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Vol. 11 Issue 18…Dedicated to the Dialogue on Race…May 4, 2008
Parity Lost
By John Burl Smith
The epistle Philemon is one of
four written during Apostle Paul's first Roman imprisonment. It is the account
of his relationship with two converts. It is a letter written to Philemon on
behalf of his slave Onesimus, after Paul encounters Onesimus, who has robbed
Philemon and run away. Onesimus accepts Christ and begins to serve Paul while
in prison.
Having converted Philemon prior to meeting Onesimus, Paul sends Onesimus back
to his master with this letter requesting reconciliation. Paul implores
Philemon to receive Onesimus, not as a slave, but as a beloved brother in
Christ. A powerful statement for Christians today, this epistle is a gracious
show of love. Paul assumes in full Onesimus' debt to Philemon by telling him to
"put that on my account." Paul's action underscores his declaration
of parity among Christians (Galatians 3:28); "there is neither bond nor
free" in Christ Jesus.
English poet, John Milton (1608-1674) published Paradise Lost in 1667.
A poem divided into ten books (then twelve in 1674), Paradise Lost is
the Judeo-Christian story of the Fall of Man: the temptation of Adam and Eve by
Satan and their expulsion from the Garden of Eden. Its purpose, according to
Milton, was to "justify the ways of God to men." The protagonist of
this epic is a fallen angel, Satan, who wages war in Heaven, only to be
defeated and cast out of Heaven down into hell.
A metaphor for the failed hopes of Oliver Cromwell (1599-1658) to eliminate the
monarchy in England, the idea of Milton's poem is the "felix culpa"
or fortunate fall. This philosophy posits that the good which ultimately
evolves as a result of the fall--God's mercy, the coming of Christ, redemption
and salvation--leaves us in a better place with opportunity for greater good
than would have been possible without the fall. However, most critics feel
that, in his portrayal of Satan, Milton unwittingly casts him as the hero.
These examples, the first directly from the Bible and the other an
interpretation of God's intent, go to the heart of today's American dilemma. At
its inception, the Founding Fathers made a pack with Satan, when they wrote
into the US Constitution the 3/5 Compromise. This devilish agreement created
the Electoral College by which the US president is elected, as well as the US
Senate; it counters one man one vote democracy. The 3/5 Compromise codified
blacks' second class status as 3/5 of white men, legalizing slavery. After the
Civil War, Emancipation, the 13th, 14th and 15th
Amendments, the stigma and institutions that were based on the 3/5 Compromise
remained part of the US electoral system. Yet, whites insist and blacks believe
the 3/5 Compromise is no longer in effect.
The question is, how is it possible for the agreement
that created America's electoral system to be eliminated, yet the institutions
themselves remain? Hypocrisy is the deliberate denial and pretense that the 3/5
Compromise was repealed when it remains the legal bases of discrimination and disparate
treatment of blacks in America. If the US is a Christian nation, as it
proclaims, it would embrace Paul's admonition to Philemon -- "Put that on
my account" -- and Galatians 3:28 -- "there is neither bond nor
free" in Christ. The US would acknowledge and pay the debt owed as a
result of slavery to black slave descendants today.
Conversely, if Americans believed in the principles enshrined in the
Declaration of Independence and true democracy, they would embrace the theme in
Paradise Lost -- "felix culpa." Then, Civil War, the 1960s
civil rights fight and the death of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. would have made
us all better. Whites would not be offended by Rev. Jeremiah Wright's remarks.
They pretend that a color blind society exists in the US by closing their eyes
to the mounting disparities between blacks and whites that are direct results
of slavery and its ongoing discrimination.
Paradise Lost is an allegory for the loss of innocence that reflects England's
parity with Adam and Eve. But, as Paul pointed out to Philemon, Christ Jesus
paid that debt by taking it on himself, establishing neither "bond nor
free." However, slavery in the US reversed Christ's reprieve.
Synonymous to Milton's unwitting portrayal of Satan, the US' denial of the debt
owed slave descendants is the parity lost which Christ died to change. All
Christians accept Paul's gospel as Divine and they live by it teachings. Paul's
epistles set forth the duty to love by Christians in all phases of life and
make clear that one will be judged by their adherence. A Christian, Rev.
Jeremiah Wright comes from the same religious tradition that I was raised in,
which is, "Speak the truth and the truth will set you free."
The McDuffie Race Riot
"My child is dead; they beat
him to death like a dog." --Eula McDuffie
In the early morning hours of December 17, 1979, Arthur McDuffie (c. 1946 -
1979), a Dade County, Florida resident, successful insurance salesman, US
Marine veteran and former military police officer, is out driving his 1973
black and orange Kawasaki motorcycle, when spotted by police. Driving on a
suspended license with outstanding traffic citations, McDuffie leads police on
a high-speed chase, prior to surrendering.
