In order to put "today's version" of the death penalty into proper context, so
that you as a human being, as well as a taxpayer will truly understand just
what it means, and represents to this society, you are a part of this society,
and civilization, even if you support the penalty of death for whatever reason,
owe it to yourself to find out and acknowledge the truth about the death
penalty in America and its history! In order to do this, you must go further
than just reading an article in a newspaper, or watching the evening news,
because the death penalty in its entirety is more than just a newspaper article
or an evening news sound bite.
The death penalty issue, and all that it represents is a very real, and very
large part of America's history. It's just as real, and large a part of the
history of this country as slavery was, as racism is, as genocide was, and hate
is, just as real as classism, sexism, politics, war, religion, homophobia, and
scapegoating are a part of this country's present.
This brief history lesson that I am now giving you, I hope will open your mind,
if only enough, to have you do your own research on this most important matter,
so that you will at least know the truth about a system that you support, and
is carried out in your name. In doing so, you will find out the truth that you
seek, and will find is a truth that no one can deny. A truth which no one,
especially politicians will tell you about!
Here's Your Brief Lesson
The penalty of death has been a vital part of this country's transformation.
When the first Europeans came to this country there was no death penalty in the
way that the Europeans used it. This country was not discovered by the
Europeans. This country was full of its own native people(s) when by accident
Europeans landed on these shores. These Europeans were headed to Asia, to
India, and when they accidentally landed on these shores they thought they had
landed in India. That is why they called the native people(s) of this country
Indians.
The death penalty and all of its different forms has always been a part of the
European culture. It is no surprise that when these European men landed on the
shores of this country, and unloaded their ships they unloaded the death
penalty as well. They brought it with them, just as they brought everything
else with them. The Europeans having set foot on this land, and having decided
to stay built two mainstays in this country, in a land that was not theirs. One
was the church, and the other was the gallows! The first Europeans to come to
this country were on a four-part mission. The first was to get rich, which is
why the voyage took place in the beginning. The second was to subjugate any,
and all people(s) that they came into contact with. The third was to convert
all those people(s) into Christians. The fourth was to destroy all those people
(s) who they could not subjugate or convert.
This was the state of the death penalty in this country. In it's early forms,
the penalty of death had nothing to do with crime, or murder, or anything of
that nature. It had to do with white supremacy, "power," the power of one people
(s) over another. The penalty of death has always been used to keep a certain
group of people(s) "in line." It has been used against a certain group then,
just as it is now. The power that comes with deciding who lives, and who dies
concerning this death penalty issue has always remained in the hands of the
rich, and the powerful, "rich white men!" who have always used it, not against
each other, but on the powerless. Once the Europeans established themselves in
this country, and took over this country, they, despite having to make all the
changes that one has to make when moving, and establishing ones self, kept the
two very things that not only suppressed all people(s) who they came into
contact with, the church and the gallows. They also eliminated as many of these
people(s) as they could in order to secure their future on this land.
Moving from place to place, having to adapt to weather, land, animals, disease,
and hunger, as well as all the other things that they had to adapt to, the
Europeans willfully used the penalty of death as a means to get rid of all
those who opposed them and their way of life.
Throughout its use, the death penalty was used as a "community event" whenever
possible. All people(s) had to attend the execution of the condemned person, so
that their execution would serve #1 as an example of what would happen to
others if they broke the law and #2 as a source of entertainment for society.
In the early phase of America's death penalty, what most concerned the general
public was this: the condemned's last words. Was he/she remorseful? Would they
repent, and go to heaven? Or would they remain the animal or savage that they
were said to be, and go straight to hell? The death penalty in America was run
by the church, as well as the government. In fact sometimes those two were one
and the same. The early death penalty was for anyone, and everyone who was not
rich, and powerful, and white. It was used against everyone, for everything,
from Native Americans to Africans, and African Americans, to the Hispanics,
Chinese to everyone else, both men and women. No one but right white man was
safe from the penalty of death. Poor white people? You could put them along
with the other groups that received the death penalty because they didn't
count! This death penalty was used as a means to "scapegoat" a person, or a
people(s), such as the so-called "witches" of Salem, Massachusetts, as well as
a means to control people(s) such as slaves.
This is a history of the death penalty that no one wants to talk about. Why?
Now days, this death penalty is supposed to be "humane," at least to those who
implement it. This is why the method of execution has changed throughout its
rich history in this country. This is new thinking, because for the most part,
being humane was the last thing on the minds, and hearts of those who use the
death penalty. In fact, it seemed the more the condemned suffered, the more
society liked it, and approved of it. You will still find that mindset in some
of the people who support today's version of the penalty of death. America has
used every means that man has thought of to execute men, from hanging to
stoning, from the electric chair to the gas chamber, from the firing squad, to
burning, to drowning, to tearing someone apart from limb to limb, from
beatings, to lethal injection. You name it, and it has been done to someone.
