Posts Tagged ‘slavery’

And get this, the five “plaintiffs” are the killer wales…

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SAN DIEGO (AP) — A federal court is being asked to grant constitutional rights to five killer whales who perform at marine parks — an unprecedented and perhaps quixotic legal action that is nonetheless likely to stoke an ongoing, intense debate at America’s law schools over expansion of animal rights.

People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals is accusing theSeaWorld parks of keeping five star-performer whales in conditions that violate the 13th Amendment ban on slavery. SeaWorld depicted the suit as baseless.

The chances of the suit succeeding are slim, according to legal experts not involved in the case; any judge who hews to the original intent of the authors of the amendment is unlikely to find that they wanted to protect animals. But PETA relishes engaging in the court of public opinion, as evidenced by its provocative anti-fur and pro-vegan campaigns.

The suit, which PETA says it will file Wednesday in U.S. District Court in San Diego, hinges on the fact that the 13th Amendment, while prohibiting slavery and involuntary servitude, does not specify that only humans can be victims.

Jeff Kerr, PETA’s general counsel, says his five-member legal team — which spent 18 months preparing the case — believes it’s the first federal court suit seeking constitutional rights for members of an animal species.

The plaintiffs are the five orcas, Tilikum and Katina based at SeaWorld in Orlando, Fla., and Corky, Kasatka and Ulises atSeaWorld San Diego. Tilikum, a six-ton male, made national news in February 2010 when he grabbed a trainer at the close of a performance and dragged her underwater until she drowned.

Full story HERE.

The Mo’Kelly Report is a syndicated politics and entertainment journal.  Visit http://mrmokelly.com for the latest from Mr. Mo’Kelly and contact him at mrmokelly@gmail.com.

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Well the GOP has done it again. Presidential candidates Michele Bachmann and Rick Santorum, recently

Michele Bachmann

signed a controversial marriage “pledge.” Part of the document alleges that the family situation of African-American children living under slavery was superior or preferential to today. Meaning, Black slave children allegedly had stronger families than free ones today.

Of course I was personally offended, that’s not the point. To allege slavery was either a step up or an improvement of the present-day plight of African-Americans is ridiculous and whoever utters it is worthy of ridicule.

Such is the obvious response to stupidity.

What is receiving less attention is the ongoing and overt disregard of African-Americans by the Republican Party. It’s the 21^st century (believe it or not.) It’s not just the birther movement and their barbs against the President. It’s the present presidential candidates knowingly playing to the ignorance of the Republican base. Why the GOP is so reluctant in joining the rest us here in documented history is beyond explanation. You can be sure, no suggestion that the Holocaust was a relative positive would ever be used in conjunction with public policy. How African-Americans manage to continue to be defecated on by the GOP I’m not quite sure.

David Duke

In other recent news, “former” Klansmen and present GOP member David Duke announced his presidential candidacy. And wow, lookie here…he has Tea Party support. Imagine that.

It’s almost a coincidence…uh…no not really.

It’s indicative of a recurring theme and a mood in this country. The GOP is content to rewrite American history to suit its interests, in the hopes of telling a narrative which fits a political agenda. From Paul Revere to John Adams and now slavery; the GOP wants to be perceived as the party of American ideals, just without all the fuss of either being historically accurate or something less than detestable.

These two pieces of information (Bachmann and Duke) may be ostensibly unrelated, but surely connected in a political sense. They speak to the larger disregard and disrespect of the African-American electorate.

Former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich recently told a mostly-white audience that African-Americans are so angry at President Obama we’re prime to vote for a Republican; but failed to check with any of us as to the reality of the former or the fantasy of the latter.

Faithful Groomsman AKA "Lawn Jockey"

The GOP has disrespected the president and voters along the lines of race and then has the unmitigated gall to look surprised when Herman Cain garners little traction in our community. Next thing you know, the GOP will argue that a monument to Dr. King is unnecessary and redundant in Washington, since we already had the “Faithful Groomsman” lawn jockey sculpture at Mount Vernon.

