Relecting on Independence Day

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National Archives Museum Reflection
by Ibrahim Lawton

As I looked at the Constitution, the first thing that came to my mind was that this document, that is supposed to guarantee certain rights and freedoms, was never intended to include me in it. I thought about the strides that many Black men and women have taken to help give Black people the rights that we as humans also deserve. As a future lawyer, these are the documents that I must learn to use to my advantage in dismantling White supremacy and achieving social justice. I believe it is important that I understand the history of these documents to help continue on the path many Black leaders have begun, advocated for and died for.

Two of the most successful Black lawyers that were able to use the law to their advantage in both politics and business were Thurgood Marshall and Reginald Lewis. Thurgood Marshall grew up in Baltimore, Maryland, and overcame the obstacles of living in an era that hated and killed Black people for any reason to be deemed by society as reasonable allowing him to become the most influential lawyer of his time. Reginald Lewis also overcame the struggles of growing up as a poor Black child from Baltimore with nothing, to becoming the first Black billionaire in America. I understand that the success of these Black men, as well as other Black men and women, was far from easy. Like other successful African Americans, they were masters at their crafts, specifically in areas of business and law. They understood and studied how white supremacy functioned specifically in their areas of expertise, then learned ways how to dismantle and overcome the obstacles they faced.  The success that these two men had, while being under the scrutiny of a white supremacist system, show me that it is possible to maneuver and advocate successfully in America for the masses of Black people and for themselves individually. I believe that by continuing to study history, the law, and how others were able to use these tools to help liberate Black people, I can pick up the torch and continue to carry it.

It is appalling to me that even after centuries since the making of the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution, the Bill of Rights, and the evolution of the law since the creation of these documents, to this day Black people are still denied the most basic human rights.  I have respect for all of these documents, but at the end of the day they are still just that – documents. Pieces of paper. I say that because even after laws such as the Reconstruction Amendments were passed, they still did not guarantee any substantive rights to Black people. Although the laws did look good on paper, the lack of enforcement and implementation of these laws rendered them ineffective for along time. After the passing of those amendments, Black people were still unable to vote, they were still denied entry to institutions, as well as many other denials.

Many people believe that laws such as the 13th, 14th and 15th amendments and the civil rights laws were made for Black people. That is false. As a Black man, I of course know that I am Black, I know I am human and I know that as a Black human I should have the right to vote, eat where I want and be treated fairly. We as Blacks already know that. Those laws however, were made for White people who have always oppressed non-whites.  Those laws had to be created to tell White people “do not deny that Black man/woman their rights,” “do not discriminate against that Black man/woman.”

For example, the Voting Rights Act was one of the single most influential pieces of legislation that benefitted Black people. However, the Supreme Court recently struck down section 4 of the Voting Rights Act in Shelby County, Ala. vs. Holder in 2013. This section had required nine southern states to gain approval from the DOJ before making any changes to voting laws in their state. It is important to keep in mind that history has shown these states to practice the most racial tactics to disenfranchise people of color for decades. Shortly after this section was struck down, the Voter ID Act was passed in Texas, which placed an unconstitutional burden on over 500,000 Black people that were previously eligible to vote, and rendered them ineligible to vote in the 2014 gubernatorial elections. Time has shown that the racist system we live in, is still evolving in ways to disenfranchise and deny Black people our rights.

With the Fourth of July only a few days away, this may be a prime example to highlight one of the different ways in which laws have more significance in meaning for Whites than for Blacks. Although both Blacks and Whites fought the British to obtain freedom and liberation, after the war only Whites were free while Blacks remained enslaved. The signing of the Declaration of Independence and the Fourth of July did not guarantee freedom and independence for Blacks. Frederick Douglass may have said it best during a speech in 1852:

What, to the American slave, is your 4th of July? I answer; a day that reveals to him, more than all other days in the year, the gross injustice and cruelty to which he is the constant victim. To him, your celebration is a sham; your boasted liberty, an unholy license; your national greatness, swelling vanity; your sounds of rejoicing are empty and heartless…

As Black people, we must begin to educate ourselves to understand how White supremacy functions in all areas of people activity, so that we may begin to effectively counter and dismantle a racist system and have true justice and peace.

