So Proud of Our Kansas City Star

Wow.

What can you say but "Wow"?

Our own local paper, the Kansas City Star stunned me and I feel, probably lots of us this week. Their report, their reporting, their confession was just that, stunning. You likely know of what I'm writing. It's this.

The truth in Black and white: An apology from The Kansas City Star

Today we are telling the story of a powerful local business that has done wrong.

In it, rather famously now, the paper confessed and admitted to racism, horrible racism from them over the years when reporting on minorities in the area--specifically, Black Americans.

I'll only post the beginning of the editorial.

Today we are telling the story of a powerful local business that has done wrong.

For 140 years, it has been one of the most influential forces in shaping Kansas City and the region. And yet for much of its early history — through sins of both commission and omission — it disenfranchised, ignored and scorned generations of Black Kansas Citians. It reinforced Jim Crow laws and redlining. Decade after early decade it robbed an entire community of opportunity, dignity, justice and recognition.

That business is The Kansas City Star.

To repeat, there's no word that describes this any better than stunning.

This took guts. This took courage. Just freaking wow.

They could have recognized their past faults internally and vowed to never repeat such things, sure. But this? Confessing to the supporting of Jim Crow laws and redlining and segregation and other obscenities, however legal?

Stunning. Nothing short of stunning.

It went national, too, it was that big a story. This was from the New York Times.

Kansas City Star Apologizes for Racism

NBC News.

Kansas City Star apologizes for decades of racist coverage

Daily Kos.

'We don’t need stories about these people': Kansas City newspaper confesses to tradition of racism

You get the idea. It was covered nationally from virtually every media outlet.

I think there are two huge things to take from this, too, besides the fact that, as I said above, they didn't have to do this cleansing so publicly like this. 

The first is that this was an important move for them, the Star, the newspaper, to own up to but it's much more than that. We all need to own up to what and how we've gotten to where we are. We all, as a people and as a nation, need to know how we got here, where we are today. We need to know our nation's history, our full national history. We need to really know all the details about slavery and our Civil War, sure. But that's for starters.

We all need to also know about our Reconstruction and the failure of it, our failure and how that impacted African-Americans then.

We all need to know, really know about Jim Crow laws, what they were, what they did, the fact that they were legal and the deep, deep damage that they did to those same Americans, African-Americans. That's a great deal to know there alone.

Then there's the "redlining" the Star's story mentions and its corresponding segregation, legalized, thank you very much.

If, as a people, you are kept away, legally, from the best housing and jobs, good education and so, consequently and understandably, also kept away from better paying jobs and careers?  Is it any wonder the wealth of Black Americans today is, still, to this moment, a fraction of white America?

And that's how we got now, here to where we are. It's why still, to this day, so many Black Americans do not and even, for a lot of them, cannot still live wherever they wish. It only makes sense. It's a natural outgrowth of all that then-legalized racism and hate and ugliness. It's why do many cities in the United States--including, of course, our own Kansas City on both sides of the state line--are still so very, very segregated even though that legal segregation was made illegal decades ago now.

So, again, wow. Kudos to the Star.

In their article, they made a great and important point of saying that their paper, over the years, highlighted white people's accomplishments but virtually never Black people's.

In the pages of The Star, when Black people were written about, they were cast primarily as the perpetrators or victims of crime, advancing a toxic narrative. Other violence, meantime, was tuned out. The Star and The Times wrote about military action in Europe but not about Black families whose homes were being bombed just down the street.

Even the Black cultural icons that Kansas City would one day claim with pride were largely overlooked. Native son Charlie “Bird” Parker didn’t get a significant headline in The Star until he died, and even then, his name was misspelled and his age was wrong.

It reminded me of a KCPT PBS broadcast on Kansas City's own Charlie "Bird" Parker. Lonnie McFadden made the very fair and important point that Winston Churchill, of all people, is on our Country Club Plaza.

But not Bird.

How else can we heal? How else can we repair centuries long wrongs and racism if we don't examine ourselves, see where we are, see what we did, see what those ramifications are and then apologize for them and look to rectify them? We must do this as a society. We're long, long overdue.

Anyone, any American who thinks we don't owe Black Americans reparations should, again, study our national history.

And read this article, too.

The Star Already Has White People Flipping Out

Oh, yeah. Our local Kansas City Star no doubt has people, white people flipping out today, what with this opinion article they just put out.