When you’re allowed to rewrite history at your whim, everything is on the table.

Such is the inherent danger of trying to co-opt the legacy of the founding ideals of this country. Slavery too was a founding ideal. It’s a bit disingenuous to talk about the founding principles of the United States of America and conveniently leave out the institution which helped the country descend into civil war. One can not tell the story of the formation of the United States of America and not also include slavery.

If America is a great country (and she is), its rise to prominence will forever be linked to the centuries of free labor which built it…White House included.

African-Americans by and large will grant present-day politicians a free pass in celebration of the founding ideals in a general sense. Just don’t try to put a new spin on slavery. Families were separated, mothers and daughters were raped. There is no way to go gift wrap it and re-present with a cute bow on top.

To not know better is ignorance of the highest order. You would have no business as my president. To use it as a talking point on family values and marriage to score with voters is nothing short of unforgivable. Either way, such a candidate would have no business as my president.

Congresswoman Michele Bachmann believed or endorsed an erroneous and romanticized view of slavery; but I am to trust her judgment on issues of greatest importance of African-Americans in 2012 and beyond?

Not happening.

How many times is the GOP going to be allowed to do this? How many times are they going to be allowed to openly disrespect African-Americans, while simultaneously winking to White Republicans?

Nobody in the GOP leadership seems to understand that you can’t consistently and continuously disrespect Black voters and use that as your main selling point in gaining Black votes. The arrogance and ignorance are both astounding and compounding as we reach the primary season.

The next time a conservative alleges African-Americans have played the race card, politely remind them of the revisionist American history the GOP is selling; complete with slavery and misguided entitlement references.

The Mo’Kelly Report is an entertainment journal with a political slant; published at The Huffington Post and EURWEB.com. For the most recent posts of Mr. Mo’Kelly, visit http://mrmokelly.com.  Mr. Mo’Kelly can be reached at mrmokelly@gmail.com.

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Twitter claims another victim. The chalk outline of film critic Roger Ebert

Roger and Chaz Ebert

decorates the expanse of the information superhighway; a painful reminder of the internet roadkill struck down by the speeding blogosphere.

Twitter gets celebrities in trouble, this much we already knew. Established writers on the other hand are arguably more careful with their words/context and less prone to such 140 character missteps. Nevertheless, it’s been known to happen and Ebert is the next and latest victim to fall prey to his own poorly crafted social networking stream of consciousness.

Ebert, in an attempt to offer commentary on whether there is legitimate controversy or even conversation to be found in NewSouth Books’ forthcoming edition of Mark Twain’s novel, Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, stepped where he had no business walking at all. The proposed updated edition of the classic novel would replace all N-words with the…ahem, “euphemism” of “slave.”

More HERE.

Proponents of the update have argued the original language was (among other things) antiquated, inflammatory and inconsistent with the country in which we live today. Opinions from opponents ranged from it being a form of censorship to something borne out of sheer stupidity.

Mo’Kelly is in the middle, because both sides are correct. Yet, both sides heretofore have missed the more salient point. Adventures of Huckleberry Finn is all of those things: antiquated, inconsistent with contemporary American social ethics and changing it in any way would be sheer stupidity.

And for that matter, so are Shaft and the “landmark” television show, Good Times. You see where Mo’Kelly’s headed.

Presumably nobody, including Mo’Kelly would want an “updated version” of the film Birth of a Nation either…just in case any “other” film critics want to weigh in on merging political correctness with historical hatred.

This isn’t an either/or proposition, it’s both. The proposed solution of “updating” is ridiculous, to solve an inaccurately identified problem.

Enter Roger Ebert, stage right.

Ebert in his haste to anticipate the response from the African-American community, offered a preemptive Twitter strike.

Poor conception, poor execution…yet richly deserved subsequent criticism.

It’s clear what Ebert is trying to convey; the N-word should never carry the injurious weight equal to that of actually being called (i.e. being) a slave. Ebert’s implication is that the condition of enslavement is far worse than any mere insult.

