[Janq]

Black history, the Second Ammendment, and American Civil Rights

As folks know February is Black history month.
Typically you hear at this time stories of Martin Luther King and freedom marches et. al. Commonly in my own travels I'll see posts online by folsk wondering why such a month exists while at the same time IRL year round I'll come across folks having absolutely no idea or knowledge toward Blacks aside from MLK, Sean Combs, Michael Jordan, Michael Jackson, and folks repeating crap they saw on the Dave Chapelle show.

Motivated by an article post at SigForum today in regard to the subject of the civil rights movement and 2A I've decided to repost it here.
In fact I'll take it a step further and will try to post everyday a new story, report, or factoid from American history toward Blacks, 2A, and the civil rights movment which did not just help Black people but all people of all races then and current men, women, and children too. I have no idea how easy or hard this might be but I've got off hand a number of people in mind to reference including Crispus Attucks (my avatar), Medgar Evers, Rob Williams, Nat Turner, and then there are the numerous slave revolts where human people fought and died by force toward securing their own freedom & civil rights by way of the gun. These people and others forgotten define the words patriot and 'gunatic' in ways much more real than any of us today as their children can imagine muchless know first hand. I expect history nuts will enjoy this effort and please feeel free to add your own history references as an assist as I go.

So to get things started here is the first in this series and the article that sparked the flame in my mind...

---

The Deacons for Defense and Justice

Second Amendment Freedoms Aided the Civil Rights Movement

By Ken Blackwell

Tuesday, February 6, 2007

Prominent and indispensable among our rights is the "right of the people to keep and bear arms." Second Amendment rights, never to be infringed, were posited by our nation’s founders as among the most essential tenets of the free and just republic they sought to establish.

The empowering freedom of law-abiding citizens to keep and bear arms is particularly timely during Black History Month, for its role in the victory of civil rights for all is sorely overlooked.

As the nation reflects on the struggles and achievements of our African-American citizens, we must celebrate the actions of heroic civil rights activists known as the Deacons for Defense. In the fight for equality, these brave men utilized their right to bear arms to protect their families, possessions and liberties.

Unfortunately, these freedom fighters are seldom mentioned as an important part of African-American history.

Even prominent civil rights movement chronicler Taylor Branch gives the Deacons only passing mention in his three-volume work on the movement during the Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr. years.

In his 2004 book, The Deacons for Defense: Armed Resistance and the Civil Rights Movement, Tulane University history professor Lance Hill tells their story. Hill writes of how a group of southern working class black men advanced civil rights through direct action to protect members of local communities against harassment at schools and polling places, and to thwart the terror inflicted by the Ku Klux Klan. He argues that without the Deacon’s activities the civil rights movement may have come to a crashing halt.

The spring and summer of 1964 were landmark periods for civil rights. In growing numbers, Southerners marched against segregation. The battle over race lit Louisiana aflame. In response to civil rights activism, the Klan wreaked havoc on black neighborhoods, but soon found itself face-to-face with the Deacons.

Following a KKK night ride in Jonesboro, the Deacons approached the police chief who had led the parade and informed him that they were armed and unafraid of self-defense. The Klan never rode through Jonesboro again. Local cross burnings ceased when warning shots were fired as a Klansmen’s torch met a cross planted in front of a black minister’s home. The initial desegregation of Jonesboro High School was threatened by firemen who aimed hoses at black students attempting to enter the building. When four Deacons arrived and loaded their shotguns, the firemen left and the students entered unscathed. It was this series of efforts by the Deacons that caused the Klan to leave Jonesboro for good.

Similar work in Bogalusa, Louisiana drove the KKK out of that town as well, and led to a turning point in the civil rights movement. Acting as private citizens in lawful employment of their constitutional rights, the Deacons demonstrated the real social impact of the freedoms our nation’s founders held dear.

As legendary civil rights leader Roy Innis recently said to me, the Deacons forced the Klan to re-evaluate their actions and often change their undergarments.

Their actions in the mid 1960s had perhaps more impact on the progress of civil rights than did President Eisenhower’s 1957 dispatching of troops to Central High School in Little Rock, Arkansas.

That gun rights have played such a pivotal role in racial equality makes the historical correlation between gun control and discriminatory policies unsurprising. From their beginnings, gun control measures have worked to create legal disparities, granting unequal rights to members of various socioeconomic groups.

In fact, restrictive gun laws have long been employed to the benefit of a select elite while circumscribing the liberty of populations less popular or less powerful.

Gun control measures, from the slave gun bans of the 1700s South to the Brady Bill regulations of the 1990s have unfairly targeted black Americans and have worked to curtail a disproportionate number of their constitutional rights. Access to firearms was understood by our founders and many early American jurists as an essential aspect of full US citizenship, and it was for this reason that the Black Codes established after the ratification of the Thirteenth Amendment -- which constitutionally abolished slavery -- prevented black freemen from owning guns.

