Is That Legal?

Perhaps you and some of your leftist lawyer buddies could donate some of your unearned paychecks for this "needed memorial" instead of trying to rob me of my hard earned money.

Not that it makes up for the lack of a memorial in Washington, but here in San Francisco, the Museum of the African Diaspora opened last year.

Ray Crawford has actually managed to answer your question more directly than I suspect he knows.

eric:

Mr. Crawford has a point of sorts.

I think what he's getting at is that the framers incorporated various protections for the institution of slavery into the Constitution.

See Paul Finkelman, Affirmative Action for the Master Class: The Creation of the Proslavery Constitution, 32 AKRON L. REV. 423 (1999). http://www.uakron.edu/law/lawreview/docs/finkelman323.pdf

So, if I may flesh-out Mr. Crawford's point, I think what he's complaining about is that if slavery was good enough for the framers, who the hell are you to raise a stink about it.

And, for that matter, who the hell was Lincoln to issue the Emancipation Proclamation and take property without just compensation -- in direct violation of the plain language of the 5th Amendment?

Here we are, as a country, in a desperate life-and-death struggle against those evil, evil, evil-doers hiding like cowards in the mountains of Pakistan.

And our President, George Bush, God bless him, is doing everything he can to save us from dying at their hands. [I know that every 75 days, more people die in car accidents than were killed on 9-11, but that just proves that people who make that argument hate American car companies.]

But people of your ilk are complaining that our current President is violating our civil liberties.

That's typical liberal garbage.

There's nothing in the 4th Amendment that says the President can't suspend its protections in the name of fighting evil-doers. Not one word.

And there's nothing in Article I or Article II of the Constitution that says the President can't ignore a federal law when national security is at stake. Not one word.

But you and your ilk celebrate Lincoln violating the 5th Amendment, contrary to the framer's express desires.

But you trash President Bush for supposedly doing the same thing to save us all from evil.

Frankly, Eric, the problem would seem to be that your liberal priorities are backward and out of the mainstream.

You obviously favor doing away with private property. But you're against protecting America from foreign enemies.

So that's why, I assume, Mr. Crawford said what he said.

While it doesn't focus solely on the issue of slavery, Detroit's Charles H. Wright Museum of African-American History is pretty nice. If you're ever in town, I suggest visiting.

Isn't there an exhibit about slavery in the museum of American History?

Yes, there is. But I was referring to a space that is devoted entirely to slavery, as opposed to an exhibit on slavery that's part of something else.

It's not well publicized, and I only know about it because I live in the neighborhood, but DC does have the African-American Civil War Museum and Memorial. The Museum is at 12th and U and the Memorial, which is on Park Service land, is 2 blocks east at 10th and U. It doesn't deal with all aspects of slavery, but it does deal with the contributions of African Americans in the fight to overcome slavery.

This doesn't quite fit your bill, but it's a step in the right direction: African American Civil War Memorial Museum

"In January 1999, the Civil War Memorial Museum opened to the public. Using photographs, documents and state of the art audio visual equipment, the museum helps visitors understand the African American's heroic and largely unknown struggle for freedom. The museum is located two blocks west of the (African American Civil war) Memorial in the historic Shaw neighborhood. To assist visitors, researchers, and descendants of USCT, the Museum also offers important educational and research tools."

It's not in our nation's capitol, and it only runs until March 5, but this exhibit might be of interest to you:

http://www.slaveryinnewyork.org/about_exhibit.htm

"It's not in our nation's capitol..."

Yes, I meant to type "capital," not "capitol." Duh.

Eric and others: while in DC, everyone should go to The Anacostia Museum & Center for African American History & Culture, 1902 Fort Place, S.E.
It is a bit off the beaten track, but it is a lovely facility, and part of the Smithsonian Institute, and listed as such if you go to the S.I. web site. It has not been open very long, and it was fought by numerous members of congress for decades.

there's also the downtown heritage trail, which is called "from civil war to civil rights..." it's not much, and it's fairly recent, but there ya go. it's DC. http://www.culturaltourismdc.org/information2546/information_show.htm?doc_id=71433