but required White managers "to enforce a paternal discipline". He recommended the establishment of a supervised Black farming collective to prepare the workers for the responsibilities of citizenshipâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;and to serve as a model for postSlavery labor relations in the South. The Treasury Department sought to raise money and in many cases was already leasing occupied Territories to Northern capitalists for private management. For Port Royal Colonel Thomas had already prepared an arrangement of this type; but Pierce insisted that Port Royal offered the chance to "settle a great social question": namely, whether "when properly organized, and with proper motives set before them, [Blacks] will as freemen be as industrious as any race of men are likely to be in this climate." Chase sent Pierce to see President Lincoln. As Pierce later described the encounter: (cont.) 48

Port Royal Experiment: The collective was established and became known as the Port Royal Experiment: a possible model for Black economic activity after Slavery. The Experiment attracted support from Northerners like economist Edward Atkinson, who hoped to prove his theory that free labor would be more productive than slave labor. More traditional Abolitionists like Maria Weston Chapman also praised Pierce's plan. Civic groups like the American Missionary Association provided enthusiastic assistance. These sympathetic Northerners quickly recruited a boatload (53 chosen from a pool of applicants several times larger) of Ivy League and divinity school graduates who set off for Port Royal on March 3, 1862. The residents of Port Royal generally resented the military and civilian occupiers, who exhibited racist superiority in varying degrees of overtness. Joyâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;when on April 13, 1862, General David Hunter proclaimed Slavery abolished in Georgia, South Carolina, and Alabamaâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;turned to sorrow when on May 12 Union soldiers arrived to draft all able-bodied Black men thus liberated. Hunter kept his regiment even after Lincoln reversed this tri-State Emancipation Proclamation; but disbanded almost all of it when unable to draw payroll from the War Department. Black farmers preferred to grow vegetables and catch fish, whereas the missionaries (and other Whites on the Islands) encouraged monoculture of cotton as a cash crop. In the thinking of the latter, civilization would be advanced by incorporating Blacks into the consumer economy dominated by Northern manufacturing. Meanwhile various conflicts arose among the Missionaries, the Army, and the merchants whom Chase and Reynolds had invited to Port Royal in order to confiscate all that could be sold. On balance, however, the White sponsors of the Experiment had perceived positive results; businessman John Murray Forbes in May 1862 called it "a decided success", announcing that Blacks would indeed work in exchange for wages. Secretary of War Edwin M. Stanton appointed General Rufus Saxton as military governor of Port Royal in April 1862, and by December Saxton was agitating for permanent Black control over the land. He won support from Stanton, Chase, Sumner, and President Lincoln, but met continuing resistance from a tax commission that wanted to sell the land. Saxton also received approval to train a Black Militia, which formally became the 1st South Carolina Volunteers on January 1, 1863, when the Emancipation Proclamation legalized its existence. (cont.) 49

Landownership in the Sea Islands: As elsewhere, Black workers felt strongly that they had a claim to the lands they worked. The Second Confiscation Act of July 1862 allowed the Treasury Department to sell many captured lands on the grounds of delinquent taxes. All told, the Government now claimed 76,775 acres of Sea Island land. Auditors arrived in Port Royal and began to assess the estates now occupied by Blacks and Missionaries. The stakes were high: the Sea Island cotton harvest represented a lucrative commodity for Northern investors to control. Most of the Whites involved in the project felt that Black ownership of the land should be its final result. In January 1863, Saxton unilaterally halted the Treasury Department's tax sale on the grounds of military necessity. The Tax Commissioners conducted the auction regardless, selling ten thousand acres of land. Eleven Plantations went to a consortium ("The Boston Concern") headed by Edward Philbrick, who sold the land in 1865 to Black farmers. One Black farming collective outbid the outside investors, paying an average of $7.00 per acre for the 470 plantation on which they already lived and worked. Overall, the majority of the land was sold to Northern investors and remained under their control. In September 1863, Lincoln announced a plan to auction 60,000 acres of South Carolina land in lots of 320 acresâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;setting aside 16,000 acres of the land for "heads of families of the African race", who could obtain 20-acre lots sold at $1.25/acre. Tax Commissioner William Brisbane envisioned racial integration on the islands, with large plantation owners employing landless Blacks. But Saxton and French considered the 16,000-acre reserve to be inadequate, and instructed Black families to stake claims and build houses on all 60,000 acres of the land. French traveled to Washington in December 1863 to lobby for legal confirmation of the plan. At French's urging, Chase and Lincoln authorized Sea Island families (and solitary wives of soldiers in the Union Army) to claim 40-acre plots. (cont.) 50

Other individuals over the age of 21 would be allowed to claim 20 acres. These plots would be purchased at $1.25 per acre, with 40% paid upfront and 60% paid later. With a requirement of six months' prior residency, the order functionally restricted settlement to Blacks, Missionaries, and others who were already involved in the Experiment. Claims to land under the new plan began to arrive immediately, but Commissioner Brisbane ignored them, hoping for another reversal of the decision in Washington. Chase did indeed reverse his position in February, restoring the plan for a tax sale. The sale took place in late February, with land selling for an average price of more than $11/acre.[64] The sale provoked outcry from Freed people who had already claimed land according to Chase's December order.[65] "Negroes of Savannah": Major General William Tecumseh Sherman's "March to the Sea" brought a massive regiment of the Union Army to the Georgia Coast in December 1864. Along with the Army was a large number of Black refugees. This group, numbering more than ten thousand, was already suffering from starvation and disease. Many had become disillusioned by the Union Army, having suffered pillaging, rape, and other abuses. They arrived in Savannah â&#x20AC;&#x153;after long marches and severe privations, weary, famished, sick, and almost naked. On December 19, Sherman dispatched many of these to Hilton Head, an Island already serving as refugee Camp. Saxton reported on December 22 "Every cabin and house on these Islands is filled to overflowingâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;I have some 15,000." 700 more arrived on Christmas. On January 11, 1865, Secretary of War Edwin Stanton arrived in Savannah with Quartermaster General Montgomery C. Meigs and other officials. This group met with Generals Sherman and Saxton to discuss the refugee crisis. They decided, in turn, to consult leaders from the local Black community and ask them: "What do you want for your own people?" A meeting was duly arranged. At 8:00 pm on January 12, 1865, Sherman met with a group of twenty people, many of whom had been Slaves for most of their lives. The Blacks of Savannah had seized the opportunity of Emancipation to strengthen their Community's Institutions, and they had strong political feelings. They selected one spokesperson: Garrison Frazier, the 67 year-old former pastor of Third African Baptist who, in the late 1850s, had for $1,000 bought freedom for himself and his wife. (cont.) 51

Sherman’s Orders: Sherman's Special Field Orders, No. 15, issued on January 16, 1865, instructed officers to settle these refugees on the Sea Islands and inland: 400,000 total acres divided into 40-acre plots. Though mules (beasts of burden used for plowing) were not mentioned, some of its beneficiaries did receive them from the army.[78] Such plots were colloquially known as "Black acres", which may have a basis for their origin in contract Law. Sherman's orders specifically allocated "the Islands from Charleston, South, the abandoned rice fields along the rivers for thirty miles back from the sea, and the country bordering the St. Johns River, Florida." The order specifically prohibits Whites from settling in this area. Saxton, who, with Stanton, helped to craft the document, was promoted to Major General and charged with oversight of the new settlement. On February 3, Saxton addressed a large Freed people's meeting at Second African Baptist, announcing the order and outlining preparations for new settlement. By June 1865, about 40,000 Freed people were settled on 435,000 acres in the Sea Islands. The Special Field Orders issued by Sherman not originated by the federal government with regards to all former slaves and were issued "throughout the campaign to assure the harmony of action in the area of operations." Sherman himself later said that these settlements were never intended to last. However, this was never the understanding of the Settlers—nor of General Saxton, who said he asked Sherman to cancel the order unless it was meant to be permanent. In practice, the areas of land settled were quiet variable. James Chaplin Beecher observed that the “so called 40 acre tracts vary in size from eight acres to (450) four hundred and fifty.” Some areas were settled by groups: Skidaway Island was colonized by a group of over 1000 people, including Reverend Ulysses L. Houston.

Significance: The Sea Islands project reflected a policy of "Forty acres and a Mule" as the basis for post-Slavery economics. Especially in 1865, the precedent it set was highly visible to newly free Blacks seeking land of their own. Freed people from across the region flocked to the area in search of land. The result was refugee camps afflicted by disease and short on supplies. (cont.) 52

Wage Labor System: Beginning in Louisiana under General Nathaniel P. Banks, the military developed a wage-labor System for cultivating large areas of land. This Systemâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;which took effect with Lincoln and Stanton's blessing soon after the Emancipation Proclamation legitimized contracts with the Freed peopleâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;offered ironclad one-year contracts to Freed people. The contract promised $10/month as well as provisions and medical care. The system was soon adopted by General Lorenzo Thomas in Mississippi. Sometimes land came under the control of Treasury officials. Jurisdictional disputes erupted between the Treasury Department and the military. Criticism of Treasury Department profiteering by General John Eaton and journalists who witnessed the new form of Plantation labor influenced public opinion in the North and pressured Congress to support direct control of land by Freedmen. The Treasury Department, particularly as Secretary Chase prepared to seek the Republican nomination in 1864, accused the military treating the Freed people inhumanely. Lincoln came down in favor of military jurisdiction, and the wage labor System became further established. Abolitionist critics of the policy called it no better than Serfdom.

Davis Bend: One of the largest Black landownership projects took place at Davis Bend, Mississippi, the 11,000-acre site of plantations owned by Joseph Davis and his famous younger brother Jefferson. Influenced by some aspects of Robert Owen's socialism, Joseph Davis had established the experimental 4000-acre Hurricane Plantation at Davis Bend in 1827. Davis allowed several hundred Slaves to eat nutritious food, live in well-built cottages, receive medical care, and resolve their disputes in a weekly "Hall of Justice" Court. His motto was: "The less people are Governed, the more submissive they will be to control." Davis relied heavily on the managerial skills of Benjamin Montgomery, a welleducated Slave who conducted much of the Plantation's business. (cont.) 53

David Bend: cont.) The Battle of Shiloh began a period of turmoil (1862–1863), at Davis Bend, during which time its Black residents continued farming. The Plantation was occupied by two companies of Black Union Troops in December 1863. Under the command of Colonel Samuel Thomas, these soldiers began to fortify the area. General Ulysses S. Grant had expressed a desire to make of the Davis Plantations a "a Negro paradise", and Thomas began to lease the area to Black tenants for 1864. Blacks refugees who had gathered in Vicksburg moved en masse to Davis Bend under the auspices of the Freedman's Department (an agency created by the military prior to Congressional authorization of the “Freedmen's Bureau”, discussed below). Davis Bend landed in the middle of the Turf War between the military and the Treasury Department. In February 1864, the Treasury re-confiscated 2000 acres of Davis Bend, restoring them to White owners who had sworn loyalty oaths. It also leased 1,200 acres to Northern investors. Although Thomas resisted instructions to prevent the free Blacks from farming, General Eaton ordered him to comply. Eaton furthermore ordered Thomas to confiscate farming equipment held by Blacks, on the grounds that—because Mississippi Law banned Slaves from owning property—their possessions were universally stolen. The Department also sought to charge the plantation workers a fee for using the cotton gin. The residents of Davis Bend objected strenuously to these measures. In a petition signed by 56 farmers (including Montgomery) and published in the New Orleans Tribune: At the commencement of our present year, this Plantation was, in compliance with an order of our Post Commander, deprived of horses, mules, oxen and farming utensils of every description, very much of which had been captured and brought into Union lines by the undersigned; in consequence of which deprivations, we were, of course, reduced to the necessity of buying everything necessary for farming, and having thus far succeeded in performing by far the most expensive and laborious part of our work, we are prepared to accomplish the ginning, pressing, weighing, marking, consigning, etc., in a business-like order if allowed to do so. (*) (*) Source: See page 132

Freedmen's Bureau: From 1863â&#x20AC;&#x201C;1865, Congress debated what policies it might adopt to address the social issues that would confront the South after the war. Freedmen's aid society pushed for a "Bureau of Emancipation" to assist in the economic transition away from Slavery, and pointed to Port Royal as evidence that Blacks could live and work on their own. Land reform was often discussed, though some objected that too much capital would be required to ensure the success of Black farmers. On January 31, 1865, the House of Representatives approved the Thirteenth Amendment, which outlaws Slavery and involuntary Servitude except in the case of punishment. Congress continued to debate the economic and social status of the free population, with land reform identified as critical to realizing Black freedom. A bill drafted in Conference Committee to provide limited land tenure for one year while authorizing military supervision of Freedmen was rejected in the Senate by Abolitionists who thought it did not do justice to the Freedmen. A six person committee quickly wrote "an entirely new Bill" which substantially increased its promise to the Freedmen. This stronger version of the bill passed both houses on March 3, 1865. With this Bill, Congress established the Bureau of Refugees, Freedmen, and Abandoned Lands under the War Department. The Bureau had authority to provide supplies for refugeesâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;and an unfunded mandate to redistribute land, in parcels of up to forty acres: Sec. 4. And be it further enacted, That the commissioner, under the direction of the President, shall have authority to set apart, for the use of loyal Refugees and Freedmen, such tracts of land within the insurrectionary states as shall have been abandoned, or to which the United States shall have acquired title by confiscation or sale, or otherwise, and to every male citizen, whether refugee or Freedman, as aforesaid, there shall be assigned not more than forty acres of such land, and the person to whom it was so assigned shall be protected in the use and enjoyment of the land for the term of three years at an annual rent not exceeding six per centum upon the value of such land, as it was appraised by the state authorities in the year eighteen hundred and sixty, for the purpose of taxation, and in case no such appraisal can be found, then the rental shall be based upon the estimated value of the land in said year, to be ascertained in such manner as the commissioner may by regulation prescribe. (cont.) 55

Freedmen's Bureau: (cont.) At the end of said term, or at any time during said term, the occupants of any parcels so assigned may purchase the land and receive such title thereto as the United States can convey, upon paying therefore the value of the land, as ascertained and fixed for the purpose of determining the annual rent aforesaid. The Bill thus established a system in which Southern Blacks could lease abandoned and confiscated land, with yearly rent at 6% (or less) of the land's value (assessed for tax purposes in 1860). After three years, they would have the option to buy this land at full price. The Bureau in charge, which became known as the Freedmen's Bureau, was placed under the continuing supervision of the military because Congress anticipated the need to defend Black settlements from White Southerners. The Bill implicitly rejected plans by Lincoln and others to Colonize Blacks abroad, or even in segregated regions of the United Statesâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;its mandate would have institutionalized Black landownership of the same land that had formerly relied on their unpaid labor. When Andrew Johnson became president after Lincoln's assassination, he took aggressive steps to restore the Union. On May 29, 1865, Johnson issued an amnesty proclamation to ordinary Southern citizens who swore loyalty oaths, promising not only political immunity but also return of confiscated property. (Johnson's Proclamation excluded Confederate politicians, military officers, and landowners with property worth more than $20,000.) General O. O. Howard, chief of the Freedmen's Bureau, requested an interpretation from Attorney General James Speed regarding how this Proclamation would affect the Freedmen's Bureau mandate. Speed replied on June 22, 1865 that the Bureau Commissioner: ... "has authority, under the direction of the President, to set apart for the use of loyal refugees and freedmen the lands in question; and he is required to assign to every male of that class of persons, not more than forty acres of such lands." (*) (*) Source: See page 132

