Pastor Hunter to U.N.: “More Blacks in Slavery Today Thanks to 13th Amendment”
Urges U.N. to fight for clause that retains slavery in U.S.
By Chinta Strausberg
Rev. Marvin G. Hunter, pastor of Grace Memorial Baptist Church, Monday asked the United Nation (U.N.) to revisit a clause in the 13th Amendment that says when a man commits a crime he reverts back to being a slave he blames on the 2 million mostly black people in prison today—more than in the height of the Civil War.
Hunter, who is also president of the Lawndale Black Chamber of Commerce and uncle of slain 17-year-old Laquan McDonald shot 16 times by Chicago police officer Jason Van Dyke, told the U.N., “We have more people in slavery (prison) today than in the height of the Emancipation of Proclamation.
Hunter, who made his comments on the last of a two-day U.N. conference held at Chicago State University, said he believes one of the reasons McDonald today “is because a certain segment of the white population in this country feel they have no laws on the book for black men that a white man has to obey…which is the Dred Scott decision.”
He asked the U.N. to remove that clause claiming it would “reverse crime in America because it would reverse poverty in America. I do not believe that crime produces poverty. I believe that poverty produces crime. I believe that slavery is a direct result of the level of poverty that African American people are experiencing in this country.”
“America is the only country in the world where the poor takes care of the rich. This country was built off the backs of slaves,” Hunter reminder the U.N. members. “When slavery was so-called ended through the introduction of the Emancipation Proclamation…or Bill of Rights, the power structures of this country began to quickly come up to maintain their wealth which depended on African Americans.
“They came up with slave codes, and I believe that the words incarcerated, ex-offender, formerly incarcerated are slave codes for slaves. When an African American is in prison, he reverts back to being a slave….and considered as chattel just like in the days of slavery when slaves could be traded….
“They now trade the prison industrial complex system on the stock market, and it is so lucrative they have created schools to prison pipeline and other systems that guarantee they will fill the beds of the prison and ultimately fill the pockets of those people who are trading this system on the stock market,” Hunter said. “We are still being traded and used as slaves.”
Hunter asked the U.N. to “bring these injustices that America is hiding behind to the wall because while America is going to other countries taking presidents and kings out of power because they are calling them dictators and are abusive to their people, they are not taking care of their own people which they have a Constitutional responsibility to do.”
He said the U.S. Constitution not only includes the 13th Amendment it in but also says “we have a government that is for the people, by the people and of the people. If we can get rid of the clause that upholds slavery and is the key of maintaining slavery in this Western capitalistic system we live, I believe we can ultimately define who those people are when we say a government for the people, by the people and of the people.
“If it were really a government for the people, by the people and of the people, then the only African American president that we’ve ever had would have been able to do more for Black people,” Hunter said.
Asked about the Fraternal Order of Police contract that gives immunity to police involved shooting, Hunter said, “This is a national contract and the shootings are affecting predominately black people. “When is the last time you saw a policeman kill a white man? How many black police have you ever seen kill white people? There are disparities here.”
Hunter referred to his great-nephew, McDonald and how officer Van Dyke shot him 16 times in 15 seconds even though the youth was walking away from the police. Hunter referred to the autopsy report that clearly showed where those bullets pierced McDonald’s body.
“He didn’t get 16 shots just in the chest, in the back, the leg and the arm. One of the shots was in the top of his head. Someone stood over him and shot him in the top of his head execution style. What the media didn’t show you are that his body was run over by a car? We have the picture of his body where his torso and his hand had been run over by tire tracks.
“Did it take all of that to kill a 17-year-old kid who was walking away from you or do you feel there is not a human soul within this child and so you can treat him like you would treat him as a roach and les than you would treat a dog.
“If a dog received the same treatment that McDonald received, People for the ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) would be a over this? They haven’t said a word,” said Hunter.
Hunter said former police officer is due in court on January 29, 2016, and he believes he will plead not guilty. Hunter believes he will take a jury trial rather than a bench trial. “I will be there and will take as many people as we can. There is nothing more we can do more but show that we are vigilant and are in this America and it is not a sprint. This case can go on for two-years. We want them to know we are watching them and this was never about the money. It was about justice, and we intend to get justice,” Hunter said.
He is holding weekly Tuesday night meetings at his church, located at 1557 So. Kenneth, registering people. His goal is to raise 250,000 voters between now and March 15th, the primary.
His campaign is called “Vote Now,” and hopes to help change the political atmosphere in Chicago including retiring Cook County State’s Attorney Anita Alvarez who took 400-days to release the McDonald tape but only after a federal judge ordered its release.
Chinta Strausberg is a Journalist of more than 33-years, a former political reporter and a current PCC Network talk show host. You can e-mail Strausberg at: Chintabernie@aol.com.
