Adolph Hitler is just a name?

Ok, this is for the record books. Better yet, let me start with a simple question. Would you name your child after a mass murderer? How about naming the child after a historical leader? That just happened to kill hundreds, or thousands, or millions? So in effect would you name your kid Idi Amin Jones, or Ghengis Khan Thomas, or Adolph Hitler Clinton, or Joseph Stalin Vincenzo?

I think any parent, in any country, would not do this to their child. Parents that would do this are very questionable on several levels. (Though I do have to admit a certain like for Ghengis Vass - but I don't have kids and it is a whimsy).

But it seems that at least one set of parents in New Jersey think that Adolph Hitler Campbell is a great name for their child. Now these aren't some rock star entertainer parents that were perhaps drunk, stoned, or otherwise mentally impaired when naming their kids. This is not some kind of social protest like Dweezil or Moon Unit (for younger readers yes those are names of rock star kids). They just think the name is good.

The father of the kids explains

"no one else in the world would have that name."

Except a name is not just a name. A cracker is a name, but most Whites don't want to be called that. And being named after the most vile human being in at least the last century sure isn't going to help the kid socially, outside of neo-Nazi camp.

What disturbs me most about this is the fact that the other kids in this family share in the same kind of naming. JoyceLynn Aryan Nation Campbell and Honszlynn Hinler Jeannie Campbell. But don't think the family are racists. Again the dad said

"There's a new president and he says it's time for a change; well, then it's time for a change," the 35-year-old continued. "They need to accept a name. A name's a name. The kid isn't going to grow up and do what (Hitler) did."

So we have a family that adores the names of Nazi's, wants their kids named after them. The dad was raised to not associate with other races, and wears military boots of dead Nazi soldiers. What are the chances of the kid growing up to be a racist, if not a full blown mind-numb neo-Nazi freak?

Of course all this came about because of a birthday cake for little Adolph. At least one supermarket refused, Greenwich ShopRite, and cheers to them. But sadly the cake was made with the full name inscribed thanks to the Wal-Mart in Easton Pennsylvania. And reportedly there was a party on Sunday, with the father Heath Campbell wearing his Nazi boots, that had children of mixed races their. I just have to wonder where he got them to come from to get to the party and how much that cost instead of the clown.

Honestly I feel bad for the kids. Their parents may not be neo-Nazi racist mentally deranged freaks, but they sure sound like it. And the kids will be the ones that suffer for their parents failures.

NJ considers apology for slavery Part 4 - 1.3.2008.4

Concluded from NJ considers apology for slavery Part 3...

Should New Jersey, Georgia, Missouri, and every single state (with the exception of perhaps Hawaii and Alaska) make an apology, I think so. Each and every one has benefited and could not exist without the efforts of slaves and Jim Crow era African Americans.

Should the American government make an apology? I cannot see a justification why it has not already. Nor can I find a single reason why reparations have not been made as precedence exists.

“Yet reparations have been made to Japanese Americans and Native American Indians, at least to some degree."

and a means of reparation exists. Not only the one I outlined at Black & White Blog (where I am co-author), which was challenged and questioned as any controversial idea should be – but it must be discussed, but also elsewhere.

We can do a lot of things. But the first thing must be acknowledging the wrongs done and APOLOGIZING for them. And along with that must be the major media and news covering this issue and presenting it to the American public.

Skeletons in the closet may be a reality of life, but they never benefit anyone. They always come out, and in doing so strife is usually attached when they are forced out against our will. There is no difference in governments and people in this regard.

NJ considers apology for slavery Part 2 - 1.3.2008.2

Continued from NJ considers apology for slavery Part 1 ...

Now as of today, Virginia, Alabama, and Maryland have each announced “profound regret” for the slavery they allowed in their past.. North Carolina has announced “profound contrition”. Georgia discussed the issue last year, with the disapproval of Governor Perdue. And there is Missouri and New Jersey as stated above.

As for all the Presidential candidates of 2008, only Dennis Kucinich has ever mentioned the issue, and expressed a need for the nation to apologize and make reparations. The ONLY one.

This is pitiful.

Name one thing in America that has not been built with the foundation of slave labor. Name one company, in existence since at least 1865, which has not benefited from slavery. Even JP Morgan and its shareholders acknowledged the connection.

“We apologize to the American public, and particularly to African-Americans, for the role that Citizens Bank and Canal Bank played during that period," said the company on its website. "Although we cannot change the past, we are committed to learning from and emerging stronger because of it."

In addition to the apology, JP Morgan created a $5 million scholarship for African Americans in Louisiana.”

Please notice that JP Morgan APOLIGIZED. Not regret - an intelligent (and/or emotional) dislike for personal past acts and behaviors. Not contrition - sorrow for sin arising from fear of damnation.

The fact is that even now, some 400 years after the first documented slave was forced to America, not one American governmental body has apologized for their part in slavery. None. They are sorry for its existence, and upset that untold millions were slaughtered, but they are not losing sleep over it. In fact many are fighting against it.

There are many like

“The disappointment comes from the statements “I'm not sure what we ought to be apologizing for” voiced by Georgia House Speaker Glenn Richardson and others.”

Continued in Part 3...

NJ considers apology for slavery - 1.3.2008.1

When you see this image what do you think?


To many this is a symbol of pride, the South, and a glorious and romanticized time in America.

To me and other African Americans, it is a reminder that America explicitly endorsed the belief that we were less valued and important than furniture at one time. It is a subtly and implicit reminder that we are second-class citizens, that we are separate, and that many still feel we are not American. It says America is proud of the days when picking cotton, torture, mental and sexual abuse were the only obligations available to Blacks. That every wrong done to African Americans was justified.

Obviously there is a big difference in what Blacks and Whites see in the Confederate Flag. The flag waves besides the American flag in courthouses and official government buildings across the South. It’s been highlighted in movies and television. And few Whites grasp the impact it makes, the statement it represents.

Because slavery is a taboo subject in this nation. As unspoken as the internment of Japanese Americans in WWII and the virtual extinction of Native American Indians.

When you see this image what do you think?


Most every American will say either the Civil War or freeing the slaves first, but both will be the likely answer. It is this image that sums up, and is the only, form of apology ever made by the American government about slavery.

I have said all this because slavery, and reparations, is finally being spoken about in this nation. Potentially we will hear about them in this election if the trend continues. That is if it continues and the major news media picks it up and tells anyone about it.

Today it has been reported that New Jersey is considering making an apology about slavery. This follows Missouri thinking about the same thing in December. I’m willing to bet most Americans never heard a word about this.

Mind you, they are only talking about an apology. Reparations are something every state fears, and none are willing to even discuss the issue. I kind of see that like the saying

“If everyone is saying your idea is wrong, you probably are on the right track to do something never done before.”

Continued in part 2...