Circular 13: Howard acted quickly based on the authorization from Speed, ordering an inventory lands available for redistribution and resisting White Southerners' attempts to reclaim property. At its peak in 1865, the Freedmen's Bureau controlled 800,000â&#x20AC;&#x201C;900,000 acres of Plantation previously belonging to Slave owners. This area represented 0.2% of land in the South; ultimately the Johnson Proclamation required the Bureau to allocate most of it to its former owners. On July 28, 1865, Howard issued "Circular 13", a directive within the Freedmen's Bureau to issue land to refugees and Freedmen. Circular 13 explicitly instructed Bureau agents to prioritize the Congressional mandate for land distribution over Johnson's amnesty declaration, clarifying in its final section: "The pardon of the President will not be understood to extend to the surrender of abandoned or confiscated property which by law has been set apart for Refugees and Freedmen'". With Circular 13, land redistribution was an official policy for the entire South, and understood as such by army officers. After issuing Circular 13, however, Howard, seemingly unaware of how significant and controversial his instructions might prove, left Washington for a vacation in Maine. Johnson and others began to counteract the Circular almost immediately. After Johnson ordered the Bureau to restore the estate of a complaining Tennessee Plantation owner, General Joseph S. Fullerton suggested to at least one subordinate that Circular 13 "will not be observed for the present". When Howard returned to Washington, Johnson ordered him to write a new Circular that would respect his policy of land restoration. Johnson then rejected Howard's draft and wrote his own version, which he issued on September 12, 1865 as Circular 15 including Howard's name. Circular 15 established strict criteria for designating a property officially confiscated and had the effect in many places of ending land redistribution completely. Especially during the period between Circular 13 and Circular 15, 'forty acres and a mule' (along with other supplies necessary for farming) represented a common promise of Freedmen's Bureau agents. Clinton B. Fisk, Assistant Commissioner of the Freedmen's Bureau for Kentucky and Tennessee, had announced at a Black political assembly: "They must not only have freedom but homes of their own, thirty or forty acres, with mules, cottages, and schoolhouses etc." (*) (*) Source: See page 132

The William Lynch speech is an address purportedly delivered by a certain William Lynch (or Willie Lynch) to an audience on the bank of the James River in Virginia in 1712 regarding control of Slaves within the Colony. The letter purports to be a verbatim account of a short speech given by a Slave owner, in which he tells other Slave Masters that he has discovered the "secret" to controlling Black Slaves by setting them against one another. The document has been in print since at least 1970, but first gained widespread notice in the 1990s, when it appeared on the Internet. Since then, it has often been promoted as an authentic account of Slavery during the 18th Century, though its inaccuracies and anachronisms have led historians to conclude that it is a hoax.

Text: The reputed narrator, William Lynch, identifies himself as the master of a "modest plantation" in the British West Indies who has been summoned to the Virginia Colony by local Slave owners to advise them on problems they have been having in managing their Slaves. He briefly notes that their current violent method of handling unruly Slaves – lynching, though the term is not used – is inefficient and counterproductive. Instead, he suggests that they adopt his method, which consists of exploiting differences such as age and skin color in order to pit Slaves against each other. This method, he assures his hosts, will "control the Slaves for at least 300 hundred [sic] years." Some online versions of the text attach introductions, such as a foreword attributed to Frederick Douglass, or citations falsely giving Lynch's name as the source of the word "lynching". The text of the speech has been published since at least 1970. It appeared on the internet as early as 1993, when a reference librarian at the University of Missouri–St. Louis posted the document on the library's Gopher server. The librarian later revealed that she had obtained the document from the publisher of a local newspaper, The St. Louis Black Pages, in which the narrative had recently appeared. Though eventually convinced the document was a forgery, the librarian elected to leave it on the Gopher server, as she believed that "even as an inauthentic document, it says something about the former and current state of African America", but added a warning about its provenance.

The text contains numerous anachronisms, including words and phrases such as "refueling" and "fool proof" which were not in use until the early 20th Century. Additionally, historian Roy Rosenzweig notes that the divisions emphasized in the text – skin color, age, and gender – are distinctly 20th-Century in nature, and make little sense in an 18th-Century context. As such, historians such as Rosenzweig and William Jelani Cobb of Spelman College regard the William Lynch speech as a hoax.

Popular references: Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan quoted the speech at the Million Man March in October 1995, making the speech better known in the process. He later cited Willie Lynch's scheme as an obstacle to unite African Americans in his open letter regarding the Millions More Movement in 2005. The speech was also quoted during the protests surrounding the 2001 Presidential inauguration. (*) (*) Source: See page 132

Chapter VII

(1908-1973) Lyndon Baines Johnson was born on August 27, 1908 – January 22, 1973), often referred to as LBJ, was the 36th President of the United States (1963–1969), a position he assumed after his service as the 37th Vice President of the United States (1961–1963). He is one of only four people who served in all four elected Federal offices of the United States: Representative, Senator, Vice President, and President. Johnson, a Democrat from Texas, served as a United States Representative from 1937 to 1949 and as a Senator from 1949 to 1961, including six years as United States Senate Majority Leader, two as Senate Minority Leader and two as Senate Majority Whip. After campaigning unsuccessfully for the Democratic nomination in 1960, Johnson was asked by John F. Kennedy to be his running mate for the 1960 Presidential election. Johnson succeeded to the Presidency following the assassination of John F. Kennedy on November 22, 1963, completed Kennedy's term and was elected President in his own right, winning by a large margin over Barry Goldwater in the 1964 election. Johnson was greatly supported by the Democratic Party and as President, he was responsible for designing the "Great Society" Legislation that included laws that upheld Civil Rights, Public Broadcasting, Medicare, Medicaid, environmental protection, aid to education, and his "War on Poverty." Johnson was renowned for his domineering personality and the "Johnson treatment," his coercion of powerful politicians in order to advance Legislation. Meanwhile, Johnson escalated American involvement in the Vietnam War, from 16,000 American advisors/soldiers in 1963 to 550,000 combat troops in early 1968, as American casualties soared and the peace process bogged down. The involvement stimulated a large angry antiwar Movement based especially on University campuses in the U.S. and abroad. Summer riots broke out in most major Cities after 1965, and crime rates soared, as his opponents raised demands for "law and order" policies. The Democratic Party split in multiple feuding factions, and after Johnson did poorly in the 1968 New Hampshire primary, he ended his bid for reelection. Johnson is ranked favorably by some historians because of his domestic policies. Johnson died in 1973 at the age of 64. (cont.) 60

Black Struggle to become Democrats: In mid-1964, the Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party (MFDP) headed by Vice Chair Fannie Lou Hamer (see photo on left) was organized with the purpose of challenging Mississippi's all-White and anti-Civil Rights Delegation to the Democratic National Convention of that year as not representative of all Mississippians. At the National Convention in Atlantic City, New Jersey the MFDP claimed the seats for Delegates for Mississippi, not on the grounds of the Party rules, but because the official Mississippi Delegation had been elected by a primary conducted under Jim Crow Laws in which Blacks were excluded because of poll taxes, literacy tests, and even violence against Black voters. The Southern Whites joined the Republican Party rather than remaining in the Democratic Party with Blacks. The National Party's liberal leaders supported a compromise in which the White Delegation and the MFDP would have an even division of the seats; Johnson was concerned that, while the regular Democrats of Mississippi would probably vote for Goldwater anyway, if the Democratic Party rejected the regular Democrats, he would lose the Democratic Party political structure that he needed to win in the South. Eventually, Hubert Humphrey, Walter Reuther and Black Civil Rights leaders (including Roy Wilkins, Martin Luther King, and Bayard Rustin) worked out a compromise with MFDP leaders: the MFDP would receive two non-voting seats on the floor of the Convention; the regular Mississippi Delegation would be required to pledge to support the Party ticket; and no future Democratic convention would accept a Delegation chosen by a discriminatory poll. When the leaders took the proposal back to the 64 members who had made the bus trip to Atlantic City, they voted it down. As MFDP Vice Chair Fannie Lou Hamer said, "We didn't come all the way up here to compromise for no more than we'd gotten here. We didn't come all this way for no two seats, 'cause all of us is tired." The failure of the compromise effort allowed the rest of the Democratic Party to conclude that the MFDP was simply being unreasonable, and they lost a great deal of their liberal support. After that, the convention went smoothly for Johnson without a searing battle over Civil Rights. Despite the landslide victory, Johnson, who carried the South as a whole in the election, lost the Deep South States of Louisiana, Alabama, Mississippi, Georgia and South Carolina, the first time a Democratic candidate had done so since Reconstruction. (cont.) 61

The Civil Right Act of 1964: In conjunction with the Civil Rights Movement, Johnson overcame Southern resistance and convinced the Democratic-Controlled Congress to pass the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which outlawed most forms of racial segregation. John F. Kennedy originally proposed the Civil Rights Bill in June 1963. In late October 1963, Kennedy officially called the House leaders to the White House to line up the necessary votes for passage. After Kennedy's death, Johnson took the initiative in finishing what Kennedy started and broke a filibuster by Southern Democrats in March 1964; as a result, this pushed the Bill for passage in the Senate. Johnson signed the revised and stronger Bill into law on July 2, 1964. Legend has it that, as he put down his pen, Johnson told an aide, "We have lost the South for a generation", anticipating a coming backlash from Southern Whites against Johnson's Democratic Party. Moreover, Richard Nixon politically counterattacked with the Southern Strategy where it would "secure" votes for the Republican Party by grabbing the advocates of segregation as well as most of the Southern Democrats. In 1965, he achieved passage of a second Civil Rights Bill, the Voting Rights Act, which outlawed discrimination in voting, thus allowing millions of Southern Blacks to vote for the first time. In accordance with the act, several States, "seven of the eleven Southern States of the former Confederacy" â&#x20AC;&#x201C; Alabama, South Carolina, North Carolina, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, Virginia â&#x20AC;&#x201D; were subjected to the procedure of preclearance in 1965, while Texas, home to the majority of the African American population at the time, followed in 1975. After the murder of Civil Rights worker Viola Liuzzo (see photo on left), Johnson went on television to announce the arrest of four Ku Klux Klansmen implicated in her death. He angrily denounced the Klan as a "hooded society of bigots," and warned them to "return to a decent society before it's too late." Johnson was the first President to arrest and prosecute members of the Klan since Ulysses S. Grant about 93 years earlier. He turned the themes of Christian redemption to push for Civil Rights, thereby mobilizing support from churches North and South. (cont.) 62

President Johnson appointments first Blacks to his Cabinet: At the Howard University commencement address on June 4, 1965, he said that both the Government and the Nation needed to help achieve goals: "To shatter forever not only the barriers of law and public practice, but the walls which bound the condition of many by the color of his skin. To dissolve, as best we can, the antique enmities of the heart which diminish the holder, divide the great Democracy, and do wrong — great wrong — to the children of God..." In 1967, Johnson nominated Civil Rights Attorney Thurgood Marshall (see top photo) to be the first African American Associate Justice of the Supreme Court. To head the new Department of Housing and Urban Development, Johnson appointed Robert C. Weaver (see bottom photo)—the first AfricanAmerican Cabinet Secretary in any U.S. Presidential administration.

Immigration Act of 1965: Johnson signed the Immigration Act of 1965,which substantially changed U.S. Immigration policy toward non-Europeans. According to OECD, "While European-born Immigrants accounted for nearly 60% of the total Foreign-born population in 1970, they accounted for only 15% in 2000." Immigration doubled between 1965 and 1970, and doubled again between 1970 and 1990. Since the liberalization of Immigration policy in 1965, the number of firstgeneration Immigrants living in the United States has quadrupled, from 9.6 million in 1970, to about 38 million in 2007. (cont.)

The Great Society: The Great Society program, with its name coined from one of Johnson's speeches. became Johnson's agenda for Congress in January 1965: aid to education, attack on disease, Medicare, Medicaid, urban renewal, beautification, conservation, development of depressed regions, a wide-scale fight against poverty, control and prevention of crime, and removal of obstacles to the right to vote. Congress, at times augmenting or amending, enacted most of Johnson's recommendations. Johnson's achievements in social policy were made possible by liberal strength, especially after the Democratic landslide of 1964. After the Great Society Legislation of the 1960s, for the first time a person who was not elderly or disabled could receive need-based aid from the U.S. Government. Johnson had a lifelong commitment to the belief that education was the cure for both ignorance and poverty, and was an essential component of the American Dream, especially for minorities who endured poor facilities and tightfisted budgets from local taxes. He made education a top priority of the Great Society, with an emphasis on helping poor children. After the 1964 landslide brought in many new liberal Congressmen, he had the votes for the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) of 1965.

Federal funding for education: For the first time, large amounts of Federal money went to public schools. In practice ESEA meant helping all public school districts, with more money going to districts that had large proportions of students from poor families (which included all the big Cities). For the first time private schools (most of them Catholic schools in the inner cities) received services, such as library funding, comprising about 12 percent of the ESEA budget. As Dallek reports, researchers soon found that poverty had more to do with family background and neighborhood conditions than the quantity of education a child received. Early studies suggested initial improvements for poor children helped by ESEA reading and math programs, but later assessments indicated that benefits faded quickly and left pupils little better off than those not in the schemes. Johnson's second major education program was the Higher Education Act of 1965, which focused on funding for lower income students, including grants, work-study money, and Government loans. (cont.) 64

National Endowment Programs: He set up the National Endowment for the Humanities and the National Endowment for the Arts, to support humanists and artists (as the WPA once did). Although ESEA solidified Johnson's support among K-12 teachers' Unions, neither the Higher Education Act nor the new endowments mollified the college professors and students growing increasingly uneasy with the war in Vietnam. In 1967, Johnson signed the Public Broadcasting Act to create educational television programs to supplement the broadcast networks.

