Declarations of Non-Persons
by Bill Carico
by Bill Carico
The Dred Scott decision handed down by the Supreme Court in 1857 reaffirmed a racialized definition of slavery. The 7 to 2 decision in Scott v. Sanford held that plaintiff Dred Scott, a black slave, did not qualify as an American citizen and had no standing to sue in federal court because, in part, persons imported as slaves “had for more than a century before been regarded as beings of an inferior order.” This ruling declared 4 million slaves as non-persons. Thankfully, having a non-person status didn't reverse the law that made murdering a slave a capital offense.
In 1973 the same 7-2 Supreme Court vote in Roe v Wade declared unborn children as non-persons. Since then over 19 million unborn black children have been aborted which represents 36% of all abortions in the United States. Remember, it had already been established that a non-person had no standing under the law, but this ruling made it legal to terminate the non-person's life.
Thus one minister called the ruling "black genocide." This same minister said, ''Those advocates of taking life prior to birth do not call it killing or murder, they call it abortion. They further never talk about aborting a baby because that would imply something human. Rather, they talk about aborting the fetus. Fetus sounds less than human and therefore can be justified.''
Modern day students of history might be hard pressed to guess who these quotes belong to.
It was Civil rights activist Rev. Jesse Jackson, a Baptist minister, who compared abortion to slavery because a mother was acting as if a baby was her personal property and could do whatever she pleased with the child. He called such thinking “the premise of slavery," because "You could not protest the existence or treatment of slaves on the plantation because that was private and therefore outside your right to be concerned.”
Click the link to read Rev Jackson's January 1977 article in "Right to Life News,"
groups.csail.mit.edu/mac/users/rauch/nvp/consistent/jackson.html
where he talks at length about his own upbringing. In this article he also takes politicians to task because many supporting abortion were concerned about poor people overpopulating the planet,
"Politicians argue for abortion largely because they do not want to spend the necessary money to feed, clothe and educate more people. Here arguments for in-convenience and economic savings take precedence over arguments for human value and human life. I read recently where a politician from New York was justifying abortion because they had prevented 10,000 welfare babies from being born and saved the state $15 million. In my mind serious moral questions arise when politicians are willing to pay welfare mothers between $300 to $1000 to have an abortion, but will not pay $30 for a hot school lunch program to the already born children of these same mothers.
At the 1977 March for Life, Rev. Jackson asked an important question, “What happens … to the moral fabric of a nation that accepts the aborting of the life of a baby without a pang of conscience?”
Rev. Jackson's surprising reversal on abortion came in 1988, the year he ran for U.S. President as a candidate who supported federal funding of abortion. He justified his position echoing his party's talking points, that moral positions shouldn't be imposed on public policy. On May 21, 1988, a Washington Post article stated, "No other candidate this season, fallen or still standing, has shifted positions as radically as Jackson on abortion. Nor has any reversal received less attention."
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Protecting A Person's Rights
Let's unpack the impact of these two Supreme Court Decisions.
The Fourteenth Amendment, adopted in 1868, was intended to protect a "person's" right to life, and right to equal protection under the law. The framers of that amendment affirmed in the congressional record that every human being, whether Caucasian, Indian, or African, from the President to the slave, is a person.
Preventing Equal Opportunity
The goal of the 14th Amendment was to require government officials to respect the basic civil rights of all Americans consistently across all states. However, the pro-slavery politicians in 1868, who were all Democrats, fought the application of the 14th Amendment tooth and nail. This is mentioned because the pro-slavery party and the pro-abortion party are one and the same.
This 13 minute video provides perspective beginning with how the founding fathers wrestled with the abomination of slavery as the constitution was coming together and how the opposition used the courts and intimidation to deny rights to former slaves.
The Fourteenth Amendment, adopted in 1868, was intended to protect a "person's" right to life, and right to equal protection under the law. The framers of that amendment affirmed in the congressional record that every human being, whether Caucasian, Indian, or African, from the President to the slave, is a person.
