This is Whitekanda, an area was created by a race war, white fear, the prospect of an all-Black state, stealing land from indigenous people & one of the greatest real estate scams of all time.
First, American exceptionalism makes us believe that the British colonized the place we call America but that’s not really true. Before America was born, France technically had more property in North America than the British.
But everyone was down with slavery
In 1791, enslaved Black people in French-controlled Haiti jumped off the large successful slave revolt in the history of the planet.
Long story short: they won
Not only did France leave, they said “Fuck this New World shit,” had a fire sale & left the ENTIRE HEMISPHERE
But here’s the thing: the French didn’t really “own” the all that land. They only controlled a small part of the Louisiana Territory
They would sell the land to speculators but natives would whip anyone’s ass who showed up. The speculation actually bankrupted the bank of France
This was good and bad for this new place called America, On 1 hand, they could get the French colonies’ land for cheap. But they were also scared shitless of a slave revolt. So America’s Sec of State & rapist-in-chief Thomas Jefferson came up with a plan
Jefferson made a deal to buy the Louisiana Territory from France and, in exchange, the US agreed to support France’s demand for reparations from Haiti for the slaves who freed themselves
The debt & the US policy enforcing it doomed Haiti’s economy
France backed up the US claims to the Louisiana territory. And, like Haiti’s debt, because there was paperwork, Europe essentially runnerstamped the US ownership of the territory
The Louisiana Purchase was basically a scam between 2 broke countries
But acknowledging the legitimacy of the Haitian debt allowed the French economy to rebound, and the brand new US grew because it doubled in size by taking land from Natives without actually having to fight for it
In 1820, part of the Louisiana Territory that had been renamed Missouri was admitted as a slave state. To keep a good balance of racism, Maine was admitted as a free state. The “Missouri Compromise” also restricted slavery in the Louisiana Territory to the 36’30” latitude line
The Republic of Texas actually claimed it owned some of the land in the Louisiana territory.
The dispute didn’t really matter, because, remember the natives in the area would whip anyone’s ass who fucked with them anyway.
Plus, in 1845, the US annexed Texas as a slave state
What did they do with that disputed Louisiana Territory land?
Well, the white folks’ paperwork said part of it was part of the Louisiana Purchase. And since Texas extended beyond 36’30’’, it was subject to the terms of the Missouri Compromise.
So Texas was like:
“Maaaannnn… Y’all can keep that lil bit of land if it means we can’t have slaves”
The Compromise of 1850 lopped off the top of Texas, put most of the leftovers in the New Mexico Territory and passed the fugitive Slave Act of 1850, which made every American a slave catcher.
Then in 1854, the Kansas-Nebraska Act created the Kansas territory, the first step toward making Kansas a state.
Kansas was once part of Missouri territory, so Congress just used the old Missouri Territory/Texas Republic border
But to avoid the slavery debate…
Congress just abolished the Missouri Compromise’s “no slave” line and said: “We’ll let the voters decide when Kansas actually becomes a state.”
This “to-enslave-or-not-to-enslave” question started an actual race war known as Bleeding Kansas
When Ron Desantis & others talk about us wanting to end slavery, there’s no definitive proof or poll that the average American was ever against slavery. Free states abolished slavery by legislation or in their constitution
If Kansas would’ve had a REAL vote on slavery, it would have been the first time we gauged public sentiment. But, by the time Kansas voted, a little thing called the civil war had started, & pro-slavery race warriors could fight in a REAL war for slavery
Anyway, back to whitekanda. Remember, Texas gave up everything above 36’30” to keep slavery
Kansas’ Southern border started at 37’ latitude. So what about the land in between?
It was not part of Texas anymore but it was NEVER part of the Louisiana territories.
It belonged to the US but there technically was no state or territorial law governing it.
It was officially called the “Public Land Strip”
everyone really called it “No Man’s Land.”
It was wild AF. There were shootouts, lynching, prostitutes, thieves and a LOT of liquor.
