Somebody's Gotta Say Something!

Whatever Happened to Due Process?

Recently, a friend of mine was accused of a crime. After he was accused, it seemed that no stone was left unturned to prove his guilt. Of course, as has become the norm in our society, his name was plastered all over town while the investigation continued. Little concern seemed to be given to the fact that the allegations may turn out to be false. After over a year of time elapsed, all charges were dropped.

The prosecutor said that the decision not to prosecute should not be presumed to be an indication that the victims were lying. Okay then, what should we presume? Whatever happened to due process of the law, where we are ‘innocent until proven guilty‘? Prayerfully, due process still inserts a moderating element in our system of law.

The fifth amendment deals with ‘due process of the law’ and it reads 'No person shall be held to answer for a capital, or otherwise infamous crime, unless on a presentment or indictment of a Grand Jury, except in cases arising in the land or naval forces, or in the Militia, when in actual service in time of War or public danger; nor shall any person be subject for the same offence to be twice put in jeopardy of life or limb; nor shall be compelled in any criminal case to be a witness against himself, nor be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor shall private property be taken for public use, without just compensation.'

It appears that instead of maintaining the concept of 'innocent until proven guilty' as established by the 5th amendment of the U.S. Constitution, we have embraced the principle of 'How serious or heinous is the crime being charged.' Unfortunately, a person's life, liberty, and property can be at risk even though they are later found to be innocent. This reminds me of the innocent man that spent 20 years in prison for a crime that he did not commit.

One of the problems is that many people have learned or they are coached on how to use the court system to legally punish or execute revenge on someone that they have had a falling out with. Imagine that, people taking out and signing a warrant for your arrest by simply asserting that that which they are saying is true. Now I have no problem with this aspect of the system, but when it is found that the allegations are unfounded or have no basis in fact, very little is done to the one that brought the false charges.

The presumption of innocence is a precious commodity in our system of jurisprudence that we need to defend with all resources available. When the day arrives when an accusation is enough to destroy a person and their reputation without recourse, we are in trouble. When an accusers can simply slip away into the cool breeze of anonymity without consequence, we are truly heading down a slippery slope of legal 'Alice in Wonderland' where liars lay their hands on bibles, swear to tell the truth, and then lie through their teeth.

In a major trial a few years ago a man was found not guilty. He was acquitted, found not guilty, but that was not enough for many. I even heard one legal pundit say something to the effect that he was not innocent, they just couldn't prove him guilty. Well, that may be true, however, it does a great disservice to the system when an officer of the court can so flippantly dismiss the principle of 'innocent until proven guilty'. Okay, follow me on this. A person is innocent. until proven guilty. This status of innocence is not interrupted until proven guilty. So if a person is not proven guilty then the status of innocence remains.

Listen, horrible abuses are inflicted on innocent people far too often in our nation. The legal system is there to punish the perpetrators and protect the innocents. However, turning a blind eye to legal abuse undermines the integrity of the system. You may never have experienced this side of the law, but I can tell you this. If you ever find yourself falsely accused of a crime, you could be asking yourself,

’Whatever happened to due process’ as the jail house bars slam shut.

Wake-up call or Changing of the guard!

The recent elections causes one to pause and reflect as to what direction the culture of this great nation is headed in. On the one hand traditionalists have a vision of what the country should be, and yet, on the other hand secular progressives have their vision of what we should be. In many ways, this contest is reflected in the political struggles between the Democrats and Republicans.

With much of the celebration going on in the Democratic Party, I find it interesting that little is being said in the main media about a major contributing factor to the victories. Simply put, conservative’s dissatisfaction with the current crop of Republicans. Many of the Republicans, including the President ran on very conservative issues, and yet in many cases backed away from them. Not to mention the many internal squabbles that weakened, slowed, and finally derailed them. With all of the complaints that ‘it was the Democrats that forgot the people after spending time in Washington’, it appears that many Republicans did the very thing they accused Democrats of doing. To many conservatives, this is the unpardonable sin, and had to be dealt with.

There are a couple of notable exceptions that need to be mentioned. The war on Terror and tax cuts. It is true that no attack has been launched against us since 911, and it is probably true that we are safer, regardless what we feel. It would be hard to feel safe after being exposed to daily anti-American and anti-military newscasts. It also appears that the tax cuts have kept the economy humming in the midst of some very trying times for our nation. Be that as it may, as evidenced by this election, a Republican is not necessarily a conservative and conservatives have little loyalty or patience for Republicans that do not adhere to conservative principles. With that in mind, the conservative base appears to have punished the Republican Party for not being conservative enough.