In prohibiting blacks from exercising the freedoms granted other Americans in the Second Amendment, the Black Codes emphasized the notion that African-Americans were not true citizens with full human rights. This point was raised by the Majority in Dred Scott v. Sanford in defense of the institution of slavery. By the 1870’s, preventing Blacks from having access to guns had become one of the primary goals of the Ku Klux Klan.

As Gun Owners of America President Larry Platt shared with me this summer and wrote in 2004 regarding the Deacons, the history of gun control appears to have been one of controlling people rather than reducing violence.

Examining both our nation’s constitution and the history of gun rights in America, the right to keep and bear arms has been at the forefront of our nation’s march to liberty and equality. The Second Amendment, which empowers Americans to embrace all of the freedoms and responsibilities their citizenship entails, has been the catalyst of tremendous social progress. While some may dismiss the centrality of gun ownership to “progressive” ideals, groups such as the Deacons for Defense have shown us that a citizenry understanding of their rights to bear arms is one likely to understand and defend our basic civil rights and the principles of equality and freedom.

Ken Blackwell is the former Secretary of State of Ohio.

The article can be found at; http://townhall.com/columnists/colu...ackwell&dt=02/06/2007&page=full&comments=true

Additional information toward the 'Deacons for Defense and Justice' can be found at;
* http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0335034 (The director Bill Duke is excellent as is the lead Forrest Whittaker)

* http://foia.fbi.gov/foiaindex/ddj.htm

* http://www.amazon.com/Deacons-Defense-Justice-Defenders-Louisiana/dp/1885066732

* http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deacons_for_Defense_and_Justice

* http://www.paperlessarchives.com/ddj.html

- Janq

 

[Pre-diddy]

A part of history I'd never heard mention of.

I wonder if they (Deacons) were ever arrested/prosecuted for their actions? Not that they should have been, but given the times I'd be supprised to hear police or the FBI never tried to come down on them.

 

[Janq]

Diddy,

Thats exactly why Black History month came to be, because there is current and has been past a shit ton of facts and history toward the American experience that were either actively suppressed (very often by our own Uncle Sam) and/or are just completely unknown to anyone be it you, me, or Us.

The concept for a Black history month came to be as part of the efforts to stop active racism which does, did, and has worked to the benefit of everyone and America as a whole (not just Black people then or now). Also it helps to reduce and prevent passive racism which historically has been insidious and deeply ingrained in the American fabric, and still is today even as we have come a long way in what is a relatively very short time frame of ~35 years. Just imagine, 35 years ago it was regular and normal for people to attack innocent law abiding people in their homes at ones own whim for purpsoses of anything they might deem worthy, or simply for entertainment.
Imagine being being shot in your driveway at your home by people who didn't like you because of no other reason than your melanin count and that you had the gall to complain about it. Now imagine you and your family are by town, county, and even state law not allowed to posses a firearm to defend yourself or your family.
This was real world life, living, and dying in America just one generation ago, and not just in the 'deep south' either.

Black history month is about a way lot more than MLK and freedom marches, which seem to get all the attention. A great many modern day Blacks of my age group and younger are from my own life experiences completely clueless to our history in America to this end.
If folks were more knowledgeable of this and our history then we, us Black folk, might not be so quick to point guns at each other which in itself is a God damn shame.
IMHO.

- Janq

 

[speaker]

Somewhat on topic -

MA has a permit-to-carry law that on the face of it may even be construed to be racist. If you own property in a middle class & up, predominantly white community, you can get a permit-to-carry fairly easily. (There are certainly exceptions to that however such as the way Carver, MA was.) If you are black, a renter, and live in a "troubled" community, fat chance on getting your permit. Doesn't matter if you are a business owner, never had trouble with the law, etc.

MA is a "may issue" state. In other words, even if you meet all the criteria for license issuance, final say resides with the chief of police in your town. If he doesn't like the way you look he does not have to issue your permit. The only way to challenge this is in court. That is what happened in Carver. The former permit denying chief got the boot as the town was tired of paying the legal bills associated with the court challenges. I'm not saying the policy in MA is racist, but it could certainly be racist under the right circumstances.

How say you Janq?

(As a fervent 2nd Amendment supporter, the more people who think like me in that regard, the better and that includes Pink Pistols.)

 

[Janq]

Agreed Speaker...

It is not only in MA actively racist in a town/county/state supported manner but it's passivley & sociall supported as well.
Further as I posted a year ago in my OT thread toward taking the MA LTC course I cannot believe how incredibly restrictive the laws are as supported by 'we the people', of MA...a state that was once known by history as being a keystone and haven of liberty, freedom, and American equality & rights of everyone aka 'civil rights'.

For example take a peek at the following straight from the Mass General Laws...

