Monthly Archives: August 2013
Special Rules for a Special Race?
In recent weeks the Daily Exposure has been seemingly affixed to the problems that are worsening in the black community. In fact, some readers don’t appreciate those that point out these problems, and are looking to silence the messengers, either by smearing their names or by screaming racism. But this topic isn’t going to go away as long as it’s ignored by the mainstream media, leftist liberals and now, the president of the United States.
That’s correct, Barack Obama.
Along with support from Obama’s designated DOJ disgrace, Eric Holder, it’s being pushed that black kids in school need a break from discipline because, after all, they’re disadvantaged based upon the color of their skin and should have legislation in the form of youth-affirmative action. Yes, Obama is saying that the black children need a free pass and should not suffer the consequences of their actions.
Obama, using his executive power once again, signed the executive order on July 26th. And once again, the initiative skirted Congress, an entity Obama avoids like the plague. He does so because he and his handlers know full-well the legislation would never pass the House of Representatives. This should trouble the average American, but the mainstream media, also seemingly under control of the Obama Administration, mentions very little in regards to the way Obama is shaping our country into a socialist nation.
According to the executive order, public schools must now limit the amount of discipline of blacks, and punishment must be equally administered across all races in said schools. In other words, there will be quotas the schools cannot surpass, allowing bad behavior without consequences from blacks once this quota has met its limit. The limit would only be extended if punishment was equal to other races. This means whites, Hispanics and Asians could be singled out for punishment even when they did nothing major or wrong at all.
What is this telling America? That blacks are still disadvantaged because they choose to be and need special privileges because said disadvantages make them misbehave disproportionately to other races? Is Obama telling us that blacks cannot control their violence and mayhem and need a free pass?
It’s a resounding yes.
This isn’t going over well with all black American’s. Some see it as a setback to race relations and also view this as being painted an ingrate. A poster who does regular commentary on You Tube, and is also black, doesn’t agree with Obama or the race hustlers. Going by the You Tube handle painlessrisen, he believes it’s a huge setback, as this is 2013 and blacks have chosen to do little with their lives despite the opportunities given to them.
What’s more troubling than the contents of the executive order is that it makes no mention of a plan to get black children to actually behave.
While the U.S. slides further into peril socially, academically and politically, other countries are surpassing us in every category. Indeed, our integrity seems to be declining and further disrespected on the world stage.
Mr. Obama, is this on purpose?
Illustration: freepatriot.org
Dozier School and the Mysterious Binder
We all have our fears, and most people keep them tucked away, out of view from others. We don’t like to talk about them, and we don’t want to relive whatever nightmare we’ve dredged through. The worst memories can be a persons enemy, in a silent war that cannot be won.
These are the type of fears being relived by many who had the distinction of being sentenced as a juvenile to Arthur G. Dozier School for Boys. For the ones who suffered most, the school had another name.
I’ve detailed, vaguely, my stay at Dozier School in 1985 in a recent article, Horror in Marianna. In the story, I described how I happened upon a binder we found in a locked closet within the Print Shop at the boys prison. The memories were scant in the beginning, but as I have spoken with others about the ordeal, many things are coming to light.
Memory is such a fragile thing.
I received a message after publishing Horror in Marianna from the wife of an abuse victim at the school many years ago. She put me in touch with a couple of members from The White House Boy’s Organization. I’ve also been placed in touch with an anthropologist at a local university. Apparently, she will be leading the dig in the recently approved exhumation of bodies at the Dozier School. I spoke with the pair of White House Boy’s at length, hoping to jar some memory loose. After the calls, and a bit more research, the memories are coming back.
If the proverbial binders are located, here’s a bit of what it will detail, with dates and names:
- The truth behind a fire that the binder describes as more than 30 dead.
- Full disclosure of how and why shackles were used, and may have contributed to the deaths in the fire.
- Timelines that describe disappearances or suspicious deaths.
- Timelines of the type of punishment being administered.
- Precautions taken during inspections.
These are just a small list of the possibilities the binders hold in the investigation. To date, I have not heard back from anyone in regards to searching for these documents. The importance may be paramount, and may be cause to make people talk in the community of Marianna, Florida.
The puzzle piece that may break the case is being overlooked, and should be taken seriously if many questions are to be ever answered.
When We Were Negroes
When We Were Negroes
There was a time until the early 1960s when the terms to describe those of African descent, like me — African-American or Black or Afro-American — were almost unheard of.
I remember a distinct conversation with a friend discussing descriptive terms for ourselves in 1963 or ’64. The term “black” was just coming into vogue and he didn’t like it one bit.
“Call me a Negro,” he said, “But don’t call me black.”
Now, the word “Negro” (publications used a lower case “n”) has almost become a pejorative, so I was a little surprised when my pastor, the Rev. Willie Reid, used it during Thursday’s revival.
“Back when we were Negroes,” he said, and listed several things that were different about black life in America back then.
