Democracy and the rule of law are on the ballot in 2024
By dopper0189, Black Kos Managing Editor
Black people more than any other group in American history (with the exception of Native Peoples) have seen what are the consequences of the denial of democratic rule and the rule of law. Through out most of our history in the New World this was our norm not the exception.
The US billed itself as a beacon freedom, liberty, and a government ruled by the will of it citizens. But from its founding in 1776 through two hundred years of slavery and then Jim Crow, the US denied some of it’s citizens the ability to exercise their fundamental rights.
When I see scenes like this:
My mind runs to the history of violence to deny the right to vote in our past. Scenes like this:
Black Americans have seen and felt the consequences of the use of mob violence to distort and destroy democracy. As a student of history I also am aware of the 50th anniversary rule. When an event happens the 50th anniversary marks the turning point where more people alive where were not alive during that event than were alive.
The generation that fought the dangers of fascism fades away, and younger generation lack the same revulsion to ideas they didn't witness the consequences of. The generation that witness the violence associated with denying people of color the right to vote, fades to a new generation that thinks mob rule is OK when you don’t like the results of an election.
Next on the line in the battle for the rule of law, are those who rule on the law. The most of our nation's history the courts have not been and ally to secure the rights of Black people. Recent Supreme Court decision dismantling reproductive rights, environmental protections, and affirmative action, has America reeling. The discussion revolve around the Roberts’ Court as “very conservative” or “right-wing”. These commentaries are written as if the Roberts court is a departure from the norms of American jurisprudence.
Many in Hollywood came of age during the Warren Court with the idea of the little guy going the court and challenge racial discrimination and winning being ingrained in American popular culture. But looking back at over 330 years of American jurisprudence would show the exact opposite. For most of American history the courts have been allies to black people and woman’s oppressors not a beacon of justice.
Courts in the US have historically been one of the main forces oppressing black people in the USA. In the first documented case involving slavery in the then colony of Virginia, John Punch, an African servant along with two other white servant ran away from their masters. The General Court sentenced the two white servants to longer periods of servitude while sentencing Punch to slavery for life . This case marked the beginning of the creation of legal differences between Africans and Europeans.
As polarization over the issue of slavery grew, Congress passed the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850 as part of a compromise between Southern slave-holding and Northern free states. The law required all escaped slaves to be returned to their masters, including those who ran away to free states. Amid increasing political division, Dred Scott, a slave, had been transported from the slave-holding state of Missouri to free areas where slavery was illegal. Scott sued for his freedom, claiming he had been freed when he was taken into free U.S. territory.
In a landmark decision, the Supreme Court held that Scott and other Black people, whether enslaved or free, were not citizens of the United States and could not enjoy the rights and privileges of the Constitution, including the right to sue.
After the Civil War, former slave-holding states passed laws to restrict the rights of Black laborers and to formalize racial hierarchy. Known as Black Codes, the truly Orwellian named Mississippi’s Act to Confer Civil Rights on Freedman was the first.
Congress tried to intervene to protect black citizens. As a condition of being readmitted to the United States, former Confederate states had to ratify the 14th Amendment to the Constitution. The 14th Amendment granted citizenship to all persons born and naturalized in the United States, including formerly enslaved people, and guaranteed all citizens equal protection under the laws. The last of the Reconstruction Amendments, the 15th Amendment to the Constitution prohibits government from denying citizens the right to vote based on “race, color, or previous condition of servitude.”
The Supreme Court’s first interpretation of the 14th Amendment involved local butchers in Louisiana in the The Slaughter-House Cases who challenged a state law granting a monopoly to another livestock company. The Court upheld the law, finding the “privileges and immunities” of citizenship extended only to those specified in the Constitution, and did not include other rights given by individual states. The practical effect of the ruling was that the 14th Amendment was interpreted as protecting economic liberties and not the civil rights of African Americans.
Following a disputed gubernatorial election in Louisiana that led to the massacre of dozens of African Americans by white supremacists, federal charges were brought against several whites who had conspired to deprive citizens of their First and Second Amendment rights. In a decision that undercut much of the progress made under the 14th Amendment, in United States v. Cruikshank the Supreme Court held that the Bill of Rights did not apply to private actors or state governments, reversing the criminal convictions of the white supremacists who had aided in murdering African Americans. The case severely weakened efforts to protect African Americans' civil rights and left them at the mercy of state governments.
Even after Constitutional Amendments and Civil Rights Laws discrimination continues today in often less overt ways,including through disparity in the enforcement of seemingly race-neutral laws. For example, while rates of drug use are similar across racial and ethnic groups, black people are arrested and sentenced on drug charges at much higher rates than white people. Bias by decision makers at all stages of the judicial system is disadvantages to black people. Studies have found that they are more likely to be stopped by the police, detained pretrial, charged with more serious crimes, and sentenced more harshly than white people.