Any person residing or having a place of business within the jurisdiction of the licensing authority or any person residing in an area of exclusive federal jurisdiction located within a city or town may submit to such licensing authority or the colonel of state police, an application for a Class A or Class B license to carry firearms, or renewal of the same, which such licensing authority or said colonel may issue if it appears that the applicant is a suitable person to be issued such license, and that the applicant has good reason to fear injury to his person or property, or for any other reason, including the carrying of firearms for use in sport or target practice only, subject to such restrictions expressed or authorized under this section, unless the applicant:

(i) has, in any state or federal jurisdiction, been convicted or adjudicated a youthful offender or delinquent child for the commission of (a) a felony; (b) a misdemeanor punishable by imprisonment for more than two years; (c) a violent crime as defined in section 121; (d) a violation of any law regulating the use, possession, ownership, transfer, purchase, sale, lease, rental, receipt or transportation of weapons or ammunition for which a term of imprisonment may be imposed; or (e) a violation of any law regulating the use, possession or sale of controlled substances as defined in section 1 of chapter 94C;

(ii) has been confined to any hospital or institution for mental illness, unless the applicant submits with his application an affidavit of a registered physician attesting that such physician is familiar with the applicant’s mental illness and that in such physician’s opinion the applicant is not disabled by such an illness in a manner that should prevent such applicant from possessing a firearm;

(iii) is or has been under treatment for or confinement for drug addiction or habitual drunkenness, unless such applicant is deemed to be cured of such condition by a licensed physician, and such applicant may make application for such license after the expiration of five years from the date of such confinement or treatment and upon presentment of an affidavit issued by such physician stating that such physician knows the applicant’s history of treatment and that in such physician’s opinion the applicant is deemed cured;...

Soource - http://www.mass.gov/legis/laws/mgl/140-131.htm

So what the above legalese means is that in real world terms if you as a child or teen ever made a mistake (misdemeanor or felony) that might have had a 2yr. jail term applicable to it even if you wer enot actually assigned any jail teim and even if it was from a different state and even if it was otherwise 'sealed' (which is a joke in itself) then well guess what, as a now totally lawful straigght arrow adult you are screwed...in MA.
Same goes for if you happened to have had a mental health issue at some time in your past or are invovled in a substance abuse/maintencnae program...unless you can get a note from a doctor saying you are not bat shit crazy, assuming said doctor isn't an anti and will agree to do you such a favor. Folks can't assume doctors will do so either considering now days folsk aren't being provided birth control meds and next day pills due to individual doctors, nurses, and pharmacists having personal issue with as much and this doesn't fall under the hypocratic oath.
Also if you are under the age of 21, forget about it...even as at the age of 18 you are otherwise considered by the state, federal govt., courts, and your community to be an 'adult' (!). Uncle Sam will give you a gun to go fight in Iraq and other foregin wars but to posses such at home, in MA, is a felony trip to ye olde House of Corrections for lessons in butt slam and ass grabbery.

Then there is the case of women.
town to twon the local police chief aka 'Issuing Authority' has the entirely capricious legal right to allow or deny anyone he might please. Most of the police chiefs in MA and everywhere else are overwhelmingly female. Now on the app. you are supposed to state per state law the exact reason why you are requesting such a special person allowance. Well lest say I'm Farrah Fawcett and I'm in fear of my husband and/or his kids, who live in my house and I'm unable to get away from because they control everything in my life (!). So he or they threaten me daily in my home and I'm in fear of my life. Well guess what, to get a permit I'll have to state this crap publicly to my community cop who possibly may know my hubby and his kid Seabass because most of the towns in MA are tiny, cloistered and incestuous as it is with everybody knowing everyone. As well it's up to the discretion of the chief to ultimately decide yes you have a valid concern, or not. As well he can choose to assume whether you are "fit" or not, without even having ever met you in person never mind knowing who you actually might be.
As you know the tales of woe and crap ass scenarios go on and on to this end...

Funny thing is my statements above and largely in general here at Gunatics as well as OT and well all over the net at other forums and IRL would 30+ yers ago have gained me a slot on an FBI watch list if not that of hateful perons within my own community. I would be and live in real fear of my own life and that of my family for nothing more than being a person who speaks up and openly, or even having the super power ability to I kid you not...read.
This thread alone would have gained me the title of being a pro-Black radical, "uppity", rabble rouser, and as such I could expect to be jailed, beaten, shot, my family assaulted, attacked by police dogs, my home or church fire bombed, fired frommy job and blackballed from employment, and to be treated as a social pariah. And thats just if I were white and male. A female might find same and be raped too. As a Black I'd have all that and more, or simply be hung from a tree and my body teased & displayed for citizen mockery just as they did and do to our boys now in Iraq.

Yeah, thank God for passage of the second amendment and all those people of all colors who fought, suffered, and died for all of our civil rights.
As well thanks to the wise men at Beretta, the original and oldest gun mfr., for developing what quite literally could be referred to by history as the 'freedom stick'.

- Janq

"Freedom got an AK..." - Ice Cube

 

[Janq]

Robert 'Rob' F. Williams

Rob Williams
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_F._Williams

http://www.pbs.org/independentlens/negroeswithguns

"******* WITH GUNS"

by Dr. Michael S. Brown

December 28, 2001

The year was 1957. Monroe, North Carolina, was a rigidly segregated town where all levels of white society and government were dedicated to preserving the racial status quo. Blacks who dared to speak out were subject to brutal, sadistic violence.