Um…yes, in theory Roger.

Ebert’s argument fails because he blithely omits the inextricable link between the two in this case.

No slavery…no N-word.  See how that works?  They explicity reference one-another.  To trace the etymology of the N-word is to go back where this country came from, including the dusty backroads of the Jim Crow South and the strange fruit of burned, lynched Black men hanging from the trees which lined them.  Keep on that path and you’ll eventually find yourself all the way back to the Middle Passage.

They explicitly reference one-another.

The easy part is to simply criticize and lambaste Ebert for not knowing his “editorial place,” for commenting outside the bounds of his personal knowledge or professional expertise. Ebert’s history is clear, he has long celebrated African-Americans and culture, irrespective of him dating African-American women such as Oprah or eventual wife Chaz. There will be plenty of negativity directed Ebert’s way for “getting too comfortable” and commenting on that which he had no business commenting.  There will be plenty of predictable “two thumbs down” jokes and arguments that merely liking Black “stuff” and Black women doesn’t make one an authority on all things Black…

That’s the easy part and easy way out.

The hard part is getting America to fall out of love with the idea that she is a “post-racial” nation. We can not and should not deny the history which brought us to this moment in time in a political, social and even economic disparity sense.

When we look at America’s decimated urban communities, its inferior education system and the impenetrable cycles involved in both; “slave” and the N-word are not merely historical footnotes as to how African-Americans are treated in a contemporary sense.  Don’t let the discussion end with Roger Ebert.

When we look at the open and brazen disrespect for President Obama, such that has never been seen before; neither “slave” nor the N-word is a relic of a forgotten America. When we get to the heart of the matter and are honest about the nature of the mean-spirited animosity directed at the president (under the guise of supposed principled, partisan politics), “slave” and the N-word aren’t historical artifacts, they are present day mentalities.  Don’t let the discussion end or focus solely on Roger Ebert.

Not so fast.  Hold on. Calm down, it’s coming.  Breathe…breathe. Wait for it…wait for it…

When we as African-Americans continually and woefully argue that the N-word with an “a” at the end instead of an “er” is a term of endearment through its use in our conversations, comedy routines, music and movies; we perpetuate and promulgate the deleterious impact of both. This is nobody’s fault but our own and no other ethnic group on the planet has fought tooth and nail to cling to such ignorant filth.  We have to be honest about our own role in this evolution. We as African-Americans must acknowledge and own this truth as well.

That needs to be said again.

“We as African-Americans must acknowledge and own this truth as well.”

Roger Ebert was well within his right to express his opinion on whether the N-word is less offensive or injurious than the institution which gave it life. He’s wrong, but that’s the beauty of America, there’s room for all opinions, even the misinformed ones. All men (and women) are created equal in America, but not all opinions. Some are much more informed than others.

"You got that right Roger..."

Again, highlighting and chastising Ebert’s misstep will always be the easy part. The hard part is in being honest about who we are and where we are as a country; not engaging in revisionist history of how we got here.

“Updating” Adventures of Huckleberry Finn is wrong. Roger Ebert left alone on Twitter without adult supervision is wrong and most importantly, the quest to sanitize the truth about America’s history and cover up her liver spots with fresh makeup is wrong.  Don’t let the discussion end with only quips about Roger Ebert.

The Mo’Kelly Report is an entertainment journal with a political slant; published at The Huffington Post and www.eurweb.com. It is meant to inform, infuse and incite meaningful discourse…as well as entertain. For more Mo’Kelly, http://mrmokelly.com. Mr. Mo’Kelly can be reached at mrmokelly@gmail.com.

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You have to love the Right Wing.  Never let facts and common sense get in the way of a good Republican rant.  A reader sent this to Mr. Mo’Kelly…

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T***********@gmail.com

“When I read your recent comments concerning the opposition to the Ground Zero mosque, I was taken aback.  The President is wrong on this, and you are wrong.  Innocent Americans were murdered, by Muslims who acted without provocation. Our country went to war in two countries following the events on
9/11.

