Honor Roll of Colored Veterans, Harbinger?

Courtesy Bill Coleman, Bond and Coleman at Honor Roll meeting.

Progress on Honor Roll of Colored Vets

Actions speak louder than words and good actions have good effects. The City of Worcester, organized labor, the Department of Transportation, and the Worcester Public School have acted in a good and anti-racist manner. They and other are cooperating to ensure the restoration of the “Honor Roll of Colored Veterans”.

The Honor Roll was a monument listing of the Black veterans who were in the military during World Two. It was removed by the State during the 1950s and lost.

Other communities rightly have monuments. Recently the some in the Irish community honored the Easter Uprising by the Irish Republican Army against British rule in 1916. This was done at the Hibernian Cross found at City Hall.

The efforts to replace the Honor Roll has been led by James Bond, a commander of a Veteran of Foreign Wars post and by Bill Coleman a long time activist in the City.

In the Black community there is some anxiety whether the Honor Roll would be replaced. It was only a week or so ago that a City Councillor, Konnie Lukes, attacked Bill Coleman for bothering the City Council with his petitions. Another City Councillor, Michael T. Gaffney, has made it his misguided mission to close a Black run social agency among his other actions that some say are racist.

To be fair the project was approved unanimously, including votes by Councillors Lukes and Gaffney

Councillors Bergman has worked on the planning and supported the project. He also supported the placement of a plague honoring Worcester’s first Black City Councillor. Charles Scott.

The City of Worcester will help pay for the new Honor Roll as well as allowing it to be placed on a triangular plot near the Worcester Police Station. The land is on Belmont St.  This is sort of a disappointment as the original proposal was to put the Honor at City Hall where it could be better seen.

Students from Worcester Technical High School will donate labor and build the Honor Roll. The Central Mass. Labor Council, headed by Joseph Carlson,  will help pay for the monument and donate the materials. The Department of Transportation will also contribute to the funding.

Hopefully this will be a good sign for race relations in Worcester that have suffered several hits in recent years. The City forcing Dr. Boone out of the School Superintendency, the political retaliations against Blacklives Matter, and the intransigence regarding police accountability have left a bad taste and ill feelings in the City.

I am thankful for the efforts of Messrs. Bond and Coleman. I am thankful for the support of the City, the State, organized labor, and the students. I know that all are sincere and generous and working for a better society.

The next test for us is harder. There are real problems that have disparately bad impacts on the Black community and other communities of color or communities with low income.

The replacement of the Honor Roll is a good thing in and of itself. Is it also a harbinger of better race relations.

Misuse of the Courts by Patriots Fans

The Misuse of the Courts by Patriots Fans

A group of Patriot fans has filed a lawsuit in Boston Federal Court seeking a restoration of the Patriots first round draft pick in the 2016 draft  and the fourth round of the 2017 draft  of newly eligible rookies players. Named in the suit is the National Football League (NFL), its Commissioner Roger Goodell. Curiously the owner of the New England Patriots, Robert Kraft, was also named.

The Plaintiffs claim that they have suffered mental anguish (emotional distress) by the “fraudulent” actions of the NFL. They also claim that the Patriots have been harmed by the Goodell’s action.

Mr. Kraft allegedly did not fight hard enough against the NFL disciplinary measures.

The lawsuit was prepared by an attorney from Maine, Steve Carey.

I had a good laugh when hearing this story. I felt it was just one more thing to make life interesting.

 I was surprised that Tom Brady name did not come up in the lawsuit. He is well revered in New England, but faces suspension for Deflategate.

After some thought I changed my mind.

This lawsuit actually hurts the public interest. It clogs up an already slow justice system with a frivolous case. The plaintiffs have no standing upon which a claim can be made. They have no fiduciary interest. The emotional distress is the accepted risk for being a sport fan.

I would be surprised if the lawsuit was not dismissed immediately. I would not be surprised if Mr. Carey was sanctioned for bringing a frivolous lawsuit.

The Patriots are not well liked outside of New England. The franchise has been accused of cheating several times as the team has won several Lombardi Trophies.  It is not the first time the NFL has punished the team by removing draft picks.

The aura of cleverness and the perception of cheating actually add to the image of New Englanders as innovators and being ahead of the curve. In some cases ahead of the rules.  I am looking forward to the next bending of the rules by Coach Belichick.

There may be a reason other history that so many elite colleges are located in New England.

Of all of the more interesting football players in the NFL the Patriots seems to have had at least three. Tom Brady is a pretty face, with a trophy wife, a fountain of youth, and adoring fans. Gronk is the young man sowing his oats who does what he wants without getting into trouble. Hernandez scares me if any of what they say about him is true.

So it beginning to make sense to me that Patriot fans are not all that different from the players. We fans want to be part of this interesting team, a part of the draft, and a part of the perception of the clever New Englander.

When I first came to New England decades ago, one of the things I learn was the wisdom from an old New Englander who said “Make do, Do with less, Do with out”. The Patriot team and its fans will have to take note of his words when it comes to the 2016 and 2017 NFL draft and Tom Brady’s suspension.

One Person One Vote

The Supreme Court’s Road to Redemption

I have been following my former friend, Justice Clarence Thomas, since Justice Scalia’s death. He voted on April 4, 2016 with the “liberal” Justices without comment. I believe that the individual can be redeemed and that he is on the road to redemption.

On April 4, 2016 the Supreme Court of the United States ruled that being registered to vote does not make us persons. As you know the Supreme Court has the legal right under the Constitution to determine who among us are persons. In 1860s it said that freed Black people and their children are persons. Later in the 19^th Century it said that Corporations are person.

In this instant case it ruled people not registered to vote can continue to be persons.

A person is usually a human being. However in the USA it is what the Supreme Court says we are.

The case involved a challenge to the so called One Person One Vote principle found in the 1965 Voting Rights Act.  The number of persons has traditionally been determined by the U.S. Census which takes place every ten years. The states usually follow the U.S. Census when determining redistricting of state legislatures.

A right wing group, that some consider racist, in Texas challenged the constitutionality of using the U.S. Census to determine the number of persons and the One Person One Vote Principle.  This group wanted a separate census in Texas based on voter registration.

As relatively more persons are registered to vote in the rural areas of the United States than in the urban areas , the change sought by the right wing group would make the state legislatures more White and more rural.

However it had other implications as well. It would mean that children would become non persons as they could not be registered voters. It would mean permanent residents would be non persons as they could not register to vote. Anyone who could not meet the difficult voter ID laws would be a non person.

Fortunately for humanity the Supreme Court without Scalia voted down the right wing challenge and took the road away from Perdition.

The Supreme Court in a back handed manner has affirmed that like Corporations, children, immigrants,  and those of us who do not have a birth certificate or afford a government ID are still persons.

As persons we (all residents) are entitled to representation by our state legislatures.

There is a message here for Worcester and Massachusetts which hold that only citizens can vote in an election.  They should allow adult residents the right to vote.  Adult residents could be able to vote in School Committee and City Council election in Worcester, if there was a home rule petition allowing it.

The results of November 2015 elections for School Committee suggest a need for residents, not just citizens to vote in Worcester.  The School Committee is entirely White while the School District is majority Latino, Black, and Asian.

In 2016 Worcester City Manager at the urging of a City Councillor wrote a Home Rule Petition for the eviction of certain leasees.  This petition lacked substance. 

The Manager should now write another petition that allows residents of the City to vote In City elections. I hope he has the moral character to do so.