Did God Destroy America's Oldest African Town?
DID GOD DESTROY AMERICA'S OLDEST AFRICAN TOWN?
By Alton H. Maddox Jr.
11/11/99
Blaming the flooding in Princeville on God is like blaming Africans for slavery in the Americas. An "act of God" is a legal term and it is defined in Black's Law Dictionary as "an act occasioned exclusively by violence of nature without the interference of any human agency." To be sure, Hurricane Floyd was an "act of God" but it was a human being and not a supreme being who destroyed the oldest, incorporated, all-African town in the United States. Federal, state and local governments will have gotten away with a major land grab of this century.
Persons of African ancestry know a lot about using God to justify acts of inhumanity. According to proponents of slavery, Divine Goodness had condemned persons of African descent to perpetual bondage, so said the Bible. This fallacy claims that God had placed a black mark on the children of Cain. Patrick Buchannan, in declaring his candidacy for the presidency, recently noted that America enjoys the divine anointment of the creator. This means that America enjoys absolute sovereign immunity especially when Africans are seeking justice and therefore reparations for descendants of enslaved Africans, in any form, are out of the question. This is a bad omen for Princeville.
The U.S. Corps of Army Engineers, which constructed the dike on the Tar River in Princeville in 1965, had assured the Princeville residents that the town would become a flood-free zone and flood insurance would be a luxury instead of a necessity. The future site of incorporated Princeville, which had been occupied by Union Troops immediately after the Civil War, was always susceptible to floodings. Former enslaved Africans in the vicinity of Edgecombe County were drawn to the swamplands in 1865 seeking freedom and federal protection. When the federal troops departed, the Africans initiated a hostile takeover of the area and named the settlement "Freedom Hill."
This was their "40 acres and a mule." The settlement was incorporated in 1885 and renamed Princeville after Turner Prince, a carpenter and former bondsman in the area. Whites, on the other hand, had unsuccessfully sought to name the settlement after Republican Pres. James A. Garfield, who had a reputation for being antislavery and had just been recently assassinated. The state Legislature passed the act of incorporation in 1885 because of the political clout of the Africans in Edgecombe County which was a part of the Second Congressional District and known as the "Black Second" for sending four Africans to Congress during Reconstruction. No other congressional district for this period would boast a better record of electing Africans to the U.S. Congress.
Exactly 100 years ago, North Carolina passed its first segregation law. By 1901, George White of Tarboro, N.C., which is adjacent to Princeville, was the only person of African ancestry sitting in Congress. The seeds were also being sown for the hopeful, political demise of Princeville. White unsuccessfully petitioned the state Legislature in 1905 and in 1909 to revoke Princeville's charter and annex it to Tarboro which was politically controlled by European planters. Using a white supremacy theme, they argued that Africans were unable to govern themselves. As it turned out, the incorporation of Princeville had predated the incorporation of Sears Roebuck, founded, in part, by Alvin Roebuck, a person of African ancestry, and Princeville is still overcoming political struggles.
The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), falsely describing the devastation in Princeville as a natural disaster, is once again seeking to revoke Princeville's charter. In a modern, white supremacist society "Africans still have no business governing themselves." FEMA's act of naked aggression is part of a 100-year cycle in this country to politically disenfranchise Africans. This cycle will continue if Africans fail to learn from the lessons of Princeville since "those who fail to learn from the lessons of history are condemned to repeat them." Until Hurricane Floyd hit North Carolina this past September, most Africans would have said "Princeville who?" Our Plymouth Rock or our Colonial Williamsburg -- Princeville -- was not in our collective memories. Princeville, the birthplace of African politics in the United States, was beyond the historical ken of most Africans in this country although this historically oppressed group has chosen politics as a primary vehicle for Africa liberation.