War on Poverty: The most ambitious and controversial part of the Great Society was its initiative to end poverty. The Kennedy Administration had been contemplating a Federal effort against poverty. Johnson, who, as a teacher had observed extreme poverty in Texas among M exican - Ame ricans, launch ed a n "unconditional war on poverty" in the first months of his Presidency with the goal of eliminating hunger and deprivation from American life. The centerpiece of the War on Poverty was the Economic Opportunity Act of 1964, which created an Office of Economic Opportunity (OEO) to oversee a variety of Community-based antipoverty programs. Federal funds were provided for special education schemes in slum areas, including help in paying for books and transport, while financial aid was also provided for slum clearances and rebuilding city areas. In addition, the Appalachian Regional Development Act of 1965 created jobs in one of the most impoverished regions of the Country. The Economic Opportunity Act of 1964 provided various schemes in which young people from poor homes could receive job training and higher education. The OEO reflected a fragile consensus among policymakers that the best way to deal with poverty was not simply to raise the incomes of the poor but to help them better themselves through education, job training, and community development. Central to its mission was the idea of "community action", the participation of the poor in framing and administering the programs designed to help them. (cont.) 65

Social Programs failure: The War on Poverty began with a $1 billion appropriation in 1964 and spent another $2 billion in the following two years. It spawned dozens of programs, among them the Job Corps, whose purpose was to help disadvantaged youth develop marketable skills; the Neighborhood Youth Corps, established to give poor urban youths work experience and to encourage them to stay in school; Volunteers in Service to America (VISTA), a domestic version of the Peace Corps, which placed concerned citizens with Community-based agencies to work towards empowerment of the poor; the Model Cities Program for urban redevelopment; Upward Bound, which assisted poor high school students entering college; legal services for the poor; and the Food Stamp Act of 1964 (which expanded the Federal food stamp Program). Programs included the Community Action Program, which initiated local Community Action Agencies charged with helping the poor become self-sufficient; and Project Head Start, which offered preschool education for poor children. In addition, funding was provided for the establishment of Community Health Centers to expand access to health care, while major amendments were made to Social Security in 1965 and 1967 which significantly increased benefits, expanded coverage, and established new programs to combat poverty and raise living standards. In addition, average AFDC payments were 35% higher in 1968 than in 1960, but remained insufficient and uneven. Seem like nothing helped changed things for the poor, because one ingredient was missing (knowledge). (cont.) 66

The Legacies of the Great Society: Interpretations of the War on Poverty remain controversial. The Office of Economic Opportunity was dismantled by the Nixon and Ford administrations, largely by transferring poverty programs to other Government Departments. Funding for many of these programs were further cut in President Ronald Reagan's first budget in 1981. Alan Brinkley has suggested that "the gap between the expansive intentions of the War on Poverty and its relatively modest achievements fueled later conservative arguments that Government is not an appropriate vehicle for solving social problems." One of Johnson's aides, Joseph A. Califano, Jr., has countered that "from 1963 when Lyndon Johnson took office until 1970 as the impact of his Great Society programs were felt, the portion of Americans living below the poverty line dropped from 22.2 percent to 12.6 percent, the most dramatic decline over such a brief period in this Century." The percentage of African Americans below the poverty line dropped from 55 percent in 1960 to 27 percent in 1968.

African-American family structure suffered: Economist Thomas Sowell argues that the Great Society programs only contributed to the destruction of African American families, saying "the Black family, which had survived Centuries of Slavery and discrimination, began rapidly disintegrating in the liberal welfare State that subsidized unwed pregnancy and changed welfare from an emergency rescue to a way of life. The typical African American structure today is based on single-parent homes, specifically Black matriarchy. The current Black family structure also reflects wider societal changes to family composition across the United States, including lower rates of marriage and higher rates of divorce. Other contributing factors include socioeconomic causes and institutional barriers that affect both African American males and females. The consequences of the African American family structure can be seen in both social and educational barriers that create a cycle of poverty, worse educational outcomes and teen pregnancy. (cont.) 67

The Negro Family: The Case For National Action: A majority of African American children are born into single-parent homes. Compared to white women, black women are more likely to become teenage mothers, Where is our husbands? stay single and have marriage instability, and are thus much more likely to live in female-headed single-parent homes. This pattern has been coined as Black matriarchy because of the observance of many households headed by women. The issue was first brought to National attention in 1965 by sociologist and later Democrat Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan, in the groundbreaking Moynihan Report (also known as "The Negro Family: The Case For National Action"). Moynihan's report made the argument that the relative absence of nuclear families (those having both a father and mother present) in Black America would greatly hinder further Black socioeconomic progress. The current most widespread African American family structure consisting of single-parent has historical roots, dating back to 1880. Data from U.S. Census reports reveal that between 1880 and 1960, married households consisting of twoparent homes were the most widespread form of African American family structures. Although the most popular, married households decreased over this time period. Single-parent homes, on the other hand, remained relatively stable until 1960 when they rose dramatically. A study of 1880 family structures in Philadelphia showed that three-fourths of Black families were nuclear families, composed of two parents and children. In New York City in 1925, 85% of kin-related Black households had two parents. When Moynihan warned in his 1965 report on the coming destruction of the black family, however, the out-of-wedlock birthrate had increased to 25% among blacks. This figure continued to rise over time and in 1991, 68% of Black children were born outside of marriage. U.S. Census data from 2010 reveal that more African American families consisted of single-parent mothers than married homes with both parents. Most recently, in 2011 it was reported that 72% of Black babies were born to unwed mothers. (*) (*) Source: See page 132

Chapter VIII

Theories about African-American families condition: There are several hypotheses-both social and economic- explaining the persistence of the current African-American family structure. 

Some researchers theorize that the low economic statuses of the newly freed Slaves in 1850 lead to the current family structure for African Americans. These researchers suggest that extreme poverty has increased the destabilization of African American families while others point to high female labor participation, few job opportunities for Black males, and small differences between wages for men and women that have decreased marriage stability for Black families.



Economic status has proved to not always negatively affect single-parent homes, however. Rather, in an 1880 census, there was a positive relationship between the number of Black single-parent homes and per-capita County wealth. Moreover, literate young mothers in 1880 were less likely to reside in a home with a spouse than illiterate mothers. This suggests that economic factors following Slavery alone, cannot account for the family styles seen by African Americans since Blacks who were illiterate and lived in the worst neighborhoods were the most likely to live in a two-parent home.



History writers never really say what caused Blacks to be in the condition they are in because of the restrictions that was put on them because they was captured against their will and bought to the Western World and was considered less human and it was OK to use them as servant as quoted in the Bible.



The deck of cards has been stacked against the Black race since the beginning of time because of their environment. As the World evolved man slowly migrated out of Africa North and developed into different ethnic groups and advanced their cultures. While at the same time the ones left behind never advanced because of the harsh condition of living in Africa with the animal kingdom. The equator run in the middle of Africa that never gave them a reason to use their minds to advance their Society for the betterment of their culture. There was just one season, summer. Where is other Societies there are seasons, plus no herd of animals, no thick forests a need for conquest and advance.



There are many factors that contributed to the Blacks that was left behind in Africa. Slavery, harsh living conditions, just to name a few. (*)

(*) Source: See page 132

Dividing the family: Other explanations incorporate social mechanisms for the specific patterns of the African American family structure. Some researchers point to differences in norms regarding the need to live with a spouse and with children for African-Americans. Patterns seen in traditional African cultures are also considered a source for the current trends in single-parent homes. As noted by Antonio McDaniel, the reliance of African-American families on kinship networks for financial, emotional, and social support can be traced back to African cultures, where the emphasis was on extended families, rather than the nuclear family. It is believed by some researchers that these African traditions were modified by experiences during Slavery, resulting in a current African-American family structure that relies more on extended kin networks. The author notes that Slavery caused a unique situation for African Slaves in that it alienated them from both true African and White culture so that Slaves could not identify completely with either culture. As a result, Slaves were culturally adaptive and formed family structures that best suit their environment and situation.

Post-1960s expansion of the U.S. Welfare State: Black marriages declined because of economic condition and racism against the Black man which created stress and discard in the Black family. The Black man became a nomad of sort. He had to leave his family and the Black woman became the head of the household. This bought on a decline of Black marriages. The rate of African American marriage is not only consistently lower than White Americans, but is also declining. These trends are so pervasive that families who are married are considered a minority family structure for Blacks. In 1970, 64% of adult African Americans were married. This rate was cut in half by 2004, when 32% of adult African Americans were married. Conversely, in 2004, 45% of African Americans had never been married compared to only 25% of White Americans. While research has shown that marriage rates have dropped for African Americans, the rate of birth has not. Thus, the number of single-parent homes has risen dramatically for Black women. One reason for the low rates of African American marriages is high age of first marriage for many African Americans. (cont.) 71

Why marry in the first place: One study found that the average age of marriage for Black women with a high school degree was 21.8 years compared to 20.8 years for White women. Fewer labor force opportunities and a decline in real earnings for Black males since 1960, are also named as a source of increasing marital instability. As some researchers argue, these two trends have led to a pool of fewer desirable male partners and thus resulted in more divorces. One type of marriages that have declined are shotgun marriages. This drop in rate is documented by the amount of out-of-wedlock births that now commonly occur. Between 1965 and 1989, three-fourths of White out-of-wedlock births and threefifths of Black out-of-wedlock births could be explained by situations where the parents would have married in the past. This is because, prior to the 1970s, the norm was such that, should a couple have a pregnancy out of wedlock, marriage was inevitable. Cultural norms have since changed, giving women and men more agency to decide whether or when they should get married.

Rise in divorce rates: For African Americans who do marry, the rate of divorce is higher than White Americans. While the trend is the same for both African Americans and White Americans, with at least half of marriages for the two groups ending in divorce, the rate of divorce tends to be consistently higher for African Americans. The equation changes when a couple marries. Every thirty days a bill is due. There is no mom to pay the bills. Donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t mention the children needs. This is a disaster ready to happen. African Americans also tend to spend less time married than White Americans. Overall, African Americans are married at a later age, spend less time married and are more likely to be divorced than White Americans. The decline and low success rate of Black marriages is crucial for study because many African Americans achieve a middle-class status through marriage and the likelihood for children growing up in poverty is tripled for those in single-parent rather than two-parent homes. Some researchers suggest that the reason for the rise in divorce rates is the increasing acceptability of divorces. The decline in social stigma of divorce has led to a decrease in the number of legal barriers of getting a divorce, thus making it easier for couples to divorce. (cont.) 72

Black male incarceration and mortality: Structural barriers are often listed as the reason for the current trends in the African American family structure, specifically the decline in marriage rates. Imbalanced sex ratios have been cited as one of these barriers since the late nineteenth Century, where Census data revealed that, in 1840, there were 99 Black males for every 100 Black females within the population. Recent Census data in 2003 revealed similar, yet worse findings as there were only 91 males for every 100 females. Black male incarceration and mortality rates are often pointed to for these imbalanced sex ratios. Although Black males make up 6% of the population, they make up 50% of those who are incarcerated. This incarceration rate for Black males increased by a rate of more than four between the years of 1980 and 2003. Furthermore, the incarceration rate for African American males is 3,045 out of 100,000 compared to 465 per 100,000 White Americans males. The chance of Black males to be arrested and jailed at least once in their lifetime in many areas around the country is extremely high. For Washington D.C., this probability is between 80 and 90%. The mortality rates for African American males are also typically higher than they are for African American females. Between the years 1980 and 2003, 4,744 to 27,141 more African American males died annually than African American females. This high incarceration rate and mortality rate helps to explain the low marriage rates for many African American females who cannot find Black mates.

Implications of the African American family structure: There is debate on whether the African American family structure leads to negative outcomes such as poverty, teenage pregnancy and gaps in education or whether the reverse is true and the African American family structure is a result of institutional discrimination, poverty and other segregation. Regardless of the causality, researchers have found a consistent relationship between the current African American family structure and poverty, education, and pregnancy. One study on single Black mothers found that maternal stress, perceived competency and social support from others helped to determine child behavior problems. (cont.) 73

Poverty: Black single-parent homes headed by women still demonstrate how relevant the feminization of poverty is. Black women continue to be relegated into low-paying and female-dominated occupations. Black women also still make up a large percentage of poverty-afflicted individuals. Additionally, the radicalization of poverty in combination with the feminization of poverty creates further hindrances for youth growing up Black, in single-parent homes, and in poverty. For married couple families in 2007, there was 5.8% poverty rate. This number, however, varied when considering race so that 5.4% of all White individuals, 9.7% of Black individuals and 14.9% of all Hispanic individuals lived in poverty. These numbers increased for single-parent homes, with 26.6% of all singleparent families lived in poverty, 22.5% of all White single-parent individuals, 44.0% of all single-parent Black individuals, and 33.4% of all single-parent Hispanic individuals living in poverty. While majority opinion tends to center on the increase in poverty as a result of single-parent homes, research has shown that this is not always the case. In one study examining the effects of single-parent homes on parental stress and practices, the researchers found that family structure and marital status were not as big of a factor as poverty and the experiences the mothers had while growing up. Furthermore, the authors found little parental dysfunction in parenting styles and efficacy for single-mothers, suggesting that two-parent homes are not always the only type of successful family structures. The authors suggest that focus be placed also on the poverty that African American face as a whole, rather than just those who live in single-parent homes and those that are of the typical African American family structure. We must teach our children to attain knowledge. (cont.) 74

Black high school students: For Black high school students, the African American family structure does affect their educational goals and expectations also. Studies on the topic have indicated that children growing up in single-parent homes faces disturbances in young childhood, adolescence and young adulthood as well. Although these effects are sometimes minimal and contradictory, it is generally agreed that the family structure a child grows up in is important for their success in the educational sphere. This is particularly important for African American children who have a 50% chance of being born outside of marriages and growing up in a home with a single-parent. Some of the arguments for the reasoning behind this drop in attainment for singleparent homes point to the socioeconomic problems that arise from mother-headed homes. Particularly relevant for families centered on Black matriarchy, one theory posits that the reason children of female-headed households do worse in education is because of the economic insecurity that results because of single motherhood. Single parent mothers often have lower incomes and thus may be removed from the home and forced to work more hours, and are sometimes forced to move into poorer neighborhoods with less educational resources. Other theories point to the importance of male role models and fathers in particular, for the development of children emotionally and cognitively, especially boys. Even for fathers who may not be in the home, studies have shown that time spent with fathers has a positive relationship with psychological well-being including less depression and anxiety. Additionally, emotional support from fathers is related to fewer delinquency problems and drug and marijuana use.

