Sotomayor pledges impartial justice if confirmed

Hlaford:  Forgive me if I misjudge you, but I sense sarcasm in your post:

“And I believe that Congress has apologized for slavery.  So… Why not ask all of the African countries that dealt in slavery (and still do) to apologize for engaging in that despicable activity of selling human beings into bondage.  And demand that the countries that still carry on this trade to immediately stop.  You might try to get apologies from the European and Arabic countries that participated also.” Posted by ( hlaford )

Apparently I touched a nerve that triggered your retreat into that good old “stop singling out America” comfort zone.  My intent was neither to single out our country nor exclude other nations for parts they play “in that despicable activity.”  Rather, I wished:

1. To clarify the incomplete reply [Posted by ( ssn )] to another post regarding the Three-Fifths Compromise between Southern and Northern states @ the Philadelphia Convention of 1787:

[“No.  Since the Supreme Court never ruled any such thing.  Try studying history.” Posted by ( ssn )]

2.  To point out that a flaw in our nation’s constitution has weighed heavily on us all along—even for more than a century after the ratification of the 14th amendment.
 
The generation of the framers existed in a global economy that depended on the slave labor of African Americans. The framers had tough choices to make. The industrial revolution, which began shortly after the constitution was ratified, was primarily based on textiles—that is to say cotton.  Our modern age and the free markets much of the world enjoys are founded largely on the subsidies of African American slave labor.

When confronted with a frank assessment of our constitutional history, or criticism thereof, it is all too often that people respond by taking the path of least resistance to the Politically Correct default—the crybaby mode children sometimes resort to when admonished by parents:

“Why not ask all of the African countries that dealt in slavery (and still do) to apologize…You might try to get apologies from the European and Arabic countries that participated also.”Posted by ( hlaford )

In doing so, we reverse our nation’s moral and social direction, exchanging our duty to establish a higher moral standard for that of the lowest (moral) common denominator. Instead of aspiring to a greater good, we justify ourselves [as a nation] as being moral & righteous compared to a greater *bad* of other nations. We, as a nation are (or ought to be) bigger than that.  Instead of whining “what about the Europeans, Africans & Arabians” we ought to “man up” to our shortcomings (past & present) & set examples by working to finish the work of the framers of the constitution.

“As for…Jim Crow laws, the one thing we can do is to be ever vigilant that such a situation as that will never happen again…”Posted by ( hlaford )

Now, “to be ever vigilant” is more than an empty phrase. [Vigilance: alertness, attention, heedfulness, mindfulness, concern, care…] Vigilance requires firm commitment to careful thought and reflection—especially when it comes to Liberty.

Remember: One that does not think for one’s self does not think.  Studebaker

“Posted by ( Will ) on July 13, 2009 at 9:00 pm “

Uh, Will, you just proved you are wrong (but then so is Dionne).  I guess we should go back to the Dred Scott precedent according to you and Dionne.  Do you know how racist that makes you?

studebaker:  I have an idea how to honor all of the people you wrote about.  First:  I think a statue on Monument Avenue is out.  So let’s forget that.  And I believe that Congress has apologized for slavery.  So… Why not ask all of the African countries that dealt in slavery (and still do) to apologize for engaging in that despicable activity of selling human beings into bondage.  And demand that the countries that still carry on this trade to immediately stop.  You might try to get apologies from the European and Arabic countries that participated also.  As for those in the USA who lived under Jim Crow laws, the one thing we can do is to be ever vigilant that such a situation as that will never happen again to any race of people here.

‘“QUESTION:  DID THE COURTS SET ASIDE PERSONAL BIASES WHEN THEY RULED THAT AN AFRICAN-AMERICAN MAN WAS 3/5’S OF A MAN??“
No.  Since the Supreme Court never ruled any such thing.  Try studying history.’ Posted by ( ssn )
****

The Supreme Court did not exist when, by subscribing their names to the Constitution of the United States of America, the framers officially degraded African American people as being 3/5’s human:

Constitution of the United States of America: Article 1, Section 2, Clause 3: Apportionment of Representatives and Taxes:

“Representatives and direct Taxes shall be apportioned among the several States which may be included within this Union, according to their respective Numbers, which shall be determined by adding to the whole Number of free Persons, including those bound to Service for a Term of Years, and excluding Indians not taxed, three fifths of all other Persons.”

****
We pay homage to the framers of the Constitution, yet refuse to acknowledge a people who paid the greater price for the freedom we take for granted. At the Constitutional Congress in 1787 representatives of some Southern states made it clear that they would not join the Union if the Constitution prohibited slavery. Northern states did not press the issue and African slaves were cut out of the deal. In spite of George Mason’s prophetic warning of “the judgment of Heaven on a country,“ the sin of slavery was written into the Constitution.

The Constitution, which guarantees our freedom, was delivered to us on the backs of African slaves and their descendants. Millions of slaves labored and died prospering this Land of Liberty. In the wake of a tragic war, Emancipation was proclaimed but Jim Crow became the law of the land. The brutal oppression of black people continued for yet another century; and to this day lives are stifled by legacies of that injustice.

We ought to honor them.

SPHVA: “Thank God there are people like me to keep people like you in check.“

Isn’t it amazing what folks will write? 

But here’s hoping the Republicans Rush right into a frontal assault on the first Hispanic nominated to the Court by going after her as a biased woman from a minority group. I’d recommend the Vanilla from Wasilla as the point guard. It will really help them carry New Mexico, Arizona, Colorado, Virginia etc. in 2012.