ATROCITIES CONDUCTED AGAINST AFRICAN AMERICANS AND NATIVES
The atrocities conducted against African Americans and natives date back to the historical times of America. A case in point was the enacted Jim Crow laws. The laws comprised local and state laws that implemented racial segregation in the United States of America.[1] The Jim crow laws led to racial segregation in public facilities in the Confederate States of America. Further, the Jim Crow laws were enforced against the native Americans in the case of Plessy v Ferguson, where the Supreme Court upheld the “separate but equal” legal doctrine for the African Americans facilities.[2] Further, public education was segregated since it was introduced in 1865, after the Civil War.
Additionally, the “separate but equal” racial segregation was extended to transportation and other public facilities. The facilities used by the African Americans were constantly treated as inferior and underfunded compared to the facilities used by the White Americans. Further, the Jim Crow body of laws institutionalized social, educational, and economic disadvantages for most African Americans who reside in America.[3]
The Jim Crow state Constitutional stipulations and Jim Crow laws directed the segregation of public places, public transportation, public schools, restaurants, drinking fountains, and restrooms between the blacks and whites. However, later on, the segregation of public schools was declared unfair and unconstitutional by the American Supreme Court in the landmark case law of Brown v Board of Education.[4]In some American states, it took a while to implement the decision. The rest of the Jim Crow laws were later overruled by the Voting Rights Act of 1965 and the Civil Rights Act of 1964.
Another form of atrocity against the African Americans and natives was slavery. Some Native American communities were held as captives of war as slaves before and during colonization by Europeans. Further, some natives were captured while others were sold into slavery to the Europeans. In the later parts of the 18th and 19th centuries, several tribes owned slaves as chattel property and held massive numbers of African American slaves.[5] The Native Americans and African Americans were enslaved and frequently worked for the Europeans and Americans as laborers.[6] Further, both races did not subscribe to the Christianity religion, and since they had differing skin color and physical attributes, the Europeans considered them inferior. Therefore, both the Americans and Europeans worked towards making enemies of the two races.
Additionally, the European influence immensely changed the slavery trend used by Native Americans. The preceding is because the pre-contract slavery forms differed from the chattel slavery trend developed by the Europeans in North America in colonial times.[7] As the Europeans raided other tribes to capture the slaves for sale to the Europeans, there were destructive wars amongst themselves and against them.[8]
The Black Wall Street massacre is also another past atrocity committed by the United States against the African Americans and Native Americans. The massacre occurred in the riot in 1921 and is commonly referred to as the Tulsa Race Riot.[9] The preceding scream has been associated with various underlying causes. First, there was an increased migration into Tulsa; Greenwood District referred to as Black Street. Consequently, Tulsa was the city with the majority of the African American population. With an increase in the population of blacks and equality demands, there were numerous discrimination perceptions and shared experiences among the African Americans.[10] The preceding allowed little time for adaptation among the white population.
Additionally, the drastic change in the racial demographics ripened the city for a riot based on the Americans’ hatred against the economic progress of African Americans. Moreover, the then Americans equate any improvement in working conditions and wages as a threat to communism.[11] They were also resentful that the African Americans were not second-class citizens on American soil.
Segregation also significantly contributed to the Tulsa race riot. Ironically, businesses run by African Americans were based on self-sufficiency. Hence since they were banned from purchasing items from shops owned by whites, their businesses grew. Nonetheless, the black companies greatly profited from how segregation lessened competition for the blacks; it limited their opportunities and mobility to explore external markets.[12]
Th police force also contributed to the Black Wall Street massacre. They permitted mobs to crowd the courthouse due to their ineffective operations and did not see any extra help. Moreover, they had a hand in the riot by aiding whites, having armed themselves. The police force also ignored due process and arrested African Americans and interned them in camps. However, no whites were arrested hence discrimination. Eventually, the media and politicians blamed the Tulsa riot on the African Americans. The American population thus perceived African Americans as persons predisposed to criminal activities and needed to be controlled. Also, owing to the assumption of the criminality of the black people, the whites justified the fatal violence that took place on Black Wall Street on the Blacks since they needed to be conquered.[13]
The gifting of smallpox-infected blankets to the Native Americans was also an atrocity perpetrated by the Americans. The American colonialists’ warfare against the Native Americans was brutal and horrifying. However, one method that shocked the human conscience was gifting linen and blankets contaminated with smallpox. The preceding tactic was a crude form of biological warfare.[14] Moreover, the first account of the weaponization of smallpox by colonialists against the Native Americas can be traced back to the 19th century. However, no specific recorded history proves that the biological tactic of warfare was effective.
