Blacks are Facing Terrorism on Two Fronts

Blacks are Facing Terrorism on Two Fronts If Ida B. Wells and William Monroe Trotter were alive today, I would have allies in the struggle to expose the lynching of Bernard Burden in Coweta County, Georgia on October 13, 2004. Instead of multiplying our base of resisters, we have embraced the law of diminishing returns in the face of rising white supremacy. Our ancestors would peep at the 2004 presidential map outlining the red states and the blue states and see a rising tide of racism. They would not buy the cultural values issues wrapped up in a velvet glove as harmless and non-racial. And they would not be smoking peace pipes filled with gunpowder. They would also recognize the Moral Majority as heirs of slave traders, slavemasters, plantation overseers and slave drivers. Since Burden’s lynching, there has been scant media attention about either the lynching itself or the bungling of the medicolegal investigation. Sis. Karen Mason and I have sought to solicit the support of Black radio with scant success. I have written Kwesi Mfume of the NAACP. He has apparently gone underground. Other high-profile leaders are chasing him. Black leaders are currently meeting in Washington, D.C. to develop new techniques for shaking down the Democratic and Republican parties in order to keep the Black masses in a state of confusion for the next four years while white supremacists continue to implement their program of genocide. These self-appointed leaders expect us to reward them for the 2004 presidential scampaign. We must stop rewarding sell-outs. Lynching is an act of terrorism and it has been sponsored historically by white supremacists to intimidate Blacks especially in rural areas. Gov. Sonny Perdue of Georgia employed a rural strategy to take over Georgia’s statehouse. The 2004 presidential map also evidences a rural strategy. These domestic terrorists have the same strategy as Wal-Mart: initiate a rural strategy to seize control of the American economy. This same strategy is being played out politically while the Black masses are being duped by the white media. In Georgia, for example, Perdue promised a return of Georgia to the Confederacy. This promise led white politicians to gleefully switch political parties giving Republicans control of the Senate and the Assembly in Georgia. Black legislators in Georgia have no political power at this point and they are resorting to buck-dancing to curry favor with white supremacists. I am asking you to connect spiritually with our ancestors who are calling on each of us to continue their resistance to white supremacy. This country has not only refused to make lynching a federal crime, but it is also providing cover for domestic terrorists. The question for Blacks should be the identity of the targeted and hounded terrorists. Obviously, it is not Osama bin-Laden and his gang. Your support is needed to put the Burden lynching on the airwaves, on the desks of Black elected officials, preachers and leaders and in the hearts and minds of the Black masses. All of them should make demands on Gov. Perdue (404- 656-1776) to appoint a special prosecutor to investigate this extrajudicial lynching. Two weeks ago, I called District Attorney Pete Skandalakis (706-845-4270) and received the same response from him that I received from Kwesi Mfume (877-NAACP-98). The district attorney’s receptionist was unfamiliar with the Burden lynching. This is the chief prosecutor for this circuit. A grand jury should have already been convened to target the white supremacists. Burden had been dating a white girl. In addition to seeking organizational support and the enlistment of the professional services of an attorney and a pathologist, the federal government must be called on the carpet to stop domestic terrorism which has always been given a pass against Africans. These professionals must reconstruct the disturbed crime scene. In 2005, there will be forty-three members of the Congressional Black Caucus. We were waging a better battle against domestic terrorism when the only Blacks in Congress were porters, butlers, janitors, elevator operators, cooks and shoe shine boys. I was once admitted to practice law in Georgia until New York informed Georgia that I was a threat to white supremacy. Georgia gave me the boot without any pretense of a hearing or any service of charges. When a Black person is officially classified as a threat to white supremacy, you can put “former” in front of his friends and supporters. You are on your own. See, fro example, Paul Robeson. Burden’s mother needs an attorney who will stand up to white officials in Coweta County. No Blacks are in public office in this semi-rural county. Newt Gingrich once represented this area in Congress. The lawyer can expect hostility from the repressive, criminal justice system in Coweta County with the real possibility of being held in contempt of court or subject to attorney discipline. Utrice Leid is compiling the writings of our revered ancestor, Amos Wilson, on the Black pathology of self-hatred and self-defeat. She also intends to initiate novel, cultural and informational forums in New York City possibly starting as early as February 2005. I look forward to reading the book. Cong. Charles Rangel falls into this class of self-haters. When he found out that former Supreme Court Justice Victor Barron needed a job before being released from prison for taking an $18,000 bribe, Rangel immediately offered him a job doing legal casework for his Harlem constituents although Rangel claimed that he never met the white, Brooklyn judge who can still collect a $97,000 state pension despite the felony conviction. On the other hand, Rangel and every other Black and Latino official in New York, coupled with other Black leaders, refused, individually or collectively, to submit a letter or letters in support of my automatic reinstatement to practice law. My crime was more than a felony. It was treason. I offended white supremacy for disobeying an order to violate the attorney-client privilege to the detriment of my clients. No lawyer is allowed to spill the beans against any client. Are these persons political representatives or plantation overseers? To make matters worse, I reside in Rangel’s congressional district. Blacks go to the polls to confirm their plantation overseers rather than to elect their political representatives. We are still voiceless in legislative venues. Rangel will import white criminals to keep his constituents under lock down. When will our people wake-up? The following is a list of the names and telephone numbers of the four members of the Congressional Black Caucus from Georgia: Rep. John Lewis 343 CHOB Washington, DC 20515 202-225-3801 202-225-0351 Fax www.house.gov/johnlewis Rep. Sanford Bishop 2429 RHOB Washington, DC 20515 202-225-3631 202-225-2203 Fax www.house.gov/bishop Rep. Denise Majette 1517 LHOB Washington, DC 20515 202-225-1605 202-226-0691 Fax Rep. David Scott 417 CHOB Washington, DC 20515 202-225-2939 202-225-4628 Fax davidscott.house.gov