In understanding America's death penalty, one has to understand, and
acknowledge that this country was taken by force. It was taken from this
country'' original people, and rebuilt on violence, a violence that was used by
the rich, the powerful, the church, and the government to have things their
way, in all that this means, and represents to a violent people(s). In looking
at this issue from a historic standpoint, as well as a present day standpoint,
you have to also look at which states have the death penalty now, as well as
had it historically, which ones used it more now than others, and why? The most
used execution chambers in America now days, are some of the very ones who have
historically used the death penalty the most. Those are the southern states. At
one time in this country they were called "The Slave States!" States where
historically crimes against humanity have gone with or without the consent of
the people(s) of that state. From their church, to their government, most of
these states at one time were built by the very people(s) who were executed the
most, or those states' economies depended on those who were the most executed.
We all know who those people(s) were, and still are, don't we? The only
difference between then and now is the method of execution, as well as how, and
when, and where these executions are to take place. At one time in this country
executions became so popular that people would put on special events before and
after the execution. So many people attended these executions, and the events
that went with them that the government, or the church, or the people who used
the penalty of death, such as the criminal justice system, started losing
control over the death penalty event. The crowds would take over, and while
being drunk, and out of their minds with joy about the upcoming execution would
do all sorts of disruptive things, so much so that the powers that be felt
threatened by the very event that they were having.
So changes were made and the death penalty stopped being a public event. It was
moved behind a walled off area. Even with that, society which was so used to
attending these events would use ladders to climb on top of the walls in order
to be a part of the event of the penalty of death.
In some cases, the very walls would be torn down so that society would see, and
be a part of "justice!" It wasn't long before the powers that be decided to
once again change the way that the death penalty could be viewed. They decided
to make a special place inside a prison which was to be used only when
executions were to take place. They also decided that in order to keep the
public involved they would allow representatives of the public to attend, and
report on the execution. This is how the news media got involved with
witnessing, and reporting the death penalty event to society.
During those times, hanging and the firing squad were most commonly used to
execute people. However, just as time changes, and people change, and life
changes, so did the death penalty continue to change. The one thing that did
not change whenever a new method of execution was made were the kinds of people
(s) who implemented the death penalty. This has been consistent throughout this
country's history.
Politics, and politicians have always been a major part in keeping the death
penalty alive and well in this country. So has the church, especially the
Christian Church, as well as a few other religions. Most of the politics and
political leaders who use the death penalty come from these religions who have
historically used it to subjugate, and convert all people(s) who they have come
in contact with. They used what they were taught in their religions, in their
politics, in order to not only remain in control of this country, but to
oppress all others who they refused to share this country with.
White Christians lynched Black Christians on a regular basis, as well as other
groups of people(s) who were thought of as less than human. You can still see
this very real fact today when you look at who openly supports the death
penalty, and their reasons for doing so. These people for the most part are
religious/political people, and so is their agenda. Yet I am told that in this
country there is supposed to be a separation between church and state.
As an American of African descent, I have learned just how the death penalty
was, and still is used to rid this society of all people(s) who are different
than those that are in power in this country. When the first American man set
foot on this land a lynching law went into effect. It was unwritten and
unspoken, but it was the law. A law that the rich white men put into effect in
order to rid themselves of any black man who they saw as a threat or as a
troublemaker. This unwritten law stayed in effect until the 1950s when then
President Eisenhower outlawed lynching. No president up until President
Eisenhower would sign an anti-lynching bill. From President Washington to
President Roosevelt. No president would stop any white man from lynching any
man, especially a black man because it was wrong, or against the law. This is a
form of execution that we African American's know about and deal with because
it is a very real part of our history in this country. Millions of Africans of
African American men, women and children were executed this way. They were
executed for being black, just as Native Americans were executed for being
Native Americans, and others were executed for being who they were, including
gays and lesbians, and all non-Christians. Because a large part of society
started to speak out against this death penalty overkill that was happening and
continues to happen many politicians and religious people started to take note
at the turning of opinion, and support for the death penalty since it was
implemented for all sorts of crimes. In fact, it had nothing to do with being
convicted of murder, because in most cases the system was already in place to
execute a person without having a trial.
From adultery to cattle rustling to almost anything else, the death penalty was
used. In order to save the death penalty from being unsupported by society, the
powers that be had to once again change the death penalty. This time they
changed it to fit only certain crimes, and not all crimes. The certain crime
for what the death penalty was supposed to be used for was murder. So the death
penalty as we know it was born. It was born not because it was a good thing,
but because it was the only way to keep it. Some things have to change in order
to keep them. This still did not change the kind of people(s) who the death
penalty was used on, nor did it change the kind of people(s) who used it. This
is a fact. Along with that fact, there is this fact: In every period of time in
this country's history, all those races, and cultures, and people(s) that the
death penalty was used on have been historically oppressed in this country.
