Silent No More: A Major Crisis in the African-American Community

The National Black Catholic Congress ^ | 12.03.03 | Rev. John J. Raphael, SSJ

[Coleus]

Silent No More: A Major Crisis in the African-American Community
By Rev. John J. Raphael, SSJ
Roman Catholic Chaplain
Howard University, Washington, DC

Do you know what the leading cause of death in the African American Community since 1973 is? Think about it for a minute. Is it heart disease-2,266,789 deaths since 1973, cancer-1,638,350, or accidents-370,723? Is it AIDS-203,695, or violent crimes-306, 313? There is one possibility that is often overlooked. It happens 1452 times a day in our community. It has taken over 13 million Black lives within the last 30 years. It has taken 1/3 of our present population. What is it? ABORTION!

Don't believe it? Well, you don't have to, but you would be a fool not to because the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has provided the tragic statistics. According to the CDC, since 1973, the year of the Supreme Court Decision Roe vs. Wade, 13 million (13,000,000) African American lives have been lost to abortion. The CDC reports that of the approximately 4000 abortions that are performed daily in the United States, 1452 of them are performed on African American women and their pre-born children. This means that although African Americans represent only 12% of the population of the United States, they account for 35% of the abortions performed in this country.

A Crisis in Civic Leadership

What is so amazingly alarming about these statistics is not only the staggering number of African American deaths that are legally sanctioned, but the relative apathy of the overall African American population to this slaughter-when is the last time you were at a Pro-Life Rally-and, even worse, the active promotion and support of legalized abortion and the extension of so-called reproductive or abortion "rights" by the overwhelming majority of African American politicians and civil rights leaders.

Currently in Congress every member of the Congressional Black Caucus identifies him or herself as pro-choice. Because of the peculiar mix of race and politics in America in general, and especially in Washington, DC, on the political level Respect for Life concerns and legislation have by and large been cast as a one party issue. The result is that today there are no African American voices raised in defense of the unborn in our nation's federal legislative branch.

The same folks who profess to fight for the interests of African Americans in health care, educational and employment opportunities, voter representation, affirmative action and all those other areas of civic life for which early civil rights pioneers fought so hard, have abandoned the cause of justice in reference to respect for the lives of innocent and defenseless pre-born African-Americans. They have sided with those who use the Supreme Court decision Roe vs. Wade to deny a whole class of persons the right to exist.

The irony here is especially tragic since the Constitution of the United States sanctioned slavery and the "3/5ths clause" which relegated Africans in America to the status of chattel slavery. It was the Supreme Court that continued to support this same Constitutional "de-personalization" and the consequent second class status of people of African descent through two infamous decisions, namely Dred Scott, which upheld the fugitive slave law, and Plessy vs. Ferguson, which affirmed the Jim Crow system of segregation in the south. The famed decision mandating the dismantling of segregation "with all deliberate speed" in Brown vs. The Board of Education of Topeka, KS (the case argued by the late Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall) was a significant reversal of the Court's hitherto support of less than equal protection under the law for persons of African descent in America.

This abandonment by major Black leaders of the newest unprotected class, the pre-born, was made painfully clear in January of this year when Reverend Al Sharpton, who is seeking the Democratic nomination for the presidency of the United States, addressed the NARAL (National Abortion Rights Action League) Pro-Choice America Dinner in Washington, DC. After proudly announcing that he had just crossed the picket line of pro-life protesters using his now famous line "it is time for the Christian Right to meet the right Christians," Sharpton went on to defend his vociferous support of legalized abortion. He said:

I trust the decisions of women because it is a human right that Roe vs. Wade decided on. This is not about abortion, this is about human rights, this is about human dignity, this is about women having their say-so over their own body and over how they will decide to proceed with their life, and if America is to be America, we must protect women's right to choose for themselves.

