Part I - What if 40 Acres Were Given Permanently

   

What if 40 Acres Were Given Permanently?

A Historical Fiction Scenario

On January 16, 1865, General William Sherman issued Special Field Order No. 15.  The order provided the Union confiscated 400,000 acres of coastal land from Charleston, South Carolina to St. John’s River, Florida to the freed slaves.  Pressure from Northern Abolitionists to provide slaves that successfully fled and join the Union Army some form of living in the devastated South.  Land Management of the confiscated land was a high priority after the basic medical care and food were provided.  Congress agreed that the land would not be given away, but sold at a marginal sell price.  Tens of thousands of Blacks purchased the available land through the Federal Freedman’s Bureau.  On March 3, 1865 Congress chartered the Freedman’s Savings Bank headed up by Henry Cooke, the brother of Jay Cooke.  The bank’s charter was to capture the new earnings from freed Blacks and to teach basic financial education and banking skills through employment.  Up to 7% was given on deposits.

On May 29, 1865 President Andrew Johnson passed an Amnesty Proclamation giving the ex-Confederates their land back and forfeiting the previous purchases by Blacks.  Instead Blacks were encouraged to seek employment from the very Confederate Former Masters that they were held under slavery.  Many rented the newly taken land and the Confederate owners created controversy by withholding farm earnings from Blacks.  President Johnson who was born in Raleigh, North Carolina had a sympathetic ear for the Southerners and reversed all of Lincoln’s efforts.  

Let us begin by changing the key course of events.  President Johnson’s brother William Johnson, was captured by the Union Army for the slaughter of Slaves that were fleeing to join the Union Army.  Secretary of War, Simon Cameron of Pennsylvania heard of this slaughter and would team up with Vice President Hannibal Hamlin of Maine, and Jay Cooke Principal Financier of the Union military effort in the Civil War, to become President Johnson’s fiercest adversaries. Andrew Johnson originally a Southern Democrat, switched parties to become Lincoln’s new Vice President replacing Hannibal Hamlin.  Johnson was a supporter of slavery.  Johnson eventually made this statement early in his Presidency. “This is a country for white men, and by God, as long as I am President, it shall be a government for white men,” he wrote in 1866.  The reason for the capturing of William Johnson was not known except for Lincoln cabinet members and Jay Cooke.  Cooke wanted to insure the success of the Non-Profit Freedmen’s Savings & Trust Company led by his brother Henry.  Cooke would use this information to pressure Johnson until his eventual impeachment by the House of Representatives.

Fredrick Douglass was inserted as a Board of Directors and work closely with the Bank Operations Executives because of the possible appearance of conflict of interest between Henry Cooke and Jay Cooke & Company.  Douglass was urged by the original creators of the Freedmen’s Bank, A.M. Sperry, an Abolitionist and Treasurer and Congregational Minister J.W. Alvord to work closely with the Bank given the large number of Black depositors and deposits. Those depositors would eventually swell to 100,000 with deposits totaling more than $50 million in June 1873.  That would be the equivalent of almost $1 Billion in 2007 dollars.

The most pressing concern from the Black Leadership with the newly acquired land was federal protection.  The delegation from South Carolina was Richard Cain, the first Black to serve in the House of Representatives in 1873 -1875 and 1877 -1879.  Robert Elliot served in the House of Representatives in 1871 and South Carolina Attorney General in 1877.  Elliot opposed granting amnesty to ex-Confederate civilians and ranking military leaders.  Robert Smalls, 1862 Navy War hero, Brigadier General in South Carolina militia, also served in the House of Representatives in 1874.  Fredrick Douglass was painfully aware that the ex-Slave owners would not accept the financial and social losses that they would incur because of the Sherman Order No. 15.  Douglass introduced a unique proposition that he presented to Secretary of War, Simon Cameron.  Douglass needed continued troop presence and continuous military training for Blacks that occupied the land.  Douglass vision was that Blacks will continue to patrol the land with Union forces.  In exchange for troop access, Douglass would provide 1% of the Freedman’s Bank deposit interest and 1% of the gross profits on the output of crops from the land to cover the costs. Until the total costs were reached each year with an extra 3% also at the end of each year.  Douglass knew that Cameron would only be interested if there was an “upside” for the military access.  The stakes were high.  In 1835, the core cotton producing states of South Carolina, Mississippi, Alabama, Louisiana, and Georgia produced 500 million pounds of cotton which were ready for export to London, Paris, Liverpool, New Orleans, and New York.  That amount made up 55% of the entire U.S. export market.  In 1860, 2 billion pounds of “Petit Gulf” cotton were produced which amounted to more than 60% of the U.S. exports for that year.  