After decades of failure to close the wealth gap, Black Americans need reparations

A bit from the article:

One of the most telling and enduring vestiges of slavery and the period thereafter of horrific oppression of Black people is the wealth gap that currently exists between Black and white Americans. According to a study done in 2016, Black families have an average net worth of $11,000, compared to a white family’s average net worth of $141,900. This wealth gap exists at every income level.

First, are they right.  They are so correct. Given all we've done to African-Americans from the beginning of the nation to today?

• Slavery
• Reconstruction
• Jim Crow laws
• Lynchings
• Burning people out of their homes
• Legalized segregation
• Widespread incarceration and since the end of the Civil War

Oh, yeah.

But secondly?

White people will be flipping out.

They already are.

Just seeing responses to this article on the paper's Facebook page showed that. I'd never seen this response before today.

GTFOOHWTBS

The very recent decision to rename the JC Nichols fountain due to his racism and the legalized segregation of that era proves it by itself.

So should it happen? 

Yes.  Heck yes. Absolutely.

Will it happen anytime soon?

Not only will it not happen anytime soon, I think it will be some time until it does take place.

If it ever dose.

There's a blog written here in town and I can only imagine what the knuckle-dragging, racist commenters are going to be writing over there on this.

Star Op/ed Piece Says Andrew Jackson Sculpture Should Stay

The Kansas City Star had an op/ed piece in the paper Sunday by a woman who is "...of Olathe ..." and "...works in art conservation with a professional background in analytical chemistry, studio art and art history", wrote that we should keep the statue of Andrew Jackson downtown at the courthouse.

 

Don’t ditch artistic Andrew Jackson 

courthouse statue

Which would be fine, sure, if our only emphasis or guide on this issue were art, sure. If it were only about sculpture, it would be great. Leave the statue there.

But it's not, no way, only about that. This is not about art.

It's also very much about history. It's about history and justice and fairness and racial equality and it's about not honoring, no longer honoring someone who was directly responsible for torturing and killing, yes killing, our own American citizens.  And that is Andrew Jackson.

Andrew Jackson was a slaver, 

ethnic cleanser, and tyrant

Andrew Jackson: 

America’s Most Violent President

The Slave-Owning, 

Indian-Killing History Of The Man

These statues famously, famously went up in the early 1900s because African-Americans had been freed, had been no longer slaves in our nation. Our white citizens, we now know, wanted to "honor" these men of the South. They wanted to make sure they kept these African-American citizens "down" and "in their place." We know this. It's extremely well known. This, this is why these statues were made and installed.

How the US Got So Many Confederate Monuments

Confederate Statues Were Built To Further A 'White Supremacist Future'

Most Confederate Monuments Weren't Built Until the Rise of Jim Crow

Worse, Andrew Jackson not only owned fellow Americans, not only did he own slaves and support slavery of African-American in our nation, but he was also responsible for the torture and killing of an entirely additional race of Americans and that would be Native Americans, of course.

Andrew Jackson, Indian Removal, 

and the Trail of Tears

The author of this opinion piece clearly hasn't studied our national history. They clearly need to study Reconstruction after the Civil War, the Black Code laws, Jim Crow laws and even segregation from its inception to today.  This author seems to have clearly never seen but needs to see this piece from PBS.

Reconstruction: America After the Civil War

So sure, let's enjoy art. Let's enjoy artworks. Let's go to the Nelson and the Bloch Center for Contemporary Art and all the other places. Heck, the Country Club Plaza, wherever.

But let's make it clear.

This Andrew Jackson sculpture, which was put there to honor him, should come down.

Let there be no doubt.

And then, when we're done there, let's rename the county.

Truman County sounds good.

Shocking Information On Coronavirus Deaths in St. Louis

I just saw this article online from Newsweek.

ALL CORONAVIRUS DEATHS IN ST. LOUIS, MISSOURI HAVE BEEN AFRICAN AMERICANS

Honestly, that is shocking.

That's one heck of an indictment of our health care system and even, honestly, our society.

These are fellow Missourians and Americans. We can't allow this now but going forward.

More:

The Coronavirus Is a Wake-Up Call for Racial Inequality. It’s Time to Change the System

COVID-19 is disproportionately killing minorities. That’s not a coincidence

A Continuation, Perpetuation of Racism on Kansas City's East Side?

An article in The Pitch today really caught my eye.

Developer eyes Troost for 

immigrant child detention center

A detention center.

For immigrants. 

Minorities. 