Here is another bit of interesting information; it appears that some of the new faces on the Democratic ticket ran as conservatives. It may be a telling point when Republicans are punished for failing to be conservative enough and Democrats are rewarded for promising to be more conservative.

Of course the leadership in the legislative branch has changed and this has the potential to lead to some major agenda changes, however, I would not necessarily count the chickens before they hatch.

The Democratic Party has to determine how and why they won so that it can be duplicated, if possible. If the Republican Party is honest, it already knows why it lost. It needs simply to return to its previous successes to find where it lost its way. This will require humility.

This reminds me somewhat of an intense football game. When a lead is squandered, can the mistakes be overcome or has momentum shifted in favor of the other team so completely that recovery is impossible. Over the next few weeks and months we will know whether this latest election’ s results were a wake-up call for the Republicans or a changing of the guard to the Democrats.

Strange Fruit Indeed!

Depending on your of view of Mr. William Bennett, former Secretary of Education for the Reagan administration, On September 28 of this year (2005), Mr. Bennett uttered a very unsettling or revealing view. In response to a caller to his 'Morning in America' show as they discussed ‘Freakonomics’, a book authored by Mr. William Morrow, Mr. Bennett said the following. 'But I do know that its true that if you wanted to reduce crime, you could -- if that were your sole purpose, you could abort every black baby in this country, and your crime rate would go down. That would be an impossible, ridiculous, and morally reprehensible thing to do, but your crime rate would go down. So these far-out, these far-reaching, extensive extrapolations are, I think, tricky.'

Wow! I was stunned when I heard that he had said such a thing. Of course, his point of view was softened a bit by his adding 'that would be an impossible, ridiculous, and morally reprehensible thing to do' in the middle of his opinion. I read his book, 'Book of Virtues' and quite frankly, and I enjoyed it.

Interestingly, the Rev. Jesse Jackson asked a couple of questions in an article he wrote for Right to Life News in January 1977. He asked 'What happens to the mind of a person, and the moral fabric of a nation, that accepts the aborting of the life of a baby without a pang of conscience? What kind of a person, and what kind of a society will we have ... if life can be taken so casually?’ (Tragically, he seems to have a different position now)

This brings me to an interesting bit of history. In a letter dated December 10, 1939, Mrs. Margaret Sanger (the founder of Planned Parenthood Federation of America) wrote: 'The minister's work is also important and also he should be trained, perhaps by the Federation as to our ideals and the goal that we hope to reach. We do not want word to go out that we want to exterminate the Negro population and the minister is the man who can straighten out that idea if it ever occurs to any of their more rebellious members.' This letter was to instruct a colleague by the name of Dr. Clarence Gable (he was an heir to the Procter & Gamble fortune who later helped pay for efforts to expand North Carolina's eugenics program) as to the proper way to execute the program known as the 'Negro Project', which was to promote sterilization and birth control among blacks. Note: Eugenics - The movement devoted to improving the human species through the control of hereditary factors in mating. In the early 20th century they strongly espoused racial supremacy and purity of the Aryan race and the idea of containing the ‘inferior’ (especially black) races through segregation, sterilization, birth control, and abortion.

Even though there have been those that would defend the words of Mr. Bennett and Mrs. Sanger, I find both of these statements are reprehensible. If we condemn the words of Mr. William Bennett, and we do, then we should condemn the words of Mrs. Margaret Sanger even more. Mr. Bennett's words are worthy of rebuke, to say the least, yet, he has not erected an apparatus to carry out the goal of his ill-spoken position. However, Mrs. Sanger not only wrote those words, but has left intact an organization that appears to be committed to carrying out the her sinister goal of exterminating Black people. Over 13 million African-American babies have been aborted since 1972, while the abortion industry received over four billion dollars in revenue to destroy these lives. Between 1882 and 1968, 3,446 African-Americans were lynched in the U.S. That number is surpassed in less than three days by abortion.