Preventing Equal Opportunity
The goal of the 14th Amendment was to require government officials to respect the basic civil rights of all Americans consistently across all states. However, the pro-slavery politicians in 1868, who were all Democrats, fought the application of the 14th Amendment tooth and nail. This is mentioned because the pro-slavery party and the pro-abortion party are one and the same.
This 13 minute video provides perspective beginning with how the founding fathers wrestled with the abomination of slavery as the constitution was coming together and how the opposition used the courts and intimidation to deny rights to former slaves.
The lofty ideals of the constitution couldn't be reconciled with the abomination of slavery. There were two sides of the public debate, and early on the pro-slavery forces won most of the court battles, including The Dred Scott case.
Even after the 14th amendment was ratified, the pro-slavery forces continued to actively oppose the advancement of blacks in society and eventually established oppressive Jim Crow laws that kept blacks from pursuing economic opportunities and earning an honest living.
Some took steps to limit the growth of the black population.
Clearly the most devastating affects of racism can be seen in the abortion industry that has also benefited from supreme court rulings that have limited the application of the 14th amendment.
The Nexus of Abortion and Racism Has a Name
Anyone who admires Planned Parenthood for its contributions to the health of women is likely not aware of its racist founder, eugenics advocate, Margaret Sanger. Webster's dictionary defines eugenics is “the practice or advocacy of controlled selective breeding of human populations (as by sterilization) to improve the population’s genetic composition.”
Even after the 14th amendment was ratified, the pro-slavery forces continued to actively oppose the advancement of blacks in society and eventually established oppressive Jim Crow laws that kept blacks from pursuing economic opportunities and earning an honest living.
Some took steps to limit the growth of the black population.
Clearly the most devastating affects of racism can be seen in the abortion industry that has also benefited from supreme court rulings that have limited the application of the 14th amendment.
The Nexus of Abortion and Racism Has a Name
Anyone who admires Planned Parenthood for its contributions to the health of women is likely not aware of its racist founder, eugenics advocate, Margaret Sanger. Webster's dictionary defines eugenics is “the practice or advocacy of controlled selective breeding of human populations (as by sterilization) to improve the population’s genetic composition.”
Here is a closer look at Sanger, the heroine of many radicals, in her own words:
“We are paying for, and even submitting to, the dictates of an ever-increasing, unceasingly spawning class of human beings who never should have been born at all.” source: “The Pivot of Civilization” (1922)
“Before eugenists and others who are laboring for racial betterment can succeed, they must first clear the way for Birth Control. Like the advocates of Birth Control, the eugenists, for instance, are seeking to assist the race toward the elimination of the unfit. Both are seeking a single end but they lay emphasis upon different methods.” source: “Birth Control and Racial Betterment” (1919)
[The government should] “give certain dysgenic groups in our population their choice of segregation or sterilization.” source: “A Plan for Peace” (1932)
“Today eugenics is suggested by the most diverse minds as the most adequate and thorough avenue in the solution of racial, political and social problems.” source: “The Eugenic Value of Birth Control Propaganda” (1921)
Controlling the Narrative
Regarding the question of whether abortion providers target black neighborhoods, if you search Google for combinations of words that include "abortion" and "neighborhood" your first "hit" will be a 2011 study from Planned Parenthood advocate Guttmacher Institute that found that claim to be without merit. This study reported only 9% of abortion providers are located in predominantly black neighborhoods, compared with 12% in predominantly Hispanic neighborhoods and 63% in predominantly white neighborhoods. Even if those claims are true and 100% accurate, this very same data also means is that 84% (63+12+9) of Planned Parenthood clinics are located within walking distance of a black neighborhood.
Guttmacher Institute is named after the former head of Planned Parenthood.
Nevertheless, Sanger set the standard for carefully blended word play mixing "caring for children and women" with references to the “unfit,” the “garden weeds,” and the “human beings who should never have been born at all.” She drew strongly from people like the infamous Dr. Josef Mengele. In a 1938 speech, Sanger said, “There are 1,700 special courts and 27 higher courts in Germany to review the cases certified for sterilization there,” all the while assuring listeners “the rights of the individual could be equally well safeguarded here.” The horrors of how Mengele performed his inhumane medical experiments are well documented.