It was common practice for convoys of Ku Klux Klan members to drive through black neighborhoods shooting in all directions. A black physician who owned a nice brick house on a main road was a frequent target of racist anger. In the summer of 1957, a Klan motorcade sent to attack the house was met by a disciplined volley of rifle fire from a group of black veterans and NRA members led by civil rights activist Robert F. Williams.

Using military-surplus rifles from behind sandbag fortifications, the small band of freedom fighters drove off the larger force of Klansmen with no casualties reported on either side.

Williams, a former Marine who volunteered to lead the Monroe chapter of the NAACP and founded a 60-member, NRA-chartered rifle club, described the battle in his 1962 book, "******* With Guns," which was reprinted in 1998 by Wayne State University Press.

According to Williams, the Monroe group owed its survival in the face of vicious violence to the fact that they were armed. In several cases, police officials who normally ignored or encouraged Klan violence took steps to prevent whites from attacking armed blacks. In other cases, fanatical racists suddenly turned into cowards when they realized their intended victims were armed.

Oddly, it appears that the organized armed blacks of Monroe never shot any of their tormentors. The simple existence of guns in the hands of men who were willing to use them prevented greater violence.

It is important to note that the guns were not used offensively. They were part of an overall strategy that relied primarily on peaceful protest like picketing or entering whites-only establishments. Williams demonstrated that the dignified and responsible use of firearms for self-defense was an important method to achieve justice for those denied fair treatment by all institutions of government.

The civil rights movement was deeply divided between those who espoused a pacifist, non-violent approach and those who believed that human beings had a right and a duty to use force in self-defense. Williams was the most influential leader of the self-defense wing of the movement.

His effort to provide guns and training to African-American civil rights supporters was alarming to white politicians. Most state gun control laws, not just in the South, were blatantly designed to keep guns out of the hands of blacks and other minorities. Those with racist beliefs were not pleased when blacks claimed the right to keep and bear arms that is guaranteed to all Americans.

The connection with the NRA might surprise some people who portray the organization as a haven for racist ********. Former NRA Executive Director Tanya Metaksa spoke with Williams before his death. She recalls, "He was very proud of being an NRA member and that the NRA sanctioned his club without question."

The civil rights organizations of today bear little resemblance to the deadly serious armed activists of Monroe. African-American leaders generally support the liberal white line that guns are evil and have no place in modern society. On the other hand, small numbers of responsible black gun owners continue to honor their heritage by practicing their marksmanship and joining gun rights organizations. The tradition of the black gun club still lives on in the Tenth Cavalry Gun club, led by Ken Blanchard in Prince Georges County, Maryland.

While researching this column, I contacted Don Kates, a civil rights attorney who went to North Carolina in 1963 to participate in the movement. I asked if he ever carried a gun during those days and he responded with a list of a half-dozen that were always within reach. Kates also suggested that I read a letter written by an old friend of his from those days, John R. Salter, Jr., who is now Professor Emeritus at the University of North Dakota. Here are two brief quotes:

"In the early 1960's, I taught at Tougaloo College, a black school in Jackson, Mississippi. I was a member of the statewide board of the NAACP and was Chairman of the Jackson Movement. No one knows what kind of massive racist retaliation would have been directed at grass-roots black people had the black community not had a healthy measure of firearms within it."

"During most of the 1960's I did civil rights work in various parts of the South and almost always had with me a .38 special Smith and Wesson 2-inch-barrel revolver — what you would now erroneously call a 'Saturday Night Special.'"

In 1962 the Monroe freedom fighters were overwhelmed by a huge mob that converged on the town. The Justice Department and the state police ignored calls for help. The rabid racists were aided by law enforcement who branded Williams a communist and a dangerous schizophrenic.

Rob Williams eluded an FBI manhunt and fled to Cuba, which he erroneously believed to be totally free of racism. Within five years he realized that Cuba was not as he had imagined and moved on to China. There he was treated as a celebrity and returned to the United States in 1969 with the quiet blessing of Richard Nixon.

Williams worked as a China scholar at the University of Michigan and reportedly advised Henry Kissinger on Chinese affairs. He died in 1996.

Dr. Michael S. Brown is an optometrist and member of Doctors for Sensible Gun Laws, www.dsgl.org. He may be reached at [email protected].

Source - http://www.keepandbeararms.com/information/XcIBViewItem.asp?ID=2960

Additional information toward the documentary and his book can be found at;
Movie - http://www.jou.ufl.edu/documentary/negroeswithguns
NPR interview with the movie producer - http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=5193906
Book - http://www.amazon.com/*******-Guns-African-American-Life/dp/0814327141

- Janq

"No one knows what kind of massive racist retaliation would have been directed at grass-roots black people had the black community not had a healthy measure of firearms within it." - John R. Salter, Jr., Professor Emeritus, University of North Dakota

 

[speaker]

That the NRA sanctioned a black shooting club in the 60's is no doubt causing some moonbats to run around flapping their arms in petulant angst at the thought of it.

