The 1860 U.S. election didn’t just involve Abraham Lincoln and John C. Breckinridge of the Southern Democrats. John Bell and Stephen A. Douglas ran for President as well. The debates dealt with popular sovereignty (or the right of states to establish slavery or not in their territories), slavery in general, the homesteads (which the Republican Party support. Homesteads were government-funded lands given to immigrants and others in the free territories of the Midwest and the West). Abraham Lincoln won the election on November 6, 1860. That election represented the sectional struggle over the question of slavery. It was not solved in 1776. The Democratic Party’s President Andrew Jackson was a known supporter of the Southern planters and the slavery aristocracy. The Democratic administration of James K. Polk instigated a war with Mexico, so slavery can be opened to the vast territories of the West. Ironically, Abraham Lincoln opposed the Mexican-American war. Immediately, the South started to consider secession after Lincoln was voted President. The South passed a punitive fugitive slave law which deprived the human rights of black people. Frederick Douglas and other abolitionists praised the Lincoln electoral victory. Frederick Douglas said that: “...Lincoln’s election has vitiated their authority, and broken their power...More important still, it has demonstrated the possibility of electing, if not an abolitionist, at least an anti-slavery reputation to the presidency.” (James McPherson, The Struggle for Equality, Abolitionists and the Negro in Civil War and Reconstruction, (Princeton University Press second paperback edition), p. 26). Lincoln ended the nefarious era of Buchanan where the ex-President Buchanan submitted to Southern interests. On December 20, 1860, South Carolina seceded from the Union. Acting on his own initiative a few days after the South Carolina legislature voted for secession, the commander of the garrison of Fort Moultrie in Charleston decided to move his troops to the more powerful and less exposed Fort Sumter on an island in the middle of Charleston harbor. Meanwhile, Lincoln passed word to General Winfield Scott, commander of the US army, to hold or, if necessary, retake the fort. Mississippi, Florida, Alabama, Georgia, and Louisiana all secede in January 1861 alone. The Confederacy starts in early 1861 and they elect Jefferson Davis as its provisional Confederate President on February 9, 1861. Abraham Lincoln was inaugurated on March 4, 1861. The Confederates attacked first on Fort Sumter on April 12, 1861. This action by the Confederates officially starts the Civil War. Soon, Fort Sumter surrenders to Southern forces. Virginia secedes on April 17, 1861.
The issue of housing is an important issue and people have debated this issue for decades. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. came into Chicago back in 1966 in part, because he wanted fair housing for American citizens. Today, some corporations and some landlords have increased not only in economic power, but in political power too. Many people who are struggling to pay bills have been thrown out of their homes. Stagnant wages, non-affordable housing, etc. have contributed to this problem. I am glad that groups like the Right to Housing Alliance are trying to get something to help people in Baltimore. The banksters have caused this economic crisis in the first place and revolutionary changes are needed to help human beings. There should be wise policies. Neo con extremists like John Bolton (who is a member of the AEI) want to bomb Iran without any cogent, comprehensive negotiation with Iran on nuclear proliferation. This tells me that the neo cons and the war hawks' agenda are not based on reality. Their ideologies are based on a warped interpretation on how they see the world. The truth is that Iran has no nuclear weapons and Iran has suffered greatly as a product of these intrusive sanctions. No one wants a war except for the extremists. So, I do hope that a progressive deal can exist in the future excluding military conflict which can spark a regional, wider Middle Eastern conflagration. It is obvious that the Western oligarchs want total Western hegemony across the globe and they are willing to do many things (including bombing a sovereign nation) to attempt to reach their goals.
I do find that many in Latin America and South America have a more unique view of racism while we (as Americans) have a more black and white interpretation of race and racism. Many Latin American nations have over six classifications of race. Also, racism is global. White supremacy, as a system, never stops in America or in Europe. That is why today, we have Afro-Colombian political organizations that are fighting for the human rights of Afro-Colombians. Classism is an issue too as the poor are heavily exploited by capitalist forces (not only in Colombia, but throughout the Earth). Therefore, there must be a combination of structural policies that address economic inequality and other progressive solutions must exist. These solutions can result in racial justice. At the end of the day, we have to learn to live together as human beings and we should continue to fight for justice. Sierra Leone can create specific accommodations to assist pregnant women. In that sense, the stigma can be gone while the pregnant women's right to education can be respected. I understand your points. Teenage pregnancy rates in the black community have declined in the States. Regardless of how we view teenage pregnancy (which is out of wedlock), we should never stigmatize these young girls unfairly. To outright deny them an education (without even executing some services for them or give them specific accommodations) is outright reactionary. Before Brzezinski’s and the CIA's deceptive schemes, Afghanistan was a much more progressive nation filled with some democratic freedoms and economic strength. I make no justifications for the PDPA's errors though. Back during the 1980's and in the 1990's, the reactionary actions of the Taliban and the mujahedeen were supported by the CIA, the ISI, etc. Therefore, the Western elites wanted their geopolitical interests maintained regardless of human rights concerns. Now, it is a different story because of the policies of Western imperialism. We should never accept from austerity budgetary plan from either party. Both the Republicans and the Democrats advance neoliberal schemes. There must be an elimination of corporate subsidies. I have no problem with corporate welfare being gone. Also, I do believe in the establishment of a living wage as wages in our generation have remained stagnant. There should be great investments in job creation. It is hypocritical for the establishment to spend trillions of dollars to bailout Wall Street banks while our cities and rural communities suffer. That should change.
Some people want love and social acceptance. Therefore, some women have the injections and risk their lives as a way for some of them to attempt to achieve some form of popularity or great social standing. Other women just want it because of other diverse reasons too. Also, this issue is not race specific. Many white, Hispanic, and Asian women have done similar surgeries too. This is a complex issue. If someone wants these types of surgeries, then that person must get it from qualified experts. Doctors must have proven credentials in order for these doctors to perform such actions and not only that. The doctors doing it will have to prove that they know what they are doing by individuals studying their track record. Any faux doctors doing such acts against women illegally should be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law. We all send condolences to black women and any women (including their families) who have passed away from botched surgeries. The human body is beautiful. Stories that describe black women, who have died as a product of mishandled procedures, are heartbreaking. This is why we have to promote people to have inner love. Inner love is about a human being accepting themselves internally (flaws and all). Inner love is about the appreciation of our diverse characteristics, but realizing the unity that we all have in the human family. Inner love is related to altruism or the Golden Rule too. So, our outer physical image will change, but our soul and our conscious actions must be bounded by legitimate principles of love, truth, compassion, strength, honor, and integrity. That is very important for us to inculcate in our thinking.
By Timothy
No comments:
Post a Comment