AMERICA, LAND OF THE FREE

America, land of the free. Not really. Not for persons of color.

Strange that a Civil War, a Civil Rights Movement, and a black President have failed. Failed after 150 plus years to bring the United States to accepting and treating all persons equally.

This article highlights two individuals and one situation. All three from different time periods. All three telling the same story. Equality yet a distant hope, a distant dream.

His name Eugene Bullard. Better known as Gene.

He was born in 1895 in Columbus, Georgia. The grandson of a slave. His father a Haitian, his mother a Creek Indian. He was fortunate to have received formal schooling till age 10. He learned to read and write.

Ten opened his eyes big time to racial discrimination. He saw his father narrowly escape a lynching. He decided America was not the place for him.

Gene stowed away on a ship to Scotland. Eventually ended up in Paris where he settled. 

World War I began in 1914. Gene tried to join the French Army. He was refused. Not because of color. Rather because he was a foreigner. He was permitted however to fight with other foreigners for France in the French Foreign Legion.

Trained as a machine gunner, he fought in several major battles. At some point during the war, France permitted foreign troops to transfer to the regular French Army. Gene was assigned to the Metropolitan French Army. Crack troops. The division became known as the Swallows of Death.

Gene was seriously wounded in March 1916 at the Battle of Verdun. Recovered by October, he joined the French Air Force. He was the first black combat pilot in history.

The U.S. was still not in the war. Americans who wanted to fly joined the French Air Force. The group was known as the Lafayette Escadrille. By the time Gene applied, the group was filled.

He took more training.

Another American volunteer group was formed. The Lafayette Flying Corps. Part of the French Air Force, also. Gene joined.

He took part in heavy combat missions.

Racial discrimination had left its mark on him. His life became one opposed to discrimination. Reflecting his feelings, his plane was named Tout Le Sang Qui Est Rouge. All Blood Runs Red.

When the U.S. entered the war, the U.S. Army sought out all Americans flying with the French Air Force to transfer to the U.S. Army Air Force. Gene took and passed the physical. However, he was rejected because of race. Only white pilots were permitted to fly for the U.S.

Gene was a hero to the French people. He was awarded 15 medals. One medal came later in life in 1959 when he was awarded France's highest honor, the Chevalier of the Legion d'honneur. Another recognition came a few years earlier when he was invited to Paris to rekindle the flame at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier under the Arc de Triomphe.

He remained in Paris after the war. Initially employed as a drummer, he became manager of Le Grand Duc night club. Paris' most famous night spot at the time. Frequented by friends such as Josephine Baker and Louis Armstrong. He also opened his own night club. L'Escadrille.

World War II began. Following France's invasion by Germany, Gene joined the French Army. He was seriously wounded. Friends helped him escape to neutral Spain and then to the United States. He spent significant time in New York hospitals for his war wounds from which he never fully recovered.

His French fame did not accompany him to New York. He was a black nobody. Broke. He worked menial jobs. His last as an elevator operator at Rockefeller Center.

His night club in Paris was destroyed by the war. However, he was able to obtain some settlement from the French government for it. He used the money to buy an apartment in Harlem. He remained a stranger in his homeland. Spent his days sitting in his Harlem apartment. In obscurity and poverty. All he had were photos from World War I and his decorations which covered the walls.

Gene died in 1961 at the age of 66 of stomach cancer. He was buried in the French Veterans' War Section of New York's Flushing Cemetery.

On August 23, 1964, 33 years after his death and 77 years to the day after passing his physical for transfer to the U.S. Army Air Force, Gene was commissioned posthumously a 2nd Lieutenant in the U.S. Air Force.

World War II brought another person of color to the forefront. Josephine Baker. In reality, during the war she was a spy. A spy for France. A woman whose life was on the line for five years because of her activities.

During that time she was a singer and dancer. The most popular in the world. Known as the Black Pearl, Bronze Venus and Creole Goddess.

Born in St. Louis, Missouri, her father deserted her and her mother early on. Josephine was poor. Very poor. She dressed poorly and was always hungry. Her playground was the train yards of the St. Louis Railroad Station. A place where she developed street smarts.