by Karen Bryson

The National Archives is a museum and research facility erected to celebrate America’s uncanny ability to keep records, to document events, and to memorialize the past.  The Archives is filled with all kinds of documentation and prides itself on housing, maintaining, and accounting for this information, from having the Magna Carta on display, to records documenting the ongoing struggle of Americans to define, attain, and protect their rights.   From baby photos of former presidents and first ladies, to gifts from Heads of State and beyond, the Archives has it.  In elementary school did you ever write a letter to the President?  If you answered yes, then the National Archives claims to even have all letters, including children’s letters, written to the President too.  The National Archives is America’s time capsule. It is the nation’s history recorded.  So generations from now, our children’s children will know the principles and people that help create the society they live in.

Among the abundance of information, are subtleties that are easy to overlook.  The underlying racism, sexism, and other prejudices engrained in our foundation are also memorialized in ink and exhibitions at the Archives.  Video clips of the Women’s Suffrage movement, documentation showing that even after the Emancipation Proclamation was issued by President Lincoln enslaved persons, all over the country, were not freed for months and even years after signing, and accounts of discrimination and injustice of immigrants from all over the world can be found inside the Archives.

When looking at the Archives in the most favorable light, I put on my rose colored glasses.  Through my rose colored glasses, I was amazed at the history and information stored in one historic and protected place.  Through my rose colored glasses, I saw the important statement the United States was making by not only displaying its triumphs, but also revealing America’s shortcomings.  Through my rose colored glasses, I took note of how the financial burden, potentially barring access to this information, had been lifted by making the National Archives a part of the Smithsonian and not charging an entry fee.  The US has made this rich and valuable resource open to the public and available to all.

The National Archives is particularly useful in furthering along the work of the Cold Case Justice Initiative (“CCJI”). CCJI primarily investigates cold cases dealing with racially motivated killings and disappearances of African Americans during the Civil Rights Era and advocates for families to law enforcement.  CCJI also participates in victim identification and creating and maintaining a count of these deaths and disappearances, as such a list has never been accurately documented by our government. CCJI is also actively pursuing the amendment and extension of the Emmett Till Unsolved Civil Rights Crime Act signed into law in 2008.   The Library of Congress summarizes the Emmett Till Act to say,

“Emmett Till Unsolved Civil Rights Crime Act – Directs the Attorney General to designate a Deputy Chief in the Criminal Section of the Civil Rights Division of the Department of Justice. Makes the Deputy Chief responsible for investigating and prosecuting violations of criminal civil rights statutes in which the alleged violation occurred before January 1, 1970 and resulted in death.[1]

Section 5

Authorizes the Attorney General to award grants to state or local law enforcement agencies for the investigation and prosecution of violations of state or local laws that are similar to the federal criminal civil rights statutes. Authorizes appropriations.[2

Section 8

Terminates the effectiveness of the above provisions at the end of FY2017.”[3]

CCJI would like to see this act expanded.  For starters, civil rights crimes did not end January 1, 1970; so neither should the authority to investigate these crimes.  Second, the act is set to end in 2017 and the work is incomplete.  Hundreds or thousands of victims have yet to be acknowledged and accounted for by the government and of those the government has acknowledged, few cases are still open.  As for the cases that have been closed, little effort to seek justice has been shown by the government.  Cases are being closed with insufficient investigation.  No one bothered to interview the family, no one bothered to question the living witnesses, criminal documents from the 1960’s mysteriously come up “missing” without further investigation, and other investigational mistakes are taking place.  After a less than thorough investigation, the Department of Justice (“DOJ”) makes an inconclusive determination to close the case.  Because of this, CCJI would like to amend The Emmett Till Act to require more than a mandatory annual report sent to Congress about the work of the Justice department. CCJI requests more rigid requirements be put in place before DOJ is able to close a case.  The government should require results; evidence of thorough investigations, prosecutorial involvement, and documentation of new developments and additional cases and victims that have been uncovered during their search for the truth.

As I remove my rose colored glasses and see the Archives, flaws and all, I see the disparities in documentation.  I see the undervaluation of slain African Americans here in this country across the spectrum where, on one hand, America does not denounce the existence of slavery while on the other hand America does not negate that African Americans were treated unequally during the civil rights era.  However, even this latter recognition falls short of truthfully describing the horrific racist acts that took place.