Teen pregnancy: Teenage and unplanned pregnancies pose threats for those who are affected by it with these unplanned pregnancies leading to greater divorces rates for young individuals who marry after having a child. In one study, 60% of the young married parents had separated within the first five years of marriage. Additionally, as reported in one article, unplanned pregnancies are often cited as a reason for young parents dropping out, resulting in greater economic burdens and instabilities for these teenage parents later on. (cont.) 75

Cosby and Poussaint's Criticism of the single-parent family: Bill Cosby has criticized the current state of Black families being dominated by single-parent situations. In a speech to the NAACP in 2004, Cosby said "In the neighborhood that most of us grew up in, parenting is not going on". "You have the pile-up of these sweet beautiful things born by nature— raised by no one." In Cosby's 2007 book Come On People: On the Path from Victims to Victors, co-authored with psychiatrist Alvin Poussaint, Cosby and Poussaint write that "A house without a father is a challenge," and that "A neighborhood without fathers is a catastrophe." Cosby and Poussaint write that mothers "have difficulty showing a son how to be a man," and that this presents a problem when there are no father figures around to show boys how to channel their natural aggressiveness in constructive ways. Cosby and Poussaint also write, "We wonder if much of these kids’ rage was born when their fathers abandoned them." Cosby and Poussaint state that verbal and emotional abuse of the children is prominent in the parenting style of some Black single mothers, with serious developmental consequences for the children. "Words like ‘You’re stupid,’ ‘You’re an idiot,’ ‘I’m sorry you were born,’ or ‘You’ll never amount to anything’ can stick a dagger in a child’s heart." "Single mothers angry with men, whether their current boyfriends or their children’s fathers, regularly transfer their rage to their sons, since they’re afraid to take it out on the adult males" Cosby and Poussaint write that this formative parenting environment in the Black single parent family leads to a "wounded anger—of children toward parents, women toward men, men toward their mothers and women in general".

Research on the African-American Family: The Research on the African-American Family book, written by Robert Hill and published in 1968, provides a counter-point to The Moynihan Report, or The Negro Family: The Case For National Action, which discusses how single-parent homes would be the undoing of the African American people. In this report, Hill writes in support of the African-American family, speaking about both the strengths and the difficulties in the African American home, detailing most of the positives of the African American family structure. (*) (*) Source: See page 132

Chapter IX

Spartacus (c. 109–71 BC) Spartacus was a Thracian Gladiator, who, along with the Gauls Crixus, Oenomaus, Castus and Gannicus, was one of the Slave leaders in the Third Servile War, a major Slave uprising against the Roman Republic. Little is known about Spartacus beyond the events of the War, and surviving historical accounts are sometimes contradictory and may not always be reliable. All sources agree that he was a former Gladiator and an accomplished military leader. No historical account mentions that the goal of the rebels was to end Slavery in the Roman Republic, nor do any of the actions of rebel leaders, who themselves committed numerous atrocities, seem specifically aimed at ending Slavery. According to the differing sources and their interpretation, Spartacus either was an auxiliary from the Roman Legions later condemned to Slavery, or a captive taken by the Legions. Spartacus was trained at the Gladiatorial school (ludus) near Capua belonging to Lentulus Batiatus. In 73 BC, Spartacus was among a group of Gladiators plotting an escape. Once free, the escaped Gladiators chose Spartacus and two Gallic Slaves—Crixus and Oenomaus—as their leaders. Alarmed by the apparently unstoppable rebellion, the Senate charged Marcus Licinius Crassus, the wealthiest man in Rome and the only volunteer for the position, with ending the rebellion. Crassus was put in charge of eight Legions, approximately 40,000–50,000 trained Roman soldiers. When Spartacus and his followers, who for unclear reasons had retreated to the South of Italy, moved Northward again in early 71 BC, Crassus deployed six of his Legions on the borders of the region and detached his legate Mummius with two Legions to maneuver behind Spartacus. After this, Crassus' Legions were victorious in several engagements, forcing Spartacus farther South through Lucania as Crassus gained the upper hand. By the end of 71 BC, Spartacus was encamped in Rhegium (Reggio Calabria), near the Strait of Messina. Spartacus and his army were losing strength and dwindling, becoming weak. (cont.) 78

Spartacus: (cont.) According to Plutarch, Spartacus made a bargain with Cilician Pirates to transport him and some 2,000 of his men to Sicily, where he intended to incite a Slave revolt and gather reinforcements. However, he was betrayed by the Pirates, who took payment and then abandoned the rebel Slaves. The rebels were now under siege and cut off from their supplies. At this time, the Legions of Pompey returned from Hispania and were ordered by the Senate to head South to aid Crassus. While Crassus feared that Pompey's arrival would cost him the credit, Spartacus unsuccessfully tried to reach an agreement with Crassus. When Crassus refused, a portion of Spartacus' forces fled toward the mountains West of Petelia (modern Strongoli) in Bruttium, with Crassus' Legions in pursuit. When the Legions managed to catch a portion of the rebels separated from the main army, discipline among Spartacus' forces broke down as small groups were independently attacking the oncoming Legions. Spartacus now turned his forces around and brought his entire strength to bear on the Legions in a last stand, in which the Slaves were routed completely, with the vast majority of them being killed on the battlefield. The final battle that saw the assumed defeat of Spartacus in 71 BC took place on the present territory of Senerchia on the right bank of the river Sele in the area that includes the border with Oliveto Citra up to those of Calabritto, near the village of Quaglietta, in High Sele Valley, which at that time was part of Lucania. In this area, since 1899, there have been finds of armor and swords of the Roman era. Plutarch, Appian and Florus all claim that Spartacus died during the battle, however Appian also reports that his body was never found. Six thousand survivors of the revolt captured by the Legions of Crassus were crucified, lining the Appian Way from Rome to Capua. None of Spartacus' actions overtly suggest that he aimed at reforming Roman society or abolishing Slavery. (*) (*) Source: See page 132

(1800-1859) John Brown was born on May 9, 1800 in Torrington, Connecticut. He was the fourth of the eight children of Owen Brown and Ruth Mills. Brown could trace his ancestry back to 17th-Century English Puritans. In 1805, the family moved to Hudson, Ohio, where Owen Brown opened a tannery. Brown's father became a supporter of the Oberlin Institute (original name of Oberlin College) in its early stage, although he was ultimately critical of the school's "Perfectionist" leanings, especially renowned in the preaching and teaching of Charles Finney and Asa Mahan. Brown withdrew his membership from the Congregational church in the 1840s and never officially joined another church. At the age of 16, John Brown left his family and went to Plainfield, Massachusetts, where he enrolled in a preparatory program. In 1820, Brown married Dianthe Lusk. Their first child, John Jr, was born 13 months later. In 1825, Brown and his family moved to New Richmond, Pennsylvania, where he bought 200 acres of land. He cleared an eighth of it and built a cabin, a barn, and a tannery. The John Brown Tannery Site was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1978. Within a year, the tannery employed 15 men. Brown also made money raising cattle and surveying. He helped to establish a post office and a school. During this period, Brown operated an inter-State business involving cattle and leather production along with a kinsman, Seth Thompson, from Eastern Ohio. Dissatisfied with the pacifism encouraged by the organized Abolitionist Movement, he said, "These men are all talk. What we need is actionâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;action!" During the Kansas campaign, he and his supporters killed five pro-Slavery Southerners in what became known as the Pottawatomie Massacre in May 1856 in response to the raid of the "free soil" City of Lawrence, Kansas. In 1859 he led a raid on the Federal Armory at Harpers Ferry. During the raid, he seized the armory; seven people were killed, and ten or more were injured. Brown believed that peaceful resistance was shown to be ineffective and that the only way to defeat the Oppressive System of Slavery was through violent insurrection. He intended to arm Slaves with weapons from the arsenal, but the attack failed. (cont.) 80

John Brown: (cont.) Within 36 hours, Brown's men had fled or been killed or captured by local pro-Slavery farmers, militiamen, and U.S. Marines led by Robert E. Lee. Brown's subsequent capture by Federal forces seized the Nation's attention, as Southerners feared it was just the first of many Northern plots to cause a Slave Rebellion that might endanger their lives, while Republicans dismissed the notion and said they would not interfere with Slavery in the South. He believed he was the instrument of God's wrath in punishing men for the sin of owning Slaves. Brown's attempt in 1859 to start a Liberation Movement among enslaved African Americans in Harpers Ferry, Virginia, electrified the Nation. He was tried for treason against the Commonwealth of Virginia for the murder of five men and inciting a Slave insurrection. He was found guilty on all counts and was hanged. Southerners alleged that his rebellion was the tip of the abolitionist iceberg and represented the wishes of the Republican Party to end Slavery. Historians agree that the Harpers Ferry raid in 1859 escalated tensions that, a year later, led to secession and the American Civil War. Historians agree John Brown played a major role in the start of the Civil War. Stephen B. Oates, regard him as "One of the most perceptive human beings of his generation." David S. Reynolds hails the man who "Killed Slavery, sparked the Civil War, and seeded Civil Rights" and Richard Owen Boyer emphasizes that Brown was "An American who gave his life that millions of other Americans might be free." The song "John Brown's Body" made him a heroic martyr and was a popular Union marching song during the Civil War. Brown's actions prior to the Civil War as an Abolitionist, and the tactics he chose, still make him a controversial figure today. He is sometimes memorialized as a heroic martyr and a visionary and sometimes vilified as a madman and a terrorist. Historians debate whether he was "America's first domestic terrorist"; many historians believe the term "terrorist" is an inappropriate label to describe Brown. (*) (*) Source: See page 132

(1809-1865) Abraham Lincoln was born on February 12, 1809 â&#x20AC;&#x201C; April 15, 1865). Lincoln was the 16th President of the United States, serving from March 1861 until his assassination in April 1865. Lincoln led the United States through its greatest Constitutional, military, and moral crisisâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;the American Civil Warâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;preserving the Union, abolishing Slavery, strengthening the National Government and modernizing the economy. Reared in a poor family on the Western Frontier, Lincoln was self-educated, and became a Country Lawyer, a Whig Party leader, Illinois State Legislator during the 1830s, and a one-term member of the United States House of Representatives during the 1840s. The Emancipation Proclamation, issued on September 22, 1862, and put into effect on January 1, 1863, declared free the Slaves in 10 States not then under Union control, with exemptions specified for areas already under Union control in two States. On April 14, 1865 in the Ford theatre during intermission. Seizing the opportunity, Booth crept up from behind and at about 10:13 pm, aimed at the back of Lincoln's head and fired at point-blank range, mortally wounding the President.. As defined by positive psychologists, honesty and authenticity as a subset of courage means more than simply telling the truth. Though perhaps one would not immediately associate honesty with courage, there are obvious situations in life where to be honest and authentic requires a great deal of strength in the midst of fear. Abe desire was to right a wrong that was enslaving mankind. The positive view Societies have of honesty can be seen from the fact that it is something people try to develop in young children and adolescents. While all people seem to grow in their understanding of the moral importance of honest and integrity as they grow older. there are certain individuals who seem to especially excel in this human strength. (*) (*) Source: See page 132

(1820-1913) Harriet Tubman was born Araminta Harriet Ross in 1820 on a large Plantation near Black-water River in Madison, Maryland. Harriet was an African American Abolitionist, Humanitarian, and Union spy during the American Civil War. Born into Slavery, Tubman escaped and subsequently made more than nineteen missions to rescue more than 300 Slaves using the network of antiSlavery activists and safe houses known as the Underground Railroad. She later helped John Brown (see page 76) recruit men for his raid on Harpers Ferry, and in the post-War era struggled for Women's Suffrage. As a child in Dorchester County, Maryland, Tubman was beaten by masters to whom she was hired out. Early in her life, she suffered a severe head wound when hit by a heavy metal weight. The injury caused disabling seizures, narcoleptic attacks, headaches, and powerful visionary and dream experiences, which occurred throughout her life. In 1849, Tubman escaped to Philadelphia, then immediately returned to Maryland to rescue her family. Slowly, one group at a time, she brought relatives out of the State, and eventually guided dozens of other Slaves to freedom. Traveling by night, Tubman (or "Moses", as she was called) "never lost a passenger." Large rewards were offered for the return of many of the fugitive Slaves, but no one then knew that Tubman was the one helping them. When the Southerndominated Congress passed the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850, requiring Law officials in free States to aid efforts to recapture Slaves, she helped guide fugitives farther North into Canada, where Slavery had been abolished in 1834. When the American Civil War began, Tubman worked for the Union Army, first as a cook and nurse, and then as an armed scout and spy. The first woman to lead an armed expedition in the War, she guided the Combahee River Raid, which liberated more than 700 Slaves in South Carolina. After the War, she retired to the family home in Auburn, New York, where she cared for her aging parents. She became active in the Women's Suffrage Movement in New York until illness overtook her. Near the end of her life, she lived in a home for elderly African Americans that she had helped free years earlier. Harriet died on March 10, 1913. (*) (*) Source: See page 132

(1820-1906) Susan Brownell Anthony was born on February 15, 1820 in West Grove, Adams, Massachusetts. Susan B. Anthony's father Daniel was a cotton manufacturer and abolitionist, a stern but open-minded man who was born into the Quaker religion. He did not allow toys or amusements into the household, claiming that they would distract the soul from the "inner light." Her mother, Lucy, was a student in Daniel's school; the two fell in love and agreed to marry in 1817, but Lucy was less sure about marrying into the Society of Friends (Quakers). However, they finally married and Susan was born. In the era before the American Civil War, Susan Anthony took a prominent role in the New York anti-Slavery and Temperance Movements. In 1837, at age 17, Susan collected petitions opposing Slavery as part of an organized response to the gag rule prohibiting anti-Slavery petitions in the House of Representatives. In 1849, at age 29, she became secretary for the Daughters of Temperance, which gave her a forum to speak out against alcohol abuse, and served as the beginning of Anthony's Movement towards the public limelight. In 1869, long-time friends Frederick Douglass and Susan B. Anthony found themselves, for the first time, on opposing sides of a debate. The American Equal Rights Association (AERA), which had originally fought for both Blacks’ and Women’s Right to Suffrage, voted to support the 15th Amendment to the Constitution, granting Suffrage to Black men, but not women. Anthony questioned why women should support this Amendment when Black men were not continuing to show support for Women’s Voting Rights. Partially as a result of the decision by the AERA, Anthony soon thereafter devoted herself almost exclusively to the agitation for Women's Rights. She traveled the United States and Europe, and averaged 75 to 100 speeches per year. She was one of the important advocates in leading the way for Women's Rights to be acknowledged and instituted in the American Government. She died on March 13, 1906. Her birthday on February 15, Susan is commemorated as Susan B. Anthony Day in the U.S. States of Florida and Wisconsin. (*) (*) Source: See page 132

(1869-1948) Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi was born on October 2, 1869 in Porbandar, a Coastal Town on the Kathiawar Peninsula and then part of the small princely State of Porbandar in the Kathiawar Agency of the British Indian Empire. He became the preeminent leader of Indian Nationalism in British-ruled India. Employing non-violent Civil disobedience, Gandhi led India to Independence and inspired Movements for Civil Rights and freedom across the World. Bravery is the subcategory most people generally associate with courage. It is defined as "the ability to stand up for what is Right in difficult situations". As opposed to less sophisticated definitions that simply categorize bravery as fearlessness or acting when an observer would be afraid. There are several forms of this bravery. Physical bravery involves acting in spite of possible harm to one's body. Moral bravery involves acting in a way that enhances what one believes to be good in spite of social disapproval and possible backlash. A third, theoretically newer, definition of bravery is psychological bravery which involves things such as overcoming one's own addictive habits, irrational anxieties, and harmful dependent relationships. Psychological bravery means acting against one's own natural inclinations and facing fears which might not have any societal moral implications. Bravery works well as a virtue in the VIA classification System because it is highly regarded across cultures and has obvious benefits for those surrounded by brave people. Possible problems with viewing bravery as a classifiable human strength is that it could be argued that bravery is not trait-like since it only comes out under certain circumstances. The counterargument to this claim is that bravery is trait-like in the same way creativity is considered a trait; both appear only in certain situations. Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi was assassinated in garden of the former Birla House (now Gandhi Smriti) at 5:17 pm on January 30, 1948. Gandhi was on his way to address a prayer meeting, when his assassin, Nathuram Godse, fired three bullets from a Beretta 9 mm pistol into his chest at point-blank range. (*)