The benchmarks for the industry during the early 1860’s in New Orleans was about .12 cents per pound and the yield was about 1,000 to 1,200 pounds per acre.  Each person had the capacity to work 10 acres.  Cotton was the engine to the textile industry, as was American slave labor was to the global cotton industry.  New England had 75% of the 5.14 million spindles in operation and 52% of manufacturing operations in 1860.  New England had 67% of the mill consummation, or 283.7 million pounds of the 422.6 million pounds of all cotton used by all U.S. mills.  The interwoven aspect of New England’s successful economy and Slave labor of cotton was undeniable.

From a global perspective, Britain’s textile mills accounted for 40% of the country’s exports. Twenty percent of Britain’s 22 million people where directly or indirectly involved in the cotton textile industry.  Britain relied on American cotton for over 80% of the raw industrial material.  American cotton was also the engine for Britain’s economy.  These points drove home the fact that Douglass needed to build a strong coalition of leaders to successful transform the state of freed Blacks.

More to come………..

Sources:

Myers, Barton. (2005, September 25).  Sherman’s field order No. 15.

http://www.georgiaencyclopedia.org/articles/history-archaeology/shermans-field-order-no-15

Hurst, Ryan. (n.d.). Bureau of Refugees, Freedmen, and abandon lands (1865 – 1872)

http://www.blackpast.org/aah/bureau-refugees-freedmen-and-abandoned-lands-1865-1872

Stiller, Jesse. (n.d.). The Freedman’s Savings Bank: Good Intentions Were Not Enough; A Noble Experiment Goes Awry.  https://www.occ.gov/about/what-we-do/history/freedman-savings-bank.html

NCC Staff. (2015, July 15).  Andrew Johnson: The most criticized President Ever? http://blog.constitutioncenter.org/2015/07/marking-the-passing-of-maybe-the-most-criticized-president-ever/

Levy, John Ira. (n.d.).  The Ways of Providence: Capitalism, Risk and Freedom in America 1841 -1935.  https://books.google.com/books?id=gPOXe09ePBMC&pg=PA182&lpg=PA182&dq=bibliography+of+henry+cooke+and+freedman%27s+bank&source=bl&ots=glYF_Z3iSi&sig=n7UA11ssSKoOvPzqxRRF0iXE_hk&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjxjpSF8IXRAhVLjFQKHQ0XCTAQ6AEIKjAD#v=onepage&q=bibliography%20of%20henry%20cooke%20and%20freedman's%20bank&f=false

The American Yawp. (n.d.). The Cotton Revolution. http://www.americanyawp.com/text/11-the-cotton-revolution/

Gates Jr., Henry Louis. (n.d.). Why was Cotton King? http://www.pbs.org/wnet/african-americans-many-rivers-to-cross/history/why-was-cotton-king/

Cho, Nancy. (n.d.). Elliott, Robert Brown (1842 – 1884). http://www.blackpast.org/aah/elliott-robert-brown-1842-1884

Erase the Fear: My Experience with Law Enforcement Citizens Academies

While our great country has thick societal scars, we have created landmark legislation in a generation that has had profound impact on the lives of a segment of the population.  The Civil Rights Act of 1964 was one of those landmark legislative accomplishments.  The Law Enforcement Agency responsible for protecting those rights is the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI). The Civil Rights Division of the FBI highest priority is Hate Crimes, with Racial being the highest subprogram priority.  The segment of the population that is most vulnerable expects this agency to fulfill that priority with all the Law Enforcement tools at the local, state and federal levels.  However, there are cases where the same resources that are tasked to carry out those mandates abuse their powers to detain and violate the civil rights of the same citizens which require that protection.  The FBI also has a focus on Color of Law violations which prosecutes Judges, Prosecutors, Security Guards, and Law Enforcement Officers that disregard the public trust.  Because of those abuses, we have generations of individuals that have an innate fear of those chartered to protect and serve.   There are those that express their frustration in several ways.  They may protest in pubic, vent on social media, or attempt to get a deep understanding of the Law Enforcement Administrations and how they should function.