 

[speaker]

"Most state gun control laws, not just in the South, were blatantly designed to keep guns out of the hands of blacks and other minorities."

Hey, is that from the MA charter?

 

[Janq]

That the NRA sanctioned a black shooting club in the 60's is no doubt causing some moonbats to run around flapping their arms in petulant angst at the thought of it.

Yep.

What I wonder outloud is what happened?
Why is it that the NRA today does no such outreach?

Now of course the NRA of today and the last 20 years is nothing like the NRA of the 70's and decades prior.
But still one would think that the real history of civil rights, the Black struggle in specific toward as much (and minorities overall), and the long ties of both to 2A and it's ideals would make for excellent fodder and propoganda for the NRA to reach out to a very large group of gun owners, hunters, sportsmen, and home defense/self defense types aka gun owners (!) that number in the millions and spend who knows how much money toward as much.

Instead the NRA of recent decades has largely ignored a very large and active group, and instead has taken us vs. them portrayal of us all as such...

"When a disaster hits white people like yourself, you’ll need plenty of guns to shoot the mobs of minorities.

"Scary Fact: Most ******* are, in truth, illegal aliens who work with the Super Asian-Mexican-Black Gang, known as the 18th Street Loco Al Qaeda Kommu-Nizzle Boyz."

For those who had not heard about this story when it broke in December the following link will bring you up to speed; http://wonkette.com/politics/nra/nras-secret-graphic-novel-revealed-223889.php
The quotes as indicated are project notes taken from the draft that was secured by The Wonkette which were included within the source PDF doc.
Additional info can be found via The Washington Post; http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/01/01/AR2007010100682_pf.html
The finalized version of the pamphlet can be found as a PDF at; http://emptybottle.org/stuff/NRA bullshit.pdf

Meanwhile the NRA sent me a renewal notice last week to which I'm now split as to what the hell to do with them. I'd not been a supporter of them for years due to the above reasons. Then I decided last summer it might be a good idea to support them as they at it's core ideal support my own interests. I'd even seriously considered becoming a life member or further a sponsor level member.
But then there is the ugly side, like this, which is just really hard to ignore as they have done me & mine...especially when it's thrown all up in my face, with pics of my own face.

- Janq

 

[speaker]

"A draft of the 27-page document, which was provided to The Washington Post by a source outside the NRA"

Does that statement strike you as a bit, shall we say, provocative?

The NRA didn't get to be the #1 PAC in the world via stupidity. I've been a member for many years and cannot recall seeing anything from them even remotely race baiting. The majority of their invective is directed at politicians and non-race-specific criminals, political & otherwise.

edit:

Here is another -

"The NRA had enormous power and saw it come tumbling down on election day," said Peter Hamm of the Brady Centre to Prevent Gun Violence. "I don't think I could sleep well at night if I had been part of designing something like this. It comes right up to the line of suggesting armed resistance."

Many Democrats were elected on pro gun platforms and replaced maggot RINO's that the NRA DID NOT SUPPORT for reelection. The NRA actually got stronger in November.

The only reference I can find on this pamphlet seems to be on liberal bloggy sites, the Washington Past, & foreign papers. It has pretty much died down since posted in December too. There is one article (WP) that states the NRA admits to doing it but it doesn't say whom that was or point out a source.

I shoot with a lot of liberals who are just as commited to the 2nd Amendment as I am & shockingly many of them are NRA members. They would be screaming in righteous outrage right now and driving LaPierre out on a fence rail if this were genuine. They would be joined by conservative members too. I can't find any such groundswell. This is just too perfect.

I call fake.

 

[Janq]

I doubt it Speaker as he's speaking to US history broadly.
There were very many state laws, community statutes, and societal enforcements toward active disarmament of Blacks in specific. They go back not just a hundred or more years but to literally yesterday too.

Below are some examples of such which admittedly is a long read but then thats how it goes with this subject.
Keep in mind the US slave trade began in the 1490's and the Bill of Rights, inclusive of 2A, became active in 1791. Knowing this take note of the dates in the following citations...

* http://www.blackmanwithagun.com/site/dbpage.asp?page_id=140000780&sec_id=140000845[/quote]
* http://hematite.com/dragon/bans.html

Then there are the infamous 'Black Codes of Alabama' which we also learned about, or should have, during HS civics class.
I was forwarded the following last spring by my wifes cousin who has been studying the Black experience in America inclusive of race, history, and the disproportionate divisions of wealth within classes (poor & wealthy) between races; 'Persistence of Power, Elites and Institutions' by Daron Acemoglu and James A. Robinson - http://www.people.fas.harvard.edu/~jrobins/researchpapers/publishedpapers/jr_persistence_pub.pdf.
The authors are from MIT and Harvard with project backing from amongst others the National Science Foundation.

