“Are we really Citizens of these United States?”

“Are we really Citizens of these United States?”

Here is something I’d like all of us to contemplate on. My question for everyone is this. Are Black people really considered Citizens of these United States of America?

Here is what the framers of the Constitution of The United States thought of us when they wrote their Constitution.

“Article 1, Section 2, Provision 3 of the Constitution of the United States”

“Representatives and direct Taxes shall be apportioned among the several States which may be included within this Union, according to their respective Numbers, which shall be determined by adding to the whole Number of free Persons, including those bound to Service for a Term of Years, and ‘excluding Indians not taxed’, ‘three fifths of all other Persons’. The actual Enumeration shall be made within three Years after the first Meeting of the Congress of the United States, and within every subsequent Term of ten Years, in such Manner, as they shall by Law direct. The Number of Representatives shall not exceed one for every thirty Thousand, but each State shall have at Least one Representative; and until such enumeration shall be made, the State of New Hampshire shall be entitled to choose three, Massachusetts eight, Rhode Island and Providence Plantations one, Connecticut five, New York six, New Jersey four, Pennsylvania eight, Delaware one, Maryland six, Virginia ten, North Carolina five, South Carolina five and Georgia three.

The 14th Amendment

Section 2

“Representatives shall be apportioned among the several states according to their respective numbers, counting the whole number of persons in each state, ‘excluding Indians not taxed’. But when the right to vote at any election for the choice of electors for President and Vice President of the United States, Representatives in Congress, the executive and judicial officers of a state, or the members of the legislature thereof, is denied to any of the male inhabitants of such state, being twenty-one years of age, and citizens of the United States, or in any way abridged, except for participation in rebellion, or other crime, the basis of representation therein shall be reduced in the proportion which the number of such male citizens shall bear to the whole number of male citizens twenty-one years of age in such state”.

So far, the main difference between ‘Article 1, Section 2, Provision 3’ and ‘Section 2 of the 14th Amendment’ is the omission of the phrase ‘three-fifths of all other Persons’, just after the phrase ‘excluding Indians not taxed’.

Now, look real hard at what the framers wrote about us in Article 1, Section 2, Provision 3 of the Constitution of the United States, and what the writers did when they omitted ‘three-fifths of all other Persons’, just after the phrase ‘excluding Indians not taxed’ in the 14th Amendment.

Then I want you to look real hard at what they did with the 18th Amendment when they ratified the 21st Amendment.

The 21st Amendment, Section 1.

“The eighteenth article of Amendment to the Constitution of the United States is hereby repealed”.

Do you see the difference? Why didn’t they include this statement below in the 14^th Amendment?

‘Provision 3’ of Article 1, section 2 of the Constitution of the United States,  is hereby repealed by ‘Section 2 of the 14th Amendment to the Constitution of the United States.

As you can see, nowhere in the 14th Amendment is the term repealed included in that Amendment. So, the question is this: Did they really repeal the phrase ‘three-fifths of all other Persons’ by ratifying the 14 Amendment or not? Or did they just omit it to make us think that the clause of ‘3/5’s of all other persons’ had been repealed when there are no words in that Amendment where it specifically said they repealed it? So, why didn’t they write in Section Two of the 14th Amendment to the Constitution of the United States that the clause ‘three-fifths of all other Persons’, from Article 1, Section Two, Provision 3 has hereby been repealed? Hmm…

We were never considered Citizens of these United States of America as the U.S. Supreme Court decided in the case of ‘Dred Scott v. Sandford’, 60 U.S. 393 (1857) and we still aren’t considered Citizens of these United States of America. Here are some very important quotes from that Historical U.S. Supreme Court case.

Another issue in this discussion; one that is very much related to the one above is whether or not we, as Black people can be forced to ‘Pledge Allegiance To The Flag of the United States’? Well, that issue was settled in this U.S. Supreme Court case.

The United States Supreme Ruled in 1943 that no one is obligated to ‘Pledge Allegiance to the Flag’

West Virginia State Board of Education v. Barnette, 319 U.S. 624 (1943), is a decision by the Supreme Court of the United States holding that the Free Speech Clause of the First Amendment to the United States Constitution protected students from being forced to salute the American flag and say the Pledge of Allegiance in public school. The Court’s 6–3 decision, delivered by Justice Robert H. Jackson, is remembered for its forceful defense of free speech and constitutional rights generally as being placed “beyond the reach of majorities and officials.”

It was a significant court victory won by Jehovah’s Witnesses, whose religion forbade them from saluting or pledging to symbols, including symbols of political institutions. However, the Court did not address the effect the compelled salutation and recital ruling had upon their particular religious beliefs but instead ruled that the state did not have the power to compel speech in that manner for anyone.

Barnette overruled a 1940 decision on the same issue, Minersville School District v. Gobitis (also involving the children of Jehovah’s Witnesses), in which the Court stated that the proper recourse for dissent was to try to change the public school policy democratically.

However, in overruling Gobitis the Court primarily relied on the Free Speech Clause of the First Amendment rather than the Free Exercise Clause^[1].