However, the American government enacted the 18 US Code 175 prohibitions with respect to biological weapons. The said law provides that any person who knowingly possess a biological toxin, agent, or delivery system or in a quantity that, under the circumstances, is not reasonably justified by protective, bona fide research, or other peaceful purpose, shall be fined or imprisoned for not more than 10 years, or both.[15] The preceding law thus prevents the American authorities or anyone else from using any form of biological warfare against African Americans and Natives, infected blankets included.
There were also several trials and execution of innocent African Americans and Native Americans. The problems were conducted unfairly since the evidence presented by the tribes was inadequate, the defendants were not represented, the proceedings were carried out in an unfamiliar language, and there was no authority for convening the tribunals.[16] Moreover, since the Natives and African Americans only spoke the Babel language, they hardly understood their accusations and charges. The officers in charge of the tribunals also barely gave them attention since they were prejudiced against them. The Natives and African American women were also subjected to sexual assault, with most of the instances going unreported. If reported, the relevant authorities, being white, paid no attention to the hue and cry of the tribes.
The American colonialists also separated the families of African Americans and Native Americans. The preceding follows the arrest of persons falsely accused of committing certain crimes. All whites believed that the African Americans and Natives were bound to be beggars and poor hence any sign of wealth amounted to them being blamed for the theft. Slaves that were moved around the farms of the Europeans and Americans led to the separation of their families.
The suffering aggravated the preceding atrocities that the Native Americans and African Americans went through after the slavery era. For instance, sharecropping granted the tribes independence regarding their daily roles and social lives. It also liberated them from the gang-labor systems which dominated the era of slavery. Despite the preceding merits, sharecropping had its downside.[17] The Natives and African Americans ended up owing more to the landowners because of tools and extra supplies.
Fast forward to the present times, the Biden administration was allegedly negotiating plans to offer $ 450 000 for every migrant separated during the era of Trump. When Trump was in power, his administration misled the public and Congress to implement a family separation policy. The policy disregarded the separation of children from their parents. Even though the public officials were well aware of the inadequate systems to track the separated children, they enforced the policy in 2018.[18] The procedure was also a form of child abuse since the migrants’ children were tortured.
However, through successfully reuniting the families separated and promoting redress, the Biden administration could aid in rebuilding the faith of the public in the American government. The executive order that President Biden issued out regarding the establishment of the Interagency Tas Force on Reuniting Families indicates collective accountability towards reuniting the migrant families.[19]
Big government corporations have also violated the rights of African Americans and Native Americans on several occasions. For instance, the Bank of America was recently asked to pay $16.65 Billion in a Historic Justice Department settlement for financial fraud that resulted in a financial crisis.[20] The majority of its clients that encountered losses were African Americans and Native Americans. The preceding population has also been subject to the provision of accounts and products under pretense by Wells Fargo. Their records were falsified and misused, resulting in significant losses.[21] However, Wells Fargo agreed to pay $3 billion to resolve civil and criminal investigations into the sale practice that involved opening accounts without the clients’ authority.
Moreover, some of the US mining companies have crept into the land of the African Americans and Native Americans. The resultant effect is the pollution of the environment and dumping of waste on their land, leading to pollution and health effects on the populations. The preceding has led to the violation of their right to health and the freedom to a clean environment. Big American Corporations have severally been held liable by the American Supreme Court of pollution through nuclear waste and oil spills. Native tribes and African Americans have been subjected to significant amounts of radioactive and hazardous waste.
In the quest of disposing nuclear waste, the American government and private entities have disregarded and broken treaties blurring the definition of Native and African American sovereignty. The American companies have also taken advantage of the overwhelming poverty of African Americans and native tribes and have offered them millions to host nuclear waste storage sites.
The American military has also seized large tracts of indigenous land and tested chemical and biological weapons that has led to massive nuclear contamination. Whether purposeful or accidental, the African Americans and Natives have fallen victim to such tests through eviction and exposure to health risks. Although the courts have severally held the American government and companies liable for pollution, no substantive action has been taken to prevent furtherance of the same actions. Also, with the rolling out of the 5G and fifth generation mobile phones, there are numerous microwave radiations being released that have proven to be cancer risk. The ell phones emit radiation in from of radio waves and radio frequency radiations. Additionally, the American government and military have taken no steps to ensure that they compensate the African Americans and native communities affected by their adverse actions.
The majority of the American corporations have also assumed monopoly over the production of goods and services. This has not only hindered the growth and development of African American and Native companies, but also diminished their popularity.