It is hard to follow the logic of the above statement, after all, this debate, this crisis, is about abortion and the human dignity of a pre-born life, it is about the body of a woman and also about the body of her child that will be dismembered and thrown away as if it were trash without even the benefit a decent burial. What one does learn from Sharpton's further remarks is that, for him, the legal sanction to destroy a pre-born baby is a civil "right" just as the other rights Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and others fought for. He illustrates this by linking the fight to establish Dr. King's birthday as a national holiday with the fight to preserve legalized abortion on demand today. This is how Sharpton phrased it:

But let's not forget, we didn't get Dr. King's birthday because someone donated it, we had to march, we had to petition, we had to fight, we had to lobby to get that birthday, and in the end it was a great victory because even in the deep South, where he was castigated, where he was denounced, yesterday federal buildings were closed in honor of his day. We must have the same determination to keep fighting. Remember how we got Roe vs. Wade in the first place. Some of us may have to roll up our sleeves, but it does not matter, we cannot let them roll back the clock.

Note in particular the use of the words we, us, and them. Who is being designated by these terms? Is the pro-abortion "community," or is the African-American community being designated by the terms we or us? Has he linked the two groups inseparably? Are those who support the unborn person's right to live being designated by the term them? If the defenders of unborn lives are them, then Sharpton's is a particularly perverted understanding of civil rights. However, this speech is a classic example of the rhetoric employed by many national African-American political and social leaders in support of a practice that is the cause of the greatest number of African-American deaths in this country.
 continue with the article on the website, it's 10 pages long......

I have not spoken about the resources already available such as Project Gabriel which gives real and meaningful assistance to pregnant women, and Project Rachel which offers essential counseling services to post-abortive women. I have not spoken about the particular need to have active and committed Black Catholic participation in the work of L.E.A.R.N. (Life Education And Resource Network), the most effective and faithful African-American Respect for Life network, (www.blackgenocide.org).

All these elements and more form the content of the conversation we must begin and continue to have at every level. The ball has been dropped, but we must pick up that ball so that all God's children might have life and have it more abundantly!

If anyone is interested in or in need of prenatal/postnatal care please visit Project Gabriel's website at: http://www.gabrielproject.com/ for more information.

If anyone is interested in or in need of post-abortive counseling services, please visit Project Rachel's website at: http://www.hopeafterabortion.com/ for more information.

By Rev. John J. Raphael, SSJ
Roman Catholic Chaplain
Howard University, Washington, DC

[Julliardsux]

yes, pointing out my misspeling really undercuts the substance of what I said.

Very perswaysive.

[dead]

The typo-counter move?!?

Boy, that's a weak response to a thorough bitch slapping!

[Lady Eileen]

bump...thanks for the post.

[Julliardsux]

And by the way, JBT, here is your post from December 3, 2003:

"This is just so much horse sh*t. Last week a whole passel of illegals, a/k/a/ wetbacks, were camped out on Congress' door with their "demands". And what did Ridge et al. do about it?
Nada

Question: If when they are in your capitol city, poking their fingers in your eye, you don't ship 'em back, why should we believe you intend to go traipsing across the desert looking for 'em?"

So, JBT, not surprising a racist pig like yourself jumps to the defense of the comment made by STD. I hope you get the clap and it stings a lot.

[Julliardsux]

By the way, white people get the clap more often than minorities, JBT...

[ClarenceThomasfan]

"STUPIDITY is the leading cause of death in the black community!"

I am offended by your comment. I am black, pro-life and certainly not stupid!

[GOPJ]

Excellent list. Thanks.

1. School choice for inner city children(vouchers)

2. Social Security which a black man pays his entire working career and collects very little.(hint private accounts can be passed on to heirs.)(average live expectancy 65 for black men)

3. Abortion the #1 killer of African Americans. how much longer are you going to stay on the plantation?

[cyborg]

Oh but you're the EXCEPTION (volcanic plumes of sarcasm)

[Rocky]

"The irony here is especially tragic since the Constitution of the United States sanctioned slavery and the "3/5ths clause" which relegated Africans in America to the status of chattel slavery."

There is no doubt that slavery was sanctioned. It clearly was. But mentioning that old chestnut about the 3/5ths clause only destroys the author's credibility for those who know what the 3/5ths clause was about.