Struggle is not foreign to Princeville residents. Throughout Princeville's history, state and federal governments have been its foes rather than its allies. An ongoing effort is still afoot to destroy this model of Black pride and Black self-government. The state of North Carolina briefly took over the town's finances in 1997. This was the state's first takeover of any town's finances. Eight months later and after the residents put their heads together to resume control over their political destiny, the state returned the keys to the town to them. Now, the Clinton-Gore administration is seeking to achieve through FEMA what white supremacists have failed to do in the town's 114-year history; that is, destroy the symbol of Black pride and self-determination in the United States through FEMA.
Former Mayor Glennie Matthewson of Princeville described FEMA to members of the Congressional Black Caucus as a "Trojan Horse" sitting in Princeville. This federal agency has created intolerable and life-threatening conditions for the town's residents with the sinister and singular aim of permanently evacuating the town. This country has a statutory mandate to preserve historical areas like Princeville. Obviously, this federal mandate is limited to areas pioneered by persons who physically look like the "founding fathers." FEMA would not be attempting to destroy Colonial Williamsburg. African history and any symbol of Black pride has no place in either the "Old World Order" or the "New World Order." To the African descendants of persons who slaved to build this country, it is unacceptable to allow the United States to destroy Princeville while it is generously giving assistance to it s cousins in Eastern Europe.
When floodgates are opened wittingly to purportedly save a dam and its European neighbors, the African residents who are hit with the massive onslaught of water downstream are victims. This happened in Princeville. They are entitled to unconditional and complete compensation and must be made whole economically, historically and culturally. Getting the descendants of enslaved Africans out of Princeville is a sellout rather that a buyout as proposed by FEMA and would amount to cultural genocide. This "buyout" proposal is just enough money to drive the residents into an irrevocable state of poverty. They would not only be unable to acquire decent replacement housing, but more importantly, the money is not sufficient to pay for the historical value of the properties which, in many instances, were inherited from their ancestors. Sacred grounds should not be desecrated by the littering of "for sale" signs and intrusions by the FBI and the CIA. Congress and the state of North Carolina have a joint responsibility to rebuild Princeville with no strings attached. The funds should include compensation for losses of real and personal property and past, present and future mental suffering.
Vice Pres. Al Gore has some nerve campaigning in the African community without expressing a peep about a historic town which is awash in toxic waste. Gore, a self-professed environmentalist, has his head in the sand while multinational corporations are dumping hog waste, among other things, in the waterways of America's hog capital, affecting the quality of life of millions of historically oppressed groups, including but not limited to Africans, Mexicans and "Native Americans" is a classic case of environmental racism reeking of a malevolent insensitivity. Until Gore remedies the environmental, economic and physical maladies in Princeville, no self-respecting African should be caught in a room or a closet with him. Politics is about trade-offs. It is about time Gore starts trading.
Bill Bradley is also not beyond criticism and should find no comfort in African quarters. While he is currently outside of electoral politics, he still carries considerable sway with the National Basketball Association, which exploits and receives considerable benefits from African ballplayers who dominate the NBA landscape, and from African consumers and spectators. Given the historical import of Princeville, the NBA players should be clamoring for the 29 franchises to chip in and either repair or rebuild the approximately 900 homes in Princeville. It would take a paltry sum to restore these residences. Former NBA star Magic Johnson should have already spoken out about the plight of Princeville residents since, according to many of them, his family hails from Princeville. Unless Magic is a stealth donor, he has been as quiet as a church mouse.
Many lessons can be learned from the devastation in Princeville. First, government cannot be trusted to protect Africans and no one should be comfortable with FEMA being in charge of the looming Y2K problem. Putting FEMA in charge of Y2K is like putting a fox in charge of a chicken coop. FEMA has cooked up a mess in Princeville. This should put everyone on full alert for Jan. 1, 2000. Like the residents of Princeville who have been relocated in North Carolina, we may find ourselves on the back of trucks being shipped to the Adirondack Mountains in cold, upstate New York, America's Siberia and New York's North Country. This could be Mayor Rudolph Giuliani's opportunity to initiate his version of ethnic cleansing using cyber warfare as a cloak to disrupt municipal services and thereby evacuating those areas inhabited by groups who have been historically despised and derided.
