Statement by Roy Innis
National Chairman of CORE
Roy Innis Asks,"Autum Ashante: Cause Celebre Or An Intelligent But Misguided Child?"
The alleged crisis about the statement made by Autum Ashante, a 7 year old Westchester black girl, is not about her free speech rights. It is about her
right to impose her inaccurate reading of history on other children in a closed public gathering--a captured audience. It should also be about a parent corrupting an apparently bright, innocent child. Just imagine that Batin Ashante, her father, was a white man, home schooling and guiding his daughter with such palpably erroneous thoughts about black nationalism. Would there be a question of free speech? Or would the question be white racism—as it should be?
It is a puzzle to me that after perusing much of the media discussion of this issue, that none of them raised the question of the gross inaccuracy of the
historical reference to Columbus, Morgan and Darwin as white nationalists who put black people in bondage. Assuming that Autum and her father are poets, and
that is a stretch of my imagination, there isn’t enough poetic license to justify those historical inaccuracies. Whatever the sins of Columbus, Morgan and
Darwin, these sins were not directed at blacks. Columbus could be criticized for his treatment of Native Americans, not Black Americans. Morgan should be condemned for his piracy committed on treasure ships owned by Spain, France, England, Portugal, Holland, etc. Darwin might be challenged for his theory of
evolution that is offensive to fundamentalist Christians—white ones, black ones, latino ones, etc.
People attending a Black history celebration event at a public school in Westchester should be offended by a seven year old child being led and allowed to invidiously segregate the audience. Again, imagine a white nationalist and his daughter doing this in a similar audience.
Racism is racism. Racism is not truth, and poetry is not the cure. Black leaders must not exploit this incident as a cause celebre. They should recognize it for what it is—a case of intellectual child abuse.
Her Poem
Title: White Nationalism Put U In Bondage
Author: Autum Ashante'
White nationalism is what put you in bondage
Pirate and vampires like Columbus, Morgan, and Darwin
Drank the blood of the sheep, trampled all over them with
Steel, tricks and deceit.
Nothing has changed take a look in our streets
The mis-education of she and Hegro — leaves you on your knee2grow
Black lands taken from your hands, by vampires with no remorse
They took the gold, the wisdom and all of the storytellers
They took the black women, with the black man weak
Made to watch as they changed the paradigm
Of our village
They killed the blind, they killed the lazy, they went
So far as to kill the unborn baby
Yeah White nationalism is what put you in bondage
Pirates and vampires like Columbus, Morgan, and Darwin
They drank the blood of the sheep, trampled all over them with
Steel laden feet, throw in the tricks alcohol and deceit.
Nothing has changed take a look at our streets.
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