At 8, she worked for a white family as a domestic. She dropped out of school at 13. Homeless, she slept in cardboard shelters, scavenged food from garbage cans.

At 15, she was dancing on street corners for pennies. A producer saw her and brought her to Harlem to work as a show girl. 

She began as a chorus girl. The last girl in the line. Her comic ability revealed itself. She became the highest paid chorus girl in vaudeville.

In 1925, she went to Paris. Her fame instantaneous. Night clubs the venue. She engaged in erotic dancing initially. Topless and only a stringof artificial bananas around her waist. Later, she took singing lessons. She excelled as a singer also. Became recognized as a grand diva.

She was the most successful American entertainer in France. Ernest Hemingway said she was ".....the most sensational woman anyone ever saw."

Her close friends were Hemingway, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Pablo Picasso and Christian Dior. They ran together.

She returned to the United States in 1935 and 1936. Starred in the Zigfeld Follies. America did not take to her. They could not accept a black woman in a starring role. She was replaced by Gypsy Rose Lee. Time Magazine described Josephine as a "Negro wench."

She returned to Paris, married a french Jew and became a French citizen. She renounced her American citizenship with no difficulty.

Her time as a patriot came during World War II. When Germany invaded Poland, 

France declared war on Germany. French Military Intelligence immediately recruited Josephine. She frequented embassy balls and parties. Information was easily picked up. She reported back what she heard.

When Germany invaded France, Josephine moved to her chateau in southern France. She housed friends of De Gaulle and escapees from the  Germans. She obtained visas for many.

As an entertainer, she was allowed to move freely throughout Europe and North Africa. She also visited neutral Portugal and South America. She picked up information concerning German airfields, harbors and troop concentrations. 

The information was returned to French intelligence in invisible ink on her sheet music and on notes pinned to the inside of her underwear. She figured no one would subject her to a strip search.

When North Africa was freed, she remained and entertained British, American and French troops.

In 1949, she returned to Paris. Welcomed with open arms!

She visited the United States again. This time as a ball of fire. She refused to accept segregation in any form.

Josephine had an appearance scheduled at a Miami night club in 1951. The night club practiced segregation re its customers. No blacks.  She openly went to war with the nightclub. Loudly. She won. The night club desegregated.

That same year, the NAACP designated Josephine Woman of the Year. One hundred thousand attended her parade in Harlem.

The Stork Club became a problem. The Stork Club also had a policy discouraging black customers. The Stork Club refused to serve her. She took the Stork Club on publicly. She also attacked her supposed friend Walter Winchell for remaining silent when she raised the issue. Winchell retaliated. He rebuked her and called her a Communist.

The publicity killed Josephine. Winchell was a power. Her work visa was terminated, all her engagements cancelled. She returned to France. It was almost 10 years before she was permitted to enter the United States again.

One of the good things to come out of the Stork Club incident involved Grace Kelley. The two did not know each other. Kelley was there the night the club refused to serve Josephine. Kelley walked out with Josephine. Never to return to the Stork Club again.

A close relationship developed from the incident. Josephine and Kelley became excellent friends. In Josephine's later years when she was near bankruptcy, Kelley allowed her to use two homes she and her husband owned in Monaco.

Las Vegas refused to integrate its shows. No blacks could perform. Josephine went after Vegas. Vegas relented. As a result, Josephine began receiving calls from the Klu Klux Klan.

Another thorn in Josephine's side was the practice of New York hotels to refuse admission to blacks. During the 1950s trip to New York, she and her husband were refused admission to 36 hotels.

She stood next to Martin Luther King in 1963 in Washington. Right next to him. She spoke. The only woman to speak. She also introduced Rosa Parks. Josephine wore her Free French uniform with the medal of honor of the Legion d'honneur which France had awarded her.

Josephine died broke. Were it not for friends like Grace Kelley, her last days would not have been as caring as they were.

The Civil War did nor solve the black/white problem. During World War I, the problem still existed. Gene Bullard was denied acceptance into the U.S. Army Air Force. Finally World War II, before and after, shows the prejudice that still existed as regards Josephine Baker.

Which brings me to the third and final episode. The Charleston, South Carolina massacre of last week. Where nine blacks were shot to death while Bible reading in church. By a 21 year old young man whose words during the event clearly reflected the tenor that still exists regarding blacks.

