DESCENDANTS of AMERICAN SLAVES (DAS) Visiting the House of Lords, UK on 22-31 OCT 2015 RE DAS Rights

Saint Louis, MO, October 14, 2015 (Newswire.com) - Norris Shelton and Gerald Higginbotham will be visiting the House of Lords and the House of Commons in England to discuss numerous issues relating to Descendants of American Slaves.

They will be meeting a number of Lords and a Baroness, members of the House of Commons and also Descendants of British Slaves. Their trip also includes a visit to the 'Capital of Slavery' Liverpool, where they will also meet with Descendants of British Slaves and Visit the International Museum of Slavery.

This trip is a major event in the DAS calendar.

Norris and Gerald have worked on this trip for about a year, putting in long hours to make this a reality.

If you have a message you would like them to convey let them know.

The Current Petition sums up part what Norris and Gerald will be discussing with the upper levels of British Politics.

THIS IS IMPORTANT - PLEASE READ

America refuses to acknowledge the American Slave Culture, a culture unique to Descendants of American Slaves (DAS). Descendants of American Slaves have been called slaves, Colored, Negros, Black and now African Americans. Descendants of American Slaves have had to endure shame and guilt stemming from slavery and the fact that the American system refuses to acknowledge that DAS exists and are in a downward spiral. 

American Slaves, Inc. (ASI) was brought into existence to represent the American Slave Culture. Although we will continue to defend and  honor our homeland America, ASI stands united with offspring of slaves around the world who have also suffered from the negative aftereffects of slavery regardless of religious affiliation.

The term African American is detrimental to Descendants of American Slaves. It keeps this group cloaked in obscurity. The expression “African American” was not used as a cultural identity in the United States until the mid-60’s. This phrase was introduced during the Civil Rights Movement to misidentify Descendants of American Slaves. Prior to this era, Descendants of American Slaves were misidentified as Negroes. True African Americans, white and black, are recently arriving immigrants.

Descendants of American Slaves are the offspring of the original human beings that were captured in Africa, brought to America as slaves, and bred to produce slaves. During slavery, the offspring of these human beings where considered animals and classified as livestock. Americans selectively BRED slaves to create more profit for owners the same as they did with farm animals. By law, American Slaves were chattel. They were mistreated and punished in barbarous and brutal fashion with no consideration to age or sex. The original America Slaves were stripped of any vestige of past existence. This included clothes, language, religion, education and social relationship. Slaves were property. They were reproduced by whites and given an entirely new identity. Due to ‘Slave Sales,’ American Slave families where split up and sent all across America. Babies didn’t belong to the natural parents. They belonged to the “master.” Baby slaves had no grandparents. They were separated at birth and sold away from family members. All this for financial gain. ASI is petitioning that descendants of the original slaves, which are now identified as “African Americans,” be recognized as Descendants of American Slaves and awarded their appropriate birthright.

Ethnicity is a term that describes a people who identify with each other based on a common, cultural, national and social experience. Being 'black' from Africa and being black from the Caribbean is not the same thing as being born and BRED in American to be slaves. DAS are unique in many ways; the first being that they were intentionally BRED in America. The word BRED says it all: American Slaves were kidnapped; they were selectively BRED in America; they were enslaved in America; and then they were forced to work for white Americans for hundreds of years against their will.

The new wave of genealogical testing has reopened one of America's ugliest wounds by confirming with science what historians have contended for generations: during the slavery BREEDING process, large numbers of American Slave women were raped by American Slave masters and impregnated by white slave owners and other white men in positions of power. The offspring of the rape were sold into slavery. About 30% of black Americans who take DNA tests to determine their African lineage prove to be descended from Europeans on their father's side, says Rick Kittles, scientific director of African Ancestry, a Washington, D.C., company that began offering the tests in 2003. Almost all black Americans whom Kittles has tested descended from African women.

The injection of European blood into the American Slave Culture during the breeding process, which lasted many generations, nullifies the African American derivation…

American Slaves received their pigmentation shades, traditions, beliefs, religions and philosophy from whites. The original Africans that were captured and brought to America weren’t allowed to pass down ancestral knowledge and traits to their progeny.  Ancestral traditions, customs and languages where removed from captured Africans during the BREEDING process and a new slavery mindset installed into offspring. There is no true documented history of where slave descendants are from, who they are related to, or anything pertaining to their ancestral history. In spite of American Slaves’ massive sacrifice, DAS are still facing racism and discrimination in the country were they were BRED that THEY helped build.

DESCENDANTS OF AMERICAN SLAVES is a unique ethnicity and should be categorized as such. The American Slave Culture adheres to a completely different social, cultural and national experience than African Americans. Different cultures have different needs. Proper classification would allow appropriate aid to be directed at DAS instead of being widely distributed to ‘African Americans’ who, by law, are immigrants and are mostly white.