In a part of town segregated, by law, by laws, decades ago, for minorities, for African-Americans.
Could they be more time deaf or blind?

And I assume this developer wants to put it there because--hello?--land and property and buildings over on that side of town are less expensive??

Because of that same racism and legalized segregation all those years ago?

Could you be more cruel? Or exploitative?

This very much reminds me of the prisons that were opened and created in the Southern United States that were put on former plantations. Own them first the, when you don't own them any more, trump up charges and throw them in jails and prisons.

And then, if you read the article, which I personally highly recommend, for what it's worth, you'll see how the company that runs these ICE shelters for the government, has been abusive and racist, to say the least and repeatedly, over time.

America, we're supposed to be better than this.

One thing seems sure and true.

Old J.C. Nichols would probably have approved.

How qre KCPT's "Week In Review" and "Ruckus" Not Racist?

What do you call a news program in a major city of America that only has white people on it, discussing what are supposed to be local issues?

Not one African-American. Not one Hispanic or Latina/Latino. Nothing.

Only white people.

What is that but racist?

On both programs' panels, not one "person of color." "Ruckus" did, this week, have the head of our local Jazz Museum, Rashida Phillips on at the beginning of the program but no minority, save a woman, on the panel.

Only white people can give answers to what our problems are and what the solutions might be?

And how, exactly, can people like Dave Helling and Steve Kraske and Mike Mahoney support and continue to support this and these programs?

Why does the local Hispanic media like Dos Mundos support this group?

What Do You Suppose It Will Take To Get KCPT To Recognize There Is a Hispanic Community Here?

Really, this puzzles me.

It took far too long to get KCPT to get one token black person reliably, week after week, on their weekly news programs, "Ruckus" and "Week In Review" and even now, they still get left off some weeks.

That was bad enough but the station still hasn't recognized or accepted or something there is a Hispanic Community in the metropolitan area.

Sure, we still get loads and loads o' white folk what with Right Wing, Republican Mike Shanin and his also Right Wing, Republican buddy Woody Cozad (don't get me started) but the shows are heavily, heavily weighted with bleached white people.

As I've said before, their commercials are all the time putting up minorities in them, asking people to send their money like so many Christian churches but what is it going to take to get a token Hispanice on both these shows each week?

They've recognized there is the Dos Mundos newspaper, having one of their staff on not long ago. You'd think they could--and would--maybe call them up once a week and ask if someone would show up for the program.

At least they let women---one, usually, each week, another token--on the program but once again, it's usually a white woman to round out that very varied group.

This week on Ruckus, they had 3 white people---ONE WOMAN!--and Terry Riley, a former City Council person.

And forget about "Week in Review" this week. The entire show was bleached white people. Every one of them.

Minorities??

Bah!

They don't live here in Kansas City!

Right, KCPT?

I would like to now take this time and place to formally challenge KCPT---a PBS station, after all--to please, for the love of God and fairness and decency and all that is good, to start having, reliably, one Hispanic, one member of the black community, one woman and one---ONLY ONE--white guy on these two programs each week, going forward, indefinitely.

Seriously.

It just doesn't seem like too much to ask.

They say they rely on our contributions in order to survive, exist.

How about including ALL of us?

KCPT?

Have you no shame whatever?

Fairness? Balance? Decency in journalism?

Any of that?

America's Persistent Racism--And Just Two of Its Effects

Two quick statistics, out today in the Sunday New York Times, from two separate articles:

--In the early 1950s, the median income of Chicago's public housing residents was nearly two-thirds of the citywide average. By 1970, it was barely one-third that.

--And today, Black mothers--and babies, both--in the United States are dying at more than double the rate of white mothers and babies.

But, sure, someone ask why they don't "pull themselves up by their own bootstraps."

We segregate, separate, large numbers of fellow Americans, by color, for God's sake, away from us but also away from jobs, certainly away from the better paying jobs, too, give them an inferior education then are surprised they're on welfare. Then, when they can and do get some measly help, that welfare, we insist they work for it, as though it's easy for them to have a car. Keeping in mind, we also don't want there to be mass transit so maybe they can get around our cities, to and from those jobs, quickly, easily and at low cost.

Freaking brilliant.

And then it's done by the wealthy of our society, people who were born to and given large amounts of money, from birth, like our own current President, and too many of the rest of us go along with this ugliness and insanity.

