A History of Counter Measures

The growing International protest movement which arose out of the murder of George Floyd and others will undoubtedly result in sweeping legislation to curb police brutality. New laws are needed. For our republic to reach its full potential, blacks have to as well. The vestiges of white supremacy must be removed. Society has to accommodate a new reality of equality. The world now seems to recognize this. However, if past is prologue, we can expect to see patterns of counter legislation that will be enacted to even the score, and perhaps make matters worse.

Newton’s third law asserts that for every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction. African Americans and those supporting our causes should pay particular heed to this. Every legal, constitutional and Statutory advancement from the end of slavery; to the civil rights Statutes, to affirmative action has been met with a series of opposing legislation aimed at nullifying any improvements. In some instances, the counter legislation has had the effect of virtually neutralizing the statute. The Lincoln emancipation proclamation was met with a set of laws that nearly nullified the thirteenth amendment. The Civil rights statutes of the sixties were likewise met with a series of draconian measures that resulted in the mass incarceration of black males. The landmark school desegregation decision, Brown v Board of Education led to mass white…