Many of these unspeakable acts were not thoroughly documented, but even some of the well-documented acts, like the Mustard Gas Experiments performed on American soldiers of color are withheld from display.  The mustard gas experiments were secret World War II chemical experiments where African American soldiers were locked in wooden chambers as mustard gas was piped inside to see its affects on humans.  Sixty thousand (60,000) documented soldiers were apart of this heinous testing, which included gas chambers, pouring mustard gas directly on one’s skin, and field tests where soldiers were exposed to mustard gas outdoors.   Most were soldiers of color.  The soldiers were sworn to secrecy and the government kept these experiments classified until 1991 when federal officials formally admitted to these acts of torture, declassified and published reports on the types of experiments conducted.  The parallels between these types of experiments conducted on Black, Latino, and Asian soldiers, and the atrocities committed during the Holocaust are chilling.  However, gruesome acts like this and hundreds of other unpublicized acts of abuse and violence perpetrated against people of color in this country are not recognized in the Archives, demonstrating racial disregard.

Without my rose colored glasses clouding my vision, I recognize the gaping holes in the picture painted in the Archives.  There is no accurate count of the hate crimes committed in this country.  There is no recognition of the countless unsolved murders of African Americans.  The government did not even bother to attempt to gather an unabridged list of names of African Americans who were slaughtered due to senseless racial hatred and since denied justice through the criminal justice system.  The US did not acknowledge the hundreds or thousands of disappearances that plagued African American communities.  Even today, 2015, our government continues to lie or trivialize the damage done by white superiority ideology.

With my rose colored glasses removed, I see the vital need of CCJI’s work.  Simply compiling a list of names never acknowledged by the Government, not deemed important enough to make it into the National Archives, is monumental.  Creating an effective process for providing justice to the families who have lived with the pain of losing a loved one and the hurt of their government turning their backs on them in their time of need.  This work is important and must be documented.

The National Archives is an important monument of information and of acknowledgement that these things happened and are important enough to remember.  CCJI is fighting to ensure that no matter your race, sex, or religion, you are remembered.

Two Reflections on the Holocaust Museum in Washingon, D.C.

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An image from the Holocaust Museum
An image from the Holocaust Museum

by Karen Bryson

While touring the Holocaust museum, the stench of death, hatred, and mutilation filled the air suffocating any justice or peace.  This stench, also well known throughout American history with striking resemblances to the treatment of African Americans, was highlighted in this museum and explained in detail.  Senseless killing over arbitrary differences were tolerated and even justified by law, but the Holocaust story did not end there.  Today the stories of these victims live on and are recounted around the world.  Germany has dismantled and banned the Nazi regime. German society is acknowledging that harm has occurred, damage was done and thus they have started down a long road to recovery.  In contrast, acknowledgement is the step that America has yet to take.  America is still trying to bury their skeletons of racial killings and abuse. Hiding behind symbols deemed historical, like the confederate flag, which proudly flies over numerous state capitols in the southern region.  America has not yet acknowledged that this flag also represents the fabric of slavery and racial inferiority; principles deeply ingrained in the soil of this nation.   Without these acknowledgements, on a local and national level, America cannot heal.

In the museum, I was awed by the detailed documentation and vast information about the atrocities committed.  Horrific images flooded the hallways, leaving permanent visual imprints in a viewer’s mind of the pain suffered by Jews, homosexuals, Gypsies, and non-Jews in opposition with the Nazi ideology.  From videos to clothing, the museum gave a clear look into 1930’s and 40’s, the rise and fall of the planned Nazi world take over and what that meant for ordinary citizens, Nazis and non-Nazis alike. It painted a sympathetic picture of those victimized during the Holocaust and illustrated for viewers that the Holocaust is to forever be remembered.

