October 18, 2020
GREATER HOUSTON EDITION
Vol. 25, Issue 38
EARLY VOTING MATTERS EVERY VOTE COUNTS
CLASSIFICATION OF THE NEGRO
By: N.L. Preston
You were born with a label that you take for granted these days. Today, you are “John’s son,” or “Ella’s daughter,” but for those who were born generations before you, many were born as “Property of slave owners.” It hurts- don’t it- when it is put in front of your face like that. For generations, AFRICANS – NEGROES – COLORED – BLACKS – AFRICAN AMERICANS, have been classified, re-classified AND re-classified in terms of “what to call them” and more disturbingly, “WHO they BE-
LONGED to.” It came down to skin color, blood and money. DID YOU KNOW? The American Constitution does not mention slavery until 1865, with the adoption of the Thirteenth Amendment, which abolished the institution. Yet the Constitution, written in 1787, is riddled with provisions tied to slavery which protected it without naming it. The colonial lawmakers had to develop rules to balance the tension between treating Africans and others as per-
sons held to labor and as property owned by other people. The first Africans in Virginia were treated as indentured servants, who worked for years before they were eligible for freedom. The earliest legal records of Virginia illustrate a confusing process. Some Africans were held in lifetime servitude; while others were set free. As time evolved, PURE GREED kicked in and slave owners were determined to keep those FREE LABOR slaves and BREED as many as possible to save money from having to buy
them and fulfill their lust of innocent African women. SLAVE WOMEN AND THEIR CHILDREN Virginia legislators began trying to determine how to classify the offspring of white men and African women. Under English common law a child, even one born out of wedlock, followed the status of the father. If this rule applied in the children of slaves, then the mixed-race children
Property cont’d page 4
HERE’S PROOF! By: Roy Douglas Malonson
We don’t think anyone will ever forget the panic many experienced after realizing that Real Estate Mogul and “The Apprentice” host, Donald Trump, beat out seasoned politician Hillary Clinton four years ago, becoming the next President of the United States. Social media was flooded with people posting ______of disbelief as they saw that BLUE LINE getting thinner and thinner, and there was no path to victory for Clinton. Then the blame game began, with people pointing out the fact that MANY DID NOT VOTE -- either because they were not “feeling” either candidate, too lazy to stand in line, or simply thought Clinton
would have an obvious victory. Well, we think everyone got the memo now -- EVERY VOTE COUNTS -and you better not even let a hurricane stop you from voting in this already historic election. But just in case some of you need a little more evidence, NPR showed this timeline of instances where elections were decided by just one -- or a few -- votes. Trump won the presidency -- despite losing the popular vote by almost 3 million votes — all because he squeezed ahead 70,000 out of 12 million votes in three states — to win the Electoral College. George W. Bush won Florida by a
Voting cont’d page 6
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October 18, 2020
EDITORIAL
President/Chief Editor
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Griselda Ramirez: Production
Partin’ the Waters By Omowale Luthuli-Allen
Office: (713) 692-1892 Wednesday – Friday, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
GREATER HOUSTON EDITION
Lies and Fragile Governments Tell a lie. Go big with the lie. Repeat it often. Many people will be fooled In the picture, are these good Nazis in Charlottesville USA that led to the death of Heather Heyer in 2017? Governments are fragile, especially fledgling democracies. From Athens, to Rome and to Washington D.C., democracies are climbing the steep side of the mountain. It has never an easy day to build a Democracy. Once a Democracy is established under a Republic, Ben Franklin is right, it is tough to keep it free from tyrants. Here is a simple way lies erode families, communities and civilizations. At a game of bones – dominoes - a brother asked for the permission to speak freely. He says, “Omowale, I heard about the abusive and disgraceful way that you treat your wife. People are talking about you.” Omowale
tells the rumor monger, “I am not married, I do not have a wife, I have never had a wife and I have no intentions of ever having a wife.” Does this factual denial help? With an intelligent man, facts help. With a fool, facts empower him to be more reckless. Nevertheless, one fact is worth a shipload of bluster. The rumor monger then says, “it doesn’t matter, whenever you get a wife, you will treat her in an abusive and disgraceful way.” A lie is in the ether. It works the same way
