Historical Ignorance

October 29th, 2015

Historical Ignorance
Walter E. Williams | Jul 15, 2015

The victors of war write its history in order to cast themselves in the most favorable light. That explains the considerable historical ignorance about our war of 1861 and panic over the Confederate flag. To create better understanding, we have to start a bit before the 1787 Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia.

The 1783 Treaty of Paris ended the war between the colonies and Great Britain. Its first article declared the 13 colonies “to be free, sovereign and independent states.” These 13 sovereign nations came together in 1787 as principals and created the federal government as their agent. Principals have always held the right to fire agents. In other words, states held a right to withdraw from the pact — secede.
During the 1787 Constitutional Convention, a proposal was made that would allow the federal government to suppress a seceding state. James Madison rejected it, saying, “A union of the states containing such an ingredient seemed to provide for its own destruction. The use of force against a state would look more like a declaration of war than an infliction of punishment and would probably be considered by the party attacked as a dissolution of all previous compacts by which it might be bound.”

In fact, the ratification documents of Virginia, New York and Rhode Island explicitly said they held the right to resume powers delegated should the federal government become abusive of those powers. The Constitution never would have been ratified if states thought they could not regain their sovereignty — in a word, secede.

On March 2, 1861, after seven states seceded and two days before Abraham Lincoln’s inauguration, Sen. James R. Doolittle of Wisconsin proposed a constitutional amendment that read, “No state or any part thereof, heretofore admitted or hereafter admitted into the union, shall have the power to withdraw from the jurisdiction of the United States.”

Several months earlier, Reps. Daniel E. Sickles of New York, Thomas B. Florence of Pennsylvania and Otis S. Ferry of Connecticut proposed a constitutional amendment to prohibit secession. Here’s a question for the reader: Would there have been any point to offering these amendments if secession were already unconstitutional?

On the eve of the War of 1861, even unionist politicians saw secession as a right of states. Rep. Jacob M. Kunkel of Maryland said, “Any attempt to preserve the union between the states of this Confederacy by force would be impractical, and destructive of republican liberty.”

Both Northern Democratic and Republican Parties favored allowing the South to secede in peace. Just about every major Northern newspaper editorialized in favor of the South’s right to secede. New York Tribune (Feb. 5, 1860): “If tyranny and despotism justified the Revolution of 1776, then we do not see why it would not justify the secession of Five Millions of Southrons from the Federal Union in 1861.” Detroit Free Press (Feb. 19, 1861): “An attempt to subjugate the seceded states, even if successful, could produce nothing but evil — evil unmitigated in character and appalling in content.” The New York Times (March 21, 1861): “There is growing sentiment throughout the North in favor of letting the Gulf States go.”

The War of 1861 settled the issue of secession through brute force that cost 600,000 American lives. We Americans celebrate Abraham Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address, but H.L. Mencken correctly evaluated the speech: “It is poetry, not logic; beauty, not sense.” Lincoln said the soldiers sacrificed their lives “to the cause of self-determination — that government of the people, by the people, for the people should not perish from the earth.” Mencken says: “It is difficult to imagine anything more untrue. The Union soldiers in the battle actually fought against self-determination; it was the Confederates who fought for the right of people to govern themselves.”

The War of 1861 brutally established that states could not secede. We are still living with its effects. Because states cannot secede, the federal government can run roughshod over the U.S. Constitution’s limitations of the Ninth and Tenth Amendments. States have little or no response.

Walter E. Williams is a professor of economics at George Mason University. To find out more about Walter E. Williams and read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate Web page at www.creators.com.

 

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Oh, Obama … What a Chump

October 3rd, 2015

Here he goes again. Never miss an opportunity to exploit a tragedy for personal political gain, right? Our pathetic loser, the coward-in-chief community organizer, the least qualified of all presidents ever to serve, again seeks to curtail the 2nd amendment rights of law-abiding citizens. Using the Oregon college campus tragedy as a springboard, our shameless president once again prostitutes himself in front of the American public.

Why oh why do these pathetic left wing looney liberals believe that there is any correlation between legal gun ownership and violent crime? As if pencils misspell words?  Cars kill people. Really? Can it be any more simplistic?

Has anyone ever noticed that the gun control proposals by these worshipers of hollywood and all things of european “enlightenment” are always aimed at curtailing the rights of the law-abiding citizens? Have these ideologues ever proposed any law that would serve to more severely punish those who illegally use weapons? If they have, it has never made the news.

So the left-wing’s “answer” remains the same. Curtail the rights of those who do no wrong. Do not seek to punish those who would harm innocents. Could it be because so many of those violent criminals are democrats? Or at a minimum are more closely affiliated with minority coalitions? But, we cannot speak of such things, right?

Or can we? Why do you think that the left-wing political correctness machine is so laser-focused on making it socially unacceptable to discuss the differences and realities that so obviously contribute to violence in America? If you mention in public that blacks and hispanics make up a disproportionate percentage of the prison population, or God forbid try to connect the dots between black teen pregnancy and crime, you are a racist.