The Irony of Awards
Every year since 1966, Planned Parenthood has continued to hand out The Margaret Sanger Award to “honor” the legacy of its founder.
The 2009 recipient was Hillary Clinton and the 2014 recipient Nancy Pelosi.
Here are some early honorees according to a section from https://www.plannedparenthood.org/planned-parenthood-gulf-coast/mlk-acceptance-speech:
THE PLANNED PARENTHOOD FEDERATION OF AMERICA MARGARET SANGER AWARD
In 1966, Planned Parenthood Federation of America inaugurated the PPFA Margaret Sanger Award to honor the woman who founded America's family planning movement. The PPFA Margaret Sanger Award is given annually to individuals of distinction in recognition of excellence and leadership in furthering reproductive health and reproductive rights.
In its first year, the award was bestowed upon four men:
Dr. Carl G. Hartman, for "his singular contribution to human knowledge of the reproductive processes"
General William H. Draper Jr., for "his singular contribution during the past decade to the mobilization of public awareness and government action to resolve the world population crisis"
President Lyndon Baines Johnson, for "his vigorous and farsighted leadership in bringing the United States government to enunciate and implement an affirmative, effective population policy at home and abroad"
The Reverend Martin Luther King Jr., for "his courageous resistance to bigotry and his lifelong dedication to the advancement of social justice and human dignity"
Dr. King's award was presented on May 5, 1966. The citation read
"This award is presented to the Reverend Martin Luther King Jr., for his courageous resistance to bigotry and his lifelong dedication to the advancement of social justice and human dignity.
"Facing jail, abuse and physical danger, Dr. King's unceasing efforts - in behalf of all Americans - to win freedom for the Negro people parallel closely Mrs. Sanger's fight over the last half-century for the emancipation of women from the burdens of perpetual child-bearing and the emancipation of children from a future of poverty and hopelessness. Neither Mrs. Sanger nor Dr. King has hesitated to challenge unjust laws, cruel social customs and blind prejudice that hold people in ignorance and degradation. Our courts, our legislatures and - most of all - the human heart and mind have been the crucible in which they have forged a nobler history for all mankind.
"In the tradition of all great humanitarians who have seen that human life and progress are indeed indivisible, Dr. King has lent his eloquent voice to the cause of world-wide voluntary family planning.
"For Martin Luther King's unique qualities of understanding, compassion and bravery, and for his wise and unwavering leadership in securing for all people their basic human right to knowledge, dignity and opportunity that are the fount and principle of Margaret Sanger's life, this award is presented."
________________________________________
Mrs. Coretta Scott King delivered her husband's acceptance speech on his behalf.
Before reading Dr. King's speech, Mrs. King declared, "I am proud tonight to say a word in behalf of your mentor, and the person who symbolizes the ideas of this organization, Margaret Sanger. Because of her dedication, her deep convictions, and for her suffering for what she believed in, I would like to say that I am proud to be a woman tonight."
-- end of excerpt
It is highly unlikely MLK or his wife knew much about Margaret Sanger. If you have any information along those lines please provide it.
Unwanted pregnancies are the main reason women seek an abortion, and black women have the highest rate of unwanted pregnancies.
Planned Parenthood performs about 1/3 of all abortions in the U.S. and receives hundreds of millions of taxpayer dollars.
If a Master Murdered his Slave
Murdering slaves was a capital offence in the antebellum South (capital means punishable by death.)
To what extent the law was enforced over the many decades that slavery was legal cannot be answered, though there are ample murder trials on record. One trial was noteworthy because a slave owner in North Carolina was convicted of murder by a jury of his peers, consisting of other slave owners.
