Simple Justice

Simple Justice

Racism

The way this book began was profound and saddening. It didn’t begin in the early to mid 1800’s but in the 1950’s. A time of prosperity in America during the baby boom, manufacturing jobs and at a time when families could prosper; but not if you were black in South Carolina. Summerton, South Carolina in the 1950’s was no larger than 30,000 plus people and was a majority black population. But that majority didn’t help the black people in this community. The chapters focus is about the oppression of the black people in Summerton want for one school bus, which would be for segregated black schools. The chapter shows the deep relentless struggle of the black community and the racist white people who would not allow it. This case would take 4 years before getting to the courts of the government of the United States. Insane!

Its appalling to think of the deep level of HATE and evil that the local white people in these areas had back then. The white schools got two-thirds more money towards their education and had full operating bus systems, while the black kids actually had to pay for their education. This lead to the case of Briggs v. Elliot.

It was very interesting to read about how the “N-double A-C-P” had an influence in the uprising of this bus moment in this community. The level of bravery by the black community and the leaders in this moment are amazing and I love the level of courage and righteousness they had to of had. Over those four years, the illegal government manipulation to suppress and try and stop the black communities efforts in court to obtain equal rights for education is horrific and upsetting, it’s a mindset I can not understand.

Black farmers lost their land, some had to watch their corps die because whites wouldn’t allow there corps to be bought or use necessary equipment to reap the land. Black people who signed the partition for a lawsuit in Summerton and their spouses were fired from their jobs and threatened.

This book made me think about what racism is and the utter disgrace and hate that it signifies; it is so saddening to read about. This was only 60 years ago, that is one human beings lifetime. Nothing is more upsetting than these actions by hateful whites to use the United States Constitution as evidence for their reasoning for segregation and slavery. White preachers saying it’s Gods will that segregation is meant to be and white superiority. To believe that all men are equal but not apply that line in reality behooves me.

What is racism? What act is considered racism in our day and age? Calling someone a racial slur is racism, so is hating someone for the color of their skin tone. But what was going on since the beginning of the United States Unionization to the mid 1950’s seemed to be a whole other deeper sinister level of racism. The black people in these communities were not just facing racial slurs, they were facing death every minute and they knew it, that is why every black individual in the south who fought for equality in education and constitutional freedom are heroes; all the people who signed there names on court documents to try and change the illegal injustices of segregation and inequality are heroes. This level of racism is a ruling an oppressive savagery that is disgusting to try and comprehend. The courts allowed the slavery to continue and progress, and the courts eventually ended it. It is just saddening it took so long.

Mr. Kluger’s writing style

Mr. Kluger paints a clear brush stroke of the scene and atmosphere of the time period. His style is a bit wordy but the words he uses are colorful, expressive and flow nicely. However, at times I felt inpatient and wanted him (Kluger) to get to the point. He wrote eloquently but I would prefer the “streamlined version” that tells me the setting and story, not paint a picture of all intimate and personal features of every individual.

He bought up a very interesting point how a lot of black men fought in WWII against racism and racial murder of Jewish culture but they (black American men) came back home were facing similar acts of oppression, murder and occupation. An then you realize the time period your reading about is in the mid 1950’s!

It is still sad to see the residue of hate lingering and living here and now. Mr. Kluger was successful in his diligence and service towards an unbiased account of the time period during Brown v The Broad of Education and the time period leading up to the case, where he eloquently described historical cases that lead to and showed the momentum towards the final verdict. Also Mr. Kluger was successful in his last chapter showing the history of the Brown v The Board of Education 50 years after the fact.

Oppression

Mr. Kluger softly shows the level of oppression during this time period. He at times gingerly portrays a situation then presents quoted lines from someone during the time period that would bring a knockout punch of shivery. The real life quotes of some of the people from that time period really helps to place the reader in the time period being written about. While reading the book I how did these communities last this so long, and are they still going on like this? Are there hateful mindsets still living in communities throughout the US? Throughout the world? Unfortunately I know the answer to those questions, but how do they continue to persist.

Slavery

Over four centuries of slavery before the verdict of Brown v The Board of Education. It is appalling to and impossible to fathom that time frame for a federal verdict to acknowledge that all humans are created equal. Mr. Kluger showed how Brown v The Board of Education represented a long and indentured fight for the recognition and legal right of freedom for black humans in America. The verdict acknowledged a lifetime of of inequality for black people in American history.

