Obama first to implement Till bill (prosecutions:civil-rights era)

Before Barack Obama left Birmingham in 2004, he insisted on visiting the 16th Street Baptist Church where four youths died in a Ku Klux Klan bombing in 1963.

"I walked him over to the church and showed him where the bomb was planted," said former U.S. Attorney Doug Jones of Birmingham. "That shows he not only has a sense of history, but a sense of justice and what needs to be done for the communities."

On the morning of Sept. 15, 1963, Denise McNair, Cynthia Wesley, Carole Robertson and Addie Mae Collins were preparing for a youth service at the church when the bomb exploded, killing them. In 2001 and 2002, Jones led the successful prosecutions of two reputed Klansmen in two of the murders.

The Obama administration will be the first to implement the newly passed Emmett Till Unsolved Civil Rights Crimes Act, which creates a cold-cases unit inside the Justice Department to gather information for possible prosecution of unpunished killers from the civil-rights era. Obama and Vice President-elect Joe Biden were co-sponsors of the bill.

Read rest of story here...

I guess those back then are now finally going to get whats coming to them....

On the other hand, this opens a lot of other issues that have taken place in the yester years.... Whats to say he cant go back 100, 200 years?

...To the reply below, I should of been more clear. What I mean is to say, if this law goes into effect, whats going to stop him from writing other proposals for congress.


[edit on 1-12-2008 by TrainDispatcher]

Originally posted by TrainDispatcher
I guess those back then are now finally going to get whats coming to them....

On the other hand, this opens a lot of other issues that have taken place in the yester years.... Whats to say he cant go back 100, 200 years?

[edit on 1-12-2008 by TrainDispatcher]

you can't prosecute people that are dead....

What I understood from traindispatcher's question was that Obama may decide to financially recompense all blacks in America for the slavery they endured 200 years ago. This Til bill may just be the first step.

I may be mistaken in my understanding of the post, though, and don't mean to speak for traindispatcher or put words in their mouth.

reply to post by whitewave


prosecution and long awaited justice for the victims of these monsters , not compensation appears to be the point.

Errr, ok. I'll leave you to your thread then.

*bows out*

Oh goodness, we aren't going to use the dreaded "R" word are we?

...Reparations...



Seriously, I don't see it as that far fetched, although I'm sure others here will be offended at the mere mention of the word.

Originally posted by nyk537
Oh goodness, we aren't going to use the dreaded "R" word are we?

...Reparations...

Seriously, I don't see it as that far fetched, although I'm sure others here will be offended at the mere mention of the word.

The problem with Reparations is proving who is worthy of them. Not all Blacks have ancestors from the slavery era and I'm sure there are some Whites who have ancestors that were slaves.

I hate to say it, but I think the civil unrest would be huge if some Blacks were denied their slice while some Whites got theirs.

True.

Obviously though Obama has never said he was even remotely interested in considering this. This is only pure speculation based off of what some feel is implied with the above mentioned bill.

I don't think reparations could ever really take place.

It's far too messy a situation for everyone involved.

What is the point of this? Why only civil rights cases from this period in time? Why do these cases deserve an extra group working on it, thus meaning extra cash needed to run it also? What about other unsolved cases not related to civil rights? They are not important enough?

At this point in time, I think we should get our current society, economy and government spending in line first. Yeah, go ahead, call me racist.

reply to post by AHostileMe


perhaps the point of this special investigative group is to consolidate all the crimes from that era in american history. the kkk, i'm sure, is the leading organization responsible for many of the crimes. it may be more cost effective that way and information sharing could occur also.
most cold cases that are not part of the "campaign of terror and hate" during the civil rights movement, are generally solved on a local law enforcement level.
oh, and btw, your point is not racist. it is a valid question in my opinion.

reply to post by AHostileMe

At this point in time, I think we should get our current society, economy and government spending in line first. Yeah, go ahead, call me racist.

Sorry I call you a realist. The law sounds like a feel good bone to me. Look at the idiotic "war on drugs" and "Civil Forfeiture laws" that gives the government the biggest monetary
gain from drug pushing, keeps the pushers on the street while diverting part of the revenue stream to government official pockets.

Originally posted by TrainDispatcher
What I mean is to say, if this law goes into effect, whats going to stop him from writing other proposals for congress.

Isn't that one of the jobs of a president? Writing proposals for Congress?

For those of you who are afraid of reparations, Obama has stated clearly that he opposes reparations for slavery.