Civil War history?  It never happened. The north really could not have imported slaves from africa to sell to the south in order that the south could farm the crops in order to sell all the cotton and tobacco back to the north, right? Because abolitionism was in vogue before the Civil War began?  Wasn’t it?

Reality dose … Abraham Lincoln never mentioned slavery in his declaration letters on the war. He always focused on the financial implications of the war. His emancipation proclamation did not even free all the northern slaves, just the south’s. The “great emancipator” legacy remains today as the man single handedly responsible for more American deaths that anyone else in history.

In sum, it is a sad direction our nation takes. When we have more takers than contributors in society, that society is heading for hell.

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Historical Ignorance

July 17th, 2015

Historical Ignorance
By Walter Williams
Published July 15, 2015

The victors of war write its history in order to cast themselves in the most favorable light. That explains the considerable historical ignorance about our war of 1861 and panic over the Confederate flag. To create better understanding, we have to start a bit before the 1787 Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia.

The 1783 Treaty of Paris ended the war between the colonies and Great Britain. Its first article declared the 13 colonies “to be free, sovereign and independent states.” These 13 sovereign nations came together in 1787 as principals and created the federal government as their agent. Principals have always held the right to fire agents. In other words, states held a right to withdraw from the pact — secede.

During the 1787 Constitutional Convention, a proposal was made that would allow the federal government to suppress a seceding state. James Madison rejected it, saying, “A union of the states containing such an ingredient seemed to provide for its own destruction. The use of force against a state would look more like a declaration of war than an infliction of punishment and would probably be considered by the party attacked as a dissolution of all previous compacts by which it might be bound.”

In fact, the ratification documents of Virginia, New York and Rhode Island explicitly said they held the right to resume powers delegated should the federal government become abusive of those powers. The Constitution never would have been ratified if states thought they could not regain their sovereignty — in a word, secede.

On March 2, 1861, after seven states seceded and two days before Abraham Lincoln’s inauguration, Sen. James R. Doolittle of Wisconsin proposed a constitutional amendment that read, “No state or any part thereof, heretofore admitted or hereafter admitted into the union, shall have the power to withdraw from the jurisdiction of the United States.”

Several months earlier, Reps. Daniel E. Sickles of New York, Thomas B. Florence of Pennsylvania and Otis S. Ferry of Connecticut proposed a constitutional amendment to prohibit secession. Here’s a question for the reader: Would there have been any point to offering these amendments if secession were already unconstitutional?

On the eve of the War of 1861, even unionist politicians saw secession as a right of states. Rep. Jacob M. Kunkel of Maryland said, “Any attempt to preserve the union between the states of this Confederacy by force would be impractical, and destructive of republican liberty.”

Both Northern Democratic and Republican Parties favored allowing the South to secede in peace. Just about every major Northern newspaper editorialized in favor of the South’s right to secede.

New York Tribune (Feb. 5, 1860): “If tyranny and despotism justified the Revolution of 1776, then we do not see why it would not justify the secession of Five Millions of Southrons from the Federal Union in 1861.” Detroit Free Press (Feb. 19, 1861): “An attempt to subjugate the seceded states, even if successful, could produce nothing but evil — evil unmitigated in character and appalling in content.” The New York Times (March 21, 1861): “There is growing sentiment throughout the North in favor of letting the Gulf States go.”

The War of 1861 settled the issue of secession through brute force that cost 600,000 American lives. We Americans celebrate Abraham Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address, but H.L. Mencken correctly evaluated the speech: “It is poetry, not logic; beauty, not sense.” Lincoln said the soldiers sacrificed their lives “to the cause of self-determination — that government of the people, by the people, for the people should not perish from the earth.” Mencken says: “It is difficult to imagine anything more untrue. The Union soldiers in the battle actually fought against self-determination; it was the Confederates who fought for the right of people to govern themselves.”

The War of 1861 brutally established that states could not secede. We are still living with its effects. Because states cannot secede, the federal government can run roughshod over the U.S. Constitution’s limitations of the Ninth and Tenth Amendments. States have little or no response.

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Cultural Fascism

June 28th, 2015

 

Our politicians and the nation’s largest corporations run from truth, common sense and moral responsibility like cockroaches when faced with even the remote prospect of being targeted by the PC fascists … Knee jerk hysteria at its finest. Kids, save your money. Rather than earn your MBA, simply become a community organizer. There you will learn all that you need to know, according to the new world order.

The Confederate flag and cultural fascism
By Brent Bozell
Published June 26, 2015

(The Associated Press)

You cultural fascists have struck again…

You have shown you will say most anything, and do most anything to advance your radical agenda. But that’s not enough, is it? Your intent is to ban any opposition. Your goal is to ban even the expression of dissension.

You’re doing it everywhere. You are insisting scientists skeptical of global warming be banned from symposia discussing the subject. You shout down, even physically attack conservatives who dare express opinions on college campuses – that is, if you don’t succeed in banning them altogether. You demand TV networks fire Christians who dare to quote Scripture publicly. You pressure advertisers to stop their sponsorship of conservative talk shows, inventing scandals to justify your campaigns. You pressure businesses to fire employee for supporting traditional marriage. You call on government to imprison Christians who will not abide by the gay agenda.