Not only is a “cultural center” inappropriate it is
needed far more in the the middle eastern countries, where the practice of Islam denies education, denies any rights to women and children. Would you support a statue of a white slavemaster erected at the cemetery holding the bodies of former slaves?”

Mo’Kelly intentionally withheld the name on this occasion. I don’t want her to think this is going to be personal in any way. But it is going to be informative and educational in EVERY way. These are just the facts and nothing more. The truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth.

Would you support a statue of a white slavemaster erected at the cemetery holding the bodies of former slaves?

Evidently in some parts of this country, they don’t show pictures of the Washington Monument or the Jefferson Memorial.  History is clear on them (Washington and Jefferson) being the owners of African slaves.

Just the facts.

Or maybe she never heard of the George Washington Mount Vernon Estate monument.  It’s possible, but problematic given her argumentation.  In fact, AT the estate there is also a monument to the buried slaves there, thanks to the African-American students at Howard University.

http://www.westfordlegacy.com/History/slavemem.html

Not only is a “cultural center” inappropriate it is
needed far more in the the middle eastern countries, where the practice of Islam denies education, denies any rights to women and children.

Education she says?  Let’s talk about “education.”

Ever heard of “George Washington” University?  Slavery and its enforcement were terrorism, do not confuse oneself as to any other definition.  The university is a monument in the name of the slaveowner.

And since we’re on this subject of “education”…

Has this woman not heard of Amherst College?  That would be the same “prestigious” Amherst College named after (i.e. monument) Lord Jeffery Amherst, best known for slaughtering Native Americans and pioneering the use of germ warfare. Meaning, he approved giving away smallpox-infected blankets to Native Americans as “gifts,” as well as admonishing his troops to try “every other method that can serve to extirpate this execrable race.”

Terrorism…monuments…American soil?

Just the facts, and they are not in dispute.

Or what about the confederate flag?  Anyone?  Anyone?  Bueller…Bueller?  It took an act of Congress to have it removed from flying atop the South Carolina statehouse.

Monuments…terrorism…”inappropriate?”

This is about facts.  Not emotion, not partisan politics.  This is also about documented history, not Democrats or Republicans.

And if this woman ever spent paper money in her life, she might have noticed the faces of Ben Franklin, George Washington or Alexander Hamilton…all slaveowners.

Monuments…terrorism…cultural ignorance?

Just the facts ma’am and they are not in any way in dispute.

And before you think Mo’Kelly forgot to mention it, yes there is an Alexander Hamilton monument too…IN NEW YORK CITY.

It would seem that only ACTUAL TERRORISTS may have monuments built in their name in New York.  But religious cultural centers of the same RELIGION as terrorists in New York are unacceptable.

Just the facts…just the facts.

(The originally posted/linked story as to a monument being constructed near the 16th Street Baptist church has been refuted by the Birmingham Civil Rights Institute and thus removed.  Mo’Kelly appreciates their researching the story on their end.  See comment section.)

Mo’Kelly only asks that this woman and others better inform themselves on American history as well as contemporary news.  This isn’t hidden away in some secret government file.  It’s in your wallet, in Central Park, at prestigious universities…all around us.  All one has to do is be open to intellectually honest conversation.  This mosque and cultural center is not a monument to terrorism.  But even if it were, history has shown it’s the American way.

No, President Obama (and Mo’Kelly for that matter)…still right.  Mo’Kelly encourages all of you to “share” this in the battle against stupidity.

Facts and documented history always trump ignorance.

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The Mo’Kelly Report is an entertainment journal with a political slant; published at The Huffington Post and www.eurweb.com. It is meant to inform, infuse and incite meaningful discourse…as well as entertain. For more Mo’Kelly, http://mrmokelly.com. Mr. Mo’Kelly can be reached at mrmokelly@gmail.com.

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