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ForumApril 26
On this date in 1994, South Africa held its first all-race elections. This historic moment effectively dissolved the last pieces of apartheid in that country. Close to 22.7 million eligible voters took part in the four days of polling. Many of the voters stood in line for over 12 hours to cast their ballots for the first time. The election spotlighted the end of years of struggle led by Black organizations such as the African National Congress (ANC), which sought to put an end to over 300 years of White-minority rule. At one-minute after midnight on this date in 1994 a new South African Flag was raised replacing the one introduced in 1928. This was accompanied by the taking effect of the countries new constitution and bill of rights. The Black homelands, formerly a symbol of the racist government, were dissolved and nine new all-race provinces came into being. Nelson Mandela was the winner by a landslide. Reference:
Why do Democrats not want to investigate the Bush administration for war crimes. This should not be a partisan issue. A crime is a crime is a crime. The truth is all crimes are in “the past.” So, this precedent of only looking forward means that a whole lot of folks in jails and prisons must be released. Also, we won’t have to worry about having a bad credit history since it’s in “the past.” We’ve got to move on to the future. Somehow I don’t think this logic will work for me. It only works for people with money and power. Then again, we’ve never been known to have a fair justice system. All you have to do is look at the Supreme Court decision that stole the 2000 election for Bush Jr. and “Dead-Eye” Cheney. I do hope President Obama can instill some morals into the rest of the Democratic Party. The White House and the Democratic leadership in the Senate signaled on Thursday that they would block for now any effort to establish an independent commission to investigate the Bush administration’s approval of harsh interrogation techniques.
The birth of Dred Scott in 1799 is celebrated on this date. He was a Black and abolitionist whose zeal for Black equality and humanity led him to sue America for his freedom. His unsuccessful legal recording was in the famous lawsuit Dred Scott v. Sandford which bears his name.
Scott was born a slave in Virginia as property of the Peter Blow family. He and the Blow family moved to St. Louis in 1830, but due to financial problems the Blow family had to sell Scott to Dr. John Emerson, who was a doctor for the United States Army. Dr. Emerson traveled extensively into Illinois and the Minnesota and Wisconsin territories where the Missouri Compromise prohibited slavery. It was during these travels that Scott met and married his wife, Harriet Robinson, and Dr. Emerson met and married his wife, Irene Sanford. The Scott’s and the Emerson’s returned to Missouri in 1842. Dr. Emerson died a year later and John F.A. Sanford, Mrs. Emerson’s brother became executor of the Emerson estate. Scott filed his case in 1846, and first went to trial in 1847 in a state courthouse in St. Louis. The Blow family financed his legal defense. They lost the initial trial, but due to hearsay evidence were granted a second trial by the presiding judge. Three years later, in 1850, a jury decided the Scott’s should be freed under the Missouri doctrine of ‘once free, always free.’ Mrs. Emerson, by then a widow, appealed. Two years later, the Missouri Supreme Court struck down the lower court ruling, saying, “Times now are not as they were when the previous decisions on this subject were made.” The Scott’s were returned to their masters as slaves once more. The Scott’s sued again in the St. Louis Federal Court with the help of new lawyers. The Scott’s lost this case, and appealed to the Supreme Court. In 1857, Chief Justice Roger B. Taney delivered the majority opinion that Dred Scott had no claim to freedom, that slaves are property and not citizens, and thus cannot bring suit against anyone in federal court and that because slaves are private property the federal government cannot revoke a person’s right to own one based upon where they live, thus nullifying the essence of the Missouri Compromise. He also argued that Scott was a slave and private property and was thus protected by the Fifth Amendment, which says that property cannot be taken away without “due process.” After the case, Scott was returned to his original owners, the Blows, who granted him his freedom less than a year and a half before his death from tuberculosis on September 17, 1858. Dred Scott is buried in Calvary Cemetery, St. Louis, Missouri. Reference: The Encyclopedia Britannica, Twenty-fourth Edition. The Anti-Slavery Society You must be logged in to post a comment. |
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