THE COMEBACK:
I WOULD GUESS THAT
YOU ARE NOT A CHURCH
PERSON!
THE MESSAGE:
BLACKS IN THE USA
The history of people of African descent in America is a pendulum of advances and setbacks, of recognition and retaliation, of protest and backlash. Blacks throughout their history and existence in the USA have seen allies and opponents alike. They have encountered intolerant and sometimes violent bigots, who would divide Americans on the basis of colour and class, as well as empathetic visionaries who would seek to lead the nation to common ground.
The U.S. Congress outlawed the importation of enslaved Africans in 1808. Today, the majority of African Americans are descended from people who were already here long before many of the European Americans who arrived between 1820 and 1920.
TONY TODAY:
DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE
The American Dreams of "life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness" have been a cherished aspiration since the Declaration of Independence; however, history reveals that black Americans, Native Americans and women were not included in the 1776 designing and signing. Forty of the 56 signers owned other people!
The Supreme Court's 1857 Dred Scott decision made it clear that people of African descent would not be considered American citizens and had no legal standing in the courts. It mattered not that some of their grandfathers had served in George Washington's Continental Army during the Revolutionary War.
WHAT IS MISSING?
A look at the works of Taylor Branch, Pulitzer Prize-winning author, include a description of the institution of slavery, the supporting ideology of white supremacy and the impact it has had on subsequent generations. Many of his thoughts are missing from the history curriculum of most American high schools and colleges.
Slavery and the slave trade were essential to the American economy and to the development of American capitalism. Native Americans were driven off their ancestral land in the Deep South in the 1830s to make way for vast cotton plantations. The wealth of the nation was dependent upon uncompensated labour, which enriched not only the planters, but universities, banks, textile mills, ship owners and insurance companies, who held de facto ownership of their bodies.
By 1850, enslaved Americans, who were listed in their owners' inventory ledgers alongside cattle and farm equipment, were worth one-fifth of the nation's wealth. When the first shot of the Civil War was fired at Fort Sumter in April 1861, the value of that human collateral was worth more than the nation’s banks, railroads, mills and factories combined.
Immediately after the Civil War, during the so-called period of Reconstruction, black people were finally recognized as citizens with rights. The 13th, 14th and 15th amendments abolished slavery, provided equal protection under the law and granted black men the right to vote. These amendments were met with retaliation. Die-hard Confederates regrouped as the Ku Klux Klan and the Knights of the White Camellia (no relation). They regained control of their workforce by controlling their lives through terror, violence and voter suppression. Blacks were denied voting rights through the use of poll taxes, literacy tests and grandfather clauses.
The highly touted sharecropping system left black farmers in debt at the end of every harvest. Surely this situation was equivalent to slavery. Black children were allowed to attend school only during times of the year when there were no farm chores to do. WILL THIS BATTLE EVER END?
The Voting Rights Act of 1965 outlawed poll taxes and made it possible for thousands of formerly disenfranchised black Americans to vote. Now, throughout America, there are thousands of people of colour who are city council members, mayors, members of Congress, on school boards and formerly, in the White House. During the last two presidential elections, black voters turned out in record numbers because they were motivated and because many of the old obstacles to voting had been removed.
In today's news we see many protests springing up in America under the banner, "BLACK LIVES MATTER". Do we really need to ask the question? Is the answer not an obvious one? I believe that the generation of youth in 2021. will demonstrate tolerance and love for good people everywhere.
MEANWHILE IN CANADA
Some Canadians are only now learning of the catastrophic situation associated with ‘Residential Schools’ in the country. In the 19th century, the Canadian Government created residential schools to facilitate acceptance of aboriginals as true Canadians. The Federal Department of Indian Affairs believed the best chance for success was for children to learn English and adopt Christianity and Canadian customs. Ideally, they would pass their adopted lifestyle on to their children, and native traditions would diminish in a few generations.
RESIDENTIAL SCHOOLS
Residential schools were federally run. Attendance was mandatory for children in the many communities that didn't have day schools. Agents were employed by the government to ensure all native children attended school. In all, about 150,000 First Nation, Inuit and Métis children were removed from their communities and forced to attend these schools.
When students returned to the reserve, they often found they didn't belong and became ashamed of their native heritage. The skills taught at the schools were unable to help the children. Many found it hard to function in an urban setting. The aims of assimilation often meant devastation for those who were subjected to years of abuse at the schools.
Many children told the Truth and Reconciliation Commission about their residential school experiences, and the commission's 1996 report recommended a separate public inquiry into residential schools. That recommendation was never followed. In 2007, two years after the date it was first announced, the federal government formalized a $1.9-billion compensation package for those who were forced to attend residential schools.
Prime Minister Stephen Harper delivered an official apology to residential school students in Parliament on June 11, 2008. Although the Catholic church oversaw three-quarters of Canadian residential schools, it was the last church to have one of its leaders officially address the abuse. On April 29, 2009, Pope Benedict XVI expressed his "sorrow" to a delegation from Canada's Assembly of First Nations for the abuse and "deplorable" treatment that aboriginal students suffered at the Roman Catholic Church residential schools.
One of the accomplishments of the TRC was gaining access to more of the 3.5 million documents held by the federal government relating to residential schools. First Nations leaders and activists say these files could build a stronger case for genocide in Canada.
In Toronto leaders of a First Nation in Canada said Thursday they have found indications of at least 751 unmarked graves. The discovery was made near the grounds of the former Marieval Indian Residential School in the province. This discovery confirmed the stories of Indigenous elders and residential school survivors who had already and repeatedly told of their knowledge of a burial site located there. The announcement came less than a month after a First Nation said a ground-penetrating radar specialist had uncovered evidence of unmarked graves containing the remains of 215 Indigenous children on the grounds of a former residential school in Kamloops, British Columbia.
THE MUSIC:
EL PASO by MARTY ROBBINS:
INTERESTING STUFF:
IF TREES COULD TALK
AS LUMBERJACKS STALK
THE TREE WOULD ORDER THEM TO WALK!
AXES FALL
AND ASSES HAUL
HOW DID THE THING GET SO DARN TALL
THE PUN:
So what if I don't know the meaning of the word 'apocalypse'? It's not the end of the world.
THE QUESTION:
To what extent are the violent black gangs a result of the unjust treatment blacks have received throughout their history in America?
"I had a dream..." M.L King
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