with governments. During the Third Reich, Hitler and his propaganda minister-flunky Goebbels, pushed the lie that Jews killed babies and devoured their blood (Blood libel). They married the blood libel with the theory that Jews controlled the economy and were the direct cause of the economic tailspin that resulted in unemployment, inflation and hunger. The resulting bloodshed ended in a war with 11 million people dead. Today, we have a varia-
tion. The COVID-19 virus is not a normal virus originating in nature, but a Chinese engineered “China virus,” according to our current president. Now we have hate crimes multiplying against people of Asian descent. We haven’t heard Dr. Anthony Fauci or any of the CDC scientists call the virus, the “China” virus. China has lifted 200 million people out of poverty. We don’t need a war with them. In Rwanda, envy was directed against an ethnic group, the “Tutsis,” and a hate riptide began that started a holocaust of 800,000 people b e i n g butchered. Neighbors who had watched their kids play and grow up together were captured by a Mass hypnosis and began fetching machetes and started killing each other. Rumors were the source of the fever that gripped the country. President Bill Clinton said that his greatest foreign policy mistake was not intervening to prevent the Hutu-Tutsi genocide. A “code-switching lie “is loose in the USA. It is designed to convince the suburban white family that the “negroes” are
Lies cont’d page 7
A Revival of God
Consciousness Bobby E. Mills, PhD
“Come Together” “Come Together” is a song written by John Lennon of the Beatles as a campaign song for Timothy Leary who was running for Governor of California. If Americans ever needed to come together; it is now, because the ungodly upside-down Bible carrying Presidential leadership mentality of Trump has torn America asunder. As Americans, we need to spiritually come together in prayer. All clergy, all faiths/religions need to diligently seek the face of God through prayer and love, because prayer changes things. A prayer-event over a three-day period in Washington, D. C. is sorely needed, because our Constitution is spiritually grounded. Moreover, we have asked the world to: “Give me your tired, your poor: your huddled masses yearning to be free.” Now, unfortunately, immigration has become a hot-button political issue. The question is WHY? The answer lies in the undy-
ing, ungodly desire of some Whites for White Privilege. Unfortunately, Trump has exacerbated/fueled white grievance as a political White Privilege Movement so much so, until now, American democracy is threatened. Questions: can the children of Cain have a come to Jesus moment? Can the children of Abel forgive the children of Cain, and come together as “one nation under God, indivisible with liberty, and justice for all?” Trump is pretending that he is victimized by evil rather than the perpetrator of evil, and an absolute beneficiary of evil tweets, Justice Department actions and falsified investigations. God is love/peace, not confusion. In the age of Trumpism can Americans let their minds be like the mind of Christ Jesus? Let’s pray that Trump’s desire to destroy tenets of universal truth/trust and have the ungodly children of Cain trust in him is not successful on Election Day. Moreover, Trump’s bold attempts to undermine the basic democratic principles of voting in Presidential elections are simply horrifying. In order for individuals to do right they must first think
Come Together cont’d page 7
GREATER HOUSTON EDITION
October 18, 2020
AFRAMNEWS.COM 3
KNOW YOUR HISTORY
‘PROPERTY’ GOES TO THE US SUPREME COURT
By: AANI Staff
Dred Scott was a slave who unsuccessfully sued for his freedom and that of his family in the Dred Scott v. Sandford case of 1857, popularly known as the “Dred Scott case.” Scott was born into slavery in 1799 in Virginia, and was eventually sold to Dr. John Emerson, a surgeon in the U.S. Army. As an army officer, Emerson moved frequently, taking Scott with him to the free states of Illinois and Wisconsin. During these times, Scott married a woman named Harriet and the couple had two daughters. After Emerson died in the Iowa Territory in 1843, his widow Irene inherited his estate, including the Scotts. For three years after Emerson’s death, she continued to lease out the Scotts as hired slaves. In 1846, Scott attempted to purchase his and his family’s freedom, offering $300, about $8,000 in current value. Irene Emerson refused his offer. Scott and his wife separately filed freedom suits to try to gain their freedom, stating that be-