Now it’s the Confederate flag.

I don’t know what’s more offensive, your disgusting character assassination or the outright embarrassment of politicians and businesses quaking in their shoes at the thought they might be next on your hit list.

As usual, you are using a horrific event, and the victims of that horror, as your excuse, just as you used a pro-life extremist detonating a bomb to smear the entire pro-life movement, just as you used a crazed gunman opening fire in a movie theater to advance your radical agenda to ban all guns.

You demand it be banned from society because you insist society accept your definition of what it represents. As usual, you are using a horrific event, and the victims of that horror, as your excuse, just as you used a pro-life extremist detonating a bomb to smear the entire pro-life movement, just as you used a crazed gunman opening fire in a movie theater to advance your radical agenda to ban all guns.

Now it’s Dylann Roof. He commits an unspeakable act of racist violence. What does the Confederate flag have to do with it? It is the symbol you’re using to suggest America is, and always has been racist.

So many are so intimidated and run away like an Iraqi army.

The Confederate flag has been removed from the Dukes of Hazzard’s “General Lee” car. We will no longer sell that horrible thing! declare Apple, Sears, eBay, Amazon, and the rest about the Confederate flag.

What frauds. Up until last week none had a problem in the world with that flag. The racially-sensitive folks at Amazon still sell Nazi and apartheid memorabilia. Sen. Lindsey Graham cynically whines, “God help South Carolina” if it continues flying the flag he has repeatedly defended.

Cowards all.

Let me tell you who you’re tarring with your smear campaign. Charlie Daniels is a friend of mine. I know and am friends with members of The Outlaws. I’ve met the Lynyrd Skynyrd band. I’ve seen The Allman Brothers in concert. They all sing about the South. Their millions of fans wear caps emblazoned with the Confederate flag. The Stars and Bars waves throughout the arenas.

You’ve called them all racists.

Racists? How dare you. They are celebrating Southern rock music – period.

You are insulting millions of NASCAR fans who do the same simply as a celebration of their Southern heritage. You are besmirching the memory of the thousands of Confederates who fought for their right to secede – and openly opposed slavery. Start with Robert E. Lee.

You will use this – you know you will – to tar any conservative you can tie to the evil you’ve invented. You’ll declare that person a racist if he doesn’t publicly agree with you, won’t you?

What’s next? How long will it take for you to demand that the American flag be removed? It’s a natural progression.

You’ll talk about Abu Ghraib. You’ll reach back to the My Lai massacre. You’ll find any excuse to besmirch the Stars and Stripes.

What about the Cross? You think it’s a symbol of religious oppression. The KKK solemnly sets it ablaze in their ceremonies. You’ll want that banned, too. In fact President Obama has already demanded it be covered if he speaks in front of one.

Tear down your own damn flags. The “Unabomber” Ted Kaczynski was a terrorist, and a murderer, and a supporter of Greenpeace. Tear down your environmentalist flags. There are black racists waving black power flags. Tear them all down.

A gay fanatic shot and grievously wounded a security guard at the Family Research Council. His intent was to murder as many employees as possible. Tear down all LGBT flags.

But you won’t, of course. You cultural fascists are also raving hypocrites.

I have a Confederate flag proudly displayed in my home. It’ll stay. This afternoon I’m going to buy two or three more. Why? Just to defy you.

Brent Bozell is chairman of ForAmerica, the nation’s largest active online conservative network with over 7.3 million supporters.

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Confederate Flag & Monument-Sound Bite History: A Tool to Inflame the Ignorant

June 26th, 2015

Confederate Flag & Monument-Sound Bite History: A Tool to Inflame the Ignorant

By Capt. Phil Walters

“I will say then that I am not, nor ever have been in favor of bringing about in anyway the social and political equality of the white and black races – that I am not nor ever have been in favor of making voters or jurors of negroes, nor of qualifying them to hold office, nor to intermarry with white people; and I will say in addition to this that there is a physical difference between the white and black races which I believe will forever forbid the two races living together on terms of social and political equality. And inasmuch as they cannot so live, while they do remain together there must be the position of superior and inferior, and I as much as any other man am in favor of having the superior position assigned to the white race. I say upon this occasion I do not perceive that because the white man is to have the superior position the negro should be denied everything.”
Future President Abraham Lincoln 1858

American History is a wide, rich and often conflicting mosaic of information. It can be difficult to dive into it and comprehend it’s meaning without a deeper understanding of human nature and the course humans have chartered since recorded time. Many in today’s “I want it NOW” self centered society attempt to interpret those who created the American legacy within the confines of today’s mores and “flash” values, often for political or self serving purposes. That is a disservice to the great people who provided to us the foundation for our prosperity, freedom and happiness we enjoy today.

