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Editorial/Columns
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They Keep Going Over The Edge
think it's safe to say that the Florida Mental Hospi- tal won't be closing its doors anytime soon. In fact, at the rate we're going, they may be forced to erect a new wing in order to accommodate its
growing number of residents. Though that may come off as sarcastic humor, after what's been occurring lately and this latest episode of in- sanity involving a 26-year-old woman drowning her 4-year- old daughter in the Hillsbor- ough River, I couldn't be more
serious.... Lunacy is winning. Of course, I know it's easy to attribute all of these abnor- mal examples of extreme, cold-blooded violence to men- tal illness. But, like I men- tioned a few weeks ago on this identical topic, I can't discount the possibility that the truth may be something much dif-
ferent.
To me these incidents are
happening far too frequently to write them all off as results of psychological breakdowns. But, in the absence of any other explanation, I imagine that saying all of these people are simply experiencing some form of psychosis is the best excuse to use.
The thing is, people have been acting crazy forever. And there have always been indi- viduals who've engaged in un- explainably, bizarre behavior. I just can't remember hearing about them as often.
The most disturbing part of what happened in this par- ticular case is the fact that the two days prior to Shakayla Denson killing her daughter, Je'hyrah Daniels, she was cleared by Child Protection in- vestigators who claimed that everything appeared normal inside of the home and that there were no visible signs of abuse or neglect. Which
means that Denson either wasn't insane 48 hours prior to her so-called meltdown, or those investigators need to be fired and charged as accom- plices to murder due to the fact that their gross negligence led directly to a homicide.
While it's always a sad and tragic set of circumstances when an innocent is killed, it becomes even harder to han- dle when the person responsi- ble is the child's own parent. And it doesn't get any worse than when the death comes by the hands of the mother.
This is the person ap- pointed by nature to nurture and care for the life that was allowed to grow inside of her womb. For a woman to snatch the light from the eyes of that life is the cruelest of ironies.
We may never know what was going through Denson's mind that day or what kind of external influences may have caused her to lose control of herself as well as her maternal instincts. But, for the sake of children everywhere, I pray it's not contagious.
Reality On Ice is © by the Florida Sentinel Bul- letin Publishing Com- pany. You can contact Mr. Barr at: cbar- ronice@gmail.com.
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C. Blythe Andrews 1901-1977 (1945)
C. Blythe Andrews, Jr. 1930-2010 (1977)
Stand Your Ground: What It Means To A Blue Collar Democracy
f you’ve ever been bullied on a playground, you know
the feeling in the pit of your stomach. Cowardice is not an outcome of being afraid to fight back, but is a feeling even at such a tender age that your unwillingness to pro- tect yourself, to retaliate in-kind (to stand your ground), places you on a level less than that of a complete human being.
And then, there are some of us who remember the day a bully chased us all the way to our front door wherein we were met by our mother or father, who demanded we stand and fight. And so, we stood our ground and fought for our lives. Integrity . . . self-dignity . . . is that what the legislation Stand Your Ground is all about? Would that it were true. But there is more to this seemingly poetic con- cept than meets the eye.
America (especially Blue collar America) has always been a fan of the underdog – the guy who fights back against all kinds of bullies. Ask Popeye the Sailor Man re- garding his nemesis, Bluto. Question Superman’s alter ego Clark Kent. Think back about David and Goliath.
But there is a limit even to dignity. When malicious, self-serving whispers add to the broth of self-defense the noxious ingredients of racism, sexism, homophobia, and a bevy of other anti-social toxins then suddenly the right to protect oneself, one’s property and one’s loved ones be- comes a recipe for mob-rule and anarchy written under the title of Stand Your Ground, ICE, Homeland Security or countless other sound-bites that all point back to some dictatorial mind intent on controlling our society and bringing down our Democracy.
Yes, the most recent examples of Stand Your Ground have involved the deaths of Black men by white men. Does that mean that Stand Your Ground is racist originate? Such a question is too easy to answer. Racism is a tool, but fear – the residual fear of the childhood bully -- is the rea- son.
Everyone in the world knows who we are, but us. And until we accept that many of us still look under our beds before we go to sleep or sleep with the lights on, our Democracy may still be hacked by people who play our fears and personal jealousies against us. Such is the dan- ger of Stand Your Ground legislation. Such is the danger to American Democracy.
American Corporations Founded On Slavery
eriodically, information
about the historical in- volvement of American corpo- rations, their founders or their acquisition companies in slav- ery in America surfaces on so- cial media.
Indeed, many of the major “corporations founded by Western European and Amer- ican merchants prior to roughly 100 years ago, bene- fited directly from slavery.” Most of the companies have acknowledged their involve- ment and have offered apolo- gies.
Indeed, there is little doubt the institution of slavery founded modern capitalism, today. Therefore, in this edi- tion, we will share information on some of the financial insti- tutions, railroad industries, in- surance companies and media that were built on the back of the free labor provided by slaves.
Among the financial insti- tutions that benefited by slav- ery are the following names: Fleet Boston Bank, J.P. Mor- gan Chase, Lehman Brothers
and Wachovia Corp. (Wells Fargo).
The predecessor of Fleet Boston Bank (Providence Bank) was founded by Nicholas Brown, a slave trader. He owned ships used to transport slaves and used Providence Bank to finance his slave voyages. Brown Univer- sity, which was re-named after Nicholas Brown, Jr., re- cently offered apologies.
J. P. Morgan Chase’s two predecessor banks from 1831 to 1865 (Citizens Bank and Canal Bank in Louisiana) ac- cepted 13,000 slaves as collat- eral on loans and took ownership of 1,250 slaves when plantation owners de- faulted on loans. The founding partners of Lehman Brothers owned numerous slaves. Wa- chovia Corporation’s (now Wells Fargo) historical prede- cessors owned slaves and ac- cepted them as payment for debts from slave owners..
CSX and Canadian Na- tional Railway used slave labor to construct portions of some of U. S. rail lines in the
East, Midwestern and South- ern United States. Slavehold- ers were offered $100 ($3,379 today) a piece by the Norfolk Southern Railway’s Mobil and Girard Company for slaves they rented to the railroad for one year.
Central Railroad of Georgia owned slaves valued at $31,305 ($663,033 today).
Among the insurance com- panies, Aetna, Inc., the United States’ largest health insurer admits its predecessors reim- bursed slave-owners for finan- cial losses when slaves died.
New York Life, the largest mutual life insurance company in the United States, sold in- surance policies on slaves for servants ranging from $375 to $600. In fact, the company ad- mitted that one third of the company’s first 1,000 policies were written on the lives of slaves.
USA Today, a popular national newspaper, confirmed that its parent company, E. W. Scripps and Gennet, had links to the slave trade.
Indeed, educational insti- tutions, cotton products man- ufacturers, and many other types of businesses benefited from the slave trade. This is the part of white privilege that too many Americans fail to under- stand and the reason that Blacks fight for reparations, much like the Japanese who were forced to live in intern- ment camps. But may the truth set us all free. Harrambee.
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