Immigration and Terrorism in Early New York
By Alton H. Maddox, Jr.
In 1799, the New York Legislature would enact two pieces of legislation on the same day that still continues to plague Blacks in New York today. The first piece of legislation was the gradual emancipation statute. The next law was the establishment of a statewide penal system. This was no coincidence. Blacks would be subject to a timocracy.
Blacks were skilled craftsmen and artisans in New York like they were in the District of Columbia. The gradual emancipation statute would become fully operative on July 4, 1827. In the meantime, the federal government lifted its restrictions on European immigration and especially for the Irish in the 1820s. They arrived just in time to displace Black workers.
Violence started to escalate between Black and Irish workers. In July 1834 and for eight days, a full-scale riot erupted in New York City. Black homes and churches were attacked. The Irish believed that Blacks should enjoy no presence in New York. They were taking jobs that belonged to whites. As a congressman, Lincoln was in accord. Immigration would drive down wages for both Blacks and whites.
In 1843, New York City would establish a “Day and Night Police.” It was all white and designed to keep Blacks in check and to give whites an unfair advantage. Police courts were established to back up the police force. Policemen were authorized to carry service revolvers in 1857. Dred Scott was also decided in 1857.
Samuel Battle, the first Black policeman, was hired in 1911. His power to arrest was limited to Blacks. Lloyd Sealy became the first Black precinct commander in 1964. Only because of short-lived Black activism, New York got its first police commissioner, Benjamin Ward, in 1984. This arose from the fatal police beating of Michael Stewart and the legal activism of Alton Maddox, Louis Clayton Jones and Michael Warren. This case also brought the 1983 congressional hearings on police brutality.
United African Movement would be in the vanguard of electing the first Black mayor, David N. Dinkins, after the August 1989 death of Yusuf Hawkins and UAM’s confrontation of a white lynch mob in Bensonhurst. This incident ignited the Black electorate and surprisingly propelled Dinkins to victory over incumbent Mayor Ed Koch. Dinkins would defeat Republican hard-liner Rudolph Giuliani on Election Day in 1989.
White terrorism against Blacks had also arisen during the Civil War in New York City. Mayor Fernando Wood advocated succession from New York State. He was also a Confederate sympathizer. Wall Street had heavy investments in the maintenance of slavery. This environment provoked the “Draft Riots of 1863.” New York City’s Black colony was decimated.
Bankers from Albany started the New York Times in 1851. Henry J. Raymond led the group. After the Civil War, Raymond would side with President Andrew Johnson and his racist policies during Reconstruction. New York would become a sanctuary for Confederate loyalists. Adolph S. Ochs, the principal owner of the Chattanooga Times would become the sole owner of the New York Times.
Ochs would bring his Confederate belief to New York City. Cong. Adam Clayton Powell, Jr. would refer to the newspaper as the “Crackers’ Bible.” When the newspaper suspected that the Black colony could fall into militants’ hands, it initiated a campaign for regime change. The pretext for the attack was the defense of Tawana Brawley. It would also publish a book to denigrate the Brawley struggle.
Although Tawana was the victim, the target was Alton Maddox who would become the lead defendant in Pagones in Maddox et. al. The newspaper misfired and Alton Maddox escaped the onslaught. This would allow him alone to continue the struggle for justice for the Brawley family. Black leaders sided with the Democratic Party and the New York Times.
Maddox v. Prudenti et. al. was decided differently on December 23, 2008 on the same set of facts as alleged in Hachamovitch v. DeBruno but with different results. Chief Judge Dennis Jacobs decided both cases. He ruled in favor of the white doctor and against the Black judge. Maddox will ask the U.S. Supreme Curt to decide if Dred Scott is back in effect. This is an important ruling.
By Alton H. Maddox, Jr.
In 1799, the New York Legislature would enact two pieces of legislation on the same day that still continues to plague Blacks in New York today. The first piece of legislation was the gradual emancipation statute. The next law was the establishment of a statewide penal system. This was no coincidence. Blacks would be subject to a timocracy.
Blacks were skilled craftsmen and artisans in New York like they were in the District of Columbia. The gradual emancipation statute would become fully operative on July 4, 1827. In the meantime, the federal government lifted its restrictions on European immigration and especially for the Irish in the 1820s. They arrived just in time to displace Black workers.
Violence started to escalate between Black and Irish workers. In July 1834 and for eight days, a full-scale riot erupted in New York City. Black homes and churches were attacked. The Irish believed that Blacks should enjoy no presence in New York. They were taking jobs that belonged to whites. As a congressman, Lincoln was in accord. Immigration would drive down wages for both Blacks and whites.
In 1843, New York City would establish a “Day and Night Police.” It was all white and designed to keep Blacks in check and to give whites an unfair advantage. Police courts were established to back up the police force. Policemen were authorized to carry service revolvers in 1857. Dred Scott was also decided in 1857.
Samuel Battle, the first Black policeman, was hired in 1911. His power to arrest was limited to Blacks. Lloyd Sealy became the first Black precinct commander in 1964. Only because of short-lived Black activism, New York got its first police commissioner, Benjamin Ward, in 1984. This arose from the fatal police beating of Michael Stewart and the legal activism of Alton Maddox, Louis Clayton Jones and Michael Warren. This case also brought the 1983 congressional hearings on police brutality.
United African Movement would be in the vanguard of electing the first Black mayor, David N. Dinkins, after the August 1989 death of Yusuf Hawkins and UAM’s confrontation of a white lynch mob in Bensonhurst. This incident ignited the Black electorate and surprisingly propelled Dinkins to victory over incumbent Mayor Ed Koch. Dinkins would defeat Republican hard-liner Rudolph Giuliani on Election Day in 1989.
White terrorism against Blacks had also arisen during the Civil War in New York City. Mayor Fernando Wood advocated succession from New York State. He was also a Confederate sympathizer. Wall Street had heavy investments in the maintenance of slavery. This environment provoked the “Draft Riots of 1863.” New York City’s Black colony was decimated.
Bankers from Albany started the New York Times in 1851. Henry J. Raymond led the group. After the Civil War, Raymond would side with President Andrew Johnson and his racist policies during Reconstruction. New York would become a sanctuary for Confederate loyalists. Adolph S. Ochs, the principal owner of the Chattanooga Times would become the sole owner of the New York Times.
Ochs would bring his Confederate belief to New York City. Cong. Adam Clayton Powell, Jr. would refer to the newspaper as the “Crackers’ Bible.” When the newspaper suspected that the Black colony could fall into militants’ hands, it initiated a campaign for regime change. The pretext for the attack was the defense of Tawana Brawley. It would also publish a book to denigrate the Brawley struggle.
Although Tawana was the victim, the target was Alton Maddox who would become the lead defendant in Pagones in Maddox et. al. The newspaper misfired and Alton Maddox escaped the onslaught. This would allow him alone to continue the struggle for justice for the Brawley family. Black leaders sided with the Democratic Party and the New York Times.
Maddox v. Prudenti et. al. was decided differently on December 23, 2008 on the same set of facts as alleged in Hachamovitch v. DeBruno but with different results. Chief Judge Dennis Jacobs decided both cases. He ruled in favor of the white doctor and against the Black judge. Maddox will ask the U.S. Supreme Curt to decide if Dred Scott is back in effect. This is an important ruling.
posted by Attorney Alton Maddox at 6:17 AM
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