The topic of “All Things Confederate are Evil” is a flash mob of cultural cleansing perpetrated by a small, self-serving portion of society determined to enflame the ignorant via “Sound Bite History” without any effort to put it into perspective or have educational dialog on the topic. This purging and cleansing with the resulting “good feeling by removing controversial sights so as not to offend” will not solve one problem or issue. I ask the question, where will the “offending” stop as there is plenty of ugly within the soul of mankind and the history of this great nation?

“The Jews, as a class, violating every regulation of trade established by the Treasury Department, are hereby expelled from the Department.”
General Ulysses S. Grant General Order #11 December 17, 1862

The divisive root of evil & sin of this conversation is slavery, of which is constantly directed to the Southern states and the Confederacy in general. Slavery is a human condition still practiced around the world and was instituted in each of the original 13 states. (Even still today in corners of this country as “human trafficking.”) To add some balance to the discussion, I pose these questions:

A) Who, for centuries captured, chained & sold the poor native Africans to the Dutch, Portuguese, British, Spanish, French and later AMERICAN traders for transit to the New World?
B) What part of America greatly profited from the “Golden Triangle” slave trade and used this acquired wealth to build their industrial base? (Hint: It’s not the South)
C) What impact did the Morrill Tariff, a Republican tax doubling the import/exports of the South have upon the Southern economy? Why did President Lincoln state the purpose of raising troops to suppress the Southern “Rebellion” was to preserve the Union and COLLECT the Tariff? (Remember, the war was fought to free slaves, right?) Note: 65% of the Federal revenue was generated & paid by the South with little of these funds returned to South for roads, bridges, ports, railroads or proposed allocated to free those in bondage. Why?
D) Explain Washington DC’s “Compensated Emancipation” Act of 1862 purchasing the freedom of slaves in Washington DC? Why wasn’t this offered to the rest of the Country, North & South? Could it be only to benefit the Washington elite and politically connected? Not in this country, right?
E) If the war was a crusade solely to end slavery, why did the slaves in the Union States receive their freedom AFTER those in the defeated South ?
F) Why was it offered by the Lincoln Administration, should the Southern States in Rebellion return to the Union prior to January 1, 1863, pay their 40% Morrill Tariff, that they could keep their slaves for an extended period of time? Thought the war’s sole purpose was to free them?
G) Why don’t we learn about the country’s greatest & deadliest race riot, the “1863 Draft Riots of New York” where over 100 black folks were lynched simply because they were black?
H) Why many Northern states had “Freedman Laws” limiting the time former slaves could visit the state before being removed?
I) Why did General Sherman order the pontoon bridge over Ebenezer Creek pulled out from under hundreds of Freedmen waiting to cross the river, resulting in the deaths of many of them from drowning?
J) If only 7-9% of Southerners owned slaves, why did 91-93% that did not own anyone go to war to keep the rich plantation owner in “High Cotton” resulting in hundreds of thousands of casualties?
K) Why did the MILLIONS of slaves in bondage across the remainder of the New World gain their freedom without a war?
L) Why did the US military pay it’s black soldiers 2/3 of a white soldiers pay (when the US military finally accepted blacks) while the Confederate Congress mandated equal pay for black & white servicemen?

Simply stating the “Civil War” was fought by the moral & benevolent North to free the slaves in the South from the evil slaveholder is a simplistic statement. There’s much information available to those that search offering sound and strong rebuttals to the statement and plenty of interesting facts to the contrary. However, discussing these topics to the layman who has not sought comprehension of the period and is judging the past via today’s interpretation is a discussion similar to one with an intoxicated 4th of July Revelers who stated “since the rocket went up, just add more powder to it to get to the moon.” Additionally, these topics do not quickly pop up in Google searches, you really have to dig to find them. Of course, in this Country we would NEVER suppress information from the citizens that might conflict with the “Pop Culture” progressive narrative villainizing a specific & targeted portion of the Country; the South.

When you read un-sanitized history, trends emerge that assist you to comprehend that history definitely has a “cause & effect” as very little is random in human activity. Attempting to inflame people via their ignorance is a horrible manipulation. When you compare the history of the world to our great society, we should all be very thankful for being Americans here in America and thankful for the actions of our ancestors as THEY BUILT THE FOUNDATION for us, as imperfect and flawed as they were.

“There are few, I believe, in this enlightened age, who will not acknowledge that slavery as an institution is a moral and political evil.”
General Robert E. Lee 1862 after freeing the slaves he inherited

Across the globe, war, famine, slavery, genocide, tribal conflicts, religious persecution and ethnic cleansing along with a multitude of other miseries are alive and well producing millions of casualties each year. We have nearly eliminated these sad experiences in America due to the fact we are a country of good people, willing to correct a wrong and also help the downtrodden. If you wake each morning and chose to either be offended or disturbed by history, then you must not be thankful for our blessings of peace, harmony & prosperity but choose to seek unhappiness. Maybe this is due to “The grass is always greener…” or ignorance of the human experience or that we are constantly fed a diet of sanitized, Politically Correct” selective view of history, or rather “Sound Bite History” for divisive purposes.