It's a great thing we're a "Christian nation", isn't it?
Links:

Why America's Black Mothers and Babies 

Are in a Life-or-Death Crisis 

Mass incarceration of African Americans 

affects the racial achievement 

Black Americans incarcerated five times 

more than white people

On This Day, July 2, 1917---Missouri and National History

Just some of the state and national history our society seems to go out of the way to NOT teach us.

The 1917 East St. Louis race riots

This photo ran in the St. Louis Star on July 3, 1917 with the caption: “Where the charred bodies of eight negroes burned in their homes at Eighth Street and Broadway were found today.” The bodies of some Black victims were buried in a common grave, according to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. Others were thrown into Cahokia Creek which ran between downtown and the riverfront railyards. (Southern Illinois University Edwardsville, Bowen Archives).

Blacks in East St. Louis were beginning to come in from the Southern United States and were taking jobs, yes, at lower wages, from Union members. The white Union members would have nothing of it.

The St. Louis Post-Dispatch did a fantastic series of articles on this important time and group of events.

Archive editorial: 'The East St. Louis Murders'

Archive article: 'Several hundred Negroes brought across river'

Editor's Note: East St. Louis riot coverage

Archive article: 'Several hundred Negroes brought across river'

Bell that warned of approaching white mobs 

amid East St. Louis riots

Keep in mind, too, this East St. Louis event, this massacre, this slaughter, was far from the only one in our nation's history. Here are two more, anyway.

The Chicago Race Riot of 1919

Tulsa Race Riot (1921)

Keeping in mind, too, that the national disgrace that was the "Trail of Tears", where we displaced thousands of Native Americans, from East to Oklahoma, also went through Southern Missouri. In fact, it went right through what is now downtown Springfield. 

Trail of Tears - Native American History

I know that, as I went through grade school and high school, at no point during those years was it taught this history, that this abomination went through the Southern part of our state, Missouri.

So yes, let's know our national history.

All of it.

Maybe especially now, this time of year, around our Independence Day when we only remember how good and great we are.

White People, Solving Kansas City's Problems

Both news weekly programs on KCPT this week were lily-white, bleached Caucasians.

Yet again.

One more time.

Not one "person of color." No one from any minority other than one woman on each show.

Kansas City Week in Review - KCPT

Kansas City Week in Review | Watch Online 

| Kansas City PBS ... - KCPT

Kansas City Week In Review | KCPT

Ruckus | KCPT

Ruckus | Watch Online | Kansas City PBS Video

 - KCPT

Watch online: Ruckus | KCPT

Shame on you, KCPT. You should know---and do---better.

Far better.

In their, KCPT's, defense, I will point out they have minorities in their commercial segments.

Oh, and, again, they will, however, accept their financial contributions to the station from minorities, to be sure.

Pretty ironic--and awful--any time but seems even more so in Black History Month.

To Kick Off Black History Month

This would be fifty-three minutes and four seconds of time very well spent, I believe.



Know your history.

Know your American history.

KCPT: Minorities Don't Matter In Kansas City?

Once again, our local PBS TV station, KCPT had a full one half hour discussing local issues and once again, one more time, they chose to make it an entire half hour, an entire show, all participants, the whole panel full of white people.

Only white people.

The closest they got to a minority was having a white woman on the show.

Otherwise?

All middle-aged or senior, white men.

Check it out.

The show began with an interview with one Wendell Cox, Principal of Demographia. Then it went to a panel discussion, mostly on the just-passed election with the following panel members:

--Jason Grill, media/public affairs consultant, 

--Mike Sanders, Attorney with Humphrey, Farrington and McClain

--Crosby Kemper III, Executive Director of the Kansas City Public Library and 

--Annie Presley, Author

All white.

Every. Single. One.

In the longest segment, they discussed the recently-executed 2016 presidential election. You would think that would include some input from, oh, I don't know, some Black Americans? Some Hispanic Americans? Mexican-Americans? Any other groups?

Nah.

Just the white folks. Not so much as even one "token", to be crude.

You would think there weren't any Black or Hispanic or any other minority people in this entire city, watching this show, most weeks and that the election didn't effect them in any way whatever.

It apparently, really is a white man's world. At least in Kansas City.

Ironically and coincidentally (hypocritically?), the program was followed by two ads promoting inclusion and helping young minority youth in the city.   I nearly choked.

To be clear here, however, they will accept monetary contributions from minorities, rest assured.

Link: Ruckus | KCPT

Inventions by Black Americans, Part I

Pretty Incredible Kansas City and American History

Dang, Kansas City. Did you know this part of our history?