It is necessary that slave descendants be reassigned on the American Census as Descendants of American Slaves. This choice must be offered because, while filling in a census form, it is optional to report your "race/ethnicity". Descendants of American Slaves have only one choice, the ONLY option available is 'Black/African-American' which is totally incorrect. The inability to check off a factual option on the Census report is denying the American Slave Culture their true cultural identity and their fair-share of America. Defining Descendants of American Slaves as Africans is denying this group their factual identity, which means they have no cultural representation. Omitting Descendants of American Slaves name on Census reports is another clandestine way to deny slavery existed.

According to the 2012 U.S. Census Bureau American Community Survey the poverty rate for all “African Americans” in 2012 was 28.1% which is an increase from 25.5% in 2005.  Actually the poverty rate increased between 2005 and 2012 for every demographic of African Americans except those ages 65 and over who experienced a decrease from 21.2% to 19%. Black families with children under 18 headed by a single mother have the highest rate of poverty at 47.5% compared to only 8.4% percent of married-couple Black families. Just over 25% of African Americans receive SNAP benefits formerly known as Food Stamps. Those who identified only as African American made up 13.2% of the U.S. population-over 41.7 million people. (cdc.gov Jul 31, 2015). For her dissertation in American studies with an emphasis on family history and genealogy, KU doctoral candidate Thirkelle Harris Howard is researching a theory that most African-Americans are seventh or eighth cousins. Howard estimates that about 85 percent to 90 percent of today’s African-Americans are descendants of enslaved Africans brought to America between 160 and 385 years ago.

The descendants of slaves have long faced huge obstacles when researching their family histories, as records of slave sale are lost, destroyed or purposely kept hidden from them. When the South realized they were losing the Civil War, the paper trail of slavery was purposely dismantled. Records that would prove slavery is the foundation on which America resides were destroyed. Descendants of American Slaves should be recognized as America’s only offspring. America should show appreciation for their suffering and the great sacrifice they made to the United States. Descendants of American Slaves advocated for civil rights and laid the foundation for equal rights for others. Still, they are denied their civil rights by being denied their rightful identity.

SUMMARY FACTS:

Slaves were born and bred in America and are a unique culture unto themselves.

• Slaves were brought to America unwillingly in chains. 
• African Americans emigrated off their own free will. 
• Slaves built AMERICA against their will. 
• Slaves were compensated with rape, torture, and lynching’s for 400 years.
• Slaves were treated as subhuman in America for over 400 years.
• Slaves were never paid or reimbursed for their labor.

African Americans arrived in America on airplanes and cruise ships seeking the American dream. The original slaves were captured, chained in the hulls of sailing ships and shipped to America to be sold as property to the highest bidder. DAS are still serving America, which can be seen in their commitment to America during all major wars. None of this “serving” applies to African Americans, it is all unique to DAS.

DAS still face racism and discrimination on a daily basis. Many suffer from extreme poverty and hopelessness. The “school to prison pipeline” dictates that a disproportionate number of DAS are perpetually within the prison system or kept on some form of parole or court ordered restriction. Chaiken reported that on any given day, 30 percent of African-American males ages 20 to 29 are "under correctional supervision", either in jail, in prison, on probation or parole. Especially chilling is a statistical model used by the Bureau of Justice Statistics to determine the lifetime chances of incarceration for individuals in different racial and ethnic groups. Based on current rates, it predicts that a young Black man age 16 in 1996 faces a 29 percent chance of spending time in prison during his life. The corresponding statistic for white men in the same age group is 4 percent.

According to Thomas K. Lowenstein, director of the Electronic Policy Network, 7 percent of Black children- nearly 9 times more than white children- have an incarcerated parent. According to the Chicago Reporter, a monthly magazine that covers race and poverty issues, 1 in 5 Black Cook County (which contains Chicago and some of its suburbs) men in their 20s are either in prison, jail or on parole. For Cook County whites of the same gender and age, the corresponding ratio is 1 in 104. According to Lowenstein, 80 percent of America's prison inmates are parents. There are limited employment opportunities for young DAS, and a breakdown of the family unit can be seen by the amount of single parent families.

After suffering many years in civil wars, military coups and other problems, true African Americans, are happy to be in America, a country that offers them freedom. They are ready to integrate into the American culture without getting involved in America’s lingering racial conflicts that stem from slavery. They do not typically get involved in the ongoing civil rights struggle – and that has angered many DAS who claim to be African-Americans.

The Petitioners therefore request that the Government conduct a debate for the creation of America’s newest ethnic group to be known as “Descendants of American Slaves.” Whilst these are general headings, it is sought that the government will create a working group which would include representation from key DAS figures and DAS religious groups and leaders to examine the issues in detail and to ensure that any introduced new ethnicity is comprehensive and all encompassing. We also emphasize the importance of responding to issues raised in this petition as a matter of priority.

For further information contact Dr. Gerald at 314 581 0009. Email: [email protected].

Petition: https://www.change.org/p/president-obama-descendants-of-slaves-as-a-unique-ethnicity

DAS Website: http://www.descendantsofamericanslaves.com/

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