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Conflict Of Interest
A Weekly Column By Walter B. Hoye II

In the abortion debate, is there a "Conflict of Interest" within the Black community and among her leaders?

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Issue No.: 2012.114

UnExpected Outcomes (6)

Using Black American Slaves (19th Century) The South Waited Too Late To Use Black American Slaves
"So far from engaging in a war to perpetuate slavery, I am rejoiced that Slavery is abolished. I believe it will be greatly for the interest of the South. So fully am I satisfied of this that I would have cheerfully lost all that I have lost by the war, and have suffered all that I have suffered to have this object attained." Robert Edward Lee, on Sunday, May 1st, 1870, just five (5) months before his death. 1

"It is the enemy's avowed policy to convert the able-bodied men among them into soldiers, and to emancipate all. His progress will destroy slavery in a manner most pernicious to the welfare of our people Whatever may be the effect of our employing Negro troops, it cannot be as mischievous as this. I think, therefore, we must decide whether slavery shall be extinguished by our enemies and the slaves used against us, or use them ourselves at the risk of the effects which may be produced upon our social institutions The best means of securing the efficiency and fidelity of this auxiliary force would be to accompany the measure with a well digested plan of gradual and general emancipation. As that will be the result of the continuance of this war, and will certainly occur if the enemy succeeds, it seems to be most advisable to adopt at once. Every day's delay increases the difficulty." Robert Edward Lee, on Wednesday, January 11th, 1865 (United States War Department, 1012-1013) 2

Still, despite impending defeat, the South could not find a way to convince her slave owners to forsake their investment in an economy based on slavery to rebuild the Confederate army. Apparently, where your treasure is, there will your antebellum lifestyle be also. As such, on Monday, March 27th, 1865, General Robert E. Lee directed his assistant adjutant general and military secretary, Colonel Charles Marshall to write the following to his Lieutenant General Richard Stoddert Ewell

"[General Robert E. Lee] much regrets the unwillingness of owners to permit their slaves to enter the service. If the state authorities can do nothing to get those Negroes who are willing to join the army, but whose masters refuse their consent, there is no authority to do it at all. What benefit they expect their Negroes to be to them, if the enemy occupies the country, it is impossible to say. He hopes you will endeavor to get the assistance of citizens who favor the measure, and bring every influence you can to bear. When a Negro is willing, and his master objects, there would be less objection to compulsion, if the state has the authority. It is however, of primary importance that the Negroes should know that the service is voluntary on their part. As to the name of the troops, the general thinks you cannot do better than consult the men themselves. His only objection to calling them colored troops was that the enemy had selected that designation for theirs. But this has no weight against the choice of the troops and he recommended that they be called colored or if they prefer, they can be called simply Confederate troops or volunteers. Everything should be done to impress them with the responsibility and character of their position and while of course due respect and subordination should be exacted, they should be so treated as to feel that their obligations are those of any other soldier and their rights and privileges dependent in law & order as obligations upon others as upon theirselves. Harshness and contemptuous or offensive language or conduct to them must be forbidden and they should be made to forget as soon as possible that they were regarded as menials. You will readily understand however how to conciliate their good will & elevate the tone and character of the men." Colonel Charles Marshall, (reprinted in Civil War Times, February 1998) 3

There Is Such A Thing As Too Little, Too Late

In February 1865, Union General Ulysses S. Grant ordered " the capture of all Negro men before the enemy can put them in their ranks." Ulysses S. Grant (born Hiram Ulysses Grant; April 27, 1822-July 23, 1885) was also the 18th President of the United States (1869 - 1877) 4