I won't quote it as I'll run out of allowed charachter space but point yourself for a quick 5 minute read to pages 47 through 50. Even as their project and findings are not directly toward firearms and Blacks their statements of history fact toward Alabama's Black Codes, how they came to be, were implemented, who they supported, and how they impacted others including wholly eliminating the option of self defense and punishing those who defied said social and state 'laws' is right in line with this subject.
A more specifc read on Black Codes can be found here; http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/USASblackcodes.htm.

Likely this kind of thing though is not covered in public school classes much if at all nevermind within our homes and as such becomes obscure forgotten history, to the detriment of us all.

- Janq

"This is a country for white men, and by God, as long as I am President, it shall be a government for white men." - Andrew Johnson, PoTUS

 

[Janq]

It's not fake.

I thought and assumed the same thing when I first had this stuff forwarded to me when this first broke via a member at OT. In fact alot of people assumed it was fake at first considering it's just so outlandish...untill it was confirmed to be real, by the NRA.
It was an NRA project ongoing then with all this bad press it seems to have stalled, for now.

The source was The Wonkette, who broke the story to everyone and provided copies to The Post amongst others.
Their own source was detailed at that time to be an NRA staffer.

Likely your 2A democrat friends aren't outraged because they don't know, didn't know, or just don't care about this item.
You might poll a few and see if it rings any bells at all, and then show them the info to see how they take it.

- Janq

 

[speaker]

I doubt it Speaker as he's speaking to US history broadly.

We need a sarcasm icon.

I was kidding.

 

[speaker]

untill it was confirmed to be real, by the NRA.

Can you show me that? I found plenty of quotes stating that they confirmed it but none with the attribution.

 

[Janq]

Can you show me that? I found plenty of quotes stating that they confirmed it but none with the attribution.

I'll try to find you it.
I think I might still have the forwarded info I first got via OT in my PM box...I'll have to check.

Oh, and yeah I suck really bad at detcting sarchasm over the internet. :|

Edit: The theory of it being fake started and was closed out via this forum and it's postings...

"NRA's secret graphic novel EXPOSED: Quack quack!"
http://californiaccw.org/posts/list/2616.page

- Janq

 

[speaker]

I'll try to find you it.
I think I might still have the forwarded info I first got via OT in my PM box...I'll have to check.

Oh, and yeah I suck really bad at detcting sarchasm over the internet. :|

Edit: The theory of it being fake started and was closed out via this forum and it's postings...

"NRA's secret graphic novel EXPOSED: Quack quack!"
http://californiaccw.org/posts/list/2616.page

- Janq

Janq, read the last post in your link.

This is not a printed document but an electronic one.

Edit, check this one -

Boing Boing

No fingerprints on this thing, only innuendo.

 

[Janq]

Yes, it's been an electronic document the whole time.
Thats what I'd said in my first post and provided a link to the PDF, which is same as supplied via Boing Boing and others on the net.

The link I got at OT was toward the version that has not been cleaned up though and includes development notes, as quoted in my first post.
The document would have gone to print from e-media per normal development procedure.

- Janq

 

[jamz]

Thanks for this thread, Janq.

-James

 

[Janq]

Crispus Attucks

I got behind on this project Friday and over the weekend and today will attempt to catch up on things.
By my count I owe four days worth of content so here with Crispus Attucks was my prior planned selection toward last Friday....

Crispus Attucks & 'The Boston Massacre'

This drawing of the Boston Massacre is by Henry Pelham, stepbrother of painter John Singleton Copley. Pelham published his design nearly two weeks after Paul Revere's.
Image Credit: Corbis-Bettman

Criuspus Attucks is a long forgotten Black man who had a direct impact on American history and it's freedom from the tyranny and oppression of England.
In his specific case the weapons he wielded were words and a snowball, only to find himself and his associates shot then martyred by Englishmen with guns.
Can you imagine as much, beign shot dead simply for vocally expressing your displeasure with the current regime?! The constitution and our right toward freedom of speech, freedom to assemble, along with our 2A rights are nothing to joke about as history shows.

In 1770, Crispus Attucks, a black man, became the first casualty of the American Revolution when he was shot and killed in what became known as the Boston Massacre. Although Attucks was credited as the leader and instigator of the event, debate raged for over as century as to whether he was a hero and a patriot, or a rabble-rousing villain.

In the murder trial of the soldiers who fired the fatal shots, John Adams, serving as a lawyer for the crown, reviled the "mad behavior" of Attucks, "whose very looks was enough to terrify any person."

Twenty years earlier, an advertisement placed by William Brown in the Boston Gazette and Weekly Journal provided a more detailed description of Attucks, a runaway: "A Mulatto fellow, about 27 Years of Age, named Crispus, 6 feet 2 inches high, short cur'l hair, his knees nearer together than common."

Attucks father was said to be an African and his mother a Natick or Nantucket Indian; in colonial America, the offspring of black and Indian parents were considered black or mulatto. As a slave in Framingham, he had been known for his skill in buying and selling cattle.

