At the time it was written, The Declaration of Independence, with its nice rhetoric about Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness, did not apply to various classes of people, Indians, certain People of Color, witches and heretics, and others, and it was not intended that if ever would apply to them.
It could easily be argued that it didn't even fully apply to propertyless free white women, but that is yet another kettle of fish. The typical types intended to be covered by the Declaration and the US Constitution are shown in Barry Faulkner's mural The Declaration of Independence, reproduced below
On this day in 1955, Emmet Till, a 14 year old black boy was abducted, tortured and brutally murdered in Mississippi. The perpetrators were found not guilty by an all white Mississippi jury. The Declaration's "Right to Life" language, the Constitution, The Bill of Rights and the Civil War Amendments provided him no protection or security. It is said that his death gave impetus to the Civil Rights struggle. Perhaps it did, but lynchings still happen today, 68 years later. They are more circumspect, the perpetrators no longer take and widely publish photos, etc., but they still happen. They were never confined solely to the south, and still aren't. They were never confined solely to persons of color and still aren't. They are fueled by hatred, self-righteous arrogance, and belief systems, often based on fear, that disparage and denigrate the "other". Prevention must, among other things, target those mental aberrations.
I will note in passing that it is Red Wine Day
On this day in history:
1565 -- Pedro Menendez de Aviles spotted land near St. Augustine, Florida and established the city of St. Augustine 1609 -- Henry Hudson "discovered" Delaware Bay. 1789 -- William Herschel found a new Saturnian moon, Enceladus. 1830 -- The B & O Railroad's Tom Thumb locomotive raced a horse-drawn car 1833 -- The Slavery Abolition Act 1833 abolished slavery in most of the British Empire 1845 -- The first issue of Scientific American magazine was published 1850 – Wagner’s Lohengrin premiered 1859 -- The strongest geomagnetic storm on record hit earth 1964 – The Philadelphia race riot began. 1867 – The United States seized Midway Atoll. 1913 -- Queen Wilhelmina opened the Peace Palace in The Hague. 1955 -- Emmett Till was murdered in Mississippi by racist thugs. 1957 -- Strom Thurmond filibustered the Civil Rights Act of 1957 for over 24 hours 1963 -- Martin Luther King, Jr. gave his I Have a Dream speech at The March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom 1968 -- Demonstrations at the Democratic National Convention in Chitown triggered a police riot 1993 – NASA's Galileo probe performed a flyby of the asteroid 243 Ida. 1996 – The Federal Protective Service arrested 11 for protesting in a demonstration during that year's Democratic National Convention
Some people who were born on this day:
People with advantages are loath to believe that they just happen to be people with advantages.
~~ C. Wright Mills
1481 – Francisco de Sá de Miranda, poet 1749 -- Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, novelist, poet, playwright 1801 – Antoine Augustin Cournot, mathematician and philosopher 1853 – Vladimir Shukhov, architect and engineer 1903 – Bruno Bettelheim, shrink and author 1906 – John Betjeman, poet and academic 1908 -- Roger Tory Peterson, ornithologist and author 1916 -- C. Wright Mills, sociologist and author 1916 -- Jack Vance, author 1917 -- Jack Kirby, comic book author and illustrator 1925 -- Billy Grammer, singer, songwriter and guitarist 1928 -- Vilayat Khan, sitar player and composer 1941 – John Stanley Marshall, drummer 1948 -- Danny Seraphine, drummer
Some people who died on this day:
I saw in the whole Christian world a license of fighting at which even barbarous nations might blush. Wars were begun on trifling pretexts or none at all, and carried on without any reference of law, Divine or human.
~~ Hugo Grotius
0632 -- Fatimah, daughter of Muhammad 1645 -- Hugo Grotius, philosopher, jurist, and playwright 1665 – Elisabetta Sirani, painter 1784 -- Junipero Serra, slave driving, land thieving, oppressive, murdering, imperialist, genocidal inquisitor (oops, that's SAINT slave driving, land thieving, oppressive, murdering, imperialist, genocidal inquisitor) 1818 – Jean Baptiste Point du Sable, fur trader, founded Chicago 1903 -- Frederick Law Olmsted, architect 1955 -- Emmett Till, victim of racist murderers in Mississippi 1988 -- Max Shulman, author and screenwriter 2014 – Glenn Cornick, bass guitarist
Some Holidays, Holy Days, Festivals, Feast Days, Days of Recognition, and such: The feast of Augustine ofThe Hippos Hippo Red Wine Day
Today's Tunes
Pedro Menendez de Aviles
Emmet Till
1968 Democratic Convention
Roger Tory Peterson
Billy Grammer
Vilayat Khan
John Stanley Marshall
center> - Danny Seraphine (CTA)
Glenn Cornick
Saint Junipero Serra the Clerical Conquistador
Red Wine Day
Bonus:
Ok, it's an open thread, so it's up to you folks now. So what's on your mind?
Cross posted from http://caucus99percent.com Open thread, Emmett Till, Chicago Convention, Saint Augustine, Billy Grammer, Danny Seraphine, Glenn Cornick, The Saint of Native American Genocide