Why didn’t the natives kill them?
Well, the towns were settled by prostitutes, moonshiners, land thieves, gangs & outlaws. There were no rules. The residents were called “floaters” because they floated around from crime to crime.
It was Wakanda for the whitest of the whites
Then, during the Civil War, the federal government repealed its treaties with the natives in “Indian Territory” (Oklahoma), removed them & gave the land away for free in the Homestead Act.
So after the Civil War, formerly enslaved people heard about this & had an idea.
“What if we just got TF from around white people?”
But where would they go?
Oklahoma!
The plan was for Black “exodusters” to settle in Oklahoma and, when it was time to become a state, it would be majority Black”
First of all, let’s get this out of the way, NO ONE deserves hate. It is wrong
Yet, year in and year out, there are more anti-Black hate crimes than any other category.
And according to the latest FBI data there, are nearly 3 times more anti-black crimes than anti-Jewish crimes.
But of course, there are SIX TIMES more Black American than Jewish Americans, so people just divide the number of hate crimes by the percentage of the population and Jewish Americans are more likely to experience hate crimes…
A few years ago, while working for one of the greatest sports franchises of all time, I learned a very important life lesson.
A thread
Every summer, my hometown's recreation department hosted a "stop the violence" summer league to keep kids "off the street."
It eventually became so competitive that teams would recruit out-of-town ringers, leaving local basketball players shut out of their hometown's tournament
My homeboys asked me to sponsor a team and I agreed. Unlike the other teams, no one on my team played college ball. They were essentially regular dudes from the hood who just loved basketball.
Many people don’t know that the phrase “crabs in a barrel” comes from an old Geechie Gullah tale.
A thread:
A long time ago, it was impossible to catch crabs. They were too crafty. Even when they got caught in a net, other crabs would come and free them. Then, one day, a fisherman found a crafty old crab in his net one morning. He was just about to eat it when the the crafty old crab said:
“Please Mr. Fisherman, don’t eat me. Please don’t eat me!”
“Why wouldn’t I eat you?” said the fisherman
“Because I’m crafty, old, & other crabs respect me,” the crab replied.
Fisherman: What good does respect do me? You ain’t nothing but a crab”
Crafty Crab: Well crabs are very stupid, and I’m smart. They’ll believe anything I tell them
7 years ago, I wrote a small piece about a man who was falsely accused of a crime.
A few days later, I got an anonymous telling me to look up the woman they called “the evilest white woman on earth.”
What happened next is the absolute wildest story you’ll ever hear
A thread
The story begins in 2017, when an editor asked me to fill in for a coworker and do a quick write-up about Lamonte McIntyre, who spent 23 yrs in prison for a double murder he didn’t commit.
I thought it was weird his conviction wasn’t actually overturned
Contrary what people who don't read things say, the Virginia legislature is not "targeting" the Klan-affiliated, pro-Confederate hate group that is responsible for the "lost cause" by taking the tax-exempt status from the KKK's little sister.
See, in 1950, Virginia GAVE the UDOC a plot of land to build their HQ in Robert E Lee Park with 3 stipulations
1. They had to finish building in 5 years 2. If they didn't, the land reverted back to the state 3. If they finished, the state would GIVE them an additional $10K
In 1924, lawmakers tasked the census bureau was tasked with figuring out the “national origins of the white population of the US.”
If white people were from a certain country, that country was considered “Good.” Nonwhite people were from “bad countries.”
To preserve the country’s racial composition, they created a formula. Ppl from good countries could immigrate based on the % of pop. in the formula. Immigration from bad countries was limited.
And no Asians
This was why we call it the Asian Exclusion & National Origins Act
In 1952, they changed the formula to allow people from “bad countries” to immigrate at a minimum # 100
Except for Africans. Under the formula, ALL of Africa was considered 1 country
In 1965, civil rights activist convinced LBJ to sign the Immigration & Nationality Act