By Alton H. Maddox, Jr.
"Vigilantism" is not new to American jurisprudence. It predates the Articles of Confederation and it certainly predates the U.S. Constitution. Vigilantism is an arm of white supremacy and also an arm of the white, business community Black's Law Dictionary defines "Vigilantism" as follows: The act of a citizen who takes the law into his or her own hands by apprehending and punishing suspected criminals.
Vigilantism is a part of a tripartite relationship. The other components are the business community and the law enforcement community. The business community funds vigilantism and the law enforcement community protects vigilantism which, in turn, protects the private ownership of property. This is a function of capitalism.
In the history of the United States, it has been rare for the criminal justice system to punish a white vigilante for inflicting harm on a person of African ancestry. You can count those cases on the fingers of one hand. Congress has never passed anti-lynching legislation.
A case in point is State v. Johnson. In an unprecedented fashion, the U.S. Supreme Court assumed original jurisdiction of the lynching of Ed Johnson who allegedly raped a white woman. Afterwards, law enforcement personnel would hound the two Black lawyers out of the United States. They had successfully confronted vigilantism in the U.S. Supreme Court.
There is more to the shooting of an unarmed Trayvon Martin than what is being printed or aired in the news media. George Zimmerman, the vigilante, is being protected by the law enforcement community, the business community and the news media. A special prosecutor has been appointed to hide the motives of these special interests.
Vigilantism is a complex system and it has antennas in many quarters. For any prosecutor, the killing of Trayvon Martin should be a cakewalk but the prosecution will be hampered by organized, white supremacists. Blacks can win but it will take more than those who are currently hollering No Justice! No Peace!
I will be discussing the legal structure of vigilantism and its use as a tool to protect capitalism. This discussion will happen at an in-depth legal seminar at the Cotton Club, 656 West 125th Street in Harlem this Saturday, March 31 at 9:00 a.m. The mission of this legal seminar is to protect the mission of Medgar Evers. His mission was to uproot censorship.
Thomas Jefferson, a white supremacist, said that "the cost of freedom is eternal vigilance". This is a truth and it can be spoken by anyone including a white supremacist. Black's Law Dictionary defines "vigilance" as follows:
Watchfulness; precaution; a proper degree of activity and promptness in pursuing one's rights, in guarding them from infraction, and in discovering opportunities for enforcing one's lawful claims and demands.
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