I appreciate the Holocaust museum for not only highlighting the damage caused by Hitler’s regime, but also the damage caused by individual citizens who stood by and did nothing while millions of their neighbors were being slaughtered in death camps.  These citizens, whether they were conscious of it or not, were “undocumented Nazi soldiers.”  Their silence aided in the Nazi’s fight and allowed the Nazi regime to grow and flourish.   In contrast, the museum also highlighted the individuals who did not sit idle, but took a stand.  Whether that stand was providing shelter, helping to pay for emigration, or participating in a rally.  Additionally, as the museum exhibit stated, “In Denmark 9 out of 10 Jews were saved; in Norway and Belgium about 1 out of 2; in the Netherlands, 1 out of 4; and in Lithuania and Poland, fewer than 2 in 10 survived.  When ordinary citizens became rescuers, Jews had a chance of survival.”

CCJI is a great example of individuals taking a stand here in America against the racist violence perpetrated against African Americans by organized groups such as the Klu Klux Klan (KKK) and America’s own racist “undocumented soldiers.” The depth of the violence and violation against African Americans throughout American history by law enforcement and “undocumented soldiers” is intolerable and the deaths that resulted should not be erased nor forgotten.  These slain black lives must be memorialized. CCJI represents the continued fight for justice for the families of those who never received it.  The Holocaust museum took years to build, years of fighting, of reminding, of insisting, that this atrocity be shrined and taught.  CCJI too, will not give up. Identifying victims and ensuring that an accurate investigation is performed on behalf of loved ones lost is beyond important, it is imperative.  It is the first step on the road to recovery; acknowledgement of the harm that has occurred and the damage that was done.  Only after this step will America begin to heal.

A quote that hung in The Holocaust museum, by Martin Niemoller:

First they came for the Socialists, and I did not speak out—
Because I was not a Socialist.

Then they came for the Trade Unionists, and I did not speak out— 
Because I was not a Trade Unionist.

Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out— 
Because I was not a Jew.

Then they came for me—and there was no one left to speak for me.

His point in this quote was that Germans had been complicit through their silence in the Nazi imprisonment, persecution, and murder of millions of people.  Americans share in this complicity.  By not coming forward and helping to ensure justice is served for those who have committed crimes, by hiding or destroying information about African American killings or by simply not acknowledging that these atrocities took place, you too are an “undocumented soldier,” aiding and abetting racism and oppression.  The fight for justice is ours now and each person must do his or her part to ensure human rights for all people.

In the eloquent words of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., “Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.”

cropped-IMG_1588.jpg

by Ibrahim Lawton

Pain and suffering are the only words that can be used to describe what Jewish people went through at the hands of the Nazis during the Holocaust. As I sit and think about what the United States did or did not do during that time to help when Jews were getting slaughtered like animals, I am not surprised. The museum exhibits allowed me to understand the parallels then and now between racism in America and the anti-Semitism that took/takes place in Germany. With America’s history of oppression as well as racial and ethnic discrimination, it did not come as a surprise to learn that America failed to utilize their power to aid in closing the concentration camps after they learned of the ethnic cleansing that was taking place. My past studies of ethnic cleansing, spanning from the genocides in Rwanda, the Khmer Rouge of Cambodia, and the Ottoman Turks annihilation of the Christian Armenians- indicate that the root of the hate, can always be traced to white Europeans and their descendants.

American racism is fundamentally based on the most potent principle of Nazi propaganda which is to manifest differentiation. Differentiation would allow for the larger, Christian German population to detach themselves from and lose empathy for the Jewish population as they strip them of their humanity. By removing any “alike-ness”, the German people disassociated with the Jewish population thus, allowing themselves to view them as worthy of genocide. This is eerily similar to how White Americans disconnect themselves from the Black population- often leading them to ripping the Black community of all humanity and finding them deserving of any harmful treatment- even death.

It dawned on me after leaving the museum that the United States did not come to the aid of those in the concentration camps who, in addition to the Jewish population also included homosexuals, Gypsies, people with mental and physical disabilities, and Black populations, because there was an atrocity taking place in their own backyard that was always fueled by, as I stated before, propaganda that promotes differentiation. For example, the ideology of White supremacy which is engrained into the American psyche, propagates the notion that Black men are savages that our sexual desires cannot be contained and our desires for the white woman runneth over. According to White patriarchal belief, White women are viewed as a “trophy” or object of attainment or possession for White men, and White men find it to be their duty to protect them from the “overtly, sexual Black man”. This propaganda justified the lynching of countless Black men, just as Nazi propaganda of Jews as thieves justified the Holocaust. Both racism is America and Nazism in Germany criminalized those who were differentiated from themselves to make death an acceptable option. Because hundreds of thousands of Black people were killed here in America for centuries without any second thought by society or just outcomes, the work of the Cold Case Justice Initiative in identifying victims of racially motivated killings will always be needed.