Besides the reasons I’ve spoken of above, I see our people protesting the Confederate Flag. However, the question that we should be asking is this. How long were we enslaved under the United States Flag versus how long we were enslaved under the Confederate Flag? Well, under the Confederate Flag we were enslaved from 1861-1865. That’s 4 years. We were enslaved under the United States Flag from 1776-1865. That’s 99 years. And that’s not including the years before this Country created this Government. Counting all of the actual years together. It was from 1526-1865 since the first Afrikans arrived here in chains. That is a total of 339 years. Think about that. And that’s not counting what happened just after the years of ‘Reconstruction’ between 1865-1877, and the ‘Jim Crow’ years, and all that came after that, up to the present day. It’s been 491 years since the first kidnapped Afrikans arrived on these shores and the system of Racism white-Supremacy/white-Terrorism is still very much intact and still functioning quite well. From 1526 to the present, these Evil Bastards still refuse to treat us as human beings. The Flag of the United States of America is drenched with the blood of our Afrikan Ancestors and us. And who are the proud descendants of them. So, why aren’t we also protesting the United States Flag? It has been 153 years since 1865. What has really changed for us, as a race people since then? Think about that.

As a Black person,  we should not stand to ‘Pledge Allegiance to The Flag of The United States of America’. And the United States Supreme Court has ruled that no one is obligated to do so.

The final issue, which is also related to whether or not we are actually Citizens of the United States of America is standing to ‘honor’ “The Star Spangled Banner”, which has become ‘The National Anthem’, written by Francis Scott Key. Now, please analyze the 3rd verse. As you can see, Francis Scott Key, a ‘slave owner’ himself, who wrote the poem that later became known as “The Star-Spangled Banner” and ‘the National Anthem’, wished nothing but the most horrible death on those enslaved Afrikans who escaped their enslavement and were offered their freedom if they fought with the British against the United States in ‘The War of 1812’. The 3rd verse of his ‘song’ wishes the most horrible death on our Afrikan Ancestors. So, are we to honor him by standing and singing this song where he wished death to our own Ancestors? Hell No!!!

 Here are his hate-filled words, which are contained below.

“The Star-Spangled Banner”

Oh, say can you see by the dawn’s early light What so proudly we hailed at the twilight’s last gleaming?  Whose broad stripes and bright stars thru the perilous fight, O’er the ramparts we watched, were so gallantly streaming?  And the rocket’s red glare, the bombs bursting in air, gave proof through the night that our flag was still there.  Oh, say does that star-spangled banner yet wave O’er the land of the free and the home of the brave? 

 On the shore, dimly seen through the mists of the deep, Where the foe’s haughty host in dread silence reposes, What is that which the breeze, o’er the towering steep,  As it fitfully blows, half conceals, half discloses?  Now it catches the gleam of the morning’s first beam, In full glory reflected now shines in the stream: ‘Tis the star­spangled banner! Oh, long may it wave O’er the land of the free and the home of the brave! 

And where is that band who so vauntingly swore That the havoc of war and the battle’s confusion, A home and a country should leave us no more!  Their blood has washed out their foul footsteps’ pollution.  No refuge could save the hireling and slave From the terror of flight, or the gloom of the grave:  And the star-spangled banner in triumph doth wave  O’er the land of the free and the home of the brave! 

Oh! thus be it ever, when freemen shall stand   Between their loved home and the war’s desolation!  Blest with victory and peace, may the heav’n rescued land Praise the Power that hath made and preserved us a nation.  Then conquer we must, when our cause it is just, and this be our motto: “In God is our trust.” 

And the star-spangled banner in triumph shall wave O’er the land of the free and the home of the brave!

Now, based on all that I’ve presented here I can see no justifiable reason or rationale for any Black person to ‘Pledge Allegiance to the Flag of The United States of America, nor to stand and honor the Flag or the ‘National Anthem’ at all, given the continued Racism we, as a race of people, experience each and every day. My stance is clear. We aren’t Citizens of these United States of America at all. We have never been treated as anything other than kidnapped, enslaved Afrikans and ‘Prisoners of War’!!! As such, until The United States Government, it’s people honor and respects Black people in both word and deed, should any of us be compelled to honor either the Flag of the United States of America or the ‘National Anthem’ at all. This means the system of Racism white-Supremacy must be destroyed and replaced with a system of Justice for Black people.

Now, if you need more compelling reasons than those I’ve presented, you can read these books for more information, along with purchasing these powerpoint DVDs.

• “100 Years of Lynchings” by Ralph Ginzburg
• “Black Holocaust 2000” by Dell Jones
• “The Destruction of Black Civilization: Great Issues of a Race From 4500 B.C.-2000 A.D.” by Dr. Chancellor Williams
• “Enemies: The Clash of Races” by Haki Madhubuti

Powerpoint DVD’s

• “Maafa: Countering the Effort to Romanticize the Greatest Evil in History”, featuring Kush The Black Unifier and can be purchased at http://www.pkvstore.com/
• “Genocide: A Narrative of The History of White Brutality &Demonism”, featuring The Irritated Genie of Soufeese and can be purchased at http://www.waronthehorizon.com/ 

I rest my case.