Then there are the killings of blacks by police.

Where does it all end? Does it all end? I don't know. It has been more that 150 years since the Civil War and as a nation we are still mired indiscrimination and prejudice.

THE PETTICOAT AFFAIR

The women won. The power of the marital bed succeeded. Women ruled the roost.

The Petticoat Affair an interesting time in Presidential politics. Equal to the Clinton fiasco.

The lady in question Margaret O'Neal. Nicknamed Peggy. A beauty.

Her father owned the Franklin House in Washington, DC. A popular boarding house and bar. Primarily for politicians. At some point, the Franklin House limited its guests to members of Congress.

Peggy's Dad educated  her well. This at a time when education was not considered a woman's thing. She was intelligent. Quick witted.

Peggy went to work in her father's boarding house. Her education had not made her a lady. She frequented the beds of many guests. Openly and notoriously.

At the age of 17, she married her first husband. John Timberlake. He was 39 at the time. A businessman. He became a drunk and failure. His financial difficulties overwhelming. He was convinced that because of his failures, his wife no longer respected him.

The couple were friends with Tennessee Senator John Henry Eaton, a widower. Eaton was newly elected to the Senate and was a close friend of the soon to be President Andrew Jackson.

Eaton coveted Timberlake's wife Peggy. He paid all of Timberlake's debts. Following which he procured a lucrative post as purser for him in the U.S. Mediterranean Squadron.

While the cat was away, the mice played.

Timberlake died at sea in 1828. It is thought Timberlake's death was a suicide. Committed following discovery of his wife's infidelity with Eaton.

Peggy and Eaton were obvious lovers. At the boarding house. Overnight trips to other Washington area boarding houses where they registered as man and wife. Eaton openly escorted Peggy to Washington parties and balls. They were known to take frequent walks in a wooded area where they engaged in sexual activity.

Peggy and Eaton married.

President Jackson appointed Eaton to his Cabinet as Secretary of War.

People talked. Washington insiders were indignant. They said Eaton had just married his mistress and the mistress of eleven dozen others. Peggy and Eaton were the talk of the Capital. 

The scandal was ripping at the roots of government. Jackson's cabinet was broken. It could not be fixed. The wives of Cabinet members, with one exception, would neither socialize not attend any function that Peggy attended. The Cabinet wives prohibited their husbands attending these affairs also. The good husbands toed the mark regarding not attending Washington events. The women controlled.

A schism had developed in Washington society. One which was adversely affecting Jackson's ability to govern.

The Cabinet wives further justified their position by claiming Peggy had not grieved properly upon her husband's death and had failed to wait a proper time before marrying Eaton.

Leading the pack of vultures was Floride Calhoun. Wife of Vice President John Calhoun. Politics was involved. Calhoun wanted to be President. He was hoping to prevent Jackson from running for a second term.

The one man in Jackson's Cabinet who did not dance to the tune of the wives was Martin Van Buren. He was a bachelor. He also was a close friend of Jackson's.

Van Buren arrived at a solution. Eaton should resign from the Cabinet. Following which Jackson should ask for the resignations of all other Cabinet members. This Jackson did. With one exception. The Postmaster General.

He appointed a new Cabinet. The business of government once again moved forward.

Jackson was at all times supportive of Peggy and Eaton. His wife Rachel had been subjected to similar Washington abuse. He and Rachel had married before her divorce was final. Jackson had no sympathy for the ladies.

Jackson thought the Cabinet wives were wielding political power. They were. Improperly so. He called Peggy a victim. A virtuous and much injured female.

Jackson was blinded by his Rachel's experience and his friendship with Eaton.

Calhoun ended up getting screwed. Jackson did not have him as his Vice Presidential running mate in the next election. Instead, he offered the position to Van Buren. The term thereafter, Van Buren was the Democratic Party's candidate for President. He was elected. It would have been Calhoun had he not been a fomentor of the Cabinet wives' attacks.

Following the resignation of his first Cabinet, Jackson commented to the effect that he wanted his new Cabinet to be made up of all bachelors or ones who left their women at home.

