I·
5
OPINION
doctrine of separate but equal in
public education to be uncon
stitutional The Congress of the
United states passed milestone
legislation banning discrimina
tion and segregation in public
accommodations and inter
state transportation. And of
Someone once wrote that
those who do DOt know their
history are destined to repeat
ire .
This iJlsightful warning indi
cates precisely y African
American history month, and
African-American History are
so vitally important
The know e d study of
history is not simply for e pur-
i pose of being able to . e a few
important events, dates, and the
names of notable heroes of
African descent. J being able
to impressNely po t his-
torical data i nice, b kind
of eiercise by itself miues the
essential purpose for the study
of our history.
Malcolm X expressed it this course there was the historic
way: Of all our studies. . tory VotingRightsActof1965which
is most qualified· 0 reward our became the foundation for en-
research", .
The point is that ould haneed Black voter participa-
study our hiStory so that we can tion and electoral political
power, particularly in the South,
learn the I�DS of 0 �ory. These were among the most
One of the lesso. of our �tory notable achievements of the
on th�se hosttle American . <1ivil-Rights Revolution of the
shores IS that we must �tant- sIXties and seventies.
ly be pre�ed to proJCd. and But guess what? The Civil
defen� the mterests of Afncan- Rights victories of � nineteen
Amefl�. Y'e t ys be sixties and seventies Was not the
alert and �L • first time African-Americans
� the Sixtic:s and seven1!es had won these ·Rights·, but the
�frlcan-A�n� m:ade �tg- SECOND TIME in our history
,nificant st1"!des 10 pushing as!de that these rights had been
e most VISible • � dcgrad� secured. That's right, the
SVDIiIXl�1S and policies of Tacial d tl I Aim t tl
. d .... !--:--=--oo econ ime: os exac y
segregation an \&aU IIIIIWI D. one hundred years before the
Th� .1954 Supreme Court C'lYil-Rights MoVement of the
deaslon. (Brown vs Board of 196Qs African-Americans en:
Education) declared the '
II our
studl s, tory
Is most qualified
to reward our
r earch·.
alcolm X
IELS
joyed the same Civil- Riglits that
the N.A.A.C.P.Lthe Urban
League, S.C.L.C., c.O.R.D. and
S.N.C.C. and oth rs fought for
in the sixties!
Between 1866 and 1876 there
ere three Civil Rights Laws
passed by the Congress of the
United States, in addition to the
13th, '14th and 15th amend
meats. The net effect of these
statutes and amendments was to
make African-Americans
citizens, provide voting rights,
and to insure free and equal ac
cess to public accommodations,
and public conveyances ..
Sound familiar? In addition
in the Reconstruction period
which followed the Civil War,
. Black people had repre
sentatives in Congress;
Senators, Governors,
Lieutenant Governors, and a
legion of state legislators. One
hundred years before the Civil
Rights Revolution of the sixties,
African-Americans had won
their civil r· ts and exercised-
DRUG' USERS
AREi
D}::AD Me-AT'
, .
substantial political power in
higbplaoes.
What happened! Black
freedom was highly de�deot
on the so called radical
Repub� In fact to a large
degree the statutes and amend-
. meats which were passed by the
Republican was to create a
Black v�ter base for the
Rep lican Party particulary in
the South. In the deadlocked
presidential election of 1876 be
tween moerat J ames M. Ttl
den and Rutherford B� Hayes a
"compromise" was made "vhich
betrayed the interests of
African-Americans. Hayes and
the Republicans agreed to pull
federal troops out of the south,
and to leave the "Negro
problem" to the southern states
in exchange for retaining
presidency. The deal was
sealed, and with it, the status
African-Americans began to
erode drastically over the next
twenty years.
By 1896 the Black Codes and
segregation had' been
reinstituted and the vast
majority of African-Americans·
had been stripped of the right to
vote. '
The 1896 Plusy VI Fe'IJUOfl
Supreme Court Decision which
sanctioned S¢parate education
for Africu-Americans a
kind of capstone on the
entrenchment of African
A ericans a second class
citi7ens in the United States.
Of course the 1896 Supreme
Cowt Decision uld be over
turned by the Supreme Court
Decision of 1954. The tide of •
fortune can really, change for
better or fo t,
As one vie the current
retreat by the SUpl"eme Court on
affinnatiYe action (as refelcted
in its recent decision on
minority set asides), the.
- dramatic increase in racist
violence, and the deterioration
of the plight of the African
American masses, the lessons of
our history are clear.
We must know our history,
and be ever vigilant and OR
GANIZED to fight to defend
our interests. Otherwise all that
we think that we hav gained
could be lost again.
As Frederick Douglass put it
so well, "power concedes noth
ing without a demand, it never
has, and it never will". And
remember "1HOSE WHO DO
NOT KNOW THEIR HIS
TORY ARE DESTINED TO
REPEATIT'.
The lynching of
- Judge Hastings
By C. fer A. ., Sr. concensus IS that America's
NNPA EdiloriIIJ Staff ch Is d
WASHINGTON, D.C. _ A s 00 are as segregate as
f'th ever.
discussion the other day 0 e Meanwhile, AmericZs Black
. pending senate impeachment prison population and the num
trial of Federal Judge Alcee bersofBlackbodiesstackingup
Hastings has raised an unset- daily in the nation's morgues
tling question for me. To wit: have dizzily risen.
Are African Americans losing This eacophonic chorus is •
faith in the American system of singing one irrefutable tune:
justice? Justice for the African
This is not an idle, academic A rican in America is an
question. elusive thing, and forecasts a
In the stree I encounter it dire future for Americans of
all the time. Angry, street smart sable hue, no matter their at
Black dudes, hanging out on the tainment. like the zany but on
corners of the n tion's city . target insight of that mad
streets, can run it down for you genius, Richard Pryor, who
in bitter words that become rap- . went to the court house seeking
poetry. justice ·and all II found was just
ut DOW I'm hearing it more' ", Blacks of eminent stature
and more from Blacks who have are begining to seriously ques
a stake in the system - a lead- tion the entire sweep of
ing magazine publisher, a top American system of justice.
scieotist(cancerresearcher},an In a bull session in a
outstanding professional ath- Washington, D.C. hotel lobby, a
Jete, star male and female enter- group (they shall be name�)
tamers, a IaboI' leader, a civil of prominent men, idling about
rights leadel'. a. hardworking, between seminar sessions,
committed te cher. So are raisedtheJudgeHastings'ques
African American e York tioD. Said one: -rbey're getting
attorneys Maddo and Mason, ready to lYnch Judge Hastings,
and so, too, in a more tell sure as ooting. •
way is the National Urban ·Yeah, - hotly agreed
League' gIoo annual report another, -unless get busy and
00 the worseoiag plight of our start writing our congressmen!
people. But, I puttered, they've got
The enraged African the goods on him. Why two
Americans of Miami and Black congressman - Reps
Tampa, Fl., areexpr ing the' John Conyer Jr., who chaired
complete a1ieoatio the Congr ·onal Subcommit-
Thirty-five years after Brown tee on Criminal Justice, hich
Vs. ToJJdc!l, Kans. School, Board
decisio 'the most charitable