That got me to thinking. Back when we wuz Negroes in the 1950s, “only 9 percent of black families with children were headed by a single parent,” according to “The Black Family: 40 Years of Lies” by Kay Hymowitz.
“Black children had a 52 percent chance of living with both their biological parents until age 17. In 1959, “only 2 percent of black children were reared in households in which the mother never married.
“But now that we’re African-Americans, according to Hymowitz, those odds of living with both parents had “dwindled to a mere 6 percent” by the mid-1980s. And check this, in Bibb County, more than 70 percent of the births in the African-American community are to single mothers.
Back when we wuz Negroes and still fighting in many parts of the country for the right to vote, we couldn’t wait for the polls to open. We knew our friends, family and acquaintances had died getting us the ballot. Dogs and fire hoses were used to keep us away and still we came.
But now that we’re African-Americans, in a city of 47,000 registered — predominately black voters — more than 30,000 didn’t show up at the polls July 19.
Back when we wuz Negroes, we had names like Joshua, Aaron, Paul, Esther, Melba, Cynthia and Ida. Now that we are African Americans, our names are bastardized versions of alcohol from Chivas to Tequila to C(S)hardonney. And chances are the names have an unusual spelling.
Back when we wuz Negroes, according to the Trust For America’s Health’s “F as in Fat,” report, “only four states had diabetes rates above 6 percent…The hypertension rates in 37 states about 20 years ago were more than 20 percent.”
Now that we’re African-Americans, that report shows, “every state has a hypertension rate of more than 20 percent, with nine more than 30 percent. Forty-three states have diabetes rates of more than 7 percent, and 32 have rates above 8 percent. Adult obesity rates for blacks topped 40 percent in 15 states, 35 percent in 35 states and 30 percent in 42 states and Washington, D. C.
Back when we wuz Negroes, the one-room church was the community center that everyone used. Now that we’re African-Americans, our churches have lavish — compared to back-in-the-day churches — community centers that usually sit empty because the last thing the new church wants to do is invite the community in.
Back when we wuz Negroes, we didn’t have to be convinced that education was the key that opened the lock of success, but now that we’re African-Americans, more than 50 percent of our children fail to graduate high school. In Bibb County last year, the system had a dropout rate of 53.4 percent.
Back when we wuz Negroes, the last thing a young woman wanted to look like was a harlot and a young man a thug, but now that we’re African-Americans, many of our young girls dress like hootchie-mamas and our young boys imitate penitentiary custom and wear their pants below the butt line.
If I could reverse all of the above by trading the term “African-American” for “Negro,” now tell me what do you think I’d do?
Charles E. Richardson is The Telegraph’s editorial page editor
Horror in Marianna
In what seems to be an eternity ago, memories have been unlocked from the past that’s difficult to discuss. In my childhood, I was less than a well behaved lad, always taking it to another level that most children wouldn’t dare. In essence, I stayed in trouble most of my teenage life.
Recent events in the news have opened old wounds.
Being arrested as a youth over and over didn’t deter me, as even now I attempt to make sense of what I must have been thinking. It seemed I didn’t care at times, yet I had fantastic grades in school. Even the therapists were baffled as to why I seemed to need the adrenaline normal life didn’t provide. The arrests took me to one juvenile facility after another, and each time, I molded it into my own personal summer camp.
Social Adjustment Center/Orlando, FL. – Desoto START Center/Arcadia, FL. – Volusia House/Daytona Beach, FL.
It wasn’t fun for long.
After years of halfway houses and START Centers, the last resort for teens in 1985-Florida was Arthur G. Dozier School for Boy’s. Located in Marianna, Florida and opened in 1900, it was a maximum security facility that housed kids who refused to be rehabilitated by then-HRS (Health and Rehabilitative Services). When a youth saw the inside of a courtroom too many times, this was the end of the line.
Construction of mess hall in 1936
The teens at this facility were very unique. Much like myself, they relished in the amount of trouble they could cause or damage they could do. It was around the time of entering the Dozier School that I realized I had taken things too far. In the beginning, I was admittedly petrified. The rumors before arriving had all of the newbies on edge.
In hindsight, I turned out to be lucky when I stepped foot at the reception area of the teen fortress. Because I was in the juvenile system for so long, it turned out I already knew many of the residents, and it made for an easier indoctrination. Of course, all new residents, no matter who they were or knew, had to have their initiation. We all feared it, but once the blanket party was over, there was a sense of relief.
Use your imagination when picturing what a blanket party is.
I was placed in Hatton House, a small dormitory-like house/cottage that lodged between 30 and 40 troubled teens. As we affectionately came to know the facility as Gladiator School, academic lessons and day to day life commenced in a somewhat violent atmosphere. Fights were common, and the lack of facility staff allowed for it to go mostly unchecked. Although there was a staff member for each “house” on the compound there were too many places to hide for them to catch a fraction of it.
