By Jared Council
jared.council@insidebiz.com
John Charles Thomas, a retired justice of Virginia's Supreme Court, put the duration of slavery into context for listeners at a recent panel discussion.
From 1619 to 1866, or 247 years, Thomas said, blacks were told, "You're inferior, you're no more than an animal, you're chattel property.
"You know how long that is?" he said. "To get 247 years since 1866 would take you to 2113. That's how deep slavery was in America."
Thomas was among four legal experts and scholars speaking at an April roundtable exploring the road to the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which celebrates its 50th anniversary this year. The Norfolk State University event, part of the school's "1619: The Making of America" series, was sponsored in part by Cox Communications, which filmed and broadcast it pro bono.
Cox Virginia Senior Vice President Gary McCollum and State Del. Algie T. Howell, D-Norfolk, were among those in attendance. WHRO's Barbara Hamm Lee moderated the discussion.
The panelists touched on various milestones in African-American history, from the 1857 Dred Scott decision, in which the U.S. Supreme Court ruled free and enslaved blacks were not American citizens, to President Lyndon Johnson seeking the passage of a strong civil rights bill in the wake of President Kennedy's death.
Amos Jones, an assistant professor of law at Campbell University, said the Civil Rights Act of 1964 is "the most comprehensive and enduring civil rights legislation at the federal level I think we've seen," but blacks still fall short in various areas and there's still work to be done.
"The average black family has no wealth. The fastest-growing prison population is black women. The new ministries in some churches are to children with both parents in prison. We have a horrible achievement gap.
"And people have this illusion of 'Oh it's done. We fought the good fight. We have arrived. We have a black First Family.'"
John Pierre, vice chancellor at Southern University Law Center, said the first Africans brought to Virginia in 1619 were able to secure their freedom over time, but that changed when the colonies began making slavery a permanent institution, starting with Virginia.
While the country won its freedom from England after the American Revolution, Thomas said, not everyone was free. The issue was postponed to the Civil War, which he called "the last battle of the American Revolution."
After the Civil War, Congress passed various acts and constitutional amendments up until 1875. Then there was a quiet period, some panelists said, where federal action on slavery reparation was absent until 1957. Eric Claville, assistant dean at Hampton University's College of Liberal Arts, said that was a period when Jim Crow laws and segregation reigned supreme.
"They were not slaves," he said about blacks, "but their citizenship was severely limited."
One of the factors that helped change those circumstances, Thomas said, were not just the laws but the interpreters of the law. He said the word "all," for instance, wasn't always seen as including blacks.
"The same words on paper get a different treatment depending on who is judging," he said, "which ought to be a lesson for all our listeners that you ought to pay attention to who's in government."
One attendee asked about affirmative action, which are policies aimed at providing special treatment for disadvantaged groups.
The issue has been debated in the courts recently, with some arguing the policies are needed to help close disparities between whites and minorities and others arguing the preferential treatment is itself a form of discrimination.
Jones rejected the idea that affirmative action is "reverse racism." He argued that it's a corrective measure that can also be preventative, like a vaccine.
"The injection of the small amount of the flu can prevent you from having a terrible flu that metastasizes," he said.
Given the issues facing the black community today, the panelists were asked for recommendations for improvement. Responses included voting, occupying positions of influence, embracing a sense of pride and observing history through watching documentaries such as "Eyes on the Prize." Claville cited Hampton University President William R. Harvey and said "charity begins at home."
Speaking about the education plight of many black males, Pierre said a resolution has to include a focus on early education since academic success by third grade is a key indicator of success in society. McCollum, an early education advocate, nodded his head in the front row.
"So when you look at education," Pierre said, "you have to put an emphasis on the early part of the education piece."