Like the South, the North wrestled with admitting colored soldiers into the army all throughout the war, but by 1863 the first regiment of the United States Colored Troops (USCT) was a reality and constituted about one-tenth (1/10) of the Union army. 5 South of the Mason-Dixon Line, it took facing certain defeat before a decision was made on Sunday, March 13th, 1864 to admit colored soldiers into the Confederate army 6 and even though by then it was too late, Union General Ulysses S. Grant could not rest in the Union's certain victory. In February of 1865, in the face of reports that the South was rebuilding her army with slaves from their plantations, Grant ordered "the capture of all Negro men before the enemy can put them in their ranks." 7 This order moved Frederick Douglass to advise United States President Abraham Lincoln to guarantee the slaves freedom and land grants or "they would take up arms for the rebels." 8 Using Black Americans not only gave the North a clear and crushing advantage in manpower, it also gave the North the inestimable and irreplaceable gift of creditability with the slaves in the South. However, had the South overcome her profane and poisonous propensity for slave labor, she would have amassed an army much larger than the North. Using Black American slaves sooner rather than later, would have given the Confederate army a "game changing" advantage of at least 300,000 trained and armed Confederate States Colored Troops (CSCT) that would have rewritten history with the South winning the Civil War. 9 Her defeat was a classic case of "too little, too late."

Whether you're fighting for the North or you're fighting for the South, making room at the table for Black Americans and the sure strategies that reach our people and impact our communities, OR NOT, spells certain victory OR certain defeat. Using Black Americans (21st Century) The Republicans Waited Too Late To Use Black Americans
"President Obama believes that America is strongest when everybody has a seat at the table. He's expanded opportunity for every American by taking steps to level the playing field so everybody plays by the same rules." Obama for America. All Rights Reserved (2011-2012), "The President's Record on Equal Rights" (Paid For By Obama For America) 10

In 1929, James H. Hubert, a Black social worker and Executive Secretary of the New York Urban League, asked Margaret Sanger to open a Birth Control Clinic in Harlem. 11 While Sanger believed that lighter-skinned races were superior to darkerskinned races and publicly promoted eugenics, once the clinic was funded by the Julius Rosenwald Fund in 1930 it was staffed with Black American doctors, nurses, clergy, journalists, social workers and received the approval of W. E. B. Du Bois, founder of the NAACP. 12 In 1939, Margaret Sanger started the Negro Project with the help of Black American leaders such as Mary McLeod Bethune, W. E. B. DuBois, and Reverend Adam Clayton Powell, Jr. 13 In 1960, during the presidential campaign, the Democratic Party's presidential nominee John Fitzgerald Kennedy interceded for King who was convicted and in jail for a probation violation after participating in the Wednesday, October 19th, 1960 sit-in at the Magnolia Room restaurant at Rich's Department Store in Atlanta, when sitting Republican President Dwight David Eisenhower and Republican Party presidential nominee Richard Milhous Nixon would not. 14 In 1966, on the 50th anniversary of Planned Parenthood's founding, Martin Luther King, Jr. was awarded the Margaret Sanger award for his efforts promoting human rights. 15 In 2008, the Democratic Party nominated and backed Illinois Senator Barack Hussein Obama II as their presidential candidate and won the general election in November becoming the first political party to embrace a Black American as President of the United States of America. 16 On April 4th, 2011 (the 43rd anniversary of the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.), President Barack Hussein Obama II and the Democratic Party announced his re-election campaign for 2012 in a video titled "It Begins with Us." 17 Today, the Democratic Party standing firmly in support of the first Black American to occupy the oval office, banks on the inestimable and irreplaceable gift of creditability as the dividend for time wisely invested in Black America.

There Is Such A Thing As Too Little, Too Late

20% of African Americans do not have health insurance. But in 2014, as many as seven (7) million African Americans are expected to gain coverage because of the Affordable Care Act." Obama for America. All Rights Reserved (2011-2012), "Better Health For African Americans" (Paid For By Obama For America) 18