From the preceding discussion, it is evident that the American government has, in the past, placed the natives and Africans at a disadvantage. The preceding is still the position to date. This can be attested to by various lawyers and legal service providers that have severally dealt with cases of African and Native clients being overcharged. Such is especially by American banks that have arbitrarily and unjustifiably raised the mortgage rates for Africans and Natives. Africans and Natives have experienced more hurdles compared to whites when getting a home with creditworthy borrowers increasingly being rejected or being unfairly charged increased interests.[22]
Lawyers have also reported that racial bias in face-to-face lending is creeping onto the online platforms. Further, a lending study that was recently released reported that African Americans has the highest rates of denial for mortgages recording 17.4% while the whites recorded the lowest being 7.9%.[23] The study also demonstrated that the Black community and Latinos have been recording high denial rates over the past decade.
The increased racism against the African Americans and Natives by the American government and institutions have resulted in the majority of the victims taking to the streets and claiming equal rights to the whites. However, the preceding has proven to be of little or no assistance. Hence the need of the African American community and Natives collaborating and establishing their institutions that will provide them with fair services. Any steps that have been taken by the said communities to mobilize the American government to enact fair policies and make the necessary amendments have severally failed.
Further, the Patriot Act section 802 is significant since it defines terrorism. However, the section does not create a crime of domestic terrorism. Rather, it expands the form of conduct that the government can investigate when investigating terrorism. The Act expanded the governmental powers of investigating terrorism and some of the powers are applicable to domestic terrorism. Although the provision of the Act does not directly advocate the use of discrimination and profiling. It legalizes and establishes a surveillance society in which people suspect their neighbors. This has led to increased mayhem and bedlam with the African Americans and Natives living amongst whites being wrongfully suspected of committing crimes. Subsequently, they are apprehended and sentenced for long terms or fined with no solid evidence.
Fighting for rights and equal entitlements by the African Americans and Native communities in America has proven to be a futile course. Hence the victims should mobilize their leaders to explore more amicable solutions to the pervasive racism in America.
I, ANTHONY WARREN McKINZY declare under penalty of perjury that the foregoing is true of my own knowledge except as to those matters and things stated upon information and belief, and as of those things, I believe them to be true.
___________________________________
Anthony Warren McKinzy
[1]Tischauser, L. V. (2012) Jim Crow Laws.
[2]Plessy v Ferguson, 163 U.S. 537 (1896)
[3]Jeanette, W. (1990) “Jim Crow, Indian Style: The Disenfranchisement of Native Americans.” Indian Law Review, 16 (1), 167-202.
[4]Brown v Board of Education, 347 U.S. 483 (1954)
[5]Alan, G. (2009): Indian Slavery in Colonial America. Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press.
[6]Andrés, R. (2016). The Other Slavery: The Uncovered Story of Indian Enslavement in America. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt.
[7]Ibid
[8]Krauthamer, Barbara (2013). Black Slaves, Indian Masters: Slavery, Emancipation, and Citizenship in the Native American South. Chapel Hill, NC: University of North Carolina Press
[9]Messer, C. M. (2021) “Greenwood: The Rise and Devastation of “Black Wall Street.” Springer.
[10]Lumpkins, C. L. (2020) “Tulsa 1921: Reporting a Massacre by Randy Krehbiel.” Journal of Southern History.
[11]Ibid
[12]Schechter, P. (2021) “History of the Tulsa Massacre, 1921 (Bibliography).” Portland State University, PDX Scholar.
[13]Ibid
[14]Brown, T. (20060 “Did the US Army Distribute Smallpox Blankets to Indians?”
[15]18 US Code 175 Criminal Procedure
[16]Selmi, M. “Proving Intentional Discrimination: The Reality of Supreme Court Rhetoric.” Law Journal
[17]Byres, T. J. (1983) “Historical Perspectives on Sharecropping.” The Journal of Peasant Studies.
[18]Barnet, E. et al. (2021) “Using DNA to Reunify Separated Migrant Families.” American Review Journal.
[19]Ibid
[20]The United States Department of Justice. Bank of America to Pay $16.65 Billion in Historic Justice Department Settlement for Financial Fraud Leading up to and During the Financial Crisis. August 21, 2014. Available at: < https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/bank-america-pay-1665-billion-historic-justice-department-settlement-financial-fraud-leading >
[21]The United States Department of Justice. Wells Fargo Agrees to Pay $3 Billion to Resolve Criminal and Civil Investigations into Sales Practices Involving the Opening of Millions of Accounts without Customer Authorization. February 21, 2020. Available at: < https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/wells-fargo-agrees-pay-3-billion-resolve-criminal-and-civil-investigations-sales-practices >
[22]Phillips, S. (2010) ‘The Submarine Crisis and African Americans.” Sage Journals.
[23]Beaeman, A., Glasberg, D.S. & Casey, C. (2011) “Whiteness as Property: Predatory Lending and the Reproduction of Racialized Inequality.” Sage Journals
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