But the same Supreme Court that is quick to say race can’t be a factor in college admissions doesn’t stop law enforcement from over enforcing blacks in the criminal system. Statistics are OK to show Asians are less likely to be admitted to college for the same grades, but statistics aren’t good enough to sue police departments and DA’s for the same behavior in criminal cases. The hypocrisy makes my head hurt.
Our task is clear. This election is about more than quibbles over policy, speed of reform, or specific disagreements. As important as those fights may be this election is about something bigger. Will we continue to be a nation rules by the free will of the electorate, or will we descend back into an illiberal “democracy” rules by the threats of violence. That is the decision.
I know what side I’m on, and we need each other in this fight, to once again save the soul of the nation.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
News round up by dopper0189, Black Kos Managing Editor
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
For several months of the year, residents of wildfire-prone areas know they should expect poor air quality. They put on masks, stay indoors when it gets bad and avoid breathing in smoke or fine particles as much as they can. But what about when the air quality is always poor? Staying inside all day, every day, just isn’t an option.
According to reporting from the nonprofit news organization Capital B, pollution is pervasive in the industrial cities of the Midwest, and the effects are felt even more intensely in majority Black communities. As a consequence, Black families are leaving the region by the thousands.
Adam Mahoney is a national climate and environment reporter with Capital B. He joined Marketplace’s Kimberly Adams to talk about the new Black migration to the South and what can be done to reverse the trend. An edited transcript of their conversation is below.
Kimberly Adams: So which Midwest cities did you focus on for this piece? And why?
Adam Mahoney: Earlier this year, I traveled throughout the Midwest to report on the Black exodus from a lot of the biggest, once-industrial hubs in that region. So we focused on Chicago, Detroit; Gary, Indiana; in addition to St. Louis and Cleveland, Ohio.
Adams: Can you make the connection for me between these industrial hubs and pollution and what your story is actually about, which is migration?
Mahoney: You know, as most folks know, during the first Great Migrations, between 1910 and 1970, millions of Black folks left the South towards northern cities, towards Midwestern cities. And a lot of folks settled in these growing industrial hubs, and a lot of these industries kind of thrived on Black labor, right? They were able to underpay Black workers while, you know, Black folks were struggling through these kinds of treacherous working conditions. And all the while that was happening, as we now know, these industrial facilities were kind of destroying Black communities with pollution, whether it be from, you know, air sources or water contamination, soil contamination. And once these industries slowly started to die off, it left Black communities kind of trapped — one, without the economic security now, but also with that industrial pollution and the fallout with that in terms of health outcomes. So what we found is that, in the Midwest, despite Black folks only making up 10% of the Midwestern population, they make up roughly a third of those living in communities that are deemed quote-unquote “disadvantaged” by environmental injustice, by pollution and contamination. So that’s a big disparity. A lot of those environmental harms and those health outcomes have kind of led to the Black exodus from these cities as people try to move away from those harms.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Communities across the nation celebrated the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday on Monday with acts of service, prayer services and parades. But with the November presidential election as a backdrop, some events took on an overtly political turn.
Speaking at the MLK Day at the Dome rally at the South Carolina Statehouse, Vice President Kamala Harris said young people two or three generations removed from King have seen their freedoms shrink — from laws restricting voting to bans on abortions and the ever-present threat of gun violence, especially in schools.
“They even try to erase, overlook and rewrite the ugly parts of our past. For example, the Civil War — which must I really have to say was about slavery?” Harris said.
Harris also used her speech at the event — which started in 2000 to pressure the state to remove the Confederate flag from atop the Capitol dome — to urge the younger generation to regain those rights lost through voting and action.
“Generation after generation on the fields of Gettysburg, in the schools of Little Rock, on the grounds of this Statehouse, on the streets of Ferguson and on the floor of the Tennessee House of Representatives — we the people have always fought to make the promise of freedom real,” Harris said.
.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Lynijah Russell debated the opening lines of her video application to Brown University for weeks before deciding to be as candid about her identity as possible.
“Hi Brown! My name is Lynijah, and I am a Black girl in STEM,” she says in the application’s opening line.
Russell said that the decision to mention her race at all felt complicated. The 17-year-old is among millions of students applying to college in the first application season since the US Supreme Court struck down affirmative action in college admissions. Many Black students are torn about how – and even if – they should disclose their race in their bid for college admission.
The Supreme Court decision in June left Russell, a high school senior in Maryland, nervously navigating a changing system that will soon decide where she spends her college years.
Students like her tell CNN the fallout from the high court’s decision has added a new level of anxiety to an already brutally stressful application process.
