By Reverend Dr. Otis Moss, Jr.
On January 9, 1984, Frederick Douglass gave a speech titled: “The Lessons of the Hour.” A quote from Douglass says: “The Supreme Court has surrendered. State sovereignty is restored. It has destroyed the Civil Rights Bill, and converted the Republican Party into a party of money rather than a party of morals, a party of things rather than a party of humanity and justice.”
The U. S. Supreme Court in June, 2023 imposed on the American people a 19th century inhumane, anti-democracy, brutal and unjust legal doctrine. I firmly believe that millions of lives, careers and futures will be destroyed by the 19th century mindset of six (6) justices of the U. S. Supreme Court.
This re-introduction of 19th century oppression and legal brutality will not last but will do irreparable harm, pain and suffering while it lasts.
All people of wisdom, righteousness, common sense and conscience know that slavery was and is forever evil, inhumane, brutal and genocidal. Yet, political, economic, religious, legal leaders and others practiced and sustained slavery for centuries. The U. S. Supreme Court supported and upheld slavery for years and ruled in its favor and support in 1857.
The U. S. Supreme Court has in 2013, 2022, and 2023 turned back the clock, and in my belief, made injustice legal. We must never forget that what Hitler did in the 1930s and early 1940s was legal. At the same time, it was evil and later declared a crime against humanity. For 246 years slavery was legal in America. Educators taught it… Religious leaders “blessed” it… political leaders sustained it. And legal minds codified and upheld it. It was almost omnipotent as a way of life. But it could not last.
The U. S. Supreme Court has voted 6-3 to make (in my opinion) oppression and injustice national legal policy. This six-member majority, in my opinion, is closer to Trump and Putin than to human rights and democracy.
We now have an 1857, 1883, and 1896 U. S. Supreme Court back in force (6-3). The years listed above are the years when the U. S. Supreme Court upheld slavery (1857), killed a necessary Civil Rights Bill (1883) and established American Apartheid (1896). The current majority U. S. Supreme Court has declared itself an enemy to civil rights, equal rights and human rights. This will not and cannot stand forever, but irreparable harm will be done to tens of millions of lives, hopes, dreams and futures.
This Court has said to the President of the United States, in essence, “You cannot unlock the door to students’ “debtor’s prison” and “let the oppressed go free.”
As painful as the above injustices and realities are, we must remain apostles and disciples of love, justice, liberation and ultimately reconciliation.
In the present and future, we must decide to:
- Struggle together.
- Vote together.
- Teach and learn together.
- Pray and plan together.
- Walk and march together non-violently.
- Sing, suffer and serve God together.
- Live and die in faith, hope and love together.
We must learn anew from the legacy of our ancestors who sang to each other and generations not yet born:
“Walk together children, don’t get weary, There’s a great camp meeting in the Promised Land.” Amen!
Last updated on July 12, 2024