There are many other similarities and parallels. For instance, I see the concentration camps that the Nazis used to murder millions of men, women and children the same as the plantations, lynching and castrations the White population inflicted on Black people here in America. The sterilizing, degradation and experimenting by the Nazis on Jews is the same as the Tuskegee Syphilis experiments on Black men in the United States by White scientist.  Joeseph Mengele was a German physician for the Nazi party in 1943. Once he became the chief physician and had the full authority to maim or kill his subjects, Mengele performed a broad range of agonizing and often lethal experiments on Jewish and Gypsy twins, most of whom were children. Many of his “test subjects” died as a result of the inhumane experiments or were murdered in order to facilitate post-mortem examination.

It is ridiculous to me that America can be outraged about the Mengele experiments on the Jewish and Gypsy population in the concentration campus, however, and remain unmoved when it comes to the experiments our own government did to Black Americans including the mustard gas experiments conducted on soldiers of color by the U.S government during WWII. Ultimately, if the United States would have stepped in, it would have proved to be a hypocrisy, because how could they denounce a racial/ethnic cleansing in another country, when they were actively and systematically performing one of their own- a racial/ethnic cleansing that is still happening today?

I plan to continue to examine the similarities and contrasts between Black and Jewish experiences of racism and anti-Semitism from past and present times. I am particularly interested in the ways in which White supremacist ideology manifests in each community, the different levels of oppression experienced by the Black population which Jews may not face due to a white supremacy system that favors them, and the economic disparities between the Black and Jewish communities.

The memorial of the many victims of the Holocaust including the Jews, Gypsies and many others in the museum was an excellent display. I was turned off by there not being any recognition giving to the hundreds of thousands of Blacks that were also killed during that Holocaust. Time and time and again, Black people are killed, just as we were in the Jewish holocaust, and just as we are killed today, and it gets overlooked. This stresses the importance of the work that CCJI does, to not only bring justice to families who have lost a loved one, but at the most basic level, to bring to light recognition that a human life was lost at the hands of murderers for no just reason.

“The past isn’t dead. It isn’t even past.”

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CCJI Summer Orientation Program, May 30, 2015

CCJI student interns pose in front of Oakhurst Presbyterian Church where some will be based during the summer
CCJI student interns pose in front of Oakhurst Presbyterian Church where some will be based during the summer

The Cold Case Justice Initiative (CCJI) works in response to William Faulkner’s principle. The evils of the past have not yet been resolved by the arm of justice, so the past is not only with us and a part of us: that evil still lives in our midst. Accordingly, on Saturday, May 30, 2015, the CCJI hosted a day of panels at the Center for Civil and Human Rights in Atlanta, Georgia. While thirsty patrons of the Coca-Cola museum guzzled down soda on the lawn above, the CCJI diligently pursued long-overdue justice for the community, just as it has been doing for the past eight years. Entitled Past & Present Families United: Justice & Accountability for Racist Killings, the event operated as an orientation program for CCJI’s summer interns. Presenting the voices of family members of the victims of racially-motivated violence and their continuing quest for justice, as well as members of the media who investigate these cases and inform the public about the continuing need for awareness, and advocates and activists who work with family members and communities to obtain justice, the event contemplated the meaning and legacy of the unsolved civil rights crimes cases. The day also saw a strategic discussion for concrete ideas for the pursuit of justice and accountability and ways in which CCJI law student interns can advance these causes in collaboration with families, communities, and social justice organizations and governmental organizations.

Shelton Chappell shares the story of his mother's murder during the CCJI event at the National Center for Civil and Human Rights. His mother, Johnnie Mae Chappell was shot and killed in Jacksonville, Florida in 1964.
Shelton Chappell shares the story of his mother’s murder during the CCJI event at the National Center for Civil and Human Rights. His mother, Johnnie Mae Chappell was shot and killed in Jacksonville, Florida in 1964.