Take note and pride that America IS the EXCEPTION to the rest of the world and has worked hard to change evil tendencies found in mankind. In many parts of the world, dissent is not allowed & if practiced could cost you & your family their lives. (Think ISIS & Sharia for example) Please let the wave of divisiveness & cultural cleansing pass and leave our historic symbols alone; however please take the time and effort to learn more of our unfiltered history. Leave the Confederate monuments & flags where they are! If we don’t learn from history’s’ lessons, we WILL REPEAT them.

“Every man should endeavor to understand the meaning of subjugation before it is too late… It
means the history of this heroic struggle will be written by the enemy; that our youth will be
trained by Northern schoolteachers; will learn from Northern school books their version of the
war; will be impressed by the influences of history and education to regard our gallant dead as
traitors, and our maimed veterans as fit objects for derision… It is said slavery is all we are
fighting for, and if we give it up we give up all. Even if this were true, which we deny, slavery is
not all our enemies are fighting for. It is merely the pretense to establish sectional superiority
and a more centralized form of government, and to deprive us of our rights and liberties.”
Maj. General Patrick R. Cleburne, CSA, January 1864

Capt. Phil Walters
1st LCDR Judah P. Benjamin camp #2210 Sons of Confederate Veterans-Tampa.
I have over 30 Confederates in my lineage, none researched owned slaves. I take offense at my ancestors being called racists & traitors, generally by the same folks propagating “Hands Up, Don’t Shoot.”

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The Confederate Flag has nothing to do with hatred toward anyone

June 25th, 2015

I normally don’t respond, but I do feel compelled to do so on this. First, off what one finds offensive another find good. We nor anyone should be the judge of that. I am personally having trouble understanding the relationship between racism and the CSA. The roots are racism are not in the CSA but in the very bedrock of our great country. Yes the roots do act like weeds and when left unattended they can and do sprout. This is where my true confusion comes into play. We often hear the phrase those that fail to learn from history are doomed to repeat. Such is the case if you choose to forget history or worse sponge it. I honestly abhor some of the principals the CSA actual professed as part of their way of life, such as slavery but I also recognize I am looking this through a modern lens, and what may seam illogical or abhorrent by today’s standards wasn’t the case then.

To take it a step further I have study most military campaigns in history from the battle of Cannae to our modern conflicts and some of my very heroes of history do come from the American Civil War (also known as the first modern war) because of the honor they showed. Several names come to mind “The Professor” Chamberlain and his Tenacious Maine Regiment, not for their actions at the battle of little round top but for what occurred at Appomattox. He and his regiment recognized the honor for which our ancestors fought and was one of few the actually rendered military honors. Another hero of mine is General Robert Lee, besides being the brilliant tactician that he was he was profoundly honorable in the fact he disagreed with many of the reasons the south wanted to leave the union but he felt he had to honor his homeland and he couldn’t bring himself to fight against it. As he knew he would have ti had he remained (He was offered command of the Union Forces before he was he resigned his commission and lead the south). So if the American Civil War did produce such honor shouldn’t all of its figures and symbols be remembered for future generations

In another chain of thought, I had the privilege several years ago of going to Normandy. The thing the strikes me most about Normandy and today’s dilemma, is this observation. There is a German cemetery in Normandy. It is a little ways down from the American cemetery. This cemetery was not run down, vandalized, or destroyed. It was actually there proudly on display in a place of honor. If the French can find the ability to recognize the German’s honor and sacrifice despite the atrocities committed by the Germans/Nazis during WWII, which in my mind far exceed the slavery points, why is it our ancestors cannot be forgiven for their way of thinking, which was in tune with everyone’s way of thinking of the time and why must all future generations pay for “sins” committed by their forefathers. History is always written and rewritten by the victors where the truth becomes buried and disappears.

Therefore I argue to not hide history but acknowledge it for what is is. Be proud of the American journey and its symbols over the years. Don’t remove CSA from the history books nor any of its symbols because a part of it you disagree with. I would bet all of us disagree with parts of the CSA because when we look at it through a modern lens but let us remember us to not repeat it and embrace the good ideals of the CSA. If we must have visual representation of history instead of destruction, recognize and promote items that show the progress of our country in all races and encourage this progress by showing/using their symbols/statues and names. Then and only then will the good ideals of the CSA be remembered properly for future generations.

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Ban The Confederate Flag??

June 25th, 2015

Many have been trying to remove symbols of our Confederate Heritage for quite sometime. The other side has shown themselves to be opportunistic sycophants, allowing no good tragedy to go waste. I’m sure that everyone else is completely disgusted, as am I, with the actions of the young “man” (I’m not sure what to call him) who would senselessly shoot others in a house of worship. He posed with a Confederate Battle Flag sometime before his execrable act. Politicians, being what they are, lost no time in exploiting this tragedy for their own ends.