I just ran across this on a friend's Facebook page. Once I saw this, I had to search it out so I did just that. I came up with this, quickly.

Rector, Sarah (1902–1967) 

 The Black Past: Remembered

A bit from this link:

Sarah Rector received international attention at the age of eleven when The Kansas City Star in 1913 publicized the headline, “Millions to a Negro Girl.” From that moment Rector’s life became a cauldron of misinformation, legal and financial maneuvering, and public speculation.

More here:

Remembering Sarah Rector, 

Creek Freedwoman

It was fascinating and initially sad but fortunately turned out well, overall.  Rather than copy and paste it all here, I highly recommend going to one of the article links here and reading. It's incredible Kansas City history but American history on a larger scale, too.

Additional links:

The Unlikely Baroness | This Land Press

She Was the Richest Black Girl in the World

Sarah Rector: The Richest Colored Girl in the World

America's First Black Female Millionaire

On This Day in American History -- A "Two-fer"

On this day (from today's New York Times:

It took more than 100 years after the Civil War for an African-American to join the presidential cabinet, and even longer for one to be elected governor. Both milestones happened on this day.

Robert C. Weaver was appointed secretary of housing and urban development by President Lyndon B. Johnson in 1966, and L. Douglas Wilder took the oath of office as governor in Richmond, Va., in 1990.

Weaver, who had three Harvard degrees, was the great-grandson of a slave and an expert strategist in the civil rights movement. “Fight hard and legally,” he said, “and don’t blow your top.”

His government service began during the New Deal, when he tried to harness benefits for blacks from the domestic spending programs. Weaver has been followed by 19 other African-Americans in the cabinet.

Mr. Wilder, a grandson of slaves, won the governorship in the onetime capital of the Confederacy with 50.19 percent of the vote. History was made only after a recount.

His margin of victory lagged far behind those of his Democratic running mates, suggesting that many Democrats did not vote for him.

Only one other African-American has been elected governor of a state: Deval Patrick, a Democrat who led Massachusetts from 2007 to 2015.

Links:  Robert C. Weaver - Wikipedia

Robert C. Weaver - Britannica.com

Robert C. Weaver: First African-American Cabinet Secretary

Douglas Wilder - Wikipedia

Douglas Wilder - Governor, Mayor - Biography.com

L Douglas Wilder - Encyclopedia.com

Independence Day

Just Before We Celebrate Our Own Independence Day

On this day in American history:


The city of East St. Louis, Illinois was the scene of one of the bloodiest race riots in the 20th century.  Racial tensions began to increase in February, 1917 when 470 African American workers were hired to replace white workers who had gone on strike against the Aluminum Ore Company.

The violence started on May 28th, 1917, shortly after a city council meeting was called.  Angry white workers lodged formal complaints against black migrations to the Mayor of East St. Louis.  After the meeting had ended, news of an attempted robbery of a white man by an armed black man began to circulate through the city.  As a result of this news, white mobs formed and rampaged through downtown, beating all African Americans who were found.  The mobs also stopped trolleys and streetcars, pulling black passengers out and beating them on the streets and sidewalks.  Illinois Governor Frank O. Lowden eventually called in the National Guard to quell the violence, and the mobs slowly dispersed.  The May 28th disturbances were only a prelude to the violence that erupted on July 2, 1917.

After the May 28th riots, little was done to prevent any further problems.  No precautions were taken to ensure white job security or to grant union recognition.  This further increased the already-high level of hostilities towards African Americans.  No reforms were made in police force which did little to quell the violence in May.  Governor Lowden ordered the National Guard out of the city on June 10th, leaving residents of East St. Louis in an uneasy state of high racial tension.

On July 2, 1917, the violence resumed.  Men, women, and children were beaten and shot to death.  Around six o’ clock that evening, white mobs began to set fire to the homes of black residents.  Residents had to choose between burning alive in their homes, or run out of the burning houses, only to be met by gunfire.  In other parts of the city, white mobs began to lynch African Americans against the backdrop of burning buildings.  As darkness came and the National Guard returned, the violence began to wane, but did not come to a complete stop.

In response to the rioting, the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) sent W.E.B. DuBois and Martha Gruening to investigate the incident.  They compiled a report entitled “Massacre at East St. Louis,” which was published in the NAACP’s magazine, The Crisis.  The NAACP also staged a silent protest march in New York City in response to the violence.  Thousands of well-dressed African Americans marched down Fifth Avenue, showing their concern about the events in East St. Louis.

