March 20, 2004
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Ill-advised constitutional amendments not a new phenomena
In 1911 Seaborn Roddenberry, Democratic congressman from Georgia, introduced a constitutional amendment to ban interracial marriages, declaring to Congress that, “Intermarriage between whites and blacks is repulsive and averse to every sentiment of pure American spirit. It is abhorrent and repugnant. It is subversive to social peace. It is destructive of moral supremacy, and ultimately this slavery to black beasts will bring this nation to a fatal conflict.”
In 1958 a poll showed 94 percent of white Americans opposed to black-white matrimony, and sixteen states still had anti-miscegenation laws banning interracial marriages.
In 1959 the state of Virginia convicted Richard and Mildred Loving, a white man and a black woman, under its anti-miscegenation law. The sentencing judge wrote:
“Almighty God created the races white, black, yellow, malay and red, and he placed them on separate continents. . . . The fact that he separated the races shows that he did not intend for races to mix.”
The Lovings challenged the ruling, and the rest, as they say, is history. In 1967 in a unanimous decision, the U.S. Supreme Court declared the Virginia law unconstitutional along with the anti-miscegenation laws of the fifteen other states where such statutes still existed.
A little historical perspective can sometimes keep folks from making terrible fools of themselves. Do the individuals, organizations and government entities that are clamoring for a constitutional amendment banning gay marriage think that history will look upon them any more favorably than we now view Roddenberry and those who supported his misguided beliefs? The dam has broken; there is no turning back the rising tide of compassion and respect for gays and lesbians and the spouses that they choose. Those who try will be mere footnotes in the history books of our children’s children.
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The world’s second superpower
A second superpower is arising. No, you won’t read about it in the newspapers. You won’t see it on TV. Glossy news magazines don’t have a clue. But it was in evidence on February 15, 2003, when millions of men, women and children from around the world, connected by the Internet and their hearts, stood up for peace and reconciliation. American, British, Italian, Spanish, Micronesian and other leaders obviously discounted this huge wakeup call and continued down their path to war. But they did so at their own peril as the Popular Party of Jose Maria Aznar learned in last Sunday’s Spanish elections. Leading Spain into the war on Iraq against the wishes of over 70 percent of its citizens and, thus, making his nation a target of terrorists, Aznar, was defeated by anti-war candidate Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero and his Socialist Party. Upon victory, Zapatero announced his intention to pull Spanish troops out of Iraq unless the U.N. takes control of the occupation once political power is transferred to the Iraqis on June 30, 2004.
As you read this, the peoples of the seven continents are gathered again to stand up for humankind, all living things and the Earth itself. Disingenuous and self-serving politicians beware; this is a force that cannot be denied.
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Granny D update
Granny D, the dynamic and courageous 94-year-old woman who walked 3,200 miles across America in support of campaign finance reform, is still going strong in Florida. Granny D, her sidekick, Dennis Burke, and Ashevillian Blue Broxton, artist-in-residence and bus driver, have begun a “Vote for Me” program in this important swing state. According to Granny D, “It began when the young artist traveling with me (Broxton) put out poster boards and blank bumper stickers and crayons at a block fair in a poor neighborhood of Miami. She asked the kids to make a ‘Vote for Me’ poster or bumper sticker. All were different and all were beautiful, creative, surprising. We presented these treasures to their parents with the message that the adults are indeed voting for their children when they vote, and that they are voting against them when they fail to vote. . . . It is a message that people instantly understand.”
I just made a contribution to support Granny D, her friends and the “Vote for Me” program. And I hope you will do so as well. Just visit www.grannyd.com, click on the “Give Support” button at the top of the page and make a contribution to this intrepid band of citizen-warriors.
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Kucinich is coming to Asheville
On Saturday, April 3, Congressman Dennis Kucinich brings his presidential campaign to Asheville for a rally at City/County Plaza. Kucinich, who has been called the heart of the Democratic Party, will speak at 11:00 a.m. The rally will also feature music and other speakers as well as booths representing such diverse groups as environmental, worker/labor, peace, civil rights, human rights, gays and lesbians, farmers, physicians and alternative media.
The national media has tended to misrepresent Kucinich as having radical positions that are outside the mainstream. But while many of his stands may upset corporate America (including the corporate media), Dennis represents the best instincts of Americans. Take health care for example. Dennis states that: “The American people are already paying for universal health care, they're just not getting it.” And a majority of Americans agree; in an October 2003 poll by ABC News and the Washington Post, 62 percent of respondents supported universal health insurance over the current employer-based system, and 79 percent said they thought health care coverage should be provided for all Americans, even if it means raising taxes. Take the unjustified profit and unnecessary waste out of the current system, and everyone in this nation could have health care coverage at a price no higher than we’re paying today.
That’s it from here. I hope I’ll see you Ashevillians Saturday at the peace rally at City/County Plaza.