John Hoover was arrested on the spring of 1839 for murdering Mira, who was his slave. The jury at his September trial consisted of 12 male slave owners. Hoover was 57-year-old husband of 33 years and father of 10 children. At the trial he didn't defend himself, but one official testified that on the day of his arrest Hoover argued “the negro was his own property and he had a right to do as he pleased with his property ...”
Nonetheless the jury of slave-owners pronounced him guilty because of extensive evidence that he had brutally beaten Mira (her body was exhumed and Hoover had lied about her cause of death). He was sentenced to death by hanging and then lost his appeal to a panel of three North Carolina Supreme Court judges in Raleigh. Hoover was executed in May of 1840.
to read details of the case click here: Ref: Anthony V. Baker: “for the murder of his own female slave, a woman named Mira...” : Law, Slavery and Incoherence in Antebellum North Carolina
In Conclusion
The Dred Scott case was decided 17 years after Hoover was hanged. The first supreme court ruling that declared slaves to be non-persons stopped short of permitting murder of non-persons. Tragically, the second supreme court ruling that declared unborn children to be non-persons, was made to allow that very act. As Rev. Jackson asked in 1977, “What happens … to the moral fabric of a nation that accepts the aborting of the life of a baby without a pang of conscience?”
“We are paying for, and even submitting to, the dictates of an ever-increasing, unceasingly spawning class of human beings who never should have been born at all.” source: “The Pivot of Civilization” (1922)
“Before eugenists and others who are laboring for racial betterment can succeed, they must first clear the way for Birth Control. Like the advocates of Birth Control, the eugenists, for instance, are seeking to assist the race toward the elimination of the unfit. Both are seeking a single end but they lay emphasis upon different methods.” source: “Birth Control and Racial Betterment” (1919)
[The government should] “give certain dysgenic groups in our population their choice of segregation or sterilization.” source: “A Plan for Peace” (1932)
“Today eugenics is suggested by the most diverse minds as the most adequate and thorough avenue in the solution of racial, political and social problems.” source: “The Eugenic Value of Birth Control Propaganda” (1921)
Controlling the Narrative
Regarding the question of whether abortion providers target black neighborhoods, if you search Google for combinations of words that include "abortion" and "neighborhood" your first "hit" will be a 2011 study from Planned Parenthood advocate Guttmacher Institute that found that claim to be without merit. This study reported only 9% of abortion providers are located in predominantly black neighborhoods, compared with 12% in predominantly Hispanic neighborhoods and 63% in predominantly white neighborhoods. Even if those claims are true and 100% accurate, this very same data also means is that 84% (63+12+9) of Planned Parenthood clinics are located within walking distance of a black neighborhood.
Guttmacher Institute is named after the former head of Planned Parenthood.
Nevertheless, Sanger set the standard for carefully blended word play mixing "caring for children and women" with references to the “unfit,” the “garden weeds,” and the “human beings who should never have been born at all.” She drew strongly from people like the infamous Dr. Josef Mengele. In a 1938 speech, Sanger said, “There are 1,700 special courts and 27 higher courts in Germany to review the cases certified for sterilization there,” all the while assuring listeners “the rights of the individual could be equally well safeguarded here.” The horrors of how Mengele performed his inhumane medical experiments are well documented.
The Irony of Awards
Every year since 1966, Planned Parenthood has continued to hand out The Margaret Sanger Award to “honor” the legacy of its founder.
The 2009 recipient was Hillary Clinton and the 2014 recipient Nancy Pelosi.
Here are some early honorees according to a section from https://www.plannedparenthood.org/planned-parenthood-gulf-coast/mlk-acceptance-speech:
THE PLANNED PARENTHOOD FEDERATION OF AMERICA MARGARET SANGER AWARD
In 1966, Planned Parenthood Federation of America inaugurated the PPFA Margaret Sanger Award to honor the woman who founded America's family planning movement. The PPFA Margaret Sanger Award is given annually to individuals of distinction in recognition of excellence and leadership in furthering reproductive health and reproductive rights.