This reminds me of the song ‘Strange Fruit’ that Ms. Billie Holliday recorded in 1939. This song depicted the tragedy of the lynching of African-Americans. This first sentence of this song is so gut-wrenchingly descriptive. It follows: 'Southern trees bear strange fruit, Blood on the leaves and blood at the root, Black bodies swinging in the southern breeze, Strange fruit hanging from the poplar trees.' Today, there is no blood on the leaves and root to see, and the bodies are not swinging from a poplar tree. Yet, according to Social Worker and Civil Rights Activist, Erma Clardy Craver (deceased), when 17,000 aborted babies were found in a dumpster outside a pathology laboratory in Los Angeles, California, some 12-15,000 were observed to be black. Listen my friend, the blood of the unborn is on our hands, because we have not sounded the alarm, we have not defended our unborn, we have allowed others to tell us what is good for us and the fruit of our intimacy. If a racial group is to survive, the fruit must be saved and nourished. Over 13 million African-American babies aborted since 1972! Strange fruit indeed!

Things that make you go 'hmmmm'

Much talk has been made lately as to the necessity of maintaining existing civil rights initiatives. Should they be allowed to languish into nothingness or should the legislative underpinnings of these civil rights initiatives remain in place. Well, as an African-American, I would simply say, let us maintain the course of these legislated solutions. I can not see what it would hurt by maintaining these legal provisions, nor can I see any good that would be gained by allowing them to fade away. From my perspective, this is simply a no-brainer.

As I was looking at this issue, I ran across what I would consider some very interesting information. Check this out. The Republican Party was started in 1850 by those, who among other things were anti-slavery activists. When Abraham Lincoln, a Republican, won the white house, he subsequently issued the emancipation proclamation on January 1, 1863. After this the Republicans worked to pass the thirteenth Amendment(did away with slavery), the fourteenth Amendment(guaranteed equal protection for ex-slaves), and the fifteenth amendment(secured the vote for ex-slaves)

During reconstruction, while Republicans were a majority in congress, they passed a Civil Rights Act in 1866 recognizing blacks as U.S. citizens. In 1875 Republicans led the way again with the Civil Rights Act of 1875, which was later declared unconstitutional by the U.S. Supreme Court.

In his signing of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, President Lyndon Johnson, a Democrat, praised the Republicans for their commitment to the Act. As a matter of record, it was an Illinois Republican by the name of Everett Dirksen who proclaimed, in the words of Victor Hugo, "Stronger than all the armies is an idea whose time has come." He continued, "The time has come for equality of opportunity in sharing in government, in education, and in employment. It will not be stayed or denied. It is here!", in defense of the Act. Mr. Dirksen subsequently received the Leadership Conference of Civil Rights Award, presented by Mr. Roy Wilkins(former NAACP president), for his strong civil rights leadership. Oh yeah, Republicans had to overcome a Democratic filibuster that lasted over 50 days to bring the Civil Rights Act to a vote.

Even here in Wilmington, we had a history of Republicans working with our community to correct the problems of past racial injustices and to include our community in economic and political life in Wilmington. This alliance was so successful that in 1898 the Democrats conspired a bloody rebellion that washed away the economic and political gains in the African-American community here in Wilmington. Remember, it was black and white Republicans that were disenfranchised.

During the presidential campaign in 1956, African-Americans voted 3-2 in favor of Republicans. In the 1960 presidential campaign, an interesting series of events occurred. Dr. King was arrested during a sit-in in Greensboro, NC. When then presidential candidate, Mr. John F. Kennedy heard of this he called Dr. Kings wife, Mrs. Corretta Scott King with words of encouragement. When Dr. King was released from jail, he made a statement expressing his appreciation for candidate Kennedy’s call. Dr. King specifically said his statement was not to be interpreted as an endorsement of Kennedy. However, in the absence of a call from the Republican presidential candidate, Mr. Richard Nixon, the African-American community viewed this action by candidate Kennedy favorably. The result was a vote in the African-American community 7-3 Democrat. This shift in political allegiance appears to have continued up to the present time.

Am I saying that we should all go out and vote Republican this very minute? No, that would not necessarily be the wise thing to do. However, I would suggest that we become more informed as to why we vote and for whom we are voting for. Are we in fact voting for and supporting ideas that strengthen and uplift our communities? Or are we responding to warm and fuzzy symbolism that produces nothing short of broken dreams for the majority of our people. This must be answered by each of us. All of us should vote according to our conscience. The important idea here is that we inform our conscience with our political history. But doesn't this make you go 'hmmmmm'?

A paradigm shift

Mrs. Rosa Parks refusal to give up her seat to a white man over fifty years ago on December 1, 1955, was the spark needed to galvanize an entire community. Imagine a community that needed the bus system to conduct the basic affairs of its life maintaining a boycott for over a year. (381 days) Now that's commitment. Subsequently, many thought that if the issue of civil rights were legislated, everything would be all right. That has not been the case. I contend that civil rights was and is but a vehicle by which to obtain something nobler. To wit: liberty in the USA without limitations due to race.