The police officers involved in the chase, three Caucasians - Ira Diggs,
William Hanlon, and P.O. Michael Watts - and one Cuban officer, Alex Marrero,
later filed a report claiming McDuffie ran a red light and lost control of his
bike in a high speed chase to elude capture. Unconscious, McDuffie was
transported to a nearby hospital, where he died four days later. The coroner's
report concluded that he had suffered multiple skull fractures after being hit
by a blunt object. In other words, his skull was cracked like an egg.
An internal investigation found the officers had falsified their report. They
were indicted for manslaughter and tampering with evidence. For his role,
Officer Marerro was charged with second degree
murder. On December 27, 1979, these officers were suspended. Two other
officers, Herbert Evans, Jr. and Ubaldo Del Toro,
were charged with being accessories to the crime and also fabricating evidence.
Less than a month later, all of the officers were fired.
Jury selection for the trial began on March 31, 1980 in Tampa, Florida, where
the venue had been shifted due to pre-trial publicity and the volatile
atmosphere in Dade County. Officers given immunity from prosecution testified
that McDuffie had surrendered prior to being beaten with flashlights and fists.
Despite the evidence, which showed McDuffie had been murdered, an all-white
jury acquitted the police officers on all counts on May 17, 1980.
Following the verdict, the black
community, which was suffering from decades of benign neglect and poverty, erupted
in three days of violence. More than a dozen people were killed, scores
injured. Fires, burglaries and looting left the predominantly black
communities, where the riots took place, with millions of dollars in property
damage.
On May 22, 1980, all the officers involved in McDuffie's
death were reinstated to their jobs after the Miami Fraternal Order of Police
threatened to walk off the job. The US Justice Department indicted at least one
officer on civil rights violations. On December 17, he was acquitted.
On November 17, 1981, Dade County commissioners agreed to a $1.1 million
settlement with McDuffie's family in exchange for
dropping their $25 million lawsuit. Of that amount, the family's legal team
received $483,833, while McDuffie's children each
received $202,500, and his mother, $67,500. (Sources: http://en.wikipedia.org,
www.aaregistry.com/ and www.answers.com)
Who Killed McDuffie? A Definitive Question
By Harold Lee Rush (a.k.a. Hakim Al-Jamil)
His brain was bashed, cranium crashed
Skull fractured/broken all the way around
But, they said those who beat him didn't kill him
So, who killed McDuffie?
Maybe, it was the same ones who didn't kill
Clifford Glover/Randy Heath/Jay Parker
Claude Reese/Randy Evans/Luis Baez
Arturo Reyes/Bonita Carter/Eula Love
Elizabeth Magnum/Arthur Miller and countless others
When their fingers slipped or they musta tripped
Maybe it was the same ones
Who didn't kill Jose Torres/Zayd Shakur/Fred and Carl Hampton/
Jonathon and George Jackson/Joe Dell/
Twyman Myers/Spurgeon Winters and a few hundred others
Perhaps, it was those who didn't kill
Lumumba/Che/Amilcar/Biko/Fanon/Mondlane/Marighella
Cordero and quite a few thousand more
Do you suppose it may have been those who didn't kill
The Indians and Mexicans?
Who didn't steal African peoples halfway across the planet?
Who didn't loot our customs/
Cultures/religions/languages/labor and land?
Who didn't steal a continent and claim that they discovered it?
Who didn't bomb the Japanese/ Vietnamese and Boriqua too?
Do you think it might have been those who didn't kill
At Attica/Watts/DC/Detroit/Newark/El Barrios?
At Jackson State, at Southern U, at the Algiers Motel?
Who didn't shoot Mark Essex for 16 hours after he was dead?
Ask them and they'll tell you what they didn't do
But, they can't tell you who killed McDuffie
Maybe, it was one of those seizures unexplainable
Where he beat himself to death?
It wouldn't be unusual
Our history is full of cases
Where we attack nightsticks with our heads
Choke billyclubs with our throats till we die/
Jump in front of bullets with our backs/
Throw ourselves into rivers with our hands and feet bound/
Hang ourselves on trees/in prison cells by magic
So, it shouldn't be a mystery that nobody killed McDuffie
He just died the way so many of us do
Of a disease nobody makes a claim to.