They have also at one time or another joined together, worked together, fought
together, died together, lived together, and intermarried together in order to
survive together in this country. So there has always been more than just one
people(s) at war with this country, as well as being executed by this country.
It was very important for these different people(s) to be together to fight
against the very people(s) who have historically committed genocide on their
people(s), enslaved them in some of the worst crimes against humanity that have
ever taken place in the history of the world!
These descendents of those people, like me, are the ones who fill up these
death rows across the country. While the descendents of the other side continue
to do what their ancestors have done. This is a fact about the death penalty. A
fact that no one wants to admit. This is another present day and historical
fact that no one wants to admit, that whenever the penalty of death has been
given, and carried out in this country, throughout its use, especially when it
was given because of murder, those people(s) most often executed for the
killing and conviction of killing were executed because their victims were
white people.
When I speak of history, I speak from the very first day that Europeans stepped
foot on this land, stole it from its original people and started implementing
their own laws. So from day one until now the following thing went hand in
hand, that the people(s) who were executed for murder were mostly executed for
the murders of white people. At that point it was 100% white males who
implemented the penalty of death. Now days it's close to 98%. So from day one
that white males set foot on the shores of this country until today, white
males have only lost 2% of their overall power to implement the death penalty.
They have lost only 2% of the power over who lives and who dies. As the
government's own facts, or statistics now show, most people who are no on
America's death row are there because they were found guilty of killing white
people, and they were sentenced to die for it. On the other hand, very few
white people have ever been given the death penalty for killing someone of
color, especially a black person, but Asians, and Hispanics, and Native
Americans and all other can be put into this group as well. Of all the
different races, and religions, and cultures, and people(s) who make up
America, white people very seldom, if ever get the death penalty for killing
them. If and when the do the murder of the person of color by that white person
had to be so heinous that public outcry forced the powers that be to seek and
implement the death penalty in that case. An example is the case in Jasper,
Texas where those three white men dragged to death a black man on the back of
their truck just because he was black. As of this writing, one of the white men
did receive the death penalty. He was, and is the very first white man to ever
get the death penalty in Texas for the killing of a black man since before
Reconstruction. He is the second overall, but the first in recent times. The
first was when a white man was executed for killing the favorite slave of
another white man during Texas slavery time.
There are very few white people on America's death row for being convicted of
killing anyone other than a white person. This is a fact! In the few cases that
white people are on death row for killing someone other than a white person.
What does this truly say about the death penalty in this system of criminal
justice? What does it mean when all death penalty cases are decided by 98% of
white men? These white males see themselves as leaders and saviors of this
country. They are for the most part wealthy and in some cases outright rich,
while the people who they choose to give this penalty of death to are most
often poor, uneducated, inarticulate, and all the other things that makes them
disposable to rich people. Not only are they seen as disposable, they are also
seen as worthless, meaningless, hopeless, and felt that the world would be a
better place without them. This is the sad truth about the death penalty, in so
much that these very rich white men who implement the death penalty are the
same men who drop bombs on innocent men, women and children in other countries.
If you understand and acknowledge these truths about the death penalty, then
you will truly start to see why so many innocent people are being found and
freed from death rows all across this country. The last fact that I want to
touch on may be one of the most important facts: "the juries!" Historically, as
well as present day, most juries who sentence people to be executed are either
all white, or for the most part white. These white juries have mostly been
representatives of the white class power structure. They have been pro-death
penalty people. In fact that is one of the requirements to sit on a death
penalty case. You have to believe in the death penalty. If you don't believe in
it, then you can't be on the jury.
Even today, in 1999, there are very few people of color who qualify to sit on
death penalty juries. Why? That is a two-part question. First, people of color
have historically had that death penalty used against their people(s). They are
the least likely to impose the death penalty on anyone else. Let alone someone
who looks like them. Secondly, white male district attorneys don't want any
people of color on death penalty cases. For the reason I mentioned above,
people of color are the least likely people to impose the death penalty on
anyone, because this same death penalty has historically been used against
them. Knowing this, some white male district attorneys purposely keep people of
color off death penalty cases. They even teach other district attorneys how to
do the same. One district attorney in Philadelphia, PA in the 1990s made a
video of how to keep people of color off death penalty cases, and he sent it
out to other district attorneys across this country. If you put together all
that I have said and you think about it, maybe it will interest you enough to
go and do your own research on this issue. If you are going to either support
this system or let it go on in your name, don't you think that you owe it to
yourself to find out the historical truth about the death penalty, a penalty
that is done in your name, a penalty that by its very nature is a true crime
against humanity, a penalty that is unfair in who gets it, and who doesn't, a
penalty that you don't even have to kill someone to find yourself on death row
waiting to be killed.
Campaign to End the Death Penalty