I started an interesting book by
Edward D. Baptist titled, “The Half Has Never Been Told- Slavery and the Making
of American Capitalism”. The author
makes some very interesting points, but a couple points really caught my
attention. In the early 1780’s to the early
1860’s the South went from a series of worn down plantations barely producing
cotton to producing almost 2 billion pounds.
In the Republic of Texas slaves increased from 4,000 to 27,000 in nine
years. The South became a subcontinental
empire and the commodity of cotton was responsible for over 50% of our
country’s exports. The foundation of the
cotton explosion was predicated by the major U.S. acquisitions of cotton land
from the Native Americans from 1814 to 1840.
Cotton production and the economics
of slavery prior to this period were small and profitability was in the decline
until the invention of the cotton gin, ironically by a black man. The leaders of cotton suppliers were able to
get more daily productivity from slave labor than comparable free labor in other
industries. The thirst to reap the
incredible financial benefits of the slave industry enabled 5% of all U.S.
lending to go through Isaac Franklin’s slave trading firm. British and American
financial institutions made funds available to keep the profits coming in. The
slave bonanza also created a financial commoditized slave trade, which enabled
ordinary investors to purchase bonds that represented a slice of income of
thousands of slaves. Very similar to the
purchase of a piece of today's bundled mortgages. Investors from all over the country and
Britain could reap a return on their investment without actually owning slaves from
products on the British and American financial markets. Profits from these investments help fuel
capital investment in textile industries in the North. Insurance companies’ profited and financial
institutions provided additional lending for economic expansion in the Midwest,
Southwest and Western United States. The
Slave industry created national and international wealth, by understanding how
to exploit slave labor by increasing daily output and efficiency for maximum
profits. Some would argue that the Slave
industry was the catalyst to shape American capitalism and enable the United
States to ascend to a world power. Our
labor shaped this country. As horrible
as this period was, there are valuable lessons that can be learned. There are
45 million Black people with $1.4 trillion in economic power. Are we working smart economically today?
We have to continue to ask
ourselves are we working hard and not working smart in championing our causes. We have been outraged by the visible police
cases that have covered our national media.
We have seen an unprecedented rise in social activism as a result of
national awareness. We have been
incredibly responsive in protesting and picketing events that have a profound
impact on our lives. However, we have to ask ourselves some fundamental
questions in our understanding of the electorate and our consistent
response. The response starts with the awareness of the
process of either the elected or appointed top law enforcement manager. The appointed law enforcement officers are
appointed by either the Mayor or City Manager.
Elected law enforcement officers are usually the county Sheriff. We have the ability to hold the Mayor and
City Managers accountable for their selection to lead their respective law
enforcement efforts. We also have a
direct impact on the selection of the elected Sheriffs. Protesting brings awareness, but pulling the
lever in the ballot box directly determines how law enforcement will perform in
our respective areas. Considering the
Black vote was under represented in both the 2006 and 2010 midterms, the 2014 midterms
were marginally better. What are we
doing to better understand the mindset of law enforcement? They are not going away and will remain part
of our lives. Most people aren’t aware
that most cities offer a Citizen’s Academy program that actually exposes you to
your state laws and how officers think and react in situations. I went through the Broward Sheriff’s Office
Citizen’s Academy in Florida for 13 weeks, because I was so bothered by the
Trayvon Martin verdict. I really needed
to understand how Florida law enforcement was trained and I decided that I
would not have the constant paranoia for local police officers. These programs provide us the tools to
navigate through the uncertainty of the interpretation of our state laws. It is
time that we work smarter but continue to work hard to understand the
influences of economics, legislation and the electorate at all levels.
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