Without Us No U.S.

By Daisy G. G. Collins

There are several reasons that African Americans can say accurately, on behalf of their enslaved African American Ancestors and themselves, "WITHOUT US, NO U.S." Just two of the reasons are the following: 1. Without the agreement to keep the African American Ancestors enslaved, the union of the thirteen colonies would not have been formed and the United States would not exist in its present form; and 2. Without the wealth created by the unpaid, forced, and very valuable labor of the enslaved African American Ancestors—the Founding LaborersR—that laid the economic foundation of the United States of America, this country would not be the economic power it is today. The "Founding LaborersR" of the United States should be elevated to the high place—equal to the Founding Fathers—that they deserve in the history of the United States. It is illogical for African Americans to be criticized for being at the bottom of almost every measure of economic success when a realistic analysis is that if African Americans had inherited the tremendous wealth created by their enslaved African American Ancestors, African Americans would today be more competitive economically. One interesting statistic is that in 2013, black women earned 64 percent of the amount white men earned, and black men earned 75 percent. Apparently, America still treats the descendants of the enslaved persons as "three-fifths of all other persons"—or little more than that—just as the original Constitution did. (Three-fifths is 60 percent.) Fairness requires some form of reparations to correct this imbalance! The African American Ancestors have not been paid! Moreover, the Founding LaborersR should be thanked for the invaluable contributions they made to the United States. The government has never said "thank you" to the enslaved African Americans Ancestors or their descendants. No one has ever given an official apology for the egregious wrongs inflicted on the enslaved African American Ancestors and their descendants. The United States Government should say "Thank you," and it should apologize.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Page Publishing, Inc.
• Release date: May 1, 2020
• ISBN: 9781645848585

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Without Us No U.S.

Daisy G. Collins

Copyright © 2016 by Daisy G. Collins

All rights reserved

First Edition originally self-published by

Daisy G. Collins in 2016

PAGE PUBLISHING, INC.

Conneaut Lake, PA

Revised and Second Edition first originally published by

Page Publishing 2020

ISBN 978-1-64584-857-8 (pbk)

ISBN 978-1-64584-859-2 (hc)

ISBN 978-1-64584-858-5 (digital)

Printed in the United States of America

Table of Contents

Chapter 1

The Story of Sam, Adam, and William

Without Us, No U.S.R

Founding LaborersR Get No Thank You

The Hypocrisy Is StiflingR

Slavery

The Factual Case for Reparations for African Americans, the Descendants of the Founding LaborersR

Conclusion

In memory of my ancestors.

I thank God for my wonderful parents, Luevinia Mitchell Collins and Booker T. Collins Sr., and for my grandparents, Cora and Joseph Collins and Tensie and Peter Mitchell. I thank God for my paternal great-grandparents, Josephine and Rev. Jerry Whigham, and great-great-grandmother, Marie Hill. I thank my maternal great-grandparents, Sarah Pugh and Aron Mitchell, and my other ancestors whose names I do not know.

I thank my enslaved African American Ancestors—the Founding LaborersR of the United States of America, who suffered the unbelievable horrors of slavery in the American colonies and in the United States of America.

I thank my African American Ancestors, who after slavery suffered the humiliating insults of segregation and invidious discrimination. Yet they persevered and made it possible for me and their other descendants to prosper. They were survivors. The system was designed to destroy their bodies and their spirits. It did not. These strong people survived.

No human being is perfect. We are not perfect. They were not perfect. We must always remember and honor them for the resilient human beings they were. We are not greater than they were because we came from them.

All these African American Ancestors played a very important part in the making and saving of the United States of America. They helped to make it possible for me and the United States of America to be where we are today.

This book is dedicated to them.

Two Posters of Auctions of Enslaved Persons: 1829 and 1849

Without Us, No U.S.R

Without our enslaved African American Ancestors, there would not be a United States of America as it exists today. This is an indisputable fact!