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Olatunji Mwamba

I Pronounce my name Oh-LAH-TOON-jee UUM-WAHM-bah I was born June 7, 1954, in Baltimore City, Maryland, The United States of America. I grew up in Baltimore City, Maryland on the Westside until I was 14 years old. We then moved to the Eastside of the City where I lived until Adulthood. I am a straight Black man and I am happily married to my wife, Zakiyah. I am currently 66 years old. I am a father 8 (2 daughters and 6 sons), one step-daughter. I am a grandfather of 14 (9 granddaughters and 5 grandsons) and a great-grandfather of one great-grandson and one great-granddaughter. I am a former member of 'The Black Panther Party For Defense' with my brief membership in the organization from 1969-1970 at the age of 15 (1969) - the age of 16 (1970). My job as a junior Panther was to Chronicle Police Brutality for The Black Panther Party For Defense. I left to pursue a Singing career in 1970. I was introduced to Black Nationalist, Afrikan-Centered knowledge, and Cultural Information by my Jegna, Bilaal Opio Oba in the summer of 1974. I became a staunch Black Nationalist when I was 20 years old, by the fall of 1974. I also converted to Islam in 1974, as well. I even became a Muslim Imam for about 3 1/2 years, between the years of 1977-1981. In addition, starting in 1974, I began a serious study of our History thru reading and studying our Grandmaster Afrikan-Centered scholars, as well. This study has been on-going; my entire adult life. This study of Afrikan-Centered information is a life study and is on-going. However, because of my search for truth, I no longer subscribe to the dictates of Islam. The study of History has provided me with the facts, the evidence, the truth. I continue to study and study is a lifelong profession for me. As to my current stance on issues of religion--any of them, I am not afraid of the facts and the truth. Nor am I afraid of where those facts, the evidence, and the truth might lead me. I've worked in a variety of Black organizations since 1974. I've been seriously studying our story--'the good and the bad' since 1974, trying to understand how we as a race have found ourselves in our current circumstances. And most importantly, trying to figure how we can get out of it. Once I became aware of our circumstance I began to do all I could to change it. I began living a more Afrikan-Centered cultural lifestyle. I changed my name legally in 1977, to make sure none of my children would carry on that Caucasian slave name that our mortal enemies had forced onto my Ancestors. I refused to pass down that Caucasian surname to my progeny. So, I made sure that all of my children had Afrikan first names, middle names, and my surname. And my children, who have Afrikan names, range in ages of 40 years of age, down to 5. I've read all or most of the major works of our most Esteemed scholars and writers and I've done so multiple times too. Scholars and writers such as Dr. Yosef Ben Jochannan, Dr. John Henrk Clarke, Dr. Chancellor Williams, Dr. John G. Jackson, Dr. Marimba Ani, Dr. Charles Finch, Dr. Cheikh Anta Diop, Dr. Theophile Obenga, Dr. Frances Cress Welsing, Dr. Amos Wilson, Dr. Bobby Wright, Dr. Ivan Van Sertima, Tdka Maat Kilimanjaro Ph.D., George G. M. James, Dr. Jacob Carruthers, Dr. Charsee McCintire, Dr. Joy Degruy, Malcolm X, Marcus Garvey, Mwalimu K. Bomani Baruti, The Irritated Genie Of Soufeese, Del Jones, and so many others. And I've read their works multiple times too. At one point in time, I also co-hosted a radio program in Baltimore City on WEAA, Morgan State University Radio, 88.9 FM, with my good friend, sister Nalungo Sayyed for few years, as well. I try to adhere to the best in Afrikan Culture. I am Shemsu Ma'at (a follower of Ma'at). I'd like to part with this quote. "Be not arrogant because of your knowledge. Seek Counsel from the ignorant, as well as with the wise. For the limits of knowledge in any field have never been set. And no one has ever reached them. Wisdom is rarer than emeralds. And yet, it can be found among the women who gather at the grindstones"---The Teachings of Ptahotep" Author of the books entitled (1) "An Afrikan-Centered Response to the LGBTQIA Organizations and their Agenda: The Conversation no one wants to have" , by Olatunji Mwamba (2) "Raising Awareness: Past, Present, Future" by Olatunji Mwamba Sba, and Mkuu Mzee, Sba I am a member of "The Raising Awareness Group".

Latest posts by Olatunji Mwamba (see all)

• “Proper response to Caucasians who are the descendants of the perpetrators of the Trans Atlantic Slave kidnappings, Chattel Slavery, and the System of white-Supremacy/white-Terrorism, when discussing how we should assess and feel about those atrocities their ancestors committed and still commit against us” - August 29, 2023
• “Elders Keep It Real” by Olatunji Mwamba, Sba - March 27, 2022
• New Book entitled, “”An Afrikan-Centered Response to the LGBTQIA Organizations and Their Agenda: The Conversation no one wants to have”, by Olatunji Mwamba - May 5, 2021