In the course of seventy-nine (79) years, the current life expectancy of a single individual living today, 19 the Democratic Party has overcome a hundred and ninety-two (192) year history of blatant racism 20 and captured the heart of Black America. It appears that while the North was resting on their laurels, the South was learning a lesson and becoming stronger. It appears that while the South was investing in the lives of Black America, the North was busy divesting herself of all Black American assets. It appears that while the North was pursuing power, the South was pursuing people and by the power of perception recaptured the high ground of voter preference and perhaps certain victory. It appears that while the South was leaning on the language of choice, rights, justice, equality and healthcare for all, the North was pre-occupied in the pursuit of polls, political-equity and personal agendas in order to fulfill the financial futures of a few. Today, as I ponder the future of our country in light of federal bench appointments, the gravity of this year's presidential election and the voting proclivities of communities of color, I wonder if the North realizes that there is such a thing as "too little, too late." If not. If this is a lesson that's beyond the scope of her comprehension or a lesson that can only be learned South of the Mason-Dixon Line, then perhaps the South has won the war after all. Brothers, we really need to talk.
Reference(s): 01. Confederate General Robert E. Lee,, "The Civil War," by Scholastic, Aaron Rosenberg, p. 130 (http://bit.ly/JaFuoq). "Lee's Thoughts On Slavery," "People often assume that Lee was pro-slavery because he commanded the confederate forces. In fact, he did not feel that way at all. As he stated on Monday, May 1st, 1870, a few short months before his death." 02. Jonathan Sutherland, "African Americans at War: An Encyclopedia, Volume 1" (http://bit.ly/HztrQo). 03. Ibid. 04. Ibid. 05. United States Colored Troops, Wikipedia (http://bit.ly/HUqnBX). 06. "Confederate Law Authorizing the Enlistment of Black Soldiers, as Promulgated in a Military Order" (http://bit.ly/HowhVI). 07. Scott K. Williams, "Black Confederates In The Civil War" (http://bit.ly/9vmVjl). 08. Jonathan Sutherland, "African Americans at War: An Encyclopedia, Volume 1" (http://bit.ly/HztrQo). 09. "Confederate Law Authorizing the Enlistment of Black Soldiers, as Promulgated in a Military Order" (http://bit.ly/HowhVI). 10. "The President's Record on Equal Rights," Obama for America. All Rights Reserved, 2011-2012 (http://bit.ly/HR3Jod). 11. Hajo, Cathy Moran (2010). Birth Control on Main Street: Organizing Clinics in the United States, 1916-1939, University of Illinois Press, p. 85. (http://bit.ly/ImpXjO). 12. Margaret Sanger (Race), Wikipedia (http://bit.ly/wZPs3E). 13. The Margaret Sanger Papers "Birth Control or Race Control? Sanger and the Negro Project," #28, Fall 2001 (http://bit.ly/O9DK4). The Margaret Sanger Papers Project is a historical editing project sponsored by the Department of History at New York University. 14. The Martin Luther King, Jr., Research and Education Institute, "Kennedy, John Fitzgerald (1917-1963)" (http://bit.ly/J496Uo) from the achievements of Stanford University's Martin Luther King, Jr., Papers Project. 15. Margaret Sanger Award Recipients 1966-2009, "Planned Parenthood Federation of America Margaret Sanger Award Winners" (http://bit.ly/eSd4oM). 16. Democratic Party Presidential Candidates (2008), Party Nominee, Wikipedia (http://bit.ly/HNTJf4). 17. "It Begins With Us," Barack Obama 2012 Campaign Video Launch (http://bit.ly/fyaLKy). 18. "Better Health For African Americans," Obama for America. All Rights Reserved, 2011-2012 (http://bit.ly/zTDBUz). 19. Life Expectancy At Birth, Total (Years), "Life expectancy at birth indicates the number of years a newborn infant would live if prevailing patterns of mortality at the time of its birth were to stay the same throughout its life." The World Bank Group (http://bit.ly/9wHr3B). 20. Debates and Proceeding in the Congress of the United States, pp. 2555-2559, 16th Congress, 1st Session, "An act to authorize the people of Missouri Territory to form a constitution and state government," approved March 6th, 1820. See also The National Conventions and Platforms of All Political Parties, 1789-1905 (New York: Burt Franklin, 1971), pp. 18-20; Office of he Clerk, U.S. House of Representatives online, "Party Divisions" (http://bit.ly/eeTKS6); CNN AllPolitics.com, "Democratic Party History" (http://bit.ly/I2Vysb).

Note(s): The 1789 law prohibited slavery in all federal territories. However, by 1820 the Democratic Congress passed the Missouri Compromise and reversed the 1789 law and permitted slavery in about half the country at that time.

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