When I was a young child, I never associated the "Negro" with a "chicken" on the farm although history would repeat itself with the killing of a chicken every Saturday. For six days a week, most Blacks were vegetarians. The Sabbath was not only a day of rest but also a day to eat the "gospel bird" with lard and rejoicing in the "Lord".
Somewhere in this process, Blacks acquired the DNA of the "gospel bird". Because the Hon. Elijah Muhammad grew up on a farm in Sandersville, GA, he, at some point in his life, was able to associate the "Negro" with the "gospel bird". Every Saturday, he saw a "gospel bird" getting the axe. In 1962, his conclusion, as I heard it about Black people, startled me.
I left the "Cotton Curtain" in 1962 for Howard University, "the capstone of Negro education". "Cotton" also came to Harlem in the 1960's. Before I arrived on campus from a segregated train, I was listening to a radio program in a taxi en route to the campus. I was unfamiliar with the speaker but I remember him saying, "The Negro is deaf, dumb and blind".
In 1954, in Brown v. Board of Education, the U.S. Supreme Court said that Blacks were receiving an inferior education in Jim Crow schools. The NAACP told us that the U.S. Supreme Court wanted Jim Crow education to come to a "deliberate" halt even though it was guided by the doctrine of stare decisis.
Chief Justice Roger Taney in dictum in 1857 said in Dred Scott: "No Negro has any right that a white man is bound to respect". This was not American jurisprudence. Blacks were not in the law. Blacks were in the slave codes. This is the difference between the common law and positive law. Blacks always get the short end of the constitutional stick. Most of the "badges of slavery" are still intact even if the institution of slavery is obsolete. Blacks must address the "badges of slavery". Today, they are mostly intact.
When I arrived in New York City, forty years ago this year, there were not only untold racial atrocities perpetrated by law enforcement agencies but also despicable and racist acts perpetrated by white vigilantes. Today, white vigilantes are in short supply but "rogue" cops still persist with no end in sight. They were born under state law in New York City in 1845.
Rev. Al Sharpton headed, in reality, the National Youth "Moment" even though David N. Dinkins, in collaboration with New York State Attorney General Robert Abrams, had formed and called it the "National Youth Movement". Sharpton refuses to identify an organization, which he heads, by race. Abrams would also aid Rev. Herbert Daughtry and the Black United Front through Dinkins.
Although the Black community perceived them differently, they both advocated racial pacification and racial harmony. To make it work, Blacks would confuse "non-resistance to evil" with "non-violent resistance". Non-resistance to evil gives rise to pacification. Non-violent resistance gives rise to civil disobedience.
There is a difference between a "movement" and a "moment". Black, ephemeral and emotional reaction to the senseless killings of Amadou Diallo and Sean Bell are examples of a "moment". On the other hand, the racially-inspired kidnapping and rape of Tawana Brawley gave rise to a "movement". It started in 1987 and the struggle against "legitimate rape" still continues. Hush money is not on the agenda. Justice is.
Sharpton was only engaged in unlicensed, civil disobedience during his tenure with United African Movement as third in command. After he was able to negotiate a peace plan with New York for himself, he assumed a new identity. He announced that he was replacing civil disobedience with mainstream politics, but he would continue to raise funds for himself in the name of Dr. Martin L. King, Jr.
Now, civil disobedience is off the table nationwide. When Rev. Jesse L. Jackson, Sr. accompanied Sharpton to Florida in connection with the fatal and senseless shooting of Trayvon Martin by George Zimmerman, Sharpton announced that civil disobedience and boycotts were off the table. This is double jeopardy. Even though they are effective tools against white supremacy, they are relics, in Sharpton's mind, of Dr. Martin L. King, Jr.
Sharpton grew up admiring the "Mafia". As a result of this contact, he has emulated the "Mafia" by establishing a semblance of it on the plantation under the guise of "non-violent resistance". Since he was a teenager, Sharpton has been operating a "protection racket and escort service" for whites. My source is attorney Louis Clayton Jones. Today, Councilman Charles Barron is one of his chief allies. Recently, Barron has been seen moonlighting. One of Sharpton's clients, wittingly or unwittingly, is the mother of Kimani Gray.
Sharpton and Barron are paving the way for attorney Sanford Rubenstein aka "ambulance chaser". Rubenstein seeks "hush money" for his clients and a "pot of gold" for himself. There is absolutely no legal relief sought for Blacks on the plantation. History continues to repeat itself. "Hush money" is not a deterrent to racial injustice.
In the white community, there is no need for activists to militate against injustices. They are in short supply. White elected officials are not only mouthpieces but they are also effective lawmakers for their constituents. They also write laws to prevent plantation uprisings. If a Jewish youth had been shot in the back by the NYPD, there would have already been indictments and zealous prosecutions. With no political party by its side, Blacks are unable to secure any semblance of justice.
In New York, most white elected officials are fully enrolled in the Democratic Party. On the other hand, Blacks selected officials are nominally enrolled in the Democratic Party. Blacks are like North Korea. Both may have missiles but neither has a delivery system. Moreover, Black "selected officials" provide added legal protection for whites.
It is easier for Blacks to construct a delivery system for a political party than it is for North Korea to construct a delivery system for nuclear warheads. Nonetheless, Blacks refuse to form a political party and construct a delivery system for fear that it would be a "threat" to white supremacy. Blacks live for white "approval" even if it means committing suicide.
I have no confidence that anything will happen after the state-sponsored, unconstitutional assassination of Kimani Gray. If Barron is unable to do the job of pacifying Blacks, whites will call in Sharpton from the bullpen. There must be racial harmony at all costs. In the meantime, Blacks are knocking on the wrong door, talking to the wrong people and asking the wrong questions. This repeated conduct is defined as "insanity".
Where is the Democratic Party on the senseless and state-sponsored fatal shooting of 16-year-old Kimani Gray in the back? There is already prima facie evidence of a homicide. Prima facie evidence of a felony is sufficient to warrant an indictment. No grand jury has been convened. This would be odd for a white victim who was shot by a Black person. Andrew Cuomo, Eric Schneiderman and Joe Hynes, as Democrats, are in the executive branch of government. They have the responsibility of enforcing the laws. "Justice delayed is justice denied".
By law, a contract exists between the obligations of the Democratic Party and the rights of its members. New York Election Law, for example, requires a member to be loyal to his enrolled political party or, otherwise, be subject to expulsion. This loyalty is reciprocal. Among other things, it will not permit a Black person to be a "selected official", as a Democrat, while also pretending to be a proponent of the Freedom Party. No Black voter is allowed to wear two hats.
By Alton H. Maddox, Jr.
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