In its first year, the award was bestowed upon four men:
Dr. Carl G. Hartman, for "his singular contribution to human knowledge of the reproductive processes"
General William H. Draper Jr., for "his singular contribution during the past decade to the mobilization of public awareness and government action to resolve the world population crisis"
President Lyndon Baines Johnson, for "his vigorous and farsighted leadership in bringing the United States government to enunciate and implement an affirmative, effective population policy at home and abroad"
The Reverend Martin Luther King Jr., for "his courageous resistance to bigotry and his lifelong dedication to the advancement of social justice and human dignity"
Dr. King's award was presented on May 5, 1966. The citation read
"This award is presented to the Reverend Martin Luther King Jr., for his courageous resistance to bigotry and his lifelong dedication to the advancement of social justice and human dignity.
"Facing jail, abuse and physical danger, Dr. King's unceasing efforts - in behalf of all Americans - to win freedom for the Negro people parallel closely Mrs. Sanger's fight over the last half-century for the emancipation of women from the burdens of perpetual child-bearing and the emancipation of children from a future of poverty and hopelessness. Neither Mrs. Sanger nor Dr. King has hesitated to challenge unjust laws, cruel social customs and blind prejudice that hold people in ignorance and degradation. Our courts, our legislatures and - most of all - the human heart and mind have been the crucible in which they have forged a nobler history for all mankind.
"In the tradition of all great humanitarians who have seen that human life and progress are indeed indivisible, Dr. King has lent his eloquent voice to the cause of world-wide voluntary family planning.
"For Martin Luther King's unique qualities of understanding, compassion and bravery, and for his wise and unwavering leadership in securing for all people their basic human right to knowledge, dignity and opportunity that are the fount and principle of Margaret Sanger's life, this award is presented."
________________________________________
Mrs. Coretta Scott King delivered her husband's acceptance speech on his behalf.
Before reading Dr. King's speech, Mrs. King declared, "I am proud tonight to say a word in behalf of your mentor, and the person who symbolizes the ideas of this organization, Margaret Sanger. Because of her dedication, her deep convictions, and for her suffering for what she believed in, I would like to say that I am proud to be a woman tonight."
-- end of excerpt
It is highly unlikely MLK or his wife knew much about Margaret Sanger. If you have any information along those lines please provide it.
Unwanted pregnancies are the main reason women seek an abortion, and black women have the highest rate of unwanted pregnancies.
Planned Parenthood performs about 1/3 of all abortions in the U.S. and receives hundreds of millions of taxpayer dollars.
If a Master Murdered his Slave
Murdering slaves was a capital offence in the antebellum South (capital means punishable by death.)
To what extent the law was enforced over the many decades that slavery was legal cannot be answered, though there are ample murder trials on record. One trial was noteworthy because a slave owner in North Carolina was convicted of murder by a jury of his peers, consisting of other slave owners.
John Hoover was arrested on the spring of 1839 for murdering Mira, who was his slave. The jury at his September trial consisted of 12 male slave owners. Hoover was 57-year-old husband of 33 years and father of 10 children. At the trial he didn't defend himself, but one official testified that on the day of his arrest Hoover argued “the negro was his own property and he had a right to do as he pleased with his property ...”
Nonetheless the jury of slave-owners pronounced him guilty because of extensive evidence that he had brutally beaten Mira (her body was exhumed and Hoover had lied about her cause of death). He was sentenced to death by hanging and then lost his appeal to a panel of three North Carolina Supreme Court judges in Raleigh. Hoover was executed in May of 1840.
to read details of the case click here: Ref: Anthony V. Baker: “for the murder of his own female slave, a woman named Mira...” : Law, Slavery and Incoherence in Antebellum North Carolina
In Conclusion
The Dred Scott case was decided 17 years after Hoover was hanged. The first supreme court ruling that declared slaves to be non-persons stopped short of permitting murder of non-persons. Tragically, the second supreme court ruling that declared unborn children to be non-persons, was made to allow that very act. As Rev. Jackson asked in 1977, “What happens … to the moral fabric of a nation that accepts the aborting of the life of a baby without a pang of conscience?”