Page 5 - DemoFlorida Sentinel 3-5-21

Editorial/Letters To The Editor
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recently caught wind of a story about a popular Tampa man who was arrested for sexually assaulting his bio- logical daughter. What made the incident so shocking to many was the fact that the individual accused of performing such a dastardly deed held a significant amount of street credibility prior
to these allegations surfacing. The female victim stated to authorities that she made nu- merous attempts to inform fam- ily members about the attacks that were taking place. And, al- legedly, it was only after she was able to use her camera to record her father's incestuous behavior that her accusations were taken
seriously.
What bothers me the most
about this case, besides the idea
of a father inflicting this level of emotional, mental and physical harm to his own child, is that a young woman had to go through such extremes for someone to believe her. I mean, regardless of who's the perpetrator, what kind of relative ignores a little girl who tells him or her, "some- body's been touching me?"
It is amazing to me that in 2021, after everything that we've all heard or read about through- out the years, that people could still dismiss a child's claim of being abused? It isn't like we're unaware that these kinds of things take place. But, I guess, it's hard for some people to ac- cept the truth when it happens so close to home.
No one wants to believe that their brother, uncle, cousin, hus-
band, father, aunt or sister is ca- pable of atrocities of this nature. But, unfortunately, creeps can live in any household and come in any shape, size, gender, age or race as well.
The days of identifying pe- dophiles by a certain appearance are over. A child molester can be as pasty, goofy and white as Pee Wee Herman or as dark, cool and Black as R. Kelly. The real- ity is that, when it comes to sex- ual predators, there is no universal phenotype.
The saddest part of this story is that it was the girl's own father who was the culprit. The one person in this world who should have been there to protect her turned out to be the very person she needed protection from.
It will be a long time before this particular young lady will be able to recover from the trauma that was inflicted upon her. I just hope that as more people become aware of stories like hers that the next little girl, who may be caught in a similar predicament, won't have to wait as long for help to arrive.
Reality On Ice is © by the Florida Sentinel Bul- letin Publishing Company. You can email Mr. Barr at: cbscribe2@-gmail.com.
A Baby Girl Can't Trust Anybody
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C. Blythe Andrews 1901-1977 (1945)
C. Blythe Andrews, Jr. 1930-2010 (1977)
Stimulus Favors Big Businesses Over Citizens
It is disheartening to watch members of Congress balk at giving $2,000 stimulus checks to taxpaying citizens after giving $660 billion to many big businesses earning bil- lions in profit and paying no income tax at all. A Reuters report showed that “the average business owner received a $115,000 stimulus payment.”
One small Utah business received an emergency loan of $9.4 million stimulus payment and $3.3 million refund and racked up United States tax credits worth $7 million, ac- cording to the company’s public filings. The company paid no tax in the United States.
At least 110 publicly traded companies received $4 mil- lion or more of COVID-19 stimulus money. At least a dozen of them used offshore tax havens to cut their taxes or paid no U. S. taxes in 2019.
All together, these companies received more than $104 million in forgivable loans. Moreover, nearly 42 percent of the companies paid no U. S. corporate tax in 2019.
Once again, Republicans manifested protectionism of big businesses over individual citizens by opposing mini- mum wage of $15 per hour.
Historically, Republicans have always opposed raising minimum wage while they earn more than $174,000 (the Speaker of the House, Majority and Minority leaders earn $223,500 and $193,400 annually), respectively during their term. Their actions and mentality will always widen the in- come gap.
The Coronavirus pandemic fueled an economic down- turn in which “every five Americans lost their jobs.” Many were forced to quit their jobs because of school closings, and many more were forced to work part time jobs to keep businesses from closing. The $2,000 stimulus payments will help families facing evictions or mortgage foreclosures and food insecurity. The first stimulus payment of $600 didn’t even cover rent and mortgage payments for unem- ployed citizens.
We agree with the director of a tax watch group who said, “to let companies not paying their fair share of taxes reap further gains from the American taxpayer is a mistake, while denying taxpayers $2,000 payments,” which to us is taxpayers’ abuse.
There is no compassion in $600 payments to citizens while giving businesses millions --- a clear example of fa- voritism. Maybe everyone should start a business.
Black History Trivia
ust having finished a 28-
day celebration of Black History, I was inspired to share some little known facts (trivia) about Blacks during our journey here in America.
In the 155 years since slav- ery, Blacks have sought to in- crease the knowledge of Americans as to the contribu- tions Blacks have made to the economic, political, scientific, social, and cultural growth of America and the world. Still, the impact on minimizing hate in America leaves much to be de- sired.
Among some little known facts are the following:
* Members of the Quakers of Germantown, Pennsylvania made the first formal protest against slavery
* Buffalo Forge, Virginia was the site of an ironworks mill built in 1819, also known as the Forge complex, used slave labor to make nails, horseshoes, mule shoes and other pig iron tools used by the Confederate army.
• The phrase “sold down the river” originally came from the sale of slaves by slave traders
who traveled along the Missis- sippi River selling slaves to plantation owners (meaning be- trayed).
* Quakers and Jewish groups helped free slaves and funded the Civil Rights move- ment.
• Slave owners used parts of the Bible that spoke to slavery as an excuse to practice slavery in America.
• During World War II, some military units with nick- names or made up largely of Southerners made the Confed- erate battle flag their official symbol, and some soldiers car- ried the flag into battle.
• After the battle of Oki- nawa, a confederate flag was raised over the Shuri Castle by a self-styled rebel marine for three days. On the fourth day, General Simon B. Buckner, Jr., son of a Confederate Gen- eral, gave orders o take the flag down. He stated that “it was in- appropriate to raise the flag as Americans from all over are in- volved in this battle”. At that time, it was replaced by the reg- ulation 48 states flag of the
United States.
• South Carolina was the
first state to secede from the Union.
• The next time you see or hear an ice cream truck in your neighborhood, make sure they are playing a song other than the one you have traditionally heard because that song was re- leased by actor, Harry C. Browne in 1916, by Columbia Records with the title “N----- Love a Watermelon, Ha Ha Ha.”
* In 1916, one of the first American lexicographers (per- son who compiles dictionaries) listed the word “spade” among some of the names to call “Ne- groes” which included “skunk,” “blackbird,” and “spade lips”
• During World War II, the Red Ball Express, famed truck convoy driven by Black soldiers, moved military supplies all over Europe on routes closed to civil- ians for 83 days. The 5,958 ve- hicles carried 12,500 tons daily.
• The first Blacks to serve in Congress were Senator Hiram Revels of Mississippi (1870) and Blanche Bruce of Mississippi (1875). As of 2021, 155 years after slavery, only 11 Senators have served in the United States Congress.
These have been just a few trivia nuggets that I chose to share with you. May our future be more impactful as we begin to explore the Universe. Harambee!
I
J
FRIDAY, MARCH 5, 2021 FLORIDA SENTINEL BULLETIN PUBLISHED EVERY FRIDAY PAGE 5-A