By Alton H. Maddox Jr.
11/11/99
Blaming the flooding in Princeville on God is like blaming Africans for slavery in the Americas. An "act of God" is a legal term and it is defined in Black's Law Dictionary as "an act occasioned exclusively by violence of nature without the interference of any human agency." To be sure, Hurricane Floyd was an "act of God" but it was a human being and not a supreme being who destroyed the oldest, incorporated, all-African town in the United States. Federal, state and local governments will have gotten away with a major land grab of this century.
Persons of African ancestry know a lot about using God to justify acts of inhumanity. According to proponents of slavery, Divine Goodness had condemned persons of African descent to perpetual bondage, so said the Bible. This fallacy claims that God had placed a black mark on the children of Cain. Patrick Buchannan, in declaring his candidacy for the presidency, recently noted that America enjoys the divine anointment of the creator. This means that America enjoys absolute sovereign immunity especially when Africans are seeking justice and therefore reparations for descendants of enslaved Africans, in any form, are out of the question. This is a bad omen for Princeville.
The U.S. Corps of Army Engineers, which constructed the dike on the Tar River in Princeville in 1965, had assured the Princeville residents that the town would become a flood-free zone and flood insurance would be a luxury instead of a necessity. The future site of incorporated Princeville, which had been occupied by Union Troops immediately after the Civil War, was always susceptible to floodings. Former enslaved Africans in the vicinity of Edgecombe County were drawn to the swamplands in 1865 seeking freedom and federal protection. When the federal troops departed, the Africans initiated a hostile takeover of the area and named the settlement "Freedom Hill."
This was their "40 acres and a mule." The settlement was incorporated in 1885 and renamed Princeville after Turner Prince, a carpenter and former bondsman in the area. Whites, on the other hand, had unsuccessfully sought to name the settlement after Republican Pres. James A. Garfield, who had a reputation for being antislavery and had just been recently assassinated. The state Legislature passed the act of incorporation in 1885 because of the political clout of the Africans in Edgecombe County which was a part of the Second Congressional District and known as the "Black Second" for sending four Africans to Congress during Reconstruction. No other congressional district for this period would boast a better record of electing Africans to the U.S. Congress.
Exactly 100 years ago, North Carolina passed its first segregation law. By 1901, George White of Tarboro, N.C., which is adjacent to Princeville, was the only person of African ancestry sitting in Congress. The seeds were also being sown for the hopeful, political demise of Princeville. White unsuccessfully petitioned the state Legislature in 1905 and in 1909 to revoke Princeville's charter and annex it to Tarboro which was politically controlled by European planters. Using a white supremacy theme, they argued that Africans were unable to govern themselves. As it turned out, the incorporation of Princeville had predated the incorporation of Sears Roebuck, founded, in part, by Alvin Roebuck, a person of African ancestry, and Princeville is still overcoming political struggles.
The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), falsely describing the devastation in Princeville as a natural disaster, is once again seeking to revoke Princeville's charter. In a modern, white supremacist society "Africans still have no business governing themselves." FEMA's act of naked aggression is part of a 100-year cycle in this country to politically disenfranchise Africans. This cycle will continue if Africans fail to learn from the lessons of Princeville since "those who fail to learn from the lessons of history are condemned to repeat them." Until Hurricane Floyd hit North Carolina this past September, most Africans would have said "Princeville who?" Our Plymouth Rock or our Colonial Williamsburg -- Princeville -- was not in our collective memories. Princeville, the birthplace of African politics in the United States, was beyond the historical ken of most Africans in this country although this historically oppressed group has chosen politics as a primary vehicle for Africa liberation.
Struggle is not foreign to Princeville residents. Throughout Princeville's history, state and federal governments have been its foes rather than its allies. An ongoing effort is still afoot to destroy this model of Black pride and Black self-government. The state of North Carolina briefly took over the town's finances in 1997. This was the state's first takeover of any town's finances. Eight months later and after the residents put their heads together to resume control over their political destiny, the state returned the keys to the town to them. Now, the Clinton-Gore administration is seeking to achieve through FEMA what white supremacists have failed to do in the town's 114-year history; that is, destroy the symbol of Black pride and self-determination in the United States through FEMA.