The police say they didn't do it
The mayors say they didn't do it
The judges say they didn't do it
The government says it didn't do it
Nixon says he didn't do it
The FBI/CIA/military establishments say they didn't do it
Xerox/Exxon/ITT say they didn't do it
The Klan and Nazis say they didn't do it
(Say they were busy in Greensboro and Wrightsville)
I know I didn't do it
That don't leave nobody but you
And, if you say you didn't do it
We're right back where we started
Looking for nobody who killed McDuffie
You remember nobody don't you
Like with de facto segregation
Where they said the schools were segregated
But nobody did it on purpose
Like when they said there's been job discrimination for years
But nobody did it intentionally
That's the nobody we're looking for
The one with the motive to kill McDuffie
And you see, we MUST find this nobody who slew McDuffie
Because the next person nobody will beat/stomp/
Hang or shoot to death won't be McDuffie
It'll be you or someone close to you
So for your own safety
You should know the pedigree of who killed McDuffie
You should know the reason of who killed McDuffie
You should remember all those forgotten
Who died of the disease nobody makes a claim to
So we won't be here asking who killed you.
As the Dark Knight-Batman/White
Ninja/Zorro gets older, he is becoming more silent and stoic. Preferring his
own company, he is downright solitary. His sidekick, on the other hand, who is
nine, does not mind engaging in verbal spars with anyone willing to wrestle.
Just the other morning, the Boy Wonder delivered a jewel that even the Dark
One/Ninja/Zorro would appreciate. Without prompting, Boy Wonder proclaimed,
while admiring his mirrored image, "Forget Tyrus,
call me Ty. I have figured out some things!" Exactly what, we will never know, because
he just gave me a sly grin and said no more.
Pension Parity
On February 18, 2008, Durham City
Councilman Howard Clement III read into the record a letter from then Police
Chief H.E. King to the city manager recommending James B. Samuel and Clyde L.
Cox to be hired "to the position of colored police effective July 1,
1944." King wrote, "I recommend that these men work in plain clothes
and that they work altogether in the colored section. I think it advisable they
not arrest any white people. But if they see a violation of the law, they
should call for a patrol car."
King wrote that Samuel and Cox were to patrol on foot at first, and perhaps
later would be given a patrol car. The letter went on to state that the men
should not use the facilities at the police station, because there were no
segregated facilities, including locker rooms and drinking fountains.
In observing that this is what passed for progress in the Jim Crow South,
Clement said, "This was 1944. Thank goodness we've come a long way."
Doctoral research by Kenneth Bolton Jr., a criminal studies professor at
Southeastern Louisiana University and co-author of the book "Black in
Blue: African-American Police Officers and Racism," show we may have come
a long way, but racism still dogs black police officers. According to Joe Feagin, the University of Florida graduate research
professor in sociology that supervised Bolton's research, "Racial
discrimination is a routine, recurring and everyday reality for black police
officers."
Bolton's research found, "a blue curtain" has descended within police
departments in the South, bringing to a standstill the progress made by black
officers during the 1970s and '80s, when large numbers of Southern law
enforcement agencies were desegregated. That progress has been replaced by work
environments in which black officers are often treated unfairly in promotions,
salaries, discipline and training, and are frequently subjected to racist jokes
from white co-workers.
Even as current officers struggle with the contemporary manifestations of
racism, the police officers that joined the force in Georgia in the 1960s that have
since retired continue to grapple with discrimination in retirement benefits.
Until the late 1970s, black police officers were barred from joining the
state-supported police pension fund, guaranteeing a disparity in future income.
Today, hundreds of dollars per month separate the benefits black and white
police retirees receive.
The state legislature must amend the law to allow retroactive changes to
retirement benefits. Given the reluctance of a Republican-controlled state
senate to do anything that benefit the state's black citizens, this lack of
pension parity will continue.
Protesting Police Brutality
The silence of mainstream America
is telling! The verdict in the Sean Bell murder case reaffirmed an absence of
justice for black men in America. Reminiscent of the early 20th
century lynching when white mobs went "picnicking" with the
complicity of law enforcement officials, the hail of gunfire that claimed an
unarmed Bell's life and wounded two others, will go down in black history as
the 21st century's version of that dark period. We have come a long
way!
Today, police do the killing, sometimes in the presence of witnesses. With a
judicial system that rarely finds police at fault, police can use deadly force
with impunity, physically abuse detainees and engage in discriminatory patterns
of arrest, harassment and incarcerations and nothing is done about it, because
these negative policing practices disproportionately impact black Americans.
Across the Internet various groups are calling for action to show we do not
accept Bell's murder as business as usual. Far from overreacting with violence,
some groups, including Communities United Against
Police Brutality and the United Youth Council, are engaging in non-violent
civil disobedience and calling on others to voice their opposition to this
miscarriage of justice.
Plans are being discussed for a week-long national boycott beginning May 19.