I know at times, it seems every circumstance and everyone is against us. But I’m reminded that others have faced more perilous circumstances before. George Washington, while at Valley Forge wrote…”the Continental Army is bereft of decent clothing, and supplies…” He further went on…”one could follow the progress of the army through the snow by observing the trail of blood that feet without proper shoes left…”

The men at Valley Forge refused to let their circumstances destroy them. Rather they sharpened themselves on the edge of adversity, to become a first rate fighting force. So also did our Confederate Ancestors. Their conduct , both on and off the field of battle, at all times was glorious and righteous. No less a personage than Winston Churchill, wrote of their courage and bravery. In his seminal work, “A History of the English Speaking Peoples” he observed that Lee’s Army of Northern Virginia was the finest fighting force the western world had ever seen.

Fellow compatriots, this is the heritage that we have been left. So as Washington’s Men did at Valley Forge, let us persevere in the face of adversity. As Sir Winston Churchill wrote during the Battle of Britain, let this be our finest hour! No man (or group of men) is ever in the minority when they stand with God for the truth! Deo Vindice!

 

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A look at statistics on black-on-black murders

March 7th, 2015

A look at statistics on black-on-black murders

By Amy Sherman on Wednesday, July 17th, 2013 at 2:20 p.m.

The acquittal of George Zimmerman, a white Hispanic, in the shooting death of Trayvon Martin, a black teenager, has prompted commentary from the left and right about race and murder statistics.

We saw this statistic repeated multiple times by conservatives on Twitter after the July 13 verdict: “In the 513 days between Trayvon dying, and today’s verdict, 11,106 African-Americans have been murdered by other African-Americans.”

We will leave it up to others to interpret the relevance of such statistics in the Zimmerman trial or other cases. Our role here as fact-checkers is to examine the numbers and their context. 

A quick note on the case before we turn to the numbers: Hispanic is an ethnicity — someone can be Hispanic and white, as in Zimmerman’s case — or Hispanic and black. The crime data we reviewed generally focused on whites and blacks, though it sometimes included a generic “other” category.

Martin, 17, was unarmed when he got into a scuffle with Zimmerman in Sanford, Fla., on Feb. 26, 2012. A jury acquitted Zimmerman, a neighborhood watch volunteer whose lawyer argued self-defense, of second-degree murder and manslaughter. (Read our fact-checks that relate to the case and Florida’s “stand your ground” law.)

Statistic about blacks killed during course of Trayvon case

We found the claim about murders on the conservative soopermexican blog; it appears to have originated there. His blog walks readers through the math on getting to 11,106 deaths in 513 days. (We counted 503 days, not 513, but that’s a tiny quibble.)

The blogger, citing an earlier blog post and The Blaze, stated that there were 8,000 to 9,000 African-Americans killed each year — 93 percent of them by African-Americans.

The numbers came from a 2007 U.S. Bureau of Justice Statistics report, which stated that blacks were victims of 7,999 homicides in 2005 and said that 93 percent were killed by people who shared their race. (It wasn’t clear to us where the blogger’s 9,000 figure came from.)

Using the number 8,500, that translated to 21.65 blacks murdered each day by other blacks. So the blogger came up with a mathematical formula: 21.65 times 513 days=11,106. That 8,500 figure seems high, though, especially if we look at more recent figures. The FBI reported for 2011 that 6,329 black people were murdered, for example.

The blog post makes it sound as if the black-on-black murder rate is particularly significant, but we found similar high percentages for whites.

The report also stated that 85 percent of white victims in single-victim and single-offender homicides were murdered by someone of their race. So that means the majority of black and white people are murdered by someone of their own race. In 2005, there were 8,017 white homicide victims.

The race victim/offender data isn’t shown for every case: It is only shown in thecases in which the race was known (some murders are never solved) and in cases involving a single victim and defendant.

We sent a summary of our findings to the soopermexican blogger.

“I think your criticism of the number I arrived at has some merit,” he wrote in an email. “I should have made it more clear that is the best extrapolation from the numbers that are available. While the FBI stats don’t include all known cases, I don’t see why the cases where race stats are known shouldn’t be representative of the entire class of murders. Yes, it’s true that murder rates have come down generally, which I’m pretty sure applies to all race/ethnic classes.”

As for white-on-white homicides also representing a high percentage, he said the point he was trying to make is that it’s wrong to suggest that “white racism is killing blacks disproportionately.”

What homicide-race stats show about our relationships

So statistics show that most murders in which the race can be measured are intraracial. We wanted to know why.

We interviewed Professor David M. Kennedy, director of the Center for Crime Prevention and Control at John Jay College of Criminal Justice in New York City.

“Homicides overwhelmingly happen among people who know each other,” he said. “There are relatively few absolutely straight-up stranger homicides. Homicide is a phenomenon of social networks. … Most peoples’ relationships are primarily with someone of their own race or ethnicity. As long as anybody has studied homicide, this has been the pattern.” (See the historical data.)

Writer Jamelle Bouie in The Daily Beast wrote a response to conservatives who have been trying to shift the conversation to black-on-black crime while ignoring that the same shared racial identity holds true for white-on-white crime, too.