(*) Source: See page 132

(1913-2005) Rosa Louise McCauley Parks was born on February 4, 1913 â&#x20AC;&#x201C; October 24, 2005) was an African-American Civil Rights activist, whom the U.S. Congress called "the first lady of Civil Rights" and "the mother of the Freedom Movement". It all began on December 1, 1955, in Montgomery, Alabama, Parks refused to obey bus driver James F. Blake's order that she give up her seat in the Colored section to a White passenger, after the White section was filled. At the time, Parks was Secretary of the Montgomery chapter of the NAACP. She acted as a private citizen "tired of giving in". She got the courage to resist status quo. Although widely honored in later years, she also suffered for her act; she was fired from her job as a seamstress in a local department store. Eventually, she moved to Detroit, Michigan, where she briefly found similar work. From 1965 to 1988 she served as secretary and receptionist to John Conyers, an African-American U.S. Representative. After retirement, Parks wrote her autobiography, and lived a largely private life in Detroit. In her final years, she suffered from dementia. Parks resided in Detroit until she died of natural causes at the age of 92 on October 24, 2005, in her apartment on the East side of the City. She and her husband never had children and she outlived her only sibling. She was survived by her sister-in-law, 13 nieces and nephews and their families, and several cousins, most of them residents of Michigan or Alabama. Parks received National recognition, including the NAACP's 1979 Spingarn Medal, the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the Congressional Gold Medal, and a posthumous statue in the United States Capitol's National Statuary Hall. Upon her death in 2005, she was the first woman and second non-U.S. government official to lie in honor at the Capitol Rotunda. Wonder what would have happen if she just got up as she was told and moved back one seat. I honestly believe this Nation would still be segregated as I write this book. Thank God she had the courage to defy an unjust Law and stay seated and did not move. ( Mother of the Civil Rights Movement.). (*) (*) Source: See page 132

(1918-2013) Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela was born on July 18, 1918 in the Village of Mvezo in Umtatu, then a part of South Africa's Cape Province. Given the forename Rolihlahla, a Xhosa term colloquially meaning "troublemaker", in later years he became known by his clan name, Madiba. One of this King's sons, named Mandela, became Nelson's grandfather and the source of his surname. Living in Johannesburg, he became involved in anti-Colonial politics, joining the ANC and becoming a founding member of its Youth League. After the Afrikaner Nationalists of the National Party came to Power in 1948 and began implementing the policy of Apartheid, he rose to prominence in the ANC's 1952 Defiance Campaign, was elected President of the Transvaal ANC Branch and oversaw the 1955 Congress of the People. Working as a Lawyer, he was repeatedly arrested for Seditious activities and, with the ANC leadership, was prosecuted in the Treason Trial from 1956 to 1961 but was found not guilty. Although initially committed to non-violent protest, leading a bombing campaign against Government targets. In 1962 he was arrested, convicted of sabotage and conspiracy to overthrow the Government, and sentenced to life imprisonment in the Rivonia Trial. Mandela served 27 years in Prison, first on Robben Island, and later in Pollsmoor Prison and Victor Verster Prison (10,050 days in a cell 8' X 8'). An International campaign lobbied for his release, which was granted in 1990 amid escalating Civil strife. Becoming ANC President, Mandela published his autobiography and led negotiations with President F.W. de Klerk to abolish apartheid and establish multiracial elections in 1994, in which he led the ANC to victory. He was elected President and formed a Government of National Unity in an attempt to defuse ethnic tensions. As President, he promulgated a new Constitution and initiated the Truth and Reconciliation Commission to investigate past Human Rights abuses.

Perseverance falls under the larger category of courage because it often involves continuing along a path in the midst of and after having faced opposition and perhaps failure. Mandela has received more than 250 honors, including the 1993 Nobel Peace Prize, the U.S. Presidential Medal of Freedom, and the Soviet Order of Lenin. Nelson died on December 5, 2013, at home and surrounded by his family. His death was announced by President Jacob Zuma. He is often described as "The father of the Nation". (*) (*) Source: See page 132

1926Fidel Alejandro Castro was born on August 13, 1926 BirĂĄn, Oriente Province, Cuba. The illegitimate son of a wealthy farmer, Castro adopted Leftist antiImperialist politics while studying Law at the University of Havana. After participating in Rebellions against Right-wing Governments in the Dominican Republic and Colombia, he planned the overthrow of the United States-backed military junta of Cuban President Fulgencio Batista, and served a year's imprisonment in 1953 after a failed attack on the Moncada Barracks. On release he traveled to Mexico, where he formed a Revolutionary group with his brother RaĂşl and friend Che Guevara, the 26th of July Movement. Returning to Cuba, Castro led the Cuban Revolution which ousted Batista in 1959, and brought his own assumption of Military and Political power. The victory of the Revolution provided the opportunity for a fundamental change in the way in which Blacks were treated and the way in which Black History and culture was viewed within Cuban Society. These remarks led to the Proclamation Against Racism: "We shouldn't have to pass a Law to establish a Right that should belong to every human being and member of Society ... Nobody can consider themselves to be of pure race, much less a superior race. Virtue, personal merit, heroism, generosity, should be the measure of men, not skin color." In its first hundred days in office Castro's Government passed several new laws. The telephone company was Nationalized and the rates were reduced by 50 per cent; land was redistributed amongst the Peasants (including the land owned by the Castro family); separate facilities for Blacks and Whites (swimming pools, beaches, hotels, cemeteries etc.) were abolished forever. Courage is the ability and willingness to confront unjust Laws, jail, oppression, fear, pain, danger, uncertainty, or intimidation, while moral courage is the ability to act rightly in the face of popular opposition, shame, discrimination, or discouragement. (The father of ending Black oppression in Cuba.). (*) (*) Source: See page 132

(1929-1968) Martin Luther King, Jr. was born on January 15, 1929 in Atlanta, Georgia, the middle child of the Reverend Martin Luther King, Sr. and Alberta Williams King. Growing up in Atlanta, King attended Booker T. Washington High School. A precocious student, he skipped both the ninth and the twelfth grade and entered Morehouse College at age fifteen without formally graduating from high school. In 1948, he graduated from Morehouse with a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Sociology, and enrolled in Crozer Theological Seminary in Chester, Pennsylvania, from which he graduated with a Bachelor of Divinity Degree in 1951. In 1957, King, Ralph Abernathy, and other Civil Rights activists founded the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC). The group was created to harness the moral authority and organizing power of Black Churches to conduct nonviolent protests in the service of Civil Rights Reform. King led the SCLC until his death. On August 28, 1963, more than a quarter million people of diverse ethnicities attended the March on Washington event from the steps of the Lincoln Memorial onto the National Mall and around the reflecting pool. It is regarded, as one of the finest speeches in the history of American oratory. King's speech, helped put Civil Rights for racial equality at the very top of the political agenda in the United States and facilitated passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. In 1964, King received the Nobel Peace Prize for combating racial inequality through nonviolence. In the next few years leading up to his death, he expanded his focus to include poverty and the Vietnam Warâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;alienating many of his liberal allies with a 1967 speech titled "Beyond Vietnam". King was planning a National Occupation of Washington, D.C., called the Poor People's Campaign. King was assassinated on April 4, 1968, in Memphis, Tennessee. A Memorial to Martin Luther King Jr. was constructed along the Tidal Basin at the National Mall in Washington, D.C., by the Martin Luther King Jr. National Memorial Project Foundation. (The father of ending Black Oppression in the U.S..). (*) (*) Source: See page 132

1961Barack Hussein Obama II was born on August 4, 1961 in Honolulu, Hawaii; at Kapiʻolani Maternity & Gynecological Hospital (now Kapiʻolani Medical Center for Women and Children) in Honolulu, Hawaii, and is the first President to have been born in Hawaii. His mother, Ann Dunham, was born in Wichita, Kansas, and was of mostly English ancestry. His father, Barack Obama, Sr., was a Luo from Nyang’oma Kogelo, Kenya. Obama's parents met in 1960 in a Russian class at the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa, where his father was a foreign student on scholarship. The couple married in Wailuku on Maui on February 2, 1961, separated when Obama's mother moved with her newborn son to Seattle, Washington in late August 1961 They were divorced in March 1964. Obama Sr. returned to Kenya in 1964 and remarried, visiting Barack in Hawaii only once, in 1971. He died in an automobile accident in 1982. Barack Obama is a graduate of Columbia University and Harvard Law School, where he was President of the Harvard Law Review. In June 1989, Obama met Michelle Robinson, they got married and they are the parents of two daughters. He was a Community Organizer in Chicago before earning his Law Degree. He worked as a Civil Rights attorney in Chicago and taught Constitutional law at the University of Chicago Law School from 1992 to 2004. He served three terms Representing the 13th District in the Illinois Senate from 1997 to 2004, running unsuccessfully for the United States House of Representatives in 2000. Barack Obama won the 2008 Presidential election, Obama was named the 2009 Nobel Peace Prize laureate. In April 2011. He was reelected to office in 2012. As President, Obama signed economic stimulus Legislation in the form of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 and the Tax Relief, Unemployment Insurance Reauthorization, and list goes on. He had an involvement in Libya. He ordered the military operation that resulted in the death of Osama bin Laden. In May 2012, he became the first sitting U.S. President to publicly support legalizing same-sex marriage. Obama is the 44th and current President of the United States. He is the first African American to hold the office. (*) (*) Source: See page 132

1997Malala Yousafzai, was born in 1997. She is a Pakistani schoolgirl. On October 9, 2012 Malala was shot in the head by the Taliban while on her way home from school in Pakistan for campaigning for defying a ban on female education - and now the group is threatening to kill her again. Pakistani Taliban spokesman Shahidullah Shahid said the group stands by its decision to target 16year-old Malala who he said has "targeted and criticized Islam". "She accepted that she attacked Islam so we tried to kill her, and if we get another chance we will definitely kill her and that will make us feel proud. Islam prohibits killing women, but except those that support the infidels in their War against our religion," he added.

Reading for boys only.

According to their religion, it is against the Law to teach females to read. Malala was named among the favorites to win the 2013 Nobel Peace Prize, However, she did not win the prize. The announcement is the latest in a series of impressive accolades for Malala's campaign for girls' schooling.

Malala now lives in the UK with her family but told of her plans to return to Pakistan when she had received a full education and was "fully empowered". She described the Taliban's rule of fear which had led her to speak out in the first place. "The Taliban's punishments were like slaughtering people on the Green Chowk (the main square in Malala's home town of Mingora), throwing acid on women's faces or abusing them or killing them." "I was afraid of my future. And at that time there was fear all around us, in every Street and in every square of Mingora." Malala published her autobiography in October 2013 entitled I Am Malala: The Girl Who Stood Up for Education and was Shot by The Taliban. (cont.) 91

Malala: (cont.) Malala's first thought was "Thank God I'm not dead" as she woke up terrified in a UK hospital after a Taliban gunman shot her in the head, according to extracts from the book published in the Sunday Times. The schoolgirl added that she was unable to talk, had no idea where she was and was unsure even of her own name when she emerged from a coma after six days. The last thing she recalled on October 9, 2012, the day she was shot, was sitting with her friends on a bus as it rounded an army checkpoint on the way to school in the Swat Valley in Northwest Pakistan. Friends told her that a masked gunman boarded the bus asked "Who is Malala?" and then lifted a gun to her head and fired. Seriously wounded, Malala was flown to the Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Birmingham for surgery on her skull and ear. She returned to school last March in the UK after recovering from her injuries. Malala attracted the anger of the Taliban by writing a blog for the BBC Urdu service chronicling the challenges of daily life under the Islamists. After the shooting and her move to Britain that she gained widespread adulation in the West, but remained the subject of suspicion among many conservatives in Swat. Maulana Gul Naseeb, a prominent figure in the JUI-F, one of Pakistan's leading religious political Parties, said: "America created Malala in order to promote their own culture of nudity and to defame Pakistan around the World." On October 10, 2013 the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OCPW) was named the winner of the 2013 Peace Prize. The group won the prestigious honor "for its extensive efforts to eliminate chemical weapons." Inspectors are currently at work in Syria on a United Nations-backed mission. Meanwhile, a Buckingham Palace spokesperson said Malala has been invited to a Palace Reception promoting education in Commonwealth hosted by the Queen and Duke of Edinburgh on Friday, October 18, 2013. (*)

(*) Source: See page 132

Chapter X

Madness in Chicago 2012 (*)

(*) Source: See page 132

Madness in Chicago 2012 (*)

(*) Source: See page 132

Chicago’s Murder Rate reached 500 in 2012: Chicago on Wednesday, December 27, 2012 logged its 500th homicide of the year—the first time the City has reached that threshold since 2008, according to a Redeye analysis of preliminary police data. A man was shot to death Wednesday in an alley East of California Avenue and South of 54th Street, the Tribune reported. Chicago homicides are up 15 percent this year compared to the same period last year, according to RedEye data. Homicides were up 60 percent in March compared to 2011 but the rate has slowed since then. The number of homicides had been steadily decreasing since 2008, when 513 killings were recorded. Before 2008, the City had not surpassed 500 homicides since 2003, when more than 600 homicides were logged. Austin last week recorded its fifth homicide of the month, its 35th homicide of the year, a Redeye analysis of preliminary police data found. Austin, Chicago's largest Community area, recorded 30 homicides last year, according to Redeye data. Citywide, gunshot deaths were logged in the last week in Ashburn, East Garfield Park, Humboldt Park and West Englewood, Redeye determined. In addition, a 90-year-old Englewood woman died last week of neglect, and the Cook County Medical Examiner's Office ruled the case a homicide. Seventeen homicides have been logged so far this month; 37 homicides were logged in December last year, RedEye data shows. The Chicago Tribune noted that most of the homicides this month have occurred in neighborhoods where, coincidentally, McCarthy first implemented his gang audits. Five homicides each have been recorded in the Englewood police District on the City’s South side and Harrison District on the West side. While the murder rate in Chicago is up 31 percent over last year thanks largely to a 60 percent in homicides during the first three months of 2012. murders in the Englewood and Harrison Districts to date are down overall in part to McCarthy’s strategies. Gun violence in Chicago is also up 8 percent over 2011. McCarthy has blamed the violence on the splintering of Street gangs. Last week he announced that known gang members would no longer be released on “I-Bonds,” which normally allow arrestees to be freed on their own recognizance. The group Ceasefire also started partnering with the Police Department in two of the more violent Districts in the City, after months of delays. See the following pages of the Madness in Chicago 2012 and the victims. (*) (*) Source: See page 132

Chicagoâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Black neighborhoods are suffering:

Showing 2,035+ homicides in Chicago since Jan. 1, 2007 thru Jan. 1, 2013. (*) Black on Black murders out number all other killing overwhelming. The age of death from 15 to 35 is staggering. White murders which include Hispanic is only 645 total deaths. This is a crying shame for all these young Blacks to lose their lives at an early age. Something must be done to stop this madness. Victims Killed

Percent

0-5

(8.77%)

(0.66%)

5 - 10

(1.66%)

(0.4%)

10 - 15

(6.51%)

Assault

(3.56%)

15 - 20

519

(78.52%)

Auto Crash

(0.79%)

20 - 25

662

(100.15%)

Child Abuse

(0.7%)

25 - 30

494

(74.74%)

Drowning

(0.09%)

30 - 35

318

(48.11%)

Electrocution

(0.04%)

35 - 40

187

(28.29%)

Fall

(0.04%)

40 - 45

120

(18.15%)

Fall from Height

(0.04%)

45 - 50

(14.07%)

Gunshot

2,275

(100.0%)

50 - 55

(11.5%)

Hanging

(0.04%)

55 - 60

(7.41%)

Neglect

(0.13%)

60 - 65

(3.63%)

Poisoning

(0.04%)

65 - 70

(2.42%)

Restraint

(0.04%)

70 - 75

(3.03%)

Sharp force injuries

(0.04%)

75 - 80

(1.82%)

80 - 85

(1.21%)

Stabbing

220

(9.67%)

85 - 90

(0.76%)

Strangled

(0.04%)

90 - 95

(0.3%)

Strangling

(2.46%)

Stress from Robbery

(0.04%)

Suffocation

(0.09%)

Trauma

Race

Victims

Cause of Death

Victims Killed

Percent

Asian

Abuse

(0.35%)

Black

2,038

Arson

White

645

Asphyxia

Unknown

143

(*) Source: See page 132

Age Range

Unknown

116

Chapter XI

Incarceration of Black Youth: The United States Prison system keeps marking shameful milestones. As of February 2009, the Pew Center on the States released a report showing that more than 1 in 100 American adults are presently behind bars — an astonishingly high rate of incarceration notably skewed along racial lines. One in nine Black men aged 20 to 34 are serving time, as are 1 in 36 adult Hispanic men. Now, two new reports, by The Sentencing Project and Human Rights Watch, have turned a critical spotlight on law enforcement’s overwhelming focus on drug use in low-income urban areas. These reports show large disparities in the rate at which Blacks and Whites are arrested and imprisoned for drug offenses, despite roughly equal rates of illegal drug use. Black men are nearly 12 times as likely to be imprisoned for drug convictions as adult White men, according to one haunting statistic cited by Human Rights Watch. Those who are not imprisoned are often arrested for possession of small quantities of drugs and later released — in some cases with a permanent stain on their records that can make it difficult to get a job. This starts a young person on a path to future arrests . Similar concerns are voiced by the New York Civil Liberties Union, which issued a separate study of the outsized number of misdemeanor marijuana arrests among people of color in New York City. Between 1980 and 2003, drug arrests for African-Americans in the Nation’s largest Cities rose at three times the rate for Whites, a disparity “not explained by corresponding changes in rates of drug use,” The Sentencing Project finds. In sum, a dubious anti-drug strategy spawned amid the deadly crack-related urban violence of the 1980s lives on, despite changed circumstances, the existence of cost-saving alternatives to Prison for low-risk offenders or the distrust of the Justice System sowed in minority communities. Nationally, drug-related arrests continue to climb. In 2006, those arrests totaled 1.89 million, according to Federal data, up from 1.85 million in 2005, and 581,000 in 1980. More than four-fifths of the arrests were for possession of banned drugs, rather than for their sale or manufacture. Underscoring law enforcement’s misguided priorities, fully 4 in 10 of all drug arrests were for marijuana possession. Those who favor continuing these policies have not met their burden of proving their efficacy in fighting crime. Nor have they have persuasively justified the yawning racial disparities. Black men versus White men in Prisons in the United States is "astonishing." Since most inmates are adult men, an Nationwide, Black men are incarcerated at 9.6 times the rate of White men. Thus, in Minnesota, the State with the greatest racial disparity in incarceration, a Black man is 26.8 times more likely to be in Prison than a White man. According to Department of Justice calculations, if current rates of incarceration remain unchanged, 28.5 percent of Black men will be confined in Prison at least once during their lifetime, a figure six times greater than that for White men (cont.) 100

Sagging Pants Fashion originated in Prison: Sagging is commonly reported in the media as having originated from the prohibition of belts for prisoners. Belts were banned because they could be used to commit suicide by hanging oneself, to strangle others, or as a weapon in fights. In the early 1990s, hiphop artists popularized the style unknowingly to stigmatize Blacks as thugs and exconvicts. Young people call this unkempt look a fashion choice. But for decent Blacks, it's a National embarrassment and a public nuisance for this "immoral self expression. Currently, many City and State officials are trying to take action and institute laws against this style of dress and establish fines for anyone exercising their Right to choose this style of dress. Some say the style is offensive, it’s rude, it’s a gay thing, a Black thing, it’s disrespectful, even an open invitation for sex. Some have taken the word SAGGIN and turned it around to say NIGGAS. Is this another way to change the focus and make it a label for Black culture? Would you go on a job interview with your butt hanging out? There is a time and a place for everything, even when it comes down to dressing and what you choose to wear in the outside World.

Solution to this Madness: These statistics are embarrassing to the Black race for getting incarcerated for using banned drugs. Why ruin your life getting caught with marijuana or crack cocaine? It is normal to entertain one-self with legal alcoholic beverages within limits if you are of age. We must as a race teach our young generation about not ruining their lives forever by going down the path of crime, which they will suffer their entire lifetime. Ask yourself these questions:   

Would I be able to get a good job? Would a nice decent girl go on a date with me? Would I ever be respected in my Community? (*)

(*) Source: See page 132

101

Self-hatred: Self-loathing, also sometimes auto phobia refers to an extreme dislike of oneself, or being angry at oneself. The term is also used to designate a dislike or hatred of a group to which one belongs. For instance, "ethnic self-hatred" is the extreme dislike of one's ethnic group. The term "self-hatred" is used infrequently by psychologists and psychiatrists, who would usually describe people who hate themselves as "persons with low self-esteem". Some people [who?] think that self-hatred and shame are important factors in some or many mental disorders, especially disorders that involve a perceived defect of oneself (e.g. body dysmorphic disorder). "Ethnic self-hatred" is considered by some people as being a cultural issue, to which psychological theories have limited relevance. Self-hatred is also a prime feature of many personality disorders. As with Jewish self-hate, there is some disagreement as to what it means to be Black. Some Black people feel that those who demonstrate a preference for clothing styles, music choices, etc. that have been predominantly associated with White culture are self-hating. Thus for them being Black is more just oneâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s skin color. Some, such as journalist John Carlson, have suggested that gangsta rap is a form of Black Self-hatred. In his view, when Black rappers portray Black women as "bitches" and "whores" and Black men as "worthy of respect only in relation to their capacity to kill or maim others" they are essentially expressing a form of self -hate with basically buying into and propagating, through their music, racist stereotypes about Black people. This term has been used by Black supremacist groups to defend racism, arguing that this self-hatred results from attempting to coexist with Whites. Black self-hatred can show itself in the form of embarrassment or shame in those things that are culturally identified with African heritage. Such feelings are ingrained in subtle ways from childhood. Some Black people may become reluctant to share or perpetuate activities or traditions that have in the past caused them anxiety. They may come to hate those things and, by extension, themselves. Another variation of Black self-hatred is the issue of colorism, which refers to the intercultural conflict between light-complexioned (and sometimes straight-haired) and dark-complexioned Black people. (cont.) 102

Self-hatred: (cont.) This is attributed to the effects of Slavery and segregation, as light-skinned Blacks (which included quadroons and even octoroons) have often been treated considerably better by White Slave masters, or by White society in general, than their more full-blooded brethren. Also to note is that the notion of "superiority" of light-skinned Blacks over dark-skinned Blacks, or vice versa, is scientifically erroneous, as no correlations have been found between lightness of skin in Blacks and intelligence, job success, or other factors. In addition, there are many autochthonous African (or peripheral African) groups which have narrower features and straighter hair than the classic "West African" phenotype (such as Tutsis or Aborigines), but these features had little, if anything, to do with Caucasian admixture, as was previously believed.

Black Doll verse White Doll: In 2006 filmmaker Kiri Davis recreated the doll study and documented it in a film entitled A Girl Like Me. Despite the many changes in some parts of society, she found the same results as did the Drs. Clark in their study of the late 1930s and early 1940s.Unfortunately, Kiri Davis’s compelling video is barely a drop in the bucket of evidence that social scientists have amassed indicating the continued influence of robust race-based stereotypes and prejudices. Worse still, the evidence is that those beliefs and feelings are not limited to children’s attitudes toward dolls or to the beauty sense of teenagers. question: “Can you show me the doll that looks bad?” The child, a preschool-aged Black girl, quickly picks up and shows the Black doll over a White one that is identical in every respect except complexion. “And why does that look bad? “Because she’s Black,” the little girl answers emphatically. “And why is this the nice doll?” the voice continues. “Because she’s White.” “And can you give me the doll that looks like you?” The little girl hesitates for a split second before handing over the Black doll that she has just designated as the uglier one. (*) (*) Source: See page 132

103

Extinction of Blacks in America (E-O-BIA)

Here are some disturbing numbers taken from the Dallas Morning News variety page Monday, December 14, 1998, that should concern all Blacks in the United States. 

Blacks make up only 13 percent of the population, but the comprise 43 percent of new AIDS cases.



Blacks make up more than two-thirds of new HIV infections.



Black men are seven times most likely than White men to be infected with the HIV virus.



Black women are nearly 20 times more likely to be infected than White women; even though studies show that Blacks are no more likely than Whites to use illicit drugs or engage in promiscuous and unsafe sex.



Blacks who inject drugs are two to four times more likely to be infected with the HIV virus than Whites who inject drugs.



The number of newly diagnosed AIDS cases declined by 13 percent among Whites in 1996, the first such decrease since the epidemic began in the 1980s, but did not drop among Blacks.



Gonorrhea and Syphilis is on the rebound in most major inner Cities in the United States. The sad situation is that it seems no one REALLY cares. Where is the moral outrage? (cont.) 104

Extinction of Blacks in America (E-O-BIA): (cont.) The victims are the defenseless children of the inner Cities. Unnecessary suffering could all but be eliminated if common sense could take place. The overriding reason this is all happening is self gratification and disregarding the consequences of one’s own actions. Women and children including those who do not use drugs apparently also suffer increased risk of contracting AIDS. The promiscuous behavior of Black men could be one reason for the spread of STD (sexual transmitted disease). The risk of infection increases when unprotected sex is practiced. This is one way to unconsciously destroy oneself if you really do not love yourself. Many Blacks are searching for acceptance and love in the wrong places. Stop it and begin to love yourself body and soul, no matter what the circumstances. Life is a gift from God, accept it and be thankful you are living because your life will be over in a matter of time. It boils down to two questions: 

Will I live my life in a dignified manner as God would want me?



Will I live my life in despair with a diseased ridden body and suffer the rest of my life?

These figures are hard cold facts. What are we Black people going to do about them? Are we going to blame the White man again for this? Are we going to blame the Government for not giving out condoms and syringes? The social burden of taking care of this matter with tax payers money will become astronomical. Are we going to blame the dope dealer? Are we going to blame our so called political leaders? I think the latter would be more appropriate. Lets stop the blame game at once and for good. The time has come for all decent Black American citizens to take a stand. We must rid the Black Community of drugs, illicit sex, lack of morality and lawlessness. This is if we as a Civilized Society want to carry our Nation into the third Millennium. So it is up to you if this concerns you. Remember, the World will continue to grow and expand to a higher level with or without a Black person. Did the World stop evolving when the Do-Do bird became extinct? Maybe the time of the Black man on Earth has expired and is going the way of the Do-Do bird. Do you realize what is happening to us? Maybe this is the demise of the Black man on Earth from his own self destruction. Therlee Gipson 105

Sexual Responsibility:

Am I ready for sexual responsibility? Every female should ask this question of herself. Am I ready for sexual responsibility? The answer is usually much more complicated than it appears. Fifty years ago most children thought babies were delivered to their home by a Stark. Today children know from an early age, babies come from their mothers, not a Stark. Do we have a choice to reproduce or not to reproduce? We can agree to yes, we have a choice. We understands having sexual intercourse between a male and a female can produce a baby. Having established the basic knowledge of where babies come from, we should agree that creating a baby should be between two grown responsible adults, and not from children. Children must depend on their parents for their survival and well being. The burden of a baby should not be trusted upon the State, County, City or any individual, except the responsible parties. There must be some type of Legislation addressing this responsibility. The State should enact into the curriculum of all schools (private or public), educating all adolescents before they become of child bearing age to know the consequences of sex and parenthood. The following things below should be instilled in all teenage girls on the downfalls of parenthood: Your life will change forever once you have a baby.  Your childhood is over once you have a baby.  Your responsibility is to the baby’s survival.  Your baby ‘s daddy is not able to take care of you.  Your baby’s daddy will move on in most cases.  Your parent's life are in turmoil over this event.  Your friendship with other teenagers are damaged.  Your social life is to a standstill because of the baby.  Your dreams are diminished because of the baby.  Your marriage are more likely to fail because of the baby. (cont.) 

106

Sexual Responsibility: Thinks about the consequences of the above things before you think about having sex. Knowing the consequences of having sex should deter teenage pregnancy in schools. Unnecessary hardship should not be put upon any teenager by having a baby, which can and should be prevented in the first place. Biologists define sexual maturity as the point at which an organism can reproduce itself. That is fine for grass or worms or birds and maybe even most mammals. It is an inadequate description of the human female. It seems to imply that once the menses have begun, we are ready. This is not necessarily true. Let’s consider the changes needed for a female to be sexually mature as being physiological, psychological and social.