The southern states wanted to count each slave as a full citizen. The northern states didn't want them counted at all, since that would increase the number of representatives that the southern states could send to Congress.

There was not even the glimmer of a thought in either the south or the north that the slaves would be allowed to vote, or would have any kind of representation in Congress. The 3/5ths clause was merely a compromise which allowed the south to have more representatives in Congress than they would have if only non-slaves were counted.

Since abolition started in the North, if you were a slave, which side would you want to have more representation in Congress? You would vote for slaves not being counted at all, since you wouldn't be represented anyway. In other words, the fewer representatives for the South the better. Of course, the issue was not ultimately decided in Congress, but in a war over states' rights.

[GOPJ]

You've got your facts straight. Thanks.

Since abolition started in the North, if you were a slave, which side would you want to have more representation in Congress? You would vote for slaves not being counted at all, since you wouldn't be represented anyway. In other words, the fewer representatives for the South the better. Of course, the issue was not ultimately decided in Congress, but in a war over states' rights.

[cyborg]

Neither side could give a crap about slaves. Just like politicans today, all they care about is their own power. All the more reason for every citizen to be their own person and be proactive in government (hopefully republican).

[Julliardsux]

OK, that remark was merely lashing out, as the CDC indicates, white people statistically have less clap.

http://www.cdc.gov/nchstp/dstd/Stats_Trends/1998Surveillance/98PPT/1 [link doesn't work here, but that is my source - it is a powerpoint on gonorrhea].

However, JBT and his relatives account for 85% of the cases of the clap in whites, or at least I sincerely hope.

Is it wrong to wish clap upon a racist? If so, I am a bad, bad man.

[Sgt_Schultze]

Thanks for the post, but consider this excerpt...

This means that although African Americans represent only 12% of the population of the United States, they account for 35% of the abortions performed in this country...

If blacks (sorry to be un-PC) represent 12% of the population, clearly only about half that percentage is female and able to excercise the sacred leftist sacrament of abortion. That makes their representational percentage only about 6%, while their incidents of abortons remains more than a third of all performed.

[MissAmericanPie]

I've always termed it "Socialism's Covert Racism".

[wardaddy]

Bump.

[WaterDragon]

I see you have links to sites regarding the initial purposes of Planned Parenthood and the reasons why they wanted to legalize abortion....to rid the world of "undesirables"....blacks, Slavic people from Eastern Europe and the Irish.

But I find it incredible to read this misunderstanding in the article..... "3/5ths clause" which relegated Africans in America to the status of chattel slavery.

That "3/5ths clause" was fought for by Republicans to prevent the Southern Democrats from using their slaves to increase their representation in Congress. The Democrats planned to use the large number of blacks to boost their votes in Congress to demand that all new states admitted to the Union be admitted as slave states.

The 3/5ths law did not 'reduce' blacks to 'chattel slavery', they already were chattel slaves. The law DID reducE their owners' ability to increase their power in Congress.

I am thrilled that a black organization is speaking out against the yearly slaughter of black children prebirth. There has to be a committment along with that to encourage black women to marry before becoming pregnant, to support black parents to stay together to raise their babies. I'd be very happy for blacks to lead the nation back to sanity on this issue!

[wardaddy]

If so, I am a bad, bad man.

I don't think so, but you may be a bit "enthusiastic" in your self righteous condemnations of others. You blow the racist horn quite loudly and then turn right around and use it yourself...."whites and the clap"...totally unfounded. I would resist that siren call, though in my idealistic youth...I too was under the spell. It feels good to think of oneself as morally superior. I remember the feeling well, but if in doing so you allow yourself to use the same sterotypes and smears you accuse others of, are you really on the moral high road? A difficult balancing act, angry indignation at racist bogeymen behind every rock can be so taxing. God bless and Good Luck.

[Coleus]

You may find your stats here:
http://www.cdc.gov/std/

[Jumper]

Evil Democrat plot to limit the number of people in their desired welfare state.... Nothing new here, just move along.

[cyborg]

I would gleefully wish the clap of the worst, the most painful razorblade in the urethra, sort on all liberals.