Bouie wrote that what is missing from the conversation about crime is that “it’s driven by opportunism and proximity; If African-Americans are more likely to be robbed, or injured, or killed by other African-Americans, it’s because they tend to live in the same neighborhoods as each other. Residential statistics bear this out (PDF); blacks are still more likely to live near each other or other minority groups than they are to whites. And of course, the reverse holds as well—whites are much more likely to live near other whites than they are to minorities and African-Americans in particular.”

Our ruling

In response to the Zimmerman case, social media repeated this claim: “In the 513 days between Trayvon dying, and today’s verdict, 11,106 African-Americans have been murdered by other African-Americans.”

Some who are citing this statistic are using it to portray race as an overemphasized point in the Zimmerman trial. We’re not evaluating that opinion; we’re fact-checking the math based on the available data.

The number sounds extremely precise, but it’s actually something of a rough guess based on back-of-the envelope math. No one actually knows how many African-Americans were murdered by other African-Americans in that time frame, and the numbers cited are actually an extrapolation of murder statistics for 2005. More current figures from 2011 show fewer deaths. So the specific numbers are not literally accurate.

Also, this claim lacks important context. Yes, it’s true that the majority of black murder victims are murdered by blacks, but the same holds true for whites: Most whites are murdered by whites. And in both cases, this race statistic is not available for all murders, but only ones where the race of both perpetrator and victim can be determined.

The claim contains an element of truth, but it’s not fully accurate. We rate this claim Mostly False.

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Retired NYPD officer responds to Mayor DiBlasio:

December 18th, 2014

Retired NYPD officer responds to New York Mayor Bill DiBlasio:

“Don’t know if you saw Warren Wilhelm’s (AKA Bill DiBlasio’s) recent speech.  He rambled on about racism; how the cops needed to be re-trained; how Erick Garner, New York’s own version of the Gentle Giant, was a “Good Man”; how he mourns for Garner’s six children; and how he FEARS for his son, Dante…

Really Bill????  Let’s dissect a few of the ridiculous talking points you made to massage the ghetto trash who put you in office, and your ‘Co-mayor’, Al Charlatan.

Erick Garner was NOT a good man. He was a career criminal with 30 arrests under his more than ample belt.  How did he support those  six kids? Did he have a job?  What was his visible means of support besides criminal activity and public assistance?  I believe that these are questions that NEED to be asked! He resisted arrest for the last time the day he died.  He died NOT because of a choke hold, but because he weighed 400 pounds due to a lifetime eating pork rinds and chitins. He had a bad heart, was  diabetic, and had asthma.

Let’s stop with the bullshit nonsense of choke holds. O.K. Bill????  This turd was just one Big Mac away from a heart attack!Let’s stop with the race card. I know that Sharpton has his hand up your ass and controls you like the clown hand puppet that you are; but let us also dissect this fallacious claim: The BLACK Precinct Commander ordered Garner to be locked up because of the plethora of complaints from minority shop owners whose shops he was plying his illegals trade in front of. The Supervising Sergeant at the scene was a BLACK female.

I think your claim of this vast racist conspiracy can be thrown out. That fat tub of shit died over an hour later at the hospital.  So, “IF” he had been choked to death/ as all the idiots are claiming, he would have been dead on the sidewalk!

You lamented that Garner died because he was selling cigarettes. Well, Billy Boy, YOU’RE the Mayor.  Why didn’t you have the Untaxed Cigarette Statute taken off the books?  Why didn’t you instruct your media  whore Bratton to tell the cops to stop enforcing that law?  Because of you, making about $6.00 in assorted taxes on each pack, that’s why.  I guess you have some of Garner’s blood on our hands too!
As for the fears you have for Dante, besides having his own racist, Gestapo police bodyguards, (guess the cops are O.K. when they are doing YOUR bidding…) all you had to do is be a good father and tell your son NOT to be a criminal, not to engage in criminal or anti-social behavior, and IF stopped by the Police, cooperate and  follow instructions.  IF he does that, they won’t harm a hair on his head!

Why not admit what you, Big Al, Obana and his boot licking yes man Holder REALLY MEAN is that you should cut the balls off the police  and make them nothing but speed bumps for your constituents: criminals, ghetto trash, welfare queens, drug dealers, and the rest of your vast Obama-voting block?!

You’re a fraud and a DISAGRACE to the Office of Mayor of NY.  Any cop who goes out there and aggressively does his job is out of his mind. My advice to them is to be just a responder and report- taker; go home  safe at night. NOTHING you do is right or appreciated. I had to get this off my chest; because I CANNOT stomach the BULLSHIT that’s being spewed by the media 24 x 7!!!!

Dennis J. Fitzgerald
President. NJ Shore 10-13

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Reverend Sharpton? Really?

December 10th, 2014

Al Sharpton Is As Much A Reverend As I Am A Black Man

BETHANY BLANKLEY
DECEMBER 9, 2014

In America, many people claim to be something they are not and get away with it, which explains why Al Sharpton continues to use the title Reverend. However, he is as much a reverend as I am a black man.