Most teens at Dozier were made to either attend class and/or go to vocational school located on site, or sit in the lockup appropriately called The Hill. There, the teens were issued only a pair of underwear, socks, and a flat mattress with a sheet. They were allowed 1 hour per day out of the lockup unit in an outside area we called The Run.
Yes, I spent some time there.
Within a few weeks, all newcomers were classified and assigned classes, job duties and vocational instruction. I elected to register for graphic arts courses, along with regular high school classes.
Graphic arts turned out to be the Print Shop. There, I learned the offset printing process and typesetting. We handled the stationary, duplicate forms (NCR) and other needs of the facility and other county entities in the area. The class turned out to be a daily getaway. An escape from reality, if you will. In the end, I received my certificate with 235 hours of training completed.
After I learned the ropes of the printing process, and about 4 months into my stay, myself and others in my vocational class decided to dig around in a closet located within the print shop, picking the lock to gain entry when the instructor wasn’t in the shop area. There were boxes stacked 7 feet upwards, and none of us previously knew what was in them. Opening the boxes, the dust stirred, forcing us to cover our mouths with our shirts. It was apparent this closet hadn’t been inspected in many, many years.
One box I pulled off of the stack was particularly heavier than the others. It initially seemed there were books stacked in it. I opened the cover to find several binders instead. It appeared to be from an era before data storage took over the obsolete hand-written age of record keeping.
In Dozier, there was always plenty of time. So, I placed the box atop the other boxes when returning them to the closet, being easily found again. For days afterwards, I pulled the box out, going through some of the many binders.
But then, one stuck out, as if to pull me in.
It was a binder with a timeline of sorts. It was about 100 pages of stories, events and what was described as facts. The documents were apparently decades-old. I began reading, and did so a little each day. The stories I read were horrific, and in the beginning I believed they were folklore. But when I began investigating the validity of the claims, I had to wonder who wrote it, and why. I recall asking a staff member about the stories I read. It was unbelievable when he said, “Alot has happened here in the past that most wouldn’t believe.”
To this day, I cannot recall if it was an official record or that of a staff member or accounts from teens in the past. What I did know was that the fabled Bunker Hill in fact existed. On a night when our supervising staff member fell asleep, we somehow made our way out of the dorm and onto Bunker Hill, a burial site for the youths who died there. It was difficult to ignore the correlation between what I had read and what I saw. Crosses, perhaps dozens, lined an area beyond the cleared trees.
Arthur G. Dozier School for Boys closed in 2011.
In the last couple of years, I’ve been reading a bit about a group who call themselves The White House Boy’s. They’ve arrived in the limelight recently due to pressure the group has put on Florida officials to dig up the remains of teens buried in Bunker Hill. There are families looking to recover their own. But what makes the White House Boy’s special is simple: Some were also victims of abuses claimed to be torturous and disfiguring, sometimes causing death. Although these abuses were not present in 1985, the year I was there, the similarities between their witness testimony and what I read in that binder years ago were too alike to dismiss.
The White House
The fabled White House? In the binder there was much written about this building. In the months leading up to the day I found the binder describing its existence, the rumors I heard from others turned out to be a little more than folklore. I was reading about the horrors thousands of kids lived so many years ago.
It’s my understanding that many residents in Marianna do not believe sexual abuse, beatings and murder could have happened at the Dozier School. Apparently they’re in denial, and refuse to acknowledge it could have happened there. But when many of the locals were themselves the bulk of employees at the facility, it’s difficult to excuse a possible cover-up. Local leaders contend that digging up the graves for identification purposes would further tarnish the Marianna area image.
Bunker Hill Cemetery
Legislators have now allocated $200,000 to a University of South Florida research team being charged with the task of exhuming the bodies in Bunker Hill Cemetery. While most locals do not favor it, certainly the research and investigation will turn over some stones they hope will never become public.
As for me?
I left the Dozier School behind in 1986, as I did my teenage life. It was a time I’d like to forget, but it’s a lesson I’ll hold onto for the rest of my days. To those who were described to be tortured, shackled to beds and murdered, your voices have yet to be heard.
Terror Ploy Supposedly Underway
Terrorism is back in the news, but the implications could be large. The United States shut down 22 U.S. Consulates in the north African region and in many places throughout the middle east. Officials were scant on details, but did firmly say that terrorists are working in unison, and are in place, to carry out terrorist activities that threaten U.S. interests.
President Obama was being briefed early Friday by the secretaries of state, Homeland Security and other agencies. A travel warning has been issued to all American’s traveling abroad around the world.
What’s not clear is the type of threat being posed by what is described to be an apparent Al-Qaeda plan to commit terror. It’s also unclear whether citizens on American soil should be concerned. With porous borders that seemingly go fully unprotected, American’s at home should also be vigilant and observant.
“The president has received frequent briefings over the last week on all aspects of the potential threat and our preparedness measures,” according to a statement issued by The White House.
Fox News illustrated the areas of concern, stating that the threat is specific and real.
Sources: Fox News, Reuters, Huffington Post, Washington Post
Brian's Daily Exposure 