Two of many reasons are that without the enslavement of our African American Ancestors, the union of the thirteen colonies would not have been formed; and that without the wealth created by the unpaid very valuable labor of the African American Ancestors, the Founding LaborersR, the United States definitely would not be the economic power it is today. In other words, WITHOUT US, NO U.S.R

Enslaved African Americans Were The Ultimate Patriots

Our enslaved African American Ancestors were the ultimate patriots! A patriot is a person who loves and loyally or zealously supports his or her own country. Our enslaved African American Ancestors literally gave their lives and liberty to establish this country—the United States of America. Theirs was a lifelong commitment. Theirs was literally a work to the death.

Our enslaved African American Ancestors were the Founding LaborersR of the United States of America. They should be elevated to the high place—equal to the Founding Fathers—that they deserve in the history of the United States of America. Every American should recognize, understand, and appreciate the indispensable role our enslaved African American Ancestors played in the making and saving of the United States of America.

Please Meditate

And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free. (John 8:32)

I was a great warrior, now I beg for that which I own. (Red Cloud, Native American)

Much complaint has been made that the freedmen have shown so little ability to take care of themselves since their emancipation. Men have marveled that they have made so little progress. I question the justice of this complaint. It is neither reasonable, nor in any sense just. To me the wonder is, not that the freedmen have made so little progress, but, rather, that they have made so much—not that they have been standing still, but that they have been able to stand at all. (Frederick Douglass, April 14, 1876)¹

Knowledge is power!

Ignorance and illiteracy are very effective forms of control!

My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge… (Hosea 4:6 KJV)

Therefore, my people are gone into captivity, because they have no knowledge… (Isaiah 5:13 KJV)

The First Stealing

A man who had been held in slavery said that they talked a lot about black people stealing. He said the first stealing was in Africa when the white folks stole the black people.

Preface

²

I am sick and tired of hearing so many generalized negative comments about black people. In every item of negative measurement, black people are at the bottom of almost every list. The truth is that if African Americans had inherited the wealth they should have from the labors of their enslaved African American Ancestors—the Founding LaborersR—then black people would be at the top of almost every list when positive measurements are made!

I thank God for President Barack Hussein Obama II, the forty-

fourth president and the first African American President of the United States of America. I believe that he will go down as one of the greatest American Presidents. He deserves credit for the Affordable Health Care Act (ObamaCares) and many additional accomplishments that greatly benefited African Americans and all Americans. It is absolutely amazing that he achieved so much in view of the massive, overwhelming opposition he faced from the Republicans. The fact is that the Republican senate leader said soon after President Obama’s inauguration in 2009 that his number one priority was to make President Obama a one-term President; why was not saving the collapsing American economy the Republican leader’s number one priority? Why? Whatever his reasons, God had another plan for President Obama, who handily won reelection in 2012. I thank God for First Lady Michelle Obama and the Obama family. I believe that history will record this First Family as God’s Gift to America. I thank this First Family, their parents, and their other ancestors.

As an American of African descent, I know not the country of my ancestors. I do know that they were human beings who lived and loved as all human beings do. I am so sad about what they had to endure. I am so sorry they suffered so much. I recognize and appreciate their strength, hard work, perseverance, and their knowing how to survive. I do know that I am a part of them. They are a part of me. I feel the suffering they experienced. This feeling was graphically illustrated in 1977, when I visited in Ghana on the west coast of Africa. While in the dungeon of Elmina Castle, where our enslaved ancestors were brought after being captured and held until they were shipped to America, I felt that all my enslaved African Ancestors were there in the dungeon with me. This was an overpowering feeling! Other persons have said they had a similar feeling. In fact, the movie Sankofa somewhat illustrates this feeling. Sankofa is a West African term meaning looking back to prepare for the future.

Each reader, please imagine that you are an enslaved African person in 1774 in the American colonies. Men, you might work in the house or in the field from sunup to sundown. You might be used as a stud to further enrich your enslaver with more children to be bought and sold as animals. Women, you might work in the house or in the field from sunup to sundown. You might be raped constantly. If you were considered a beautiful mulatto woman, you might be especially cursed with unwanted sexual advances from your enslaver. Every one of you would have been considered property and not a human being created