The Universal Negro Improvement Association (UNIA) also responded to the violence.  On July 8th, 1917, the UNIA’s President, Marcus Garvey said “This is a crime against the laws of humanity; it is a crime against the laws of the nation, it is a crime against Nature, and a crime against the God of all mankind.”  He also believed that the entire riot was part of a larger conspiracy against African Americans who migrated North in search of a better life: “The whole thing, my friends, is a bloody farce, and that the police and soldiers did nothing to stem the murder thirst of the mob is a conspiracy on the part of the civil authorities to condone the acts of the white mob against Negroes.”

A year after the riot, a Special Committee formed by the United States House of Representatives launched an investigation into police actions during the East St. Louis Riot.  Investigators found that the National Guard and also the East St. Louis police force had not acted adequately during the riots, revealing that the police often fled from the scenes of murder and arson.  Some even fled from stationhouses and refused to answer calls for help.  The investigation resulted in the indictment of several members of the East St. Louis police force.

Sources:

Allen D. Grimshaw, “Actions of Police and the Military in American Race Riots,” Phylon 24:3 (3rd Qtr, 1963); Robert A. Hill, ed., The Marcus Garvey and Universal Negro Improvement Association Papers, Vol. I, (Berkeley and Los Angeles: University of California Press, 1983); Elliot M. Rudwick, Race Riot at East St. Louis: July 2, 1917 (Carbondale: Southern Illinois University Press, 1964).

Contributor:

• Wang, Tabitha C.

University of Washington, Seattle

- See more at: http://www.blackpast.org/aah/east-st-louis-race-riot-july-2-1917#sthash.NGnusI9f.dpuf

An American History Anniversary (guest post)

The American history we don't know.

The American history we're not taught.

The American history we don't want to know.

BLACK WALL STREET - Today is the 94th anniversary of the Race Riot and Bombing of Black Wall Street in Tulsa Oklahoma, May 31st, 1921.Read The Article: You do know that Black Wall Street was rebuilt by the Black residents after the bombing took place in 1921. They rebuilt it with their own money and got no government support.

"After the riot, black Tulsans, who were living in tents and forced to wear green identification tags in order to work downtown, still managed to turn the tragedy into triumph. Without state help, they rebuilt Greenwood, and by 1942 the community had more than 240 black-owned businesses.

"If we did it once we can do it again.

http://www.theroot.com/…/greenwood_oklahoma_from_the_black_…

Sign up for The African History Network email newsletter by texting the word "Kemet" to 22828.

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If you want to learn more about African History and African-American History to counteract the negative images we see of ourselves on the TEL-LIE-VISION (TV), please visit www.AfricanHistoryNetwork.com. We have information to Educate, Empower and Inspire people of African Descent throughout the Diaspora and around the world.

Listen to “The African History Network Show” with host Michael Imhotep, every Thurs, 8pm-11pm EST and “The Per Ankh Hour Q & A Show” with Prof. Kaba Kamene (aka Booker T. Coleman) of “Hidden Colors 1 & 2” and Michael Imhotep of The African History Network every Wednesday 10:00pm-11:30pm EST athttp://www.blogtalkradio.com/theafricanhistorynetworkshow orwww.AfricanHistoryNetwork.com by phone, when we are LIVE at (914) 338-1375. Call in with your questions and comments. Archived episodes are available for you to listen and are also archived on www.Itunes.com.

And in our national history, it's not that isolated an incident, either, this Tulsa, Oklahoma killing and murder. Don't think for a moment that it is.

Some Memorial Day/American History

Missouri's Going to Execute Again

With Missouri's last execution, of a 74 year old man who was missing part of his brain, literally, and so, had a low IQ, it seems certain Missouri will once again execute another inmate tomorrow:

Advocates for inmate ask Missouri governor to halt execution

It seems certain.

After all, he's black.

Forget that he was tried back in 1992 in St. Louis when blacks/African-Americans were excluded from juries in that area.

Forget that.

He's scheduled to be executed tomorrow, too. Precious little time to get anything done on this now, likely.

I wonder where the "pro-life" people are on this one? All the Catholics, all of them. Anyone screaming that "life is precious."

No, I thought not.

It doesn't look good.

We have to go through with that age-old "good idea" that killing people is a great idea, to show people shouldn't kill people.

Links: 

Congratulations, Missouri! You kill me!

• Shame on you, Missouri