“It was a bit unfair, because my chances of getting into a college of my choice would be less than someone who applied maybe just a year before me,” she said. “It made me doubt myself. Like, ‘Are my numbers good enough?’”
As a result, Russell said she expanded her college list and removed several schools she suddenly assumed would be “impossible” to get into.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Efforts to eradicate female genital mutilation in Kenya have suffered a setback after a police officer was killed in a confrontation with a gang of youths.
Activists and local leaders condemned the murder, calling it a backward step in the fight to eradicate the practice in the country. Police in Elgeyo Marakwet county, in the Rift Valley region, had taken a group of girls who had been forced to undergo the illegal procedure to hospital when a mob of young men stormed a police station and stoned Cpl Mushote Boma to death.
“Angry youth raided the police post in a bid to get the girls, who had been rescued by police after they were genitally mutilated, where they overpowered the officer who was on duty and stoned him to death before burning his body using a mattress,” reported the government-owned Kenya news agency.
The six girls are recuperating at a local hospital, according to county police commander, Peter Mulinge.
Female genital mutilation, or “the cut”, remains illegal in Kenya but is still being practised in some places, usually during school holidays, by women using crude methods and tools. There have been cases of activists being attacked by those carrying out FGM, but assaults on law enforcement officers are rare.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Lazio has been punished with a partial stadium closure for racist chants during its Italian Cup victory against city rival Roma, while players from both teams were given bans on Friday.
Three players were sent off in Wednesday’s tense derby match.
Lazio will have four sectors of the Stadio Olimpico closed for its Serie A match against defending champion Napoli on Jan. 28 following racist chanting aimed at Roma forward Romelu Lukaku, who is Black, whenever he had the ball.
Lazio has also been handed a suspended 50,000 euro ($55,000) fine after some supporters threw flares and bottles onto the field and into the sector containing the Roma fans, who responded in kind. Roma was fined 15,000 ($16,500) euros.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Yolanda Renee King, the only grandchild of Coretta Scott King and Martin Luther King Jr., published a children’s picture book titled “We Dream A World: Carrying the Light from My Grandparents.” The book is a heartwarming tribute, a charge to young children, and a reclamation of the youngest King family member’s own voice and power.
With its release coinciding with the 95th birthday of her grandfather, “We Dream A World” serves as a gift to both him and the world. The picture book is inspired by Langston Hughes’ poem “I Dream A World,” which also inspired her grandfather’s famed “I Have A Dream” speech. Speaking with theGrio, King shared that her goal with the book was to create a similar body of work portraying the dream of a modern world that is inclusive and accepting for all people.
“[A] lot of times, [pieces like ‘I Dream A World’ and the ‘I Have A Dream’ speech] feel, especially for my generation, so far from our time,” she explained. “We need some content that’s almost a modernized, revitalized version of that. I think that’s what this book allows us. It creates relevance for my generation.”
The close proximity the now 15-year-old King has had to her grandparents’ work, beliefs, and values has allowed her to remain connected to their legacy, something she truly values and appreciates. In the opening of her first book, King expresses her love and admiration for her ancestors, paying homage to their legacies and the truly transformative work both did in the world.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Suicides are up among Black adolescents. Sherry Molock, a clinical psychologist and ordained minister, believes Black churches could be their salvation. VOX: How Black churches could lead the way on teen mental health
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
It has been 30 years since Sherry Molock found her calling: to help prevent suicide among young Black people.
Today, the need is dire: The US public broadly agrees that the country is currently suffering a mental health crisis, particularly among young people. Reports of loneliness and harmful thoughts among adolescents have risen substantially. The share of teenagers who said they have felt depressed nearly doubled from 2009 to 2019; 22 percent of US high school students said they had seriously considered suicide in 2021, up from 16 percent in 2011.
America’s young Black people are struggling more than most. From 2018 to 2021, suicide rates among Black youth grew at a faster rate than any other racial group, and Black high school students are now more likely than any others to attempt suicide. Black children ages 5 to 12 are twice as likely to die by suicide as their white counterparts. Many interventions for young people have failed to produce results, leaving experts in the field wondering where to go from here.
But for nearly three decades, Molock — an associate professor of clinical psychology at George Washington University and an ordained Christian minister — has struggled to get funding to even study Black suicides, let alone money to put her ideas for preventing them into practice.
The obstacles came early. In 1993, as an assistant professor of psychology at Howard University, she submitted an application to the National Institute of Mental Health for funding to study risk and protective factors for suicide among Black college students. The feedback from one of her application’s external reviewers previewed the climb she’d face for years to come.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
WELCOME TO THE TUESDAY PORCH
IF YOU ARE NEW TO THE BLACK KOS COMMUNITY, GRAB A SEAT, SOME CYBER EATS, RELAX, AND INTRODUCE YOURSELF.