Eaton died at some point. Peggy  married again. Her third husband. She married Antonio Gabriele Buchignani, an Italian music teacher and dancing master. Peggy was 59 at the time. He, 19. 

Peggy and Antonio were married seven years. At the end of that time, Antonio ran off to Europe with the bulk of Peggy's fortune and her 17 year old granddaughter Emily Randolph.

Peggy never recovered her fortune and died penniless.

Even in today's society, sexual escapades cannot be openly flaunted. 
There is a line that should not be crossed. Peggy stepped over that line her entire life. From her young days working in the boarding house to her third marriage to a man 40 years her junior.

I feel sorry for Peggy in that her final years were spent penniless and she suffered the trauma of a granddaughter running off with her husband. On the other hand, what goes around comes around. Maybe it was her just due.

PORTUGAL THE BLUEPRINT

Many in the United States have become giddy with the success being achieved in the legalization of marijuana. They should not be. The United States is not a leader in bringing good judgment to the subject.

The United States is light years behind when it comes to a better handling of the drug situation. Unquestionably, one of crisis...

Realization has hit home that marijuana use in the United States has not been eliminated by the harsh penalties and jail sentences of the past 40 years. There had to be a better way. Legalization.

One of the benefits would be less incarceration. Meaning fewer jailed for pot use. Resulting in less enforcement and jail personnel required. A big time dollar savings. Keep in mind it costs $85 thousand a year to maintain one person in prison.

Why is the United States behind? We are still in the throes of legalizing/decriminalizing marijuana use. The far right, conservatives and many religious groups are opposed. They view decriminalization as doing the Devil's work.

A nation has succeeded by legalizing all drug use. The program an outstanding success. Other countries are considering doing the same based on that country's success. 

The nation is Portugal.

Portugal decided its war on drugs was a failure. Drug use was in a crisis mode. Hard punitive punishment was not working.

Portugal legalized drug use in 2001. All drugs. Including heroin and cocaine. Passed a law to the effect. Dropped drug use from a crime with the possibility of prison. Made drug use an administrative matter, if the amount possessed was less than a 10 day supply.

Treatment was provided. Incarceration not. Drug control moved from the Justice Department to the Ministry of Health. 

It is now fourteen years later. Portugal's program a success. Drug use has not been eliminated. However, it is controlled. Benefits have been realized.

Initially, drug use increased. Then gradually declined. Drug use among adults (16-64) is dramatically down. Continued drug use by adults is also down. Forty five percent to 28 percent.

Drug induced deaths have decreased dramatically. Seventy eight percent to 18 percent. The HIV infection rate has dropped significantly. From 42 percent to 4 percent. Teenage drug use is down.  

The decrease in imprisonments dropped beyond initial thought. Jails are closing because drug crime no longer exists. Imagine, not enough crime breakers to fill the jails!

One negative occurrence. The number of people receiving addiction treatment has increased. The cost negligible when compared to the cost of jailing those people, however.

Portugal's approach was considered unusual. Portugal realized from the beginning that total eradication was impossible. The thought was to control drug use.

Portugal has become the blueprint for other nations.

Ecuador is seriously interested. In Ecuador's new Constitution of 2008, it was specifically stated that drug consumption was not a crime. 

Recently, a bill was introduced in its legislative body to supplement  and give effect to the Constitution's language. The bill would view drug consumption as a health concern and not a crime. It is anticipated the bill will become law this year without any problem.

Ecuador's President Rafael Correa and the United States government are not the best of friends. Ecuador at one point gave WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange asylum. Regarding the drug problem, President Correa booted the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration out of Ecuador.

Ireland is next in line. It is giving serious consideration to following Portugal's path. So too, Great Britain.

Portugal, Ecuador, Ireland and Great Britain have seen the light. Prison for drug involvement has proven absurd. It has not and does not work. I read somewhere recently that if the United States' war on drugs were a business, it would have been out of business long ago. Businesses do not survive without success..

The United States should start taking a hard look at Portugal's success. Decriminalizing marijuana is a step too little. Of the multitude of Republicans seeking the Presidential nomination, I doubt any would support such an approach. Except perhaps Rand Paul.

The religious right, conservative America, the Council of Catholic Bishops, Fox, etc., would rally against all out decriminalization of drug use.