cause they had lived in the free states of Illinois and Wisconsin for four years. On March 6, 1857, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled 7–2 against Scott. They decided that living in a free state and territory did not entitle an enslaved person to his freedom. In essence, the decision ar-
gued that, as someone’s property, Scott was not a citizen and could not sue in a federal court. - AANI
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Property cont’d of slave women would be born as free people. This would lead to the situation of slave mothers raising their freeborn children, while also creating a class of free mixed-race people. The leadership in Virginia was troubled by both possibilities. In addition, since these slave women would not have been legally married to the fathers of their children, their mixed-race children would have been legally bastards. Under existing law, the Overseers of the Poor were obligated to help raise and educate all illegitimate children. Furthermore, authorities were obligated to track down the fathers of all bastard children, to make sure they supported them. Applying these rules to the mixedrace children of slave women would lead to huge social problems, as masters—and leaders of the community—might be prosecuted for illicit (and sometimes adulterous) sex with their own slaves. On the other hand, if the colony abandoned the common law, and instead adopted the Roman law rule of partus sequitur ventrem, these problems would disappear. This was the legal rule applied to livestock and other domestic animals: that the offspring of a domestic animal belonged to the owner of the female who gave birth. Treating slave women as property and reducing their status to that of domestic animals resolved some
October 18, 2020 tough legal issues, and at the same time had the added virtue—if the word applies here—of benefiting white men, who could now freely prey on slave women without fear of legal consequences. Any children resulting from such encounters would be slaves, belonging to the owner of the mother. Thomas Jefferson is widely believed to have fathered the six mixedrace children with his slave Sally Hemings, who was herself threequarters white. Four of these children, who were seven-eighths white, survived to adulthood. Hemings was a halfsister of Martha Wayles Jefferson. Their children were born into slavery because of her status; as they were seven-eighths European in ancestry, they were legally white under Virginia law of the time. Jefferson allowed the two oldest to escape in 1822 (freeing them legally was a public action he elected to avoid because he would have had to gain permission from the state legislature); the two youngest he freed in his 1826 will. Three of the four entered white society as adults, and all their descendants identified as white. INFLUENCE OF THE REVOLUTION The American Revolution forced many Americans to rethink the status of slaves. The Declaration of Independence proclaimed that all men were ‘created equal’ and entitled to the ‘rights’ of ‘Life, Liberty,
and the pursuit of Happiness.’ During and immediately after the Revolution Massachusetts and New Hampshire abolished slavery, while Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, and Connecticut passed gradual abolition laws that would lead to an end to slavery in a generation. Most Southern whites, however, were increasingly dependent on slavery and deeply convinced of its morality and its necessity. Throughout the Revolution, southern politicians argued that slaves were property, not persons. At the end of July 1776, just weeks after the Continental Congress agreed to the Declaration of Independence, the delegates debated how to allocate taxes to
support the new government. The plan was for each state to send taxes to the national government based on its population. A central issue in this debate was whether to count slaves as well as free people when allocating these taxes. Northerners insisted that slaves contributed to the economy just like free people, and thus should be counted when assessing taxes. Southerners rejected this idea. WHICH ‘BOX’ TO CHECK …AND THE ONE-DROP RULE Trying to classify Blacks was even a problem for the Census. In 1910, For census purposes, the term ‘‘black’’ includes all persons who are evidently full-blooded ne-
GREATER HOUSTON EDITION
groes, while the term ‘‘mulatto’’ includes all other persons having some proportion or perceptible trace of negro blood. Census takers were left sometimes to determine a person’s race or color, documenting “B” for Black and “Mu” for Mulatto. The one-drop rule is a social and legal principle of racial classification that was historically prominent in the United States in the 20th century. It asserted that any person with even one ancestor of black ancestry (“one drop” of black blood) is considered black (Negro or colored in historical terms). WHAT’S POINT?