I was one of those individuals that had a very deep frustration and concern for the way the wheels of our country’s criminal justice system were moving.  I became tired of having tremendous fear and anxiety every time a squad car or flashing lights passed by my vehicle.  I also became tired of the fact that segments of generations of parents have and continue give a “workshop” on how to interact with Law Enforcement commonly called “The Talk”.   However, I would not complain anymore unless I completely understood how the system works to accurately criticize any aspects of it. One day I decided that it was time for a personal change. After many hours of research, I found several Florida Law Enforcement Citizens Academies.  Local Police Departments offering unadvertised 13 week intense trainings for the community to understand all aspects of law enforcement.  Then advanced, selective Federal Programs sponsored by the DEA and FBI.  I had the privilege to attend both local and federal programs.

The local Citizens Academy covered topics ranging from understanding the local Officer mindset during a traffic stop, to SWAT and K-9 Unit raids, to robotic use in bomb situations, to visiting and talking with Prison Guards and low risk Prisoners, to simulating an active shooter situation in a school with the Police simulator, to visiting the Regional Communications Dispatch and 911 Call Centers, to in-depth review of Florida State Statutes. Getting to sit in a classroom setting and with the opportunity to ask candid questions on all topics with local Law Enforcement Commanders was probably the most valuable of the Citizens Academy program.  A quote by one of Colonels in the Sheriff’s Office that remained with me was “Respect is not given, it is earned”.  This was a guideline that he continues to use with all the Officers that he is responsible for.   This experience was the catalyst to explore the Federal Citizens Academies beginning with the Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) Miami Field Office.

The highlight of the DEA Citizens Academy was the class participating in a simulated large drug bust.  The DEA Team had each student partner with an Officer and mirror their pre-planning coordination and suspect reviews. Immediately leading to an actual execution of a complete raid and bust in full equipment and vehicles. The topics during the 7-week training ranged from examining DEA Legal Authority Title 21, to drug investigations, narco-terrorism and financial investigations, examination of synthetic drugs, clandestine labs, surveillance/ undercover techniques, and firearms training.  The information about drug trafficking in our country and the global network were truly enlightening.  The last experience was the FBI Citizens Academy.

All 8 Weeks of the training were thought provoking and extremely informative. The topics ranged from the Civil Rights Division, counter terrorism, counter intelligence, SWAT Operations and Emergency Response Team (ERT) functions.   The highlights were collaborating with a student to investigate a simulated Bank Robbery and meeting with FBI Legal to discuss my decision in use of lethal force and mapping my actions to compliance with use of force guidelines.  Lastly, an actual SWAT Operation simulation of retrieving a hostage in a house.

I can say that the time investment was personally beneficially.  Taking these actions helped me overcome the long-standing issues that were like a dark cloud.  This investment will provide you with better tools to overcome your fears and increase your knowledge on all aspects of these Agencies. I encourage you to look for the various Citizens Academies Programs in your area.  Erase the fear.

http://www.fbicaaamiami.org/

https://www.dea.gov/divisions/mia/mia_sac.shtml

http://www.sheriff.org/about_bso/community/ca.cfm

   

It is What it is - Dad

           I had a conversation with my young teenage son reflecting on the 1960’s and the Black Panther movement.  He asked me what I knew about it since growing up very young in the South side of Chicago and remembering the Panther movement.  He also was very perplexed that the core mission that drove the creation of Black Panther Party for Self Defense was the ongoing conflict between Law Enforcement and community, which is the same conflict that the Black Lives Matter movement is focusing on today.  For 50 years, this conflict has been going on without significant resolution? He said that protests and riots happened after these conflicts back then and still continues to happen today.  He asked me why hasn’t this changed and why do you have to talk to me about how to act if I am approached by Police? Why should I have to act any different than some of my friends? Before I could respond, he said “I guess it is what it is and it is not going to change – Dad”. 

                

            At that very moment, I felt disgusted to the very pit of my stomach and my mind raced on how I could respond to my son when the outcome of this conversation will have a long term impact on his perspective.  What has really changed and why should he have to behave different than his friends, were the two questions that each Black father has to contemplate when dealing with their young sons.  There was another time that brought outrage to Orson Welles in 1946 in his very popular radio broadcast.  He responded and addressed the vicious beating by Batesburg, South Carolina Police Chief of a Black solider named Isaac Woodard that resulted in blindness. His stance created controversy with some of his listeners, but created unprecedented awareness.