Brown offered a reward for the man's return, and ended with the following admonition: "And all Matters of Vessels and others, are hereby cautioned against concealing or carrying off said Servant on Penalty of Law. " Despite Brown's warning, Attucks was carried off on a vessel many times over the next twenty years; he became a sailor, working on a whaling crew that sailed out of Boston harbor. At other times he worked as a ropemaker in Boston.

Attucks' occupation made him particularly vulnerable to the presence of the British. As a seaman, he felt the ever-present danger of impressment into the British navy. As a laborer, he felt the competition from British troops, who often took part-time jobs during their off-duty hours and worked for lower wages. A fight between Boston ropemakers and three British soldiers on Friday, March 2, 1770 set the stage for a later confrontation. That following Monday night, tensions escalated when a soldier entered a pub to look for work, and instead found a group of angry seamen that included Attucks.

That evening a group of about thirty, described by John Adams as "a motley rabble of saucy boys, ******* and molattoes, Irish teagues and outlandish jack tarrs," began taunting the guard at the custom house with snowballs, sticks and insults. Seven other redcoats came to the lone soldier's rescue, and Attucks was one of five men killed when they opened fire.

Patriots, pamphleteers and propagandists immediately dubbed the event the "Boston Massacre," and its victims became instant martyrs and symbols of liberty. Despite laws and customs regulating the burial of blacks, Attucks was buried in the Park Street cemetery along with the other honored dead.

Adams, who became the second American president, defended the soldiers in court against the charge of murder. Building on eyewitness testimony that Attucks had struck the first blow, Adams described him as the self-appointed leader of "the dreadful carnage." In Adams' closing argument, Attucks became larger than life, with "hardiness enough to fall in upon them, and with one hand took hold of a bayonet, and with the other knocked the man down." The officer in charge and five of his men were acquitted, which further inflamed the public.

The citizens of Boston observed the anniversary of the Boston Massacre in each of the following years leading up to the war. In ceremonies designed to stir revolutionary fervor, they summoned the "discontented ghosts" of the victims."

A "Crispus Attucks Day" was inaugurated by black abolitionists in 1858, and in 1888, the Crispus Attucks Monument was erected on the Boston Common, despite the opposition of the Massachusetts Historical Society and the New England Historic Genealogical Society, which regarded Attucks as a villain.

The debate notwithstanding, Attucks, immortalized as "the first to defy, the first to die," has been lauded as a true martyr, "the first to pour out his blood as a precious libation on the altar of a people's rights."

The report can be found at; http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/aia/part2/2p24.html

Additional reading toward Crispus Attucks, The Boston Massacre, and the direct results of his actions & this incident can be found at the following;

* American Treasures of The Library of Congress - 'The Murder of Crispus Attucks'
http://www.loc.gov/exhibits/treasures/trr046.html

* 'Crispus Attucks'
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crispus_Attucks

* PBS | Africans in America- 'The Boston Massacre'
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/aia/part2/2p25.html

- Janq

"Although the first protests against British taxation were organized by wealthy colonists, it was the people who held no property, paid few or no taxes, and could not vote who suffered most directly from the conflict between Britain and the colonies." - PBS

 

[Janq]

U.S. Navy messman Doris 'Dorie' Miller

The story of Dorie Miller I'd first heard from some silverbacks way back in the day when I was a kid growing up, themselves vets of various wars who beamed with pride as they talked about Dorie and what he did for us all.
He's forgotten now and on the surface today one might read his story and think meh what's so special about his actions...so he grabbed a gun and put ammo down range toward an attacking enemy.
What has to be taken into context though are the times and beliefs of the era...

During the time of Pearl Harbor we as a country were knee deep in Jim Crow both by law and in societal beliefs, and it was pervasive everywhere not just in the south either. It then wasn't believed that Blacks could be 'smart' enough to handle tasks that whites did and in the military were assigned, such as and including operation of what they, whites, deemed as complex machinary. Additionally in this case the very common assumption was that Blacks required much intensive training to handle tasks as they themselves could not 'think' on their ownand come to much in the way of conclusions aside from making babies, murdering people (and each other), eating, and sleeping. I kid you not, people actually thought this stuff and used it as means and reason toward our oppression.
But then comes along Dorie Miller.
Black folk in the day took special pride behind Dorie not so much because of his actions, Blacks have and had been doing same & similar actions in American wars since the War for Independence (!), it was because here for the first time ever a Black man was being recognized as one of our countries own. Today that seems to be such a basic and simple thing but not so long ago this was not and had never been the case. Dorie Miller was a first to that end and his actions as recognized by the power elite was just one of very many tiny fissures in what then had been a seemingly impenetrable stone of racism surrounding this countrys heart. The cumulative effects of those cracks have gotten us to where we are today as a people in specific and country overall.