THE
END
The point is – it doesn’t’ t
matter if you have if you have one or 1,000 drops of black blood coursing through your veins, to America, you are an AFRICAN – NEGRO COLORED – BLACK – AFRICAN AMERICAN and many feel as if they OWN YOU…so how do you remain FREE? NEVER BE SILENCED… KEEP FIGHTING… PURCHASE PROPERTY (not people) and VOTE EARLY – BECAUSE YOUR LIFE DEPENDS ON IT! Additional references: Slavery in the United States by Paul Finkelman and Wikipedia
- AANI
GREATER HOUSTON EDITION
October 18, 2020
AFRAMNEWS.COM 5
COMMUNITY
NEW GEORGE FLOYD MURAL ENCOURAGES VOTING
By: AANI Staff
It seems like yesterday the nation watched in horror as George Floyd pleaded for his life on a Minneapolis street while being choked to death by police officers. Floyd’s death has sparked a movement for equality and police reform. Protestors and supporters, armed with balloons and flowers, gathered at the location
of Floyd’s death to pay tribute to him on Oct. 12, what would have been his 47th birthday. Others shared tributes on social media in his honor, including Senator Kamala Harris. “Today would have been George Floyd’s 47th birthday. He should still be alive today celebrating another year with his family and friends. We need justice
and to ensure that this never happens again— starting with banning chokeholds and creating a national standard for use of force,” Harris tweeted. In Houston, Floyd’s hometown, city leaders unveiled a mural encouraging people to “Be the Change” and “Vote” for a better tomorrow. “We should pay tribute to this family, who in
their pain, is traveling not only in this state, but trying to reach to people who c o n s t a nt l y say, ‘I don’t know if I’m going to vote,’” said Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee at the unveiling ceremony. “If you’re able, if you’re registered, you just can’t
have that luxury.” Other political leaders, including Councilwoman Carolyn Evans-Shabazz, and Commissioner Rodney Ellis, were also in attendance alongside Floyd’s family.
The mural, which is located at 3400 Holman Street in Third Ward, was created by artist Ange Hillz. RIP George Floyd. Your death will not be in vain. - AANI
6 AFRAMNEWS.COM
Voting cont’d 537-vote margin in the 2000 presidential election — out of almost 6 million votes cast. Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo caused an unexpected upset when she beat out longtime Judge Ed Emmet, earning 49.7 percent of the vote, to Emmett’s 48.2 percent. Emmett attributed his loss in part to straight-ticket voting, in which voters can select which party they want to vote for and the voting machine automatically selects all candidates of that party. As you can see, a single vote can make a big difference. In fact, there have been more than a dozen races decided by a single vote or ending in a tie over the last 20 years: 2018: The Democratic primary for Baltimore County executive in July was decided by just 17 votes. 2017: A Virginia House of Delegates race ended in a tie out of more than 23,000 votes cast. The tie was broken by pulling a name, placed in a film canister, out of a bowl. Republican David Yancey was declared the winner. The result was heightened by the fact that the win gave Republicans control of the state House by a single seat. 2016: A Vermont state Senate Democratic primary was determined by a single vote out of more than 7,400 cast. 2016: A Vermont state House seat was determined by one vote out of 2,000. Here’s what’s really crazy: This was a rematch, and when they first faced each other in 2010, the race was also
October 18, 2020 decided by one vote — in the other direction. 2016: A New Mexico state House seat was decided by two votes out of almost 14,000. 2016: The margin on Election Day for a GOP primary for the U.S. House for the 5th Congressional seat from Arizona was just 16 votes, but it widened to 27 after a recount. 2016: A Wyoming state House GOP primary was decided by just one vote, 583 to 582. 2010: A state House race in Massachusetts ended in a tie, and the courts ordered a do-over. In the rerun, Republican Peter Durant wound up winning by just 56 votes out of about 8,000 cast. 2010: A state House race in Vermont was determined by one vote; another had a one-difference vote on Election Day but was later widened to two). 2008: In the U.S. Senate race, Democrat Al Franken defeated Republican Norm Coleman by just 312 votes out of almost 2.9 million votes cast. Franken’s win gave Democrats a 60-vote supermajority in the Senate. 2008: An Alaska state House race was won by four votes out of 10,000. 2006: A Democratic primary for an Alaska state House seat was decided by a coin toss to break a tie. The winner, Bryce Edgmon, is currently speaker