In light of this, it is instructive to review the different perspectives of Mr. Booker T. Washington and Mr. WEB Dubois. Although many viewed Mr. Washington's call to 'cast down your buckets where you are' a compromise, it demonstrated his commitment to the principles of the free enterprise system and the supporting philosophies. He understood the importance of developing economic viability (jobs and businesses) thereby leading to the creation of an economic infrastructure (business relationships) within a community, thus empowering that community to care for itself.

Mr. Dubois, on the other hand embraced a different position that demanded political equity immediately. Honestly, Mr. Dubois’ position is understandable. Undoubtedly, he witnessed many atrocities visited upon African-Americans who had embraced the free enterprise system. In the end, it cost many of these African-Americans everything, including their lives, simply because they were black. Obviously, no matter the virtue of a system theoretically, if it is not possible to put into practice, regardless the reason, that system is suspect. Understandably, Mr. Dubois wanted no part of free enterprise.

Consequently, this sentiment became the primary position of the civil rights movement at the expense, sometimes, of other ideas necessary to obtain liberty in the USA.

Notwithstanding, if the goal is to enjoy liberty in the USA, we have to review what has been accomplished, and what needs more attention. Okay, so civil rights have been legislated, that is good, now what. Well, at this point it is important that we as a people began to develop economic infrastructure within our own communities that serve other communities as well as our own. What makes this difficult is that we as a community have embraced philosophies and ideas that are contrary to the basic principles of free enterprise. Instead , we have been inoculated with many of the ideas and philosophies that support socialism and communism. This makes it difficult for us to truly embrace the ideas and thought processes that we need to move forward toward liberty in the USA.

For example, if I owned a company that manufactured widgets and I needed to get them to market. I may load my widgets on a tractor trailer to get them to a dockside, but after I am at a dockside, I would not drive into the river. No, at this point, I would move my product to the ships that are docked there. This would allow the product to be delivered to its appropriate destination.

Similarly, we could say that liberty in the USA is the destination, while equal access is the product. Even though civil rights was and is a mighty vehicle to deliver equal access to economic viability, the legislation of civil rights is not our ultimate destination. We must move equal access to the ship of economic viability to arrive at our goal of true liberty. It almost goes without saying that none of this can be done without a living, burning, and practical faith in God as our forbearers unashamedly possessed.

Can we, in the wake of the passing of this great civil rights icon, Mrs. Parks, embrace the necessary paradigm shift in our thinking so that we may rendezvous with our date with destiny the way Mrs. Parks sat down to hers.

Celebrating Change in the African-American Community

It truly amazes me when I hear folk in my community, the African-American community, the community here in New Hanover county in which I grew up, say that nothing has changed. As a matter of fact, I currently live in the very community and house that I grew up in. Wow, some things have changed. We all now have hot and cold running water in the homes and we no longer have to go outside to use the toilet as was the case when I was a child. Perhaps I’m missing something, but am I not living in a time that my grandparents and in many cases my parents dreamed of. I can remember when getting a job as a maid or cook in the public school system was considered a good job, well at least in the community that I grew up in it was.

Now, it is not my position that all is well and we no longer have any outstanding issues or that we should just be satisfied with our lot in life or the status of our people. Without a doubt, I believe that we should never stop dreaming for a better future, a better tomorrow. It just seems strange to me that so many people can only find that which is wrong without giving any credence to that which is right and good. I find it to be a very unsettling statement when I hear folk say that nothing has changed.

This year, I will be celebrating my 50^th birthday and as I mentioned earlier, I grew up here in New Hanover County and attended and graduated from the public school system here. Admittedly, I was very young during the tumultuous sixties when many riots and the burning of buildings was regular fare on our one black and white television set with which we only received two channels. (WWAY and WECT) As I remember it, things were very different back then.

I remember when an African American came on the television, it would be announced by whoever noticed it first, “hey, one of us is on television“, and whatever was being done would be interrupted, and we would all gather around the television to witness our current hero on television. We were so happy to see someone that looked like us on television and we were so pleased with the way the champions of our cause would carry themselves as they represented us. I mean, who can forget Sammy Davis Jr., James Brown, or Bill Cosby in I Spy. Today, my people, black people are all over the television, not just in the news, but in movies, television shows and even anchoring the news. This is change and it is good change and it should be celebrated before and with our children. In this way, we can insure that the light of hope for the future will not grow dim in their eyes.