Since then, our country has 477,000 sworn officers and roughly 12,000 Police departments.  The country’s police departments are 12% Black, even though the U.S. Black population is 13.2%.  From 2002 to 2011 Police Officers had 32.9 Million face-to-face contacts with White individuals, force or threat of force was used to 445,500 (1.4%). Excessive force was used to 329,500 (1.0%).  In contrast, 4.6 Million face-to face contacts with Black individuals, force or threat of force was used to 159,100 (3.5%). Excessive force was used to 128,400 (2.8%).  What is more troubling is that prior to President Obama’s second term Police Departments were not required to submit fatal police shooting reports (FBI Supplemental Homicide Reports).  Florida departments hadn’t filed since 1997 and New York City last reported in 2007.  At least 1000 Police Departments filed a report or reports in 33 years, compared to the 17,000 national police departments.  The other side of this equation is what metrics do Police Departments used to measure success? And do those matrices drive certain behaviors? Michael J. Wood, retired ex-Baltimore cop seems to thinks so. In an interview with Slate.com he indicated that, “The citizens just become a statistic, a number that you are going after.  I never feared the streets, I constantly feared other officers.”  Based on his comments, the infrastructure places more value on statistics than community policing. To achieve those statistics where is the easiest place to pursue.  The affluent neighbors or the poorer neighborhoods?

                Therefore, I continued to wonder how many layers of issues have exacerbated this multiple generational problem.  There was not one single issue, but multiple ones that have contributed to this generational distrust.  The one, overarching missing piece is each side looking at the problem through the opposing side.  How many people of color are actually taking the time to attend the various Citizens Academies sponsored by local Law Enforcement, DEA, ATF and FBI?  To combat an issue, you have to understand how Agencies think, trained and what their core guiding principles of behavior. How often do Police use their professional training to de-escalate a situation?  Do the individual Officers view the citizens as people, or become jaded and view the citizens as suspects?  How many minorities are assigned to all white districts to protect and serve? Are there similar problems in those circumstances?

                The only thing that I could share with my son is how we could take responsibility to force change and never say, “It is what it is”.   I told my son that what has changed is the different avenues we can collectively take to reflect the desired change.  What if every Black person understood the training that Police officers received, how they are measured and could predict what would trigger their behavior in an encounter? A Commander at Broward Sheriff’s Office in Florida told me that respect is not given it has to be earned.  Was this a philosophy held decades ago? I mentioned to my son that some Law Enforcement positions are elected positions and some positions are appointed by Elected Officials like Mayors.  We have the collective ability to grade them through our votes and hold each one accountable based on their record.  We can collectively go to our Congress person, Senator and Governor express our concerns with solutions and demand that they either support or provide alternative solutions.  Lack of response means lack of votes for their re-election.  For example, the Florida Governor won his re-election by less than 70,000 votes with a turnout of 22%.  What if every eligible Black voter participated in the Governor’s race?  Would the outcome be different? Would the Zimmerman prosecution have been the same? The Governor’s Office and Attorney General were responsible for prosecuting or not prosecuting the Zimmerman case.  In this case the people have spoken and the State Attorney Angela Corey was out of office with her record on the George Zimmerman, Marisa Alexander and other cases. Unfortunately, most people don’t understand how to connect the state dots and pressure points for elected officials and Law Enforcement.  Protests mean nothing without sustained political pressure and mid-term election voting. Never feel that you as a Black person are helpless. Therefore, it never “is what it is -Son”.  It is what we allow it to be. 

Maurice Henry is a seasoned professional in the High Technology industry and International Business. He has a Bachelors Degree in Business Administration from Rutgers University and a MBA from Southern New Hampshire University in International Business. He publishes a Blog on http://mauricehenryjr.blogspot.com/

Sources:

Amnesty International (2015). Deadly force police use of deadly force in the United States.

https://www.amnestyusa.org/sites/default/files/aiusa_deadlyforcereportjune2015.pdf

Bekiempis, Victoria (2015, May 14). The new racial makeup of U.S. police departments.

http://www.newsweek.com/racial-makeup-police-departments-331130

Bureau of Justice Statistics (2015, November 15). Police use of non-fatal force, 2002 -2011.

http://www.bjs.gov/content/pub/pdf/punf0211_sum.pdf

Gabrielson, Ryan, Jones Grochowski, Ryann and Sagara, Eric (2014, October 10). Deadly force in black and white.

https://www.propublica.org/article/deadly-force-in-black-and-white

Neyfakh, Leon and Wolfe Aaron, (n.d.). Why police are so violent towards black men.

http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/crime/2015/08/baltimore_ex_cop_discusses_police_violence_toward_young_black_men.html