of the Alaska House. 2004: A special election in Radford, Va., for commonwealth’s attorney was decided by one vote. 2002: A tie for a county commissioner seat in Nevada was determined by drawing the highest card. Amazingly, both candidates drew a jack, but the Democrat drew a jack of spades, which beat out the Republican’s jack of diamonds. 2002: A GOP state House primary in Washington state was determined by one vote out of more than 11,000 cast. The person who lost had to wonder what might have been when one of his fellow police officers confided that he
forgot to mail in his ballot. “He left his ballot on his kitchen counter and it never got sent out,” he said. 2002: A Connecticut state House seat was determined by one vote out of more than 6,400 cast. 1998: A Massachusetts state House GOP primary race ended in a tie after more than 1,700 ballots were cast. The winner was determined by a judge. 1996: South Dakota Democrat John McIntyre led Republican Hal Wick by just four votes out of almost 8,400 for a state legislative seat. A subsequent recount showed Wick the winner — by just one vote, 4,192 to 4,191. But the state Supreme Court ruled that one ballot for Wick was invalid because of an overvote, resulting in a tie.
GREATER HOUSTON EDITION Wick eventually won, because the tie was broken by the state legislature, which went for Wick, 46-20. 1994: A Wyoming state House seat ended in a 1,941-to-1,941 tie on Election Day. The tie was broken, live on NBC’s Today show, with the secretary of state pulling a pingpong ball with the winning candidate’s name on it out of the governor’s hat. The winner went on to become speaker of the state House. 1991: A Virginia state House seat was determined by one vote out of almost 13,000 cast. In the 19th century, there were even a few U.S. House races that were determined by a single vote: 1882: VA1: Robert M. Mayo defeated Democ r a t George T. Garrison, 10,505 to 10,504. 1854:
IL-7: Democrat James C. Allen beat Republican William B. Archer, 8,452 to 8,451. 1847: IN-6: Whig candidate George G. Dunn defeated Democratic candidate David M. Dobson, 7,455 to 7,454. 1847: VA-3: Whig Thomas S. Flournoy won 650 to 649 1829: KY-2: Jackson Democrat Nicholas Coleman defeated National Republican Adam Beatty, 2,520 to 2,519.
VOTE EARLY. VOTE NOW. - AANI
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coming. This lie is designed to tap into a primeval fear of those that are different by virtue of skin color, hair texture, language style, etc. It is Hitler’s lie in a different garb. The good news is that – you can fool some of the people some of the time, but you can’t fool all the people all the time. In the spirit of that giant of a human being, John Lewis and BIG FLOYD, make good trouble by VOTING. Absentee, Mail, Early Vote, in person on Election Day. VOTE!!! - AANI
right: “For as he thinketh in his heart, so is he: Eat and drink, saith he to thee; but his heart is not with thee.” Trump’s heart and mind is not with America’s spiritual moral structural order, and this is why we must have a national prayer vigil in order that we might be able to sing anew “God Bless America,” because God cannot bless mess (CONFUSION). Because: “For God is not the author of confusion, but of peace, as in all the churches of the saints.” When individuals spend all of their time chasing earthly treasures, they will do anything for power, money and sex (PMS); even destroy a democratic nation state. This is precisely why Americans must pray, and ask God to forgive us for permitting an ungodly man to create a congregation of the dead, because a: “Man that wandereth out of the way of understanding shall remain in the congregation of the dead.” (Proverbs 21: 16). When this happens, we can sing anew God Bless America, land that I love. Selah! - AANI
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