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Doris 'Dorie' Miller

DEPARTMENT OF THE NAVY -- NAVAL HISTORICAL CENTER
805 KIDDER BREESE SE -- WASHINGTON NAVY YARD
WASHINGTON DC 20374-5060

Ship's Cook Third Class Doris Miller, USN

Doris Miller, known as "Dorie" to shipmates and friends, was born in Waco, Texas, on 12 October 1919, to Henrietta and Conery Miller. He had three brothers, one of which served in the Army during World War II. While attending Moore High School in Waco, he was a fullback on the football team. He worked on his father's farm before enlisting in the U.S Navy as Mess Attendant, Third Class, at Dallas, Texas, on 16 September 1939, to travel, and earn money for his family. He later was commended by the Secretary of the Navy, was advanced to Mess Attendant, Second Class and First Class, and subsequently was promoted to Ship's Cook, Third Class.

Following training at the Naval Training Station, Norfolk, Virginia, Miller was assigned to the ammunition ship USS Pyro (AE-1) where he served as a Mess Attendant, and on 2 January 1940 was transferred to USS West Virginia (BB-48), where he became the ship's heavyweight boxing champion. In July of that year he had temporary duty aboard USS Nevada (BB-36) at Secondary Battery Gunnery School. He returned to West Virginia and on 3 August, and was serving in that battleship when the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor on 7 December 1941. Miller had arisen at 6 a.m., and was collecting laundry when the alarm for general quarters sounded. He headed for his battle station, the antiaircraft battery magazine amidship, only to discover that torpedo damage had wrecked it, so he went on deck. Because of his physical prowess, he was assigned to carry wounded fellow Sailors to places of greater safety. Then an officer ordered him to the bridge to aid the mortally wounded Captain of the ship. He subsequently manned a 50 caliber Browning anti-aircraft machine gun until he ran out of ammunition and was ordered to abandon ship.

Miller described firing the machine gun during the battle, a weapon which he had not been trained to operate: "It wasn't hard. I just pulled the trigger and she worked fine. I had watched the others with these guns. I guess I fired her for about fifteen minutes. I think I got one of those Jap planes. They were diving pretty close to us."

During the attack, Japanese aircraft dropped two armored piercing bombs through the deck of the battleship and launched five 18-inch aircraft torpedoes into her port side. Heavily damaged by the ensuing explosions, and suffering from severe flooding below decks, the crew abandoned ship while West Virginia slowly settled to the harbor bottom. Of the 1,541 men on West Virginia during the attack, 130 were killed and 52 wounded. Subsequently refloated, repaired, and modernized, the battleship served in the Pacific theater through to the end of the war in August 1945.

Miller was commended by the Secretary of the Navy Frank Knox on 1 April 1942, and on 27 May 1942 he received the Navy Cross, which Fleet Admiral (then Admiral) Chester W. Nimitz, the Commander in Chief, Pacific Fleet personally presented to Miller on board aircraft carrier USS Enterprise (CV-6) for his extraordinary courage in battle. Speaking of Miller, Nimitz remarked:

This marks the first time in this conflict that such high tribute has been made in the Pacific Fleet to a member of his race and I'm sure that the future will see others similarly honored for brave acts.

On 13 December 1941, Miller reported to USS Indianapolis (CA-35), and subsequently returned to the west coast of the United States in November 1942. Assigned to the newly constructed USS Liscome Bay (CVE-56) in the spring of 1943, Miller was on board that escort carrier during Operation Galvanic, the seizure of Makin and Tarawa Atolls in the Gilbert Islands. Liscome Bay's aircraft supported operations ashore between 20-23 November 1943. At 5:10 a.m. on 24 November, while cruising near Butaritari Island, a single torpedo from Japanese submarine I-175 struck the escort carrier near the stern. The aircraft bomb magazine detonated a few moments later, sinking the warship within minutes. Listed as missing following the loss of that escort carrier, Miller was officially presumed dead 25 November 1944, a year and a day after the loss of Liscome Bay. Only 272 Sailors survived the sinking of Liscome Bay, while 646 died.

In addition to the Navy Cross, Miller was entitled to the Purple Heart Medal; the American Defense Service Medal, Fleet Clasp; the Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal; and the World War II Victory Medal.

Commissioned on 30 June 1973, USS Miller (FF-1091), a Knox-class frigate, was named in honor of Doris Miller.

On 11 October 1991, Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority dedicated a bronze commemorative plaque of Miller at the Miller Family Park located on the U.S. Naval Base, Pearl Harbor.

Source - http://www.history.navy.mil/faqs/faq57-4.htm

Additonal information on Dorie Miller can be found at;

* Doris Miller
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doris_Miller

Admiral Chester W. Nimitz pins Navy Cross on Doris Miller, at ceremony on board warship in Pearl Harbor, May 27, 1942

'Above and Beyond the Call of Duty' by David Stone Martin
Printed by the Government Printing Office for the Office of War Information
NARA Still Picture Branch (NWDNS-208-PMP-68)

- Janq

"The sky seemed filled with diving planes and the black bursts of exploding antiaircraft shells." - Dorie Miller