Civil Rights Day, p. 4
Dublin Core
Title
Civil Rights Day, p. 4
Description
"If July 4th is celebrated by all Americans as Independence day, then it would seem that July 28th should be celebrated as Civil Rights day. July 4th is celebrated as the day on which the Declaration of Independence became official. July 28th seems to be the day on which the Fourteenth Amendment became official.
The was tremendous controversy over the amendment, and at first most of the southern states refused to accept it. Ten of them were placed under military government. Finally, the “reconstructed governments of these states accepted the amendment and it because a part of our Constitution. Final steps in its official history are summarized in The American Book of Days, author G. W. Douglass, a reputable historical student, publisher H. H. Wilson, New York, 1948 revision. Douglass says: “The second the Civil War amendments to the Constitution was approved by the Senate on June 8, 1866. It is known as the Fourteenth amendment…Its primary purpose was to guarantee to the Negroes the rights of citizenship. Its terms are general however.”
It is a remarkable and significant fac that although the question of the rights of the Negro was central in the origin of the amendment, nowhere in the entire amendment is the Negro specifically mentioned. And the only time that slaves are mentioned is when the amendment specifies that nobody should be paid for their emancipations. Most of the amendment’s provisions about civil rights are so stated that they may be used by a person of any race, religion, or national origin.
The amendment is divided into 5 sections. The section which has been most used to solve questions of the civil rights of Negroes as well as those of others, is the fist section. It is that first sections which continues the famous definition of a citizen; forbids a state to make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; and commands that not state shall “deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of the laws.” This section which is fundamental to most of the battles waged for civil rights today took up less than one-fifth of the words of the whole amendment.
The second section provides that a state’s representation shall be reduced when it denies suffrage to some of its citizens. This section has never been enforced. But the law stands there as firmly entrenched as any other part of the Constitution waiting only the time when some bold capable champion shall agitate it.
The third section penalizes officials who have taken part in or encouraged rebellion or insurrection.
The fourth section makes invalid debts incurred by states in insurrection and any claim for loss because of freeing slaves.
The fifth sections gives Congress power to enforce the amendment. Every citizen should memorize the first and second sections.
A provision of the amendment which impresses the casual reader is the fourth section. “America’s Road to Now” (D.C. Heath) states that “Six months before his first Emancipation Proclamation, Lincoln suggested to Congress that the slave holders of the loyal states be paid $400 for freeing each of their slaves.”
Since there were approximately 4,000,000 slaves it will be seen that the value of the property thus lost was around one billion six hundred million dollars ($1,600,000,000). The North sold its slaves to the south and then freed them.
The south now has the opportunity thru the need for educational facilities and the recent unsegregated-education decision to press for and get a sum equivalent to what lost property value when the slaves were freed. Since the slaveholder got nothing for his labor, the national grant of such a sum for education would settle some of the obligations of the federal government to both races. Will or senators and representatives have the wisdom to see the opportunity which now unfolds and take advantage of it? Or will they continue to subordinate the welfare of the people to race prejudice? It is high time for this sections of the nation to get on to something else other than receiving end of the suckers’ bait."
The was tremendous controversy over the amendment, and at first most of the southern states refused to accept it. Ten of them were placed under military government. Finally, the “reconstructed governments of these states accepted the amendment and it because a part of our Constitution. Final steps in its official history are summarized in The American Book of Days, author G. W. Douglass, a reputable historical student, publisher H. H. Wilson, New York, 1948 revision. Douglass says: “The second the Civil War amendments to the Constitution was approved by the Senate on June 8, 1866. It is known as the Fourteenth amendment…Its primary purpose was to guarantee to the Negroes the rights of citizenship. Its terms are general however.”
It is a remarkable and significant fac that although the question of the rights of the Negro was central in the origin of the amendment, nowhere in the entire amendment is the Negro specifically mentioned. And the only time that slaves are mentioned is when the amendment specifies that nobody should be paid for their emancipations. Most of the amendment’s provisions about civil rights are so stated that they may be used by a person of any race, religion, or national origin.
The amendment is divided into 5 sections. The section which has been most used to solve questions of the civil rights of Negroes as well as those of others, is the fist section. It is that first sections which continues the famous definition of a citizen; forbids a state to make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; and commands that not state shall “deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of the laws.” This section which is fundamental to most of the battles waged for civil rights today took up less than one-fifth of the words of the whole amendment.
The second section provides that a state’s representation shall be reduced when it denies suffrage to some of its citizens. This section has never been enforced. But the law stands there as firmly entrenched as any other part of the Constitution waiting only the time when some bold capable champion shall agitate it.
The third section penalizes officials who have taken part in or encouraged rebellion or insurrection.
The fourth section makes invalid debts incurred by states in insurrection and any claim for loss because of freeing slaves.
The fifth sections gives Congress power to enforce the amendment. Every citizen should memorize the first and second sections.
A provision of the amendment which impresses the casual reader is the fourth section. “America’s Road to Now” (D.C. Heath) states that “Six months before his first Emancipation Proclamation, Lincoln suggested to Congress that the slave holders of the loyal states be paid $400 for freeing each of their slaves.”
Since there were approximately 4,000,000 slaves it will be seen that the value of the property thus lost was around one billion six hundred million dollars ($1,600,000,000). The North sold its slaves to the south and then freed them.
The south now has the opportunity thru the need for educational facilities and the recent unsegregated-education decision to press for and get a sum equivalent to what lost property value when the slaves were freed. Since the slaveholder got nothing for his labor, the national grant of such a sum for education would settle some of the obligations of the federal government to both races. Will or senators and representatives have the wisdom to see the opportunity which now unfolds and take advantage of it? Or will they continue to subordinate the welfare of the people to race prejudice? It is high time for this sections of the nation to get on to something else other than receiving end of the suckers’ bait."
Creator
S.S. Taylor
Publisher
Arkansas State Press
Date
1955-6-15
Collection
Citation
S.S. Taylor, “Civil Rights Day, p. 4,” African American Fourth of July, accessed April 27, 2024, https://africanamerican4th.omeka.net/items/show/368.