Free Republic

Descendancy stems from the 19th Century Dawes Commission lists Members of the Cherokee Nation of native Americans have voted to revoke tribal citizenship for descendants of black slaves the Cherokees once owned.A total of 76.6% voted to amend the tribal constitution to limit citizenship to "blood" tribe members. Supporters said only the Cherokees had the right to determine tribal members. Opponents said the amendment was racist and aimed at preventing those with African-American heritage from gaining tribal revenue and government funding. The Cherokee Nation has 250,000 to 270,000 members, second only to the Navajo. 'Right to vote' The list...

<p>Plaintiff Deadria Farmer-Paellmann, "claiming to represent all of the United States' 35 million African-Americans," filed the country's first lawsuit seeking reparations for slavery, against Aetna Inc., CSX Corp. and FleetBoston Financial Corp., among others.</p> <p>Putting aside the obvious point that neither Farmer-Paellmann nor anyone else now alive has ever been enslaved in the U.S., it's hard to see how there could be any legal case against slavery as practiced in the pre-Civil War era. After all, slavery, evil though it was, was not only legal but specifically authorized by the Constitution until the ratification of the Thirteenth Amendment in 1865.</p>