At age ten, Sharpton was “ordained” by Pentecostal minister Bishop F.D. Washington—a man with no training or education. Regardless of education, no one in his or her right mind can ascribe the title of minister to a 10 year old.

Most professions require relevant credentials and skills. For teachers this includes a master’s degree, certifications, and background checks. For police, graduation from police academy and ongoing job training and evaluations are required. Attorneys and judges must also not only have a law degree and have passed the bar, but follow a code of ethics and maintain accreditation standards to keep their license.

Al Sharpton never finished college. He has less education than a kindergarten teacher. He possesses a high school level knowledge of English. And his version of history speaks for itself. He famously quipped: “White folks was in caves while we was building empires…. We taught philosophy and astrology and mathematics before Socrates and them Greek homos ever got around to it.”

Most Christian ministers have earned an MA degree and learned the now non-spoken languages of Greek and Hebrew originally used to write the Bible. Additionally, PhD’s require fluency in French, Latin, and German to understand translations from original texts to the vernacular.

Granted, someone can earn numerous degrees and still be neither a Christian nor a minister, which is why what one says and does reveals their motivation and conviction about Biblical authority and the Gospel.

Sharpton claims to have preached his first sermon at four years old; whether the topic was potty training or a popular song, it undoubtedly was not about Jesus Christ. To state the obvious, toddlers cannot read. They also do not have the capacity to gain knowledge or wisdom from years of prayer and studying the Scripture.

Sharpton has never professed a testimony of conversion, nor has he ever led a church. He has written no books about the Bible, and any language of grace, salvation, forgiveness, repentance, restoration, the Gospel of Jesus Christ, or even Jesus are consistently absent from his remarks.

Sadly, Sharpton’s life exemplifies everything that Christianity is not.

Sharpton’s father left his mother for his half-sister. Fortunately, Sharpton chose the lesser of two evils. Between incest and a musician, he chose the latter–James Brown–as his father figure, who he says “taught him how to be a man.”

What was Brown’s example? Having largely raised himself on the streets with a sixth grade education, Brown’s life reads like a rap sheet, no pun intended.

Brown was convicted for robbery at age 16, went to juvenile detention, and was paroled at age 19. By age 40, in 1973, the IRS claimed he owed over $2 million in unpaid taxes. To avoid concurrent problems with the IRS and not pay what he owed, Brown credited his then-second wife and two of their children as the writers of the 1976 hit song, “Get Up Offa That Thing.” In 1986, after several gun possession charges, Brown went to prison again, ultimately for assault and battery with intent to kill. In 1998, Brown was charged with drug possession.

Sharpton’s life follows a similar trajectory. In 2002, a 19-year-old FBI video surfaced, aired by HBO, in which Sharpton allegedly recorded incriminating conversations with the Genovese and Gambino crime families about selling narcotics. No charges were brought against him. He still maintains he didn’t break the law, but others argue he was more than a confidential informant.

In 1989, Sharpton was charged with 67 felony counts of tax evasion, larceny, and fraud. Whatever deal he made was undisclosed; he was acquitted on all counts and only pled guilty to a misdemeanor for not filing his 1986 state income tax.

In 2001, he was sentenced to 90 days in jail for trespassing on U.S. Navy property during an alleged “protest” against military training activities in Puerto Rico.

In 2003, a New York City travel agency sued him for allegedly using fake credit card information.

In 2004, the Federal Election Commission ordered him to repay $100,000 in public matching funds he received for his 2004 presidential run.

In 2008, he was convicted on two counts of disorderly conduct resulting from being arrested for allegedly “protesting.”

In 2013, while still married to his second wife, Kathy Jordan, he unashamedly flaunted his 35-year-old girlfriend, Aisha McShaw, in New York City.

In November 2014, The New York Times exposed his fraudulent life, writing, “As Al Sharpton rose, so did his unpaid taxes.” The article lists a rap sheet of unpaid taxes, rent, and other bills, highlighting that Sharpton and his business owe more than $4.5 million in taxes. He refutes their article.

It’s no wonder, then, that Sharpton would defend young people who continue to break the law, even while on parole.

Or why he remains silent about hate crimes committed by black groups against individual veterans and students, or teens punched to death in knock out games. Or why he has offered no solutions to reduce illegal drug and gun violence in black communities.

Sharpton has had his entire life to provide young men without fathers, like himself, with the basic Biblical principles of self-control, patience, kindness, honoring their parents, respecting authority, being responsible, working hard, doing what is right, causing no harm, or at a minimum, the six out of ten commandments on which US civil law and moral codes are based.

Many black men are addressing the problems within the black community:

Sharpton’s life doesn’t reflect Christianity because he knows not Christ.

But he does have time to know the Gospel and genuine zeal expressed by many ministers.

And time to heed the warning in the New Testament book of Acts. A demon asks a false teacher, “Jesus I know, and Paul I know, but who are you?”

As one minister wisely said, “To be unknown in hell as a minister is a great disgrace.”

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