Former Mayor Glennie Matthewson of Princeville described FEMA to members of the Congressional Black Caucus as a "Trojan Horse" sitting in Princeville. This federal agency has created intolerable and life-threatening conditions for the town's residents with the sinister and singular aim of permanently evacuating the town. This country has a statutory mandate to preserve historical areas like Princeville. Obviously, this federal mandate is limited to areas pioneered by persons who physically look like the "founding fathers." FEMA would not be attempting to destroy Colonial Williamsburg. African history and any symbol of Black pride has no place in either the "Old World Order" or the "New World Order." To the African descendants of persons who slaved to build this country, it is unacceptable to allow the United States to destroy Princeville while it is generously giving assistance to it s cousins in Eastern Europe.
When floodgates are opened wittingly to purportedly save a dam and its European neighbors, the African residents who are hit with the massive onslaught of water downstream are victims. This happened in Princeville. They are entitled to unconditional and complete compensation and must be made whole economically, historically and culturally. Getting the descendants of enslaved Africans out of Princeville is a sellout rather that a buyout as proposed by FEMA and would amount to cultural genocide. This "buyout" proposal is just enough money to drive the residents into an irrevocable state of poverty. They would not only be unable to acquire decent replacement housing, but more importantly, the money is not sufficient to pay for the historical value of the properties which, in many instances, were inherited from their ancestors. Sacred grounds should not be desecrated by the littering of "for sale" signs and intrusions by the FBI and the CIA. Congress and the state of North Carolina have a joint responsibility to rebuild Princeville with no strings attached. The funds should include compensation for losses of real and personal property and past, present and future mental suffering.
Vice Pres. Al Gore has some nerve campaigning in the African community without expressing a peep about a historic town which is awash in toxic waste. Gore, a self-professed environmentalist, has his head in the sand while multinational corporations are dumping hog waste, among other things, in the waterways of America's hog capital, affecting the quality of life of millions of historically oppressed groups, including but not limited to Africans, Mexicans and "Native Americans" is a classic case of environmental racism reeking of a malevolent insensitivity. Until Gore remedies the environmental, economic and physical maladies in Princeville, no self-respecting African should be caught in a room or a closet with him. Politics is about trade-offs. It is about time Gore starts trading.
Bill Bradley is also not beyond criticism and should find no comfort in African quarters. While he is currently outside of electoral politics, he still carries considerable sway with the National Basketball Association, which exploits and receives considerable benefits from African ballplayers who dominate the NBA landscape, and from African consumers and spectators. Given the historical import of Princeville, the NBA players should be clamoring for the 29 franchises to chip in and either repair or rebuild the approximately 900 homes in Princeville. It would take a paltry sum to restore these residences. Former NBA star Magic Johnson should have already spoken out about the plight of Princeville residents since, according to many of them, his family hails from Princeville. Unless Magic is a stealth donor, he has been as quiet as a church mouse.
Many lessons can be learned from the devastation in Princeville. First, government cannot be trusted to protect Africans and no one should be comfortable with FEMA being in charge of the looming Y2K problem. Putting FEMA in charge of Y2K is like putting a fox in charge of a chicken coop. FEMA has cooked up a mess in Princeville. This should put everyone on full alert for Jan. 1, 2000. Like the residents of Princeville who have been relocated in North Carolina, we may find ourselves on the back of trucks being shipped to the Adirondack Mountains in cold, upstate New York, America's Siberia and New York's North Country. This could be Mayor Rudolph Giuliani's opportunity to initiate his version of ethnic cleansing using cyber warfare as a cloak to disrupt municipal services and thereby evacuating those areas inhabited by groups who have been historically despised and derided.
posted by Attorney Alton Maddox at 5:59 AM
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