What this book has taught me

What this book has taught me is the power of the court systems. How men, judges and lawyers can be socially wrong about personal freedoms and impose these beliefs as natural law. How they (Supreme Court Judges) used twisted truth and words like “natural law” to segregated and beat-down another human being based solely on their skin tone - this is horrific. But its amazing that the same court system and new judges and lawyers were able to get the verdict right. It is just sad how long it took and how many people died.

I am concern of the hate and ignorance that is still embedded in the minds of people in our society. We need not look further than the current media story of the Los Angeles Clippers basketball team. About the team owner speaking hateful and racial comments about African-Americans. Here 2014 and the same slave master mentality of property ownership of African-Americans and their inferiority. We have came far in our society because with this basketball owner incident he was banned from his team and forced to sell, this verdict was swift from the NBA and a majority of people are in favor of the owner’s life time ban.

The Book

One of the most gripping moments in the book is when Mr. Kluger described the the slavery condition in the south which can be considered the worst ever treatment of human slavery in human history. When the length of US slavery is considered it is outrageous to believe this kind of treatment went on for centuries. Unprecedented slavery conditions never seen in such length and non-revengeful fashion. Back during Romans, Greek and Persian times slaves were captured as enemies unlike Africa slaves who had done now harm to the angelo-saxon people, the african people were captured and stolen from their land for the pure intent of like being cattle. It is downright disgusting. In a section from the book:

“Slavery as practiced in the American South, it is now generally acknowledged, was probably as severe as any form of it in recorded history. This is especially so if one considers that the African blacks were not brought to America for punitive reasons: they had committed no transgressions against the people who purchased and then savaged them. If the system was to work in a sparsely settled land, white repression had to strain the limits of black endurance.”

What was a shocking moment when reading was about how black men could not be good father back they by today standards because family life was not allowed as it was for white families. The black man was simply there to breed. A father couldn’t protect his wife if she was badly treated, harmed, harassed or raped by a white man; nor could that father show any protection for the son. How could men be closely attached to their family when they could so easily be sold off to another plantation for the next years harvest, sold of like a mule.

The slave masters treated the african americans like cattle, by federal law african americans weren’t even considered human, they were property, like a commodity to be bought, sold and owned. They (slaves) had no rights, they had curfews, could not be in big groups together and were only given a few clothing items a year. An excerpt from the book states, “A slave had no legal standing. He could take no action to control his sale. He could not be a party to a lawsuit. He could not offer testimony except against another black. He could not swear an oath that would be legally binding.”

Founding Fathers

Furthermore I am completely appalled at the contradictory behavior of our founding fathers actions and their hypocrisy. As Mr. Krugler stated, “Fifteen of the delegates to the Constitutional Convention owned slaves…. Neither the word “slave” nor “black” nor “Negro” nor “African” nor “colored” was therefore written anywhere in the document those men composed that very long summer.” I learned that slave was a hot topic and the leaders from the north who may not of had slaves sure perpetuated the ability for the slavery to continue and also even if they (north delegates) didn’t want slavery the majority still saw the black man as two-thirds a human. Our founding father were slave masters or perpetuated it. James Madison was pro slave from writing in the Federalist Papers, as reported by Mr. Krugler, “There it was, stated in the most reasonable, and monstrous, fashion. White supremacy and black degradation were institutionalized within the very framework of the new government. The convention moved on to other trying business. And so they passed the conflict on to other generations.”

“Those crackers, as events would prove, lived not only in Little Rock and New Orleans and Clinton, Tennessee, and Selma, Alabama, but also in Englewood, New Jersey, and Denver, Colorado, and South Boston, Massachusetts. In fact, they live everywhere in the United States where the black man sets foot. But now they are not the law. Now the law says that, like them or not, white America may not humiliate African Americans by setting them apart. Now the law says that black Americans must not be degraded by the state and their degradation used as an excuse to drive them further down. That is what Brown v. Board of Education accomplished. It took the better part of four centuries.”

It is amazing to see that for equality to be recognized it came down to a final verdict of a case involving black school children getting the same education as white children. The centuries of hate, murder, slavery, oppression, illegal government action, illegal constitution rights never allowed to black Americans and the hypocrisy came down to the question as Mr. Krulger states “Does segregation of children in public schools solely on the basis of race … deprive the children of the minority group of equal educational opportunities?” Yes, it was depriving to not just the children trying to receive equal education but to black people trying to receive equal rights.