Physiological: The first signs of maturity are usually a swelling of the areola – the wider part of the nipples – and the beginning of breast growth. Some months later, the onset of the menses occurs and then full-blown puberty. The changes in the body are much more widespread and take much longer than most realize. The risks of sex during this time are very high. If the menses are irregular, so is ovulation. More careful use of contraception is required if a teenager chooses to become sexually active early in adolescence because the timing of risk is virtually impossible. Some females do not ovulate every month; others ovulate several times each month; some begin to ovulate from one ovary and not the other. You must consider yourself to always be fertile. The only answer to keeping your virginity (males and females) is to have no sex or sexual foreplay under any circumstances. Remember the time will come for you to share sexual feeling with your mate. Stay strong and stay focus on your future and your health. Remember, you must be adamant about sex and must drive your point through your brain because you have all to gain by having no sex with a bright future ahead, and all to lose by having sex before marriage. Being an adolescent is not always easy. In fact, teens are often faced with very complicated and important decisions. One such decision is whether or not to have sex. If you don’t protect yourself and stand up your principles, who will? Say "NO" and keep saying "NO" as many times as it takes to get the point across. (*) (*) Source: See page 132

107

Black-on-Black Violence: Dear Editor, I hope you take time and publish this letter in your editorial section. We, the law abiding citizens have to take a stand now and forever hence forth. Black-on-Black Violence in our neighborhoods to our citizen will not be tolerated any more. We must unite as a people army against Black-on-Black Violence because our so call leaders in our Community cannot fight this cancer on Society alone. There should be an anonymous committee chosen by the Mayors of each City in the entire DFW Metroplex to select a special task force to tackle this matter with quick and decisive speed and monitor Black-on-Black Violence and get the perpetrators off our Streets as quickly as possible and behind bars. I have spoken with many White citizen about this matter. They are thinking the same thing I think. Why are some Black leaders always blaming racism on the problem of Black-on-Black Violence? They remain silent when daily, Black are killing, robbing, car jacking , drive by shooting and the list goes on and on. There is nothing much said on our Black Radio Stations about this matter. Are we just in denial? If this is the reason, we Blacks are in grave danger of extinction as an group in United States. Maybe Black are not needed in this Country to do the dirty work anymore. Take a look around and see for yourself. Who’s doing it now? Where is the outrage in our Black Churches on this tragic Black-on-Black Violence matter? Maybe they are uncannily allowing Blacks to practice genocide on themselves since they really don’t like themselves. This has been proven time after time. Look at Black entertainers and Black athletes. Once they get famous, they never go back to their Communities. What examples are they giving the future generations coming behind them? There is no hope unless successful Blacks set an example on morality and decency toward other people and give support to the unfortunate ones. We are doomed as a group and have no one to blame but ourselves. We are doing this malady to ourselves. I pray God will someday send a strong Black leader in the future with the strength and wisdom of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. to tackle this hideous Black-on-Black Violence and cure it once forever more. I pray that one day other ethnic groups will come and live in predominately Black neighborhoods without any fear of vandalism and disrespect to Law and Order. What a wonderful day that would be when we can live in peace, harmony and security with each other. White racists actually believe that Blacks are simply prone to criminality, and must be held in check through rigorous surveillance and the iron hand of a vast incarceration system. However, they rarely voice these base opinions so baldly, but instead blame welfare dependency and chinks in the armor of the criminal Justice System as the culprit. These reactionaries are not really upset by the gruesome statistics of Black-on-Black Violence, but rather, they celebrate them, as proof of White Superiority. American Society devalues Black life, and every Black child knows it. Blacks tend to moan and groan about ignorance and – above all – racial selfhatred, as the root cause of fratricide among African Americans. Blacks hate their condition and hate each other for being in it, the theory goes, and therefore lash out, brother against brother, and brother against sister, and so on. Therlee Gipson 108

Bullying: Bullying is the use of force, threat, or coercion to abuse, intimidate, or aggressively to impose domination over others. The behavior is often repeated and habitual. One essential prerequisite is the perception, by the bully or by others, of an imbalance of social or physical power. Behaviors used to assert such domination can include verbal harassment or threat, physical assault or coercion, and such acts may be directed repeatedly towards particular targets. Justifications and rationalizations for such behavior sometimes include differences of class, race, religion, gender, sexuality, appearance, behavior, or ability. If bullying is done by a group, it is called mobbing. The target of bullying is sometimes referred to as a "victim ". Bullying in school and the workplace is also referred to as peer abuse. A bullying culture can develop in any context in which human beings interact with each other. This includes school, family, the workplace, home, and neighborhoods. In a 2012 study of male adolescent football players, "the strongest predictor was the perception of whether the most influential male in a player's life would approve of the bullying behavior". Bullying can occur in nearly any part in or around the school building, though it may occur more frequently in physical education classes and activities, recess, hallways, bathrooms, on school buses and while waiting for buses, and in classes that require group work and/or after school activities. Bullying in school sometimes consists of a group of students taking advantage of or isolating one student in particular and gaining the loyalty of bystanders who want to avoid becoming the next victim. These bullies may taunt and tease their target before physically bullying the target. Bystanders may participate or watch, sometimes out of fear of becoming the next victim. Cyber-bullying is any bullying done through the use of technology. This form of bullying can easily go undetected because of lack of parental/authoritative supervision. Because bullies can pose as someone else, it is the most anonymous form of bullying. Cyber bullying includes, but is not limited to, abuse using email, instant messaging, text messaging, websites, social networking sites, etc. Particular watch dog organizations have been designed to contain the spread of cyberbullying. (*) (*) Source: See page 132

109

Laws by Man, not God: I was born on August 10, 1939 in Overton, Texas. My memory goes back to when I was a child. My mother told me that when I was born I was a light skinned baby until I began to play outside and became darker. I really didn't understand what she meant until she told me when she was a little girl, her sisters would make fun of her older sister, Ada by spelling the word BLACK and they would spell ADA and everyone would laugh. To them Black was despised and was ugly. I began to think I was ugly and despised because I was dark. I began to dislike myself because I was Black, which etched inferiority into my mind at an early age. However, my mother never told me that she wished I was lighter. Somehow, I could feel that deep inside of her she wanted all her kids to be light skinned like my father so they would not be looked down on because they were dark skinned. My mother was a dark skinned woman, however my father was a light skinned man. I assumed she married my father hoping her off-springs would be lighter. In reality, that was not the case. Out of seven children only two was born lighter; the rest was dark like her. By the others being of a darker hue she never showed any bias, she treated us all the same until her death at an early age of thirty five. After my mother death, my aunt Ada came to live with my father and my six siblings. She introduced us to religion. I was baptized into the Church of God and Christ at the age of twelve. Once I began to read the Bible, I really became confused about Noah cursed Hamâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s son Caanan off-springs to be servants forever. I began to ponder my mind with many questions about my status with God. Africa is home to the oldest inhabited territory on Earth, with the human race originating from that Continent. The real truth about Godâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s first creation of mankind was most likely primitive humans. Science put the evolution of primitive mankind somewhere around 200,000 years ago according to scientific evidence from human bones discovered in Africa. So if this is true, Adam and Eve were not Hebrew people, they were of another ethnic group. Most likely they would have had muddy or black skin with Negroid features. However, some of them migrated to different regions of the earth and gradually changed their features according to their environment, which means all races on earth are the off-springs of the Black race. (cont.) 110

Laws by Man, not God: (cont.) This analogy of the human race makes more common sense to me. Below is a story about the origin of the Black race coming from a Curse by God. Moses is traditionally considered the transcriber of the Torah, or the first five books of the Bible. Sometime around three thousand years ago Moses wrote a story about Noah and the Ark. Here is an insert from the story of Noah: "Noah plants a vineyard, drinks wine, and falls into a drunken sleep. Ham, son of Noah, sees his father naked; when Noah awakes he places a curse on Ham's son Canaan, saying that he and all his descendants shall henceforth be Slaves to Ham's brothers Shem and Japheth." The notion of the Bibleâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s "Curse of Ham" is an insult to the rational of any logical thinking person. The story about "the curse" doomed the Black race for thousands of years. This led to Slavery and bondage of the Black race because Moses wrote this in the Bible. (even to this day Blacks still have that stigma on them in a sense, from Moses story in the Bible) This is one reason why religion is dangerous. God made the Black man different to withstand the harsh elements in Africa, 200,000 years ago, which is not a curse. Now does that story about Noah cursing the Black race make sense to anyone? Noah was a just man with compassion. If you believe in the Bible verbatim, the Black man would be doomed for as long as the World is in existence. The Bible words according to the Christian faith can not change and they are the words from God almighty yesterday, today and forever. This is why our Anglo Saxon White founding fathers had the wisdom and moral strength to write a Constitution for "all humans" in the United States of America with the separation of Church and State in our constitution. This document established the Laws by man and not by Godâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Law (A Law that doomed the Black race forever). My research in writing this book is to inform any logic thinking person with an open mind to read the many struggles the Black race had to overcome to get where we are today. (*) (*) Source: See page 132

111

Deep Rooted Slavery: Slavery is a system under which people are treated as property to be bought and sold, and are forced to work. Slaves can be held against their will from the time of their capture, purchase or birth, and deprived of the right to leave, to refuse to work, or to demand compensation. Historically, Slavery was institutionally recognized by many Societies; in more recent times Slavery has been outlawed in most societies but continues through the practices of debt bondage, indentured servitude, serfdom, domestic servants kept in captivity, certain adoptions in which children are forced to work as slaves, child soldiers, and forced marriage.

Hopelessness: Hopelessness is the state which promotes the belief in good outcomes related to events and circumstances in one's life. Despair is often regarded as the opposite of hope. Hope is the "feeling that what is wanted can be had or that events will turn out for the best" or the act of "look[ing] forward to something with desire and reasonable confidence" or "freedom that something desired may happen."

Inferiority: An inferiority complex is a lack of self-worth, a doubt and uncertainty, and feeling of not measuring up to society's standards. It is often subconscious, and is thought to drive afflicted individuals to overcompensate, resulting either in spectacular achievement or extreme antisocial behavior. The term was coined to indicate a lack of covert self esteem. For many, it is developed through a combination of genetic personality characteristics and personal experiences. (cont.) 112

Deep Rooted (cont.) Discrimination: Discrimination is the prejudicial and/or distinguishing treatment of an individual based on their actual or perceived membership in a certain group or category, restricting members of one group from opportunities or privileges that are available to another group, leading to the exclusion of the individual or entities based on their race.

Self-esteem: Self-esteem is a term used in psychology to reflect a person's overall emotional evaluation of his or her own worth. It is a judgment of oneself as well as an attitude toward the self. Self-esteem encompasses beliefs (for example, "I am competent," "I am worthy") and emotions such as triumph, despair, pride and shame.

Lynching: Lynching is an extrajudicial execution carried out by a mob, often by hanging, but also by burning at the stake or shooting, in order to punish an alleged transgressor, or to intimidate, control, or otherwise manipulate a population of people. Violence in the United States against Black Americans, especially in the South, rose in the aftermath of the Civil War, after Slavery had been abolished and recently freed Black men were given the Right to Vote. Violence rose even more at the end of the 19th Century, after Southern White Democrats regained their political power in the South in the 1870s. States passed new Constitutions or Legislation which effectively disfranchised most Blacks and many poor Whites, established segregation of public facilities by race, and separated Blacks from common public life and facilities. Nearly 3,500 African Americans and 1,300 Whites were lynched in the United States between 1882 and 1968, mostly from 1882 to 1920.

Oppression: Institutional Oppression occurs when established Laws, customs, and practices systematically reflect and produce inequities based on oneâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s membership in targeted social identity groups. If oppressive consequences accrue to Institutional Laws, customs, or practices, the institution is oppressive whether or not the individuals maintaining those practices have oppressive intentions. (*) (*) Source: See page 132

113

Black Marriage and Unity: Black people should be proud of their race and see beauty in their own kind.( the movie Avatar (2009) is an example of self love). Black people should love and take care of other Black people. The principles of preserving your race first, selfreliance and nationhood. Race first is the idea that Black people should support and marry other Black people first and foremost, self-reliance is the idea that Black people should become unified again. Black men in America should stop being selfish with greed and self gratification. They should love their women and children whom are a part of them. Blacks don’t have to marry outside of their race to feel superior or achieve a special status in life. In a White man’s eyes you are still the "N" word and the White woman becomes White trash in most of their minds. The vast majority of White men prefer their own kind from self dignity within. Even though they don’t like their pale skin. They may lust for a Black female in their minds and follow through with it. In the final analysis in most cases, they will always be dedicated to their own race and off-springs. They will always keep wealth and power in their own race. There are literally thousands of beautiful Black women of all shades, which a Black man can choose from. However, when a Black man become successful. He looks for another woman in another race. Then, the only way a Black women can achieve wealth is from their hard work by themselves. Do White male professionals flock to Black females because of the stigma of not wanting to be White? I wouldn’t think so. This mindset must end. Look at a Black female from a different prospective. Degrading them should be the last thing you look down on them for. There should be other priorities, such as: intelligence, personality, trustworthiness, hygiene and morals, not necessarily in that order. In a report named after U.S. Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan, was released in 1965; he warned that rising illegitimacy rates and a "tangle of pathology" threatened the stability of African American families and put at risk the income and equality gains African Americans had achieved through the Civil Rights Movement. (cont.) 114

Black Marriage and Unity (cont.) Solution: The degrading game is over, this a new era. The future of the Black race is in the Black manâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s hands. It is up to Black men to take charge, I mean CHARGE! Dedication and self pride and love must be the priority for young Blacks. This will be the only solution to uplifting the Black race. Learning the history of the Black struggle in libraries which are abundant throughout the United States and they are free. The internet is available on the cell phone. Black children must learn to read instead of playing games such as play stations, basketball and football. There is more to their life than entertainment. This waste of time must stop or the Black race will be doom and become extinct as the Do-Do bird. Black men must step-up and take control of the household and be the leader of the family like it suppose to be. No woman can ever take the place of a male figure in the household. (This mean a strong family loving man). A drug addict or dysfunctional irresponsible man is not fit to be the leader of his household or anything else. The penitentiary is full of those types. Black youth need to learn how to take control of their lives. If they could, they would not be incarcerated. Black females must be responsible for their daughters and teach them from the mistakes they made with non productive irresponsible men in their lives. Their daughters is living it everyday without their father being in the home. Teach them from the mistakes you made, maybe they will stop this cycle of suffering in poverty depending on the Government for their survival. Black marriage is at a all time low, mainly because of Black men reluctance of getting marriage, also the economic climate in the United States. There are several reason why this is so. Marriages can be very expensive, starting from a court house marriage to a formal church wedding which can cost thousands of dollars. Remember, marriage should be a lifetime commitment. We must bring unity and marriage back to the Black family. This was the way it was in the past for many Black couples. Life will always be a struggle. However, you can make a success of it if you are committed to unity. (*) (*) Source: See page 132

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Pride of Self and Nation: Pride is a topic for discussing. There are several reasons a Black female never marries: Such as not finding a suitable mate, commitment to career or other personal reasons. But if a successful Black female does decide to get married, there is a dilemma….. The question is, Should I marry into another ethnic group? There are literally thousands of Black marriages today, but they are on the decline. The Black couples eventually will marry are the lucky ones. I am pride of all the achievements Black professional people attain. However, Today’s young generation are reluctant to marry, only cohabitate. What a disgrace to leave a legacy like this. There are no family roots. The trend, I am seeing as I write this book is Black men, who become successful prefer Multiracial or White women for their mate. This leaves the Black female in a dilemma when it comes to finding a suitable mate. How sad!!!!!!!!! Blacks should be pride of their racial heritage and not be ashamed of their mother’s roots or where they came from.. Once they realize everything came from Black, they might change their way of thinking. Ponder this paragraph: When role models are presented in a positive way, it will decrease resentment and inferiority from being breaded into a people. When a people discovers positive contributions their forebears contributed to Society, it gives hope and pride to them; then they can grasp what the color of Black really means. Today, Black men have the opportunity to become anything they strive to achieve, including the President of the United States. However, they still do not support their Black mothers and Black sisters. who needs a successful Black man in their lives. Black men should look upon their Blackness as strength instead of a weakness. Marry your own kind and keep your lineage strong. However, the stigma of being Black and the lack of knowledge has hindered Blacks, who are blessed with talent and fame to betray their own kind, without giving a Black female any chance to be successful and happy with her own kind. Wisdom to overcome inferiority and cherish your own kind is the only answer for Blacks to be accepted as equals. Finally, thank God for your special gift and be proud of your roots like MLK Jr. and President Barak Obama, who married real Black women. Therlee Gipson 116

Building of a Nation and Black Men Failures: Each individual has the God given Right to live his or her life as they chooses. However, being born Black with the odds being against you are a special struggle. Thatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s why you should instill in yourself the wisdom from natural instinct to leave a legacy for your love ones to lift themselves up from some kind of foundation left behind for the betterment of their lives and pass it on to the next generation and so on. This should be done without being cohered or forced. This is love of self and your off springs, this is what God intended a civilized man should do.