It never ceases to amaze me. The United States at one time was in the forefront for change. Good change. Not change merely for the sake of change. 

Today's politics prevent the United States from being such a leader. The United States has not lead in a long time. I fear it will be an even longer time before we are in a world wide leadership position.

CORRUPTION OF POLITICS AND BANKS

Government and banks are corrupt. Indisputable. The reason money. The root of all evil.

I am not telling you anything you do not already know. I suggest two remedial solutions.

The time has come for public campaign financing. Have the government as the sole source of campaign funds. Prohibit the raising and/or spending of private funds. In situations where a candidate is independently wealthy, limit his or her personal contribution to $50,000.

A monstrous task. Perhaps unachievable. Keep in mind, Congress would have to vote for such change. 

A complex issue. Ergo, I am zeroing in solely on Presidential elections. I am generalizing. The devil will be in the details.

The 2016 Presidential race will break every record for fundraising and spending. A disgrace. Most of the monies will be from the very rich and corporations. The minimal $5 or $25 contributions of the 99 percent will mean little. Ironically, several states have tried and some still have some sort of public financing for state and local elections. Most have failed. Blame the Supreme Court. Unconstitutional.

For well over 30 years, we have had a voluntary citizen program to enrich the public funding of corporations. There is a box in the upper corner of your tax return. Check it off and automatically $3 of your taxes will be transferred to a special Presidential fund. The program is not working. Its use has fallen steadily since the early 1980s. Presently, less than 8 percent of taxpayers check the box.

I am not going to go into the specifics of present Presidential public funding laws. Space does not permit. However, if a Presidential candidate agrees to accept federal funding and agrees not to raise or spend any other monies, assistance is available.

Such candidate would receive $91.2 million. Few go down such road these days. Presidential campaigns cost significantly more.

There is one government funding program that both the Democrat and Republican parties receive money under. Religiously, every four years. Disgracefully, also. The Presidential nominating conventions. Each is and has been paid for by the government for years. I cannot understand. We are paying for each party's big bash every four years.

The amount to each party is $18.2 million, adjusted every four years based on cost of living increases. At a time when a significant percentage of our school children are homeless and go to school without breakfast. It is projected each political party will spend $1 billion in the 2016 campaign. With those kind of dollars, the political parties can easily afford their own conventions.

The purpose of public campaign funding is clean elections. Simply stated.

The United States has a Federal Election Commission. The chair is Ann Revel. Revel openly admits that the Federal Election Commission is dysfunctional and has been so for years. She claims various laws prevent her from doing anything about it.

The big banks, Wall Street, and major corporations have defecated on the American people long enough. They must be taken in hand. The banks brought our economy down in 2008. It is going to happen again.

Two things are clear. Big banks and corporations are parking their profits overseas, with few complaints from Congress. Obama consistently fails to take on corporate power. The power is left to do what it wills.

We need another Theodore Roosevelt. He was President from 1901-1909. He took on the big companies. He became known as a trust buster. He felt the big companies had too much power to the detriment of the people. America's upper crust was not looking after the interests of the working class. 

Roosevelt had a sense of right and wrong. He went after the out of hand corporations. His philosophy was to ".....speak softly and carry a big stick." His words. He was of the opinion that a society where businesses profited at the expense of the average American was not right.

Roosevelt sued more than 40 major corporations. The first was J.P. Morgan's Northern Securities Corporation. Sound familiar? A predecessor of today's J.P. Morgan Chase. A leopard does not change its spots.

We need to break up the banks.We need another Theodore Roosevelt in the White House. Senators Bernie Saunders and Elizabeth Warren have the right attitude. Saunders recently said that if the banks are too big to fail, then they are too big to exist. I agree.

The United States was faced with a monopolistic situation in the early 1980s. The Bell System. In effect, the national telephone system. Bell at the time was the biggest corporation in American history.

Bell was split into separate companies. Such result was possible when it was determined that Bell was violating anti-trust laws.

I am not telling you anything you do not already know. We have a problem with campaign financing and the power of big banks and corporations. My solution is public financing of elections and breaking up the big banks.

Will either happen? I doubt it. We need Congress and the Supreme Court to pave the way. Something both have been reluctant to do.