Look for more information and do your part to make this effort a success. Who
knows, the next time the police decide to go picnicking it could be you or a
loved one that is lynched.
DISHing It Up Hot!
On Wright!
By Dot
The notion that a radical is
one who hates his country is naive and usually idiotic. He is
, more likely, one who likes his country more than the rest of us, and
is thus more disturbed than the rest of us when he sees it debauched. He is not
a bad citizen turning to crime ; he is a good citizen
driven to despair.--H. L Mencken
As I have stated elsewhere, I think Rev. Jeremiah Wright is right in what he
has said about this country. In the long run, we reap what we sow - chickens
come home to roost. Why should the US be blessed when it has been a flagrant
hypocrite - preaching democracy as a reason for foreign military interventions,
while killing and destroying democratically elected leaders and governments
that do not toe the line for US corporations or its strategic interests, such
as oil. US history is littered with dead people as a
result of this hypocrisy.
All of a sudden, with the presidential candidacy of Senator Barack Obama, any
criticism of the US from a black perspective is divisive - hate speech - that
must be publicly denounced as he ingratiates himself to the folks controlling
this country, i.e., wealthy whites and Jews. That statement is neither
anti-American nor anti-Semitic; it is the truth. Senator Obama talks about
change, but he is not talking about changing the black American socioeconomic
and political status. He does not want to rock the boat, which is why he so
forcefully denounced Rev. Wright, who has killed no one. Yet, Senator Obama
wholeheartedly supports Israel, which daily slaughters Palestinians.
Black folks in this country should collectively thank Rev. Wright for speaking
truth to power. If that truth scalds Senator Obama, so be it.
He has presented himself as an
agent for change. As such, he cannot embrace the status quo, which is what he
has done to date.
Ironically, like Senator Obama, the same status quo supporting blacks and
whites, including the media, that criticized Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. for
speaking out against injustice, racial discrimination and war, are out in force
excoriating Rev. Wright.
Like Dr. King, Rev. Wright rocked the boat. If change is the destination, then
the boat must be rocked from its moorings. Kudos to Rev. Wright! A patriot in
the Mencken sense, who went to war in service of his country, Rev. Wright loves
America - a sinner - but abhors its sins. Right on Rev. Wright!
Disgruntled says: As
a result of Rev. Jeremiah Wright's speaking tour, which has given blacks a
chance to hear from him personally, an old adage has been reversed. It is clear
you can hide, but you can't run away from who and what you are. One can hide
from a schoolyard bully, an unattractive female in hot pursuit, or even a
not-so-curious media. But, sooner or later, you have to come out of hiding to
go home. Then, you have to fight for what you stand for, accept or reject the
affection offered or face the glaring light of truth, whether you be preacher, politician, prince or pauper.
Disgruntled
wants to know: Relatively speaking, little change has taken place in the
status of black life in the USA. Sure, people can point to the disappearance of
the white only and black only signs, the end of public lynching by white mobs,
the number of black millionaires and blacks occupying coveted positions in
corporate America and in government, blacks legally marrying and having babies
with whites, etc., as indications that conditions have changed on the surface.
Yet, when these things are placed in their relative context, we realize that
discrimination has not disappeared and injustice still reigns supreme. Open
your eyes and you will see the resident evil is in plain view in the
socioeconomic and political statistics that define black America. We are still
the last hired and the first fired; the black unemployment rate, as it was when
the US began collecting the data in 1947, is still more than twice the rate of
whites, which guarantees a black median family income to white median family
income somewhere between .5 and .65. In every aspect of black life, the 3/5
Compromise is alive and thriving. It operates so much like magic; it makes one
wonder, is this the invisible hand that assures
outcomes in the marketplace favors white America, just as the US Constitution
mandates?
Disgruntled
feels: Offended! Like my mother, I eschew organized religion, so I have
never heard a Rev. Jeremiah Wright "black liberation" sermon preached
in church on Sunday. In Atlanta, Georgia, where we reside, the most famous
contemporary ministers, i.e., Bishop Eddie Long and Creflo
A. Dollar, oversee mega-churches. In these sprawling edifices, the good
reverends' messages are all about pastoral prosperity. I did hear Rev. Wright
speak before the Detroit NAACP, where he received a warm welcome and ovation
following his oration. I, too, applauded his well-delivered and candid remarks,
many of which I agree with, since I know some of my country's history. Imagine
my surprise when black presidential hopeful Senator Barack Obama denounced Rev.
Wright's comments, claiming they offended all Americans. When and/or if Obama
becomes US president, he can rightfully say, as the titular head of the
government, what offends all Americans. Until then, he should stick to what
offends him.