Building of a Nation: There is only on way to build a Nation. It is about love of family, unity, hard work and togetherness. This type of philosophy is practice by the Jewish Community to help anyone to become successful. This frame of thinking encourage each to struggle and participate together. For example Israel was created in 1948. Today, they are the most powerful Nation in the middle East because of hard work and working together instead of against each other. The Jewish people has suffered persecution for thousand of years. Somehow they have manage to endure and strive as a people. No matter what, they stick together and help each other. Why canâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t the Black man do the same in this day and time?

Black Men Failures: Life is meaningless if a Black men achieve fame them squander their fortunes on wasteful spending without consideration of thinking about the struggle they had to go through to achieve what they have. Living their lives like there is no tomorrow and thinking their success will never end is a fool. The sad thing is when Black men achieve fame there is NO ONE there to mentor them on how to keep their finances for the future after their fame and their health come to an end. All fame and success will eventually come to an end, it is just a matter of time, then you will not have anything to show for it. Oh, maybe a Street named in your honor, or some type of award or trophy. Today in Sports, Black men dominate Basketball and Football and has nothing to show for it but a Bentley, Jewelry and a home that will eventually be reprocessed from lack of paying their taxes; Not even a scholarship fund is left behind for their off springs. What a pitiful shame. Fortunate, all Black men are not so stupid and selfish. I pray to God that Black men will Man Up and take their rightful place in our society and raise their children to become law providing citizens who are productive no matter where their fate lead them. Deeply, I truly believe Black Men will eventually attain the goal of unity and family. Never give up because if the Black man do. The Black man in America will become extinct. What a sad dilemma to end the most Blessed, Energetic, Strongest and Talented people in the World. (BEST) Therlee Gipson 117

What United States must do: We need more compassion and common decency. We need to embrace human dignity. We need to stop waging Wars. We need less fighting within our own Congress and our local Governments. We need to eliminate hate speech, racism, bigotry, and sexism at home first, before trying to fix the rest of the World. We need to stop spreading intolerance and hatred by hiding behind the cloak of religion. We need more compromise, negotiation, and leadership. We must realize that flexibility and teamwork are desirable qualities, not weaknesses. We need to support policies and programs that ensure the availability of great and equal education for all children. We need effective programs that feed our poor while helping them build up sustainable livelihoods, again. We need well-paid, middle class jobs that lead to careers. We need to rebuild our crumbling infrastructure. And we need a new, smart infrastructure. We need to work now; put people back to work and re-energize the economy while money is still cheap. We need a WPA-II - we need huge stimulus. We need to hold those truly responsible for the economic crisis accountable for their actions. It was not those on food stamps (SNAP) who caused our Nation's financial problems. And now our banks are five times bigger and much more insulated and protected than when they were "too big to fail." We need to hold those responsible who lie and commit fraud and use our Country as their own piggy bank to personally profit or promote their agenda. We need to set a precedent that lies cannot be tolerated from those who lead us. (cont.) 118

What United States must do: (cont.) We are America. We have a duty to our own people that has been long overlooked. Rather than policing the rest of the World, we need to look within our Nation. We need to feed our hungry, clothe our poor, and find long term solutions for our internal problems instead of short term band aids, and ignoring those in need. We need to invest in our citizens and our future. Congress needs to stop the petty power struggles and focus on what they were elected to do: help the American people. People are hurting, and it is up to our elected officials to come together to create, fix, and fund programs, like Social Security, Medicaid, Medicare, and more, that will support every American citizen rather than suppress them by taking Rights away. We, as citizens, must vote to elect those to power who truly have our best interests at heart Despite what some would have us believe, the United States budget cannot be compared to a household budget. The job of the Government is to take care of its people. We must hold the American Government to a higher standard. The first priority of the U.S. Government should be U.S. citizens, not corporations and big business, no matter how much they may donate to a campaign. We must get money out of campaigns and politics. The American people must come first - before Foreign aid, before Corporations, before anything else. Even now, as Syria looms larger and more horrific every day. We cannot afford to become embroiled in another conflict, especially a Civil War, while leaving our own citizens without the Right to Vote, without healthcare, clean air and water, without jobs, and without the best quality education. We must condemn the actions in Syria with a strongly-worded, International declaration presented by all the World's Countries.... (All 99% who believe using chemical weapons is a war crime.) We must not bomb another Country. We need to start at the beginning. Support our children. Educate all children. Rework the Justice System. Help those who make small mistakes to atone for them and reintegrate successfully into Society, rather than losing them into the system. We must put our differences aside, from politics to religion, and come together to rebuild our Nation as the great America we used to be. We must care enough about each other and our futures to erase class lines and give our children every opportunity we can. We must cast away hate and intolerance, and once again truly become the United States of America. (*) (*) Source: See page 132

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Glenn Beck opinion on homeless Black woman with 15 children: A Black woman with 15 kids (and no spouse) complains that people around aren’t doing enough to help her – even though her rent, food and furniture have all been covered by good Samaritans and the Government. You have to hear it to believe it! “Somebody needs to be held accountable, and they need to pay,” she said. “Close the legs, lady. Close the legs,” Glenn joked (after lots of head exploding, ear piercing screaming). “Anybody have a tranquilizing dart they can shoot me with?” he begged. “Lady. Did you have your pants off maybe too many times in your life? Is that possible? Is it possible? What are you out doing? What are your children out doing? I’d like to know. How many of them are even mowing somebody’s lawn? How many of them are actually out trying to take any job, any job? Not a good job. Any job. What is it you have done? Have you thought about birth control? Here’s an idea. Have you thought about marrying a man? Have you thought about marrying a man or not having kids with a man who isn’t going to jail? Have you thought about, you know, maybe we should slow down on the sex thing? Accountable? I’m not accountable for your life. I am accountable for my life. I have been working my ass off, lady. What have you been doing?” he said. “I don’t have time for it! Because I’m working my ass off!” “You know what I’m going to do? I’m going to go find somebody who wants to change their life. I’m going to go find somebody who has worked their brains out and is really struggling and doesn’t want anybody’s help but will take it because they have to. And they’re embarrassed by it and they want to get off it as much as they can. So they work as hard as they can to get off. I’m going to help those people every single second of the day. Not you. Nope. Nope. I’m going to make you, to quote Ben Franklin, as uncomfortable in your poverty as we can possibly make it. I’m not responsible. You are. I’ll help, but you’re responsible,” Glenn added. 

Are you kidding me?! After the State pays for two kids, it should be mandatory sterilization. Don't you understand "consequences"? (*)

(*) Source: See page 132

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Chapter XII

121

Slaves Dress Code 1813: (Rags)

(*) Source: See page 132

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Blacks Dress Code 2013: (200 years later)

(*) Source: See page 132

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African Tattoos 1813:

(*) Source: See page 132

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African American Tattoos 2013:

(*) Source: See page 132

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African Hairstyles 1813:

(*) Source: See page 132

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African American Hairstyles 2013:

(*) Source: See page 132

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Chapter XIII

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Black Lives Matter is an American activist grassroots Movement that can be traced back to the July 2013 acquittal of George Zimmerman in the Florida shooting death of African-American teen Trayvon Martin. It received fresh impetus from the 2014 shooting of Michael Brown, an African-American teen, and the death of Eric Garner, as well as the acquittals of both of the officers who killed them. The Black Lives Matter Movement also speaks out and organizes against police brutality against African-Americans in the United States. Some of the unarmed African-Americans who died at the hands of Law enforcement have had their deaths protested by the Movement, including Tamir Rice, Eric Harris, Walter Scott, and Freddie Gray (which sparked the 2015 Baltimore protests). The Movement was co-founded by three Black activists: (From left to right) Alicia Garza, Patrisse Cullors, and Opal Tometi. The shooting of Walter Scott by a White policeman was recorded by a bystander, who contacted a local activist involved with Black Lives Matter; they, in turn, contacted Scott's family to take possession of the video. Soon after the video was released to the public, the officer was arrested and charged with murder. The case is pending. (cont.) 129

Description and events: The Movement began as a hashtag after George Zimmerman's 2013 acquittal for the shooting death of Trayvon Martin, and gained momentum after the shooting of Michael Brown, the shooting of John Crawford III, and the death of Eric Garner, all in 2014. Currently, there are 23 Black Lives Matter Chapters in the U.S., Canada, and Ghana. The Organization states that Black Lives Matter is "a unique contribution that goes beyond extrajudicial killings of Black people by Police and Vigilantes" and that "Black Lives Matter affirms the lives of Black queer and trans folks, disabled folks, Black undocumented folks, folks with records, women and all Black lives along the gender spectrum." The Movement has received Worldwide media attention due to its massive scope and ongoing existence. Protesters and protest Organizers have met with U.S. President Barack Obama and other prominent leaders to demand an end to what they view as racial profiling, Police brutality, mass incarceration of African-Americans, and the militarization of many U.S. Police Departments. As of July 29, 2015, at least 984 Black Lives Matter demonstrations had been held Worldwide. In August 2014, during Labor Day weekend, Black Lives M at te r o rga nize d a 'Freedom Ride' that brought more than 500 Black people from across the Nation into Ferguson, Missouri, to support the work being done on the ground by local Organizations. Black Lives Matter members and supporters rode in from New York City, Newark, Boston, Chicago, Columbus, Miami, Detroit, Houston, Oakland, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Nashville, Portland, Tucson, Washington, D.C., and more, in a similar way to that of the Freedom Riders in the 1960s. In December 2014, at least 20 members of a protest that had been using the slogan were arrested at the Mall of America in Bloomington, Minnesota. (cont.) 130

Influence: The #BlackLivesMatter hashtag was created by Alicia Garza and Patrisse Cullors right after the acquittal of George Zimmerman in the Trayvon Martin trial. The American Dialect Society chose the hashtag form of the phrase as their word of the year for 2014. Vida Johnson (see photo on left) and other Black professors support the Movement. Founder Alicia Garza has denounced certain corporate and mainstream appropriations and adaptations of the #BlackLivesMatter hashtag and slogan which she believes ignore or contradict the spirit and philosophy behind it, including the "Our Lives Matter" iteration. She has written: "#BlackLivesMatter doesn’t mean your life isn’t important–it means that Black lives, which are seen as without value within White supremacy, are important to your liberation". In a video interview with Laura Flanders, Garza discussed how "changing Black Lives Matter to All Lives Matter is a demonstration of how we don't actually understand structural racism in this Country". She went on to discuss how other lives are valued more than Black lives, which she strongly feels is wrong, and that to take blackness out of this equation is inappropriate. In a Twitter post, Black Lives Matter said, "If you really believe that all lives matter, you will fight like hell for Black lives." A group of Asian-Americans created the hashtag #Asians4BlackLives in solidarity with the Movement and specifically to confront anti-blackness in some AsianAmerican Communities. Black Lives Matter appeared in an episode of Law & Order: SVU. The TV drama Scandal expressed support to the Black Lives Matter Movement on their March 5, 2015 episode that showed an unarmed Black teen shot by a Police officer. The hastag #BlueLivesMatter was created by supporters who stood up for Police officers' lives. "Blue Lives Matter" was read on signs at a pro-police officer rally at the Civic Center in Downtown Denver. At the Netroots Nation Conference in Los Angeles, Democratic Presidential candidate Martin O'Malley declared "All Lives Matter" and was booed by Black Lives Matter demonstrators. (*) (*) Source: See page 132

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Acknowledgements It would be impossible to list the names of all the persons who have contributed in some way to the realization of this research. Thanks For making it possible to gather all the facts and theories and put them into this book. I acknowlege and give thanks to all the public records and all free encyclopedia web sites for photos and information thatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s available, so the public can be informed and educated.

(*) Source: (*) Source information on each individual or article came from Wikipedia, Google or Yahoo; unless otherwise noted: (Research by author). Each article is only the summary of each individualâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s life or event. Additional information on these subject matters can be retrieved from Wikipedia, Google or Yahoo.

Content Disclaimer Inclusion of articles in this book does not mean that the author agree with all the views presented in articles within this Book "America MUST Understand BLACK RAGE". The author will always give opposing views equal treatment: you, the readers, are clever enough to decide who has the better arguments. The author exercises its sole discretion in determining to include whatever materials happen to strike his attention; stimulate the thoughts of, or enliven discussions among others; or which otherwise informs the public about issues which are related to the goals of informing the public. Frequently, the materials included within this book will represent more than one side of any given issue. Accordingly, statements made within any documents or any other materials in any of these pages or anywhere else used to support the book "America MUST Understand BLACK RAGE" do not necessarily represent the views or opinions of anyone else at all, other than the author of the material in question. None of the authors, contributors, sponsors, administrators, web sights or anyone else connected with the research author in any way whatsoever can be responsible for the appearance of any inaccurate or libelous information or your use of the information contained in this book. Therlee Gipson

TO PURCHASE ADDITIONAL COPIES "America MUST Understand BLACK RAGE" Google amazon.com books Key in the author name: Therlee Gipson in the book dept. 132