The day was marked by pathos, power, and tears. We heard from families still fighting for justice decades after suffering their loss. Joyce Dorsey and Jessica Malcom, representing the Moore’s Ford Bridge Massacre families, and Janice Cameron and Nedra Walker, representing the families of the Five Atlanta Fishermen Killed in Pensacola, Florida, represented the awful trials and travails of pursuing justice decades after their loved ones died. Shelton Chappell, the youngest son of Johnnie Mae Chappell, spoke of the sharp pain he and his family still feel over his mother’s death fifty-one years ago. Denise Jackson Ford and Wharlest Jackson, Jr. conveyed the love that the Natchez, Mississippi community still feels for their father, Wharlest Jackson, Sr., and their staunch refusal to accept the warped logic in the FBI’s closure of their father’s case. And showing the parallel suffering wrought upon the community today, Martinez Sutton, brother of Chicago’s Rekia Boyd, wove the narrative of insensitivity and legal incompetence that surrounds his sister’s recent death at the hands of a Chicago police officer.

Documentary film crew capturing Saturday's event.
Documentary film crew capturing Saturday’s event.

Allies of the families of the dead, representing the political structure and the media, conveyed the urgency of making the struggle for justice imperative upon the community. Tyrone Brooks, a former Georgia State Representative, depicted his ongoing struggle in and outside of the legislature to obtain justice for these families. Pulitzer Prize–nominee Stanley Nelson of the Concordia Sentinel in Ferriday, Louisiana explained the difficulty of providing news coverage for unsolved civil rights cases in local newspapers. Pulitzer prize–winning journalist Hank Klibanoff, director of the GA Civil Rights Cases project at Emory University, explained the challenges in teaching today’s students about outstanding civil rights crimes. Angela Robinson, president of A.R.C. Media, LLC, touched on the importance of holding television news stations accountable for their framing of civil rights stories. And, Derrick Boazman, radio host of Atlanta’s “Too Much Truth,” pointed to the power of radio in telling the stories of unsolved civil rights crimes.

In looking towards the present and future, allies of the CCJI engaged in a round table discussion of strategic decision making in the realm of unsolved civil rights cases. Understanding the larger social context surrounding these cases is paramount to addressing them properly. Accordingly, Joe Beasley of Rainbow Push; Deborah Watts of the Emmett Till Family Legacy Foundation; C.B. King, the famed civil rights attorney; Rev. Dr. Francys Johnson, president of Georgia’s NAACP; Mawuli Davis, a prominent civil rights attorney; and Aurielle Marie, of Atlanta’s It’s Bigger Than You, worked together to identify particular problems in the community and appropriate means for addressing those problems.

Martinez Sutton discusses the killing of his innocent sister at the hands of a chicago police officer who was acquitted of any wrongdoing during day-long event at the Center for Civil and Human Rights in Atlanta, Georgia
Martinez Sutton discusses the killing of his innocent sister at the hands of a Chicago police officer who was acquitted of any wrongdoing during day-long event at the Center for Civil and Human Rights in Atlanta, Georgia

Finally, professors Janis McDonald and Paula Johnson of Syracuse College of Law, co-directors of the CCJI, presented the Emmett Till Unsolved Civil Rights Crimes Act of 2007 and its failings. While exhorting the FBI and Department of Justice “to expeditiously investigate unsolved civil rights murders, due to the amount of time that has passed since the murders and the age of the potential witnesses” and “provide all the resources necessary to ensure timely and thorough investigations in the cases involved,” the Emmett Till Act has failed to initiate adequate action by either branch. The directors indicated the intention of the CCJI to advocate for amendment and extension of the Emmett Till Act so that justice may be attained.

Justice delayed is only justice denied if we accept failure. Saturday’s panels reaffirmed our refusal to accept the failure of justice. Though the U.S. has no institution devoted to human rights, investigation of the genocide committed here against African-Americans is ongoing. As long as the community calls for it, the CCJI is committed to continue the fight for justice by any means necessary.

Brent Lightfoot
CCJI Summer Intern
Emory University School of Law