As we discuss injustice in America and the social evils that
have plagued our history, let us turn our eyes away from those
moments of the unalterable past to those we can influence.
Today over 3,300 people were legally killed. They were not given
a trial; they were not asked if they wanted to die; they were not
committing any crime at the instance of their death. They were
disenfranchised and silenced by a social system that values convenience
over life.
How is it a society that claims to believe all men are created
with the unalienable rights to Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of
Happiness can turn a blind eye and a deaf ear to the wholesale
slaughter of over 33,000,000 people? How can one claim to love
life and remain silent as over 1,000,000 people are legally killed
each year before they have the opportunity to take their first
breath?
* * *
New London, CT, Oakland, CA, Riviera Beach, FL and elsewhere.
The right to own property and feel secure in that possession is
granted to every citizen of this nation. The US Constitution (USC)
grants these rights to Americans and explicitly states land can
only be taken, at fair recompense, for the public use. Historically,
this has meant schools, highways, and railroads. But now people
of moderate to meager means are finding themselves the victims
of a despotic government. No longer does “public use” mean
the aforementioned, now it includes housing for the wealthy so
government can stick its paws into deeper pockets for greater tax
revenues. Because many of these places being stolen by the government
and handed over to private developers for profit are economically
challenged, many of the dispossessed are black. Why are groups
like the NAACP not standing on the rooftops sounding the clarion?
Why is there such a failure on the parts of whites and blacks to
rally to the aid and defense of lower-income, law abiding citizens?
* * *
What has happened to the dream that men would be measured by the
content of their character instead of the color of their skin?
How have we moved so far from that noble aspiration?
The University of Michigan was recently the defendant in several
class action lawsuits filed for discrimination. During the trial,
many whites were denied entrance while less qualified minorities
were granted entrance based on race. It was revealed that blacks,
Hispanics, and Native Americans were given additional points based
on the color of their skin. The Court sided 5-4 with the University,
making it acceptable to consider a person’s race when they
apply for entrance, as long as people are not preferred for being
white.
* * *
These are just a few places where looking to the future, or even
the present, will prove more productive than looking into the past
at issues that have long expired. The greatest travesty of the Civil
Rights movement is that we traded in one form of social injustice
for another. While empowering one group of people, we found it expedient
to relegate others to voiceless, second-class status.
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