Sonny's Corner
"Sonny's Corner" is a regular column in Prairie Fire, featuring commentary on civil rights and justice issues. Our friend and Omaha colleague, Joseph P. "Sonny" Foster, died suddenly at age 54 in August 2005. He left an uncompleted agenda, as did many of our civil rights and justice mentors and heroes. We shall attempt to move forward on that unfinished agenda through this column.
Three little words: We the People. Neither the words nor the concept are complex. But these three words bind together these United States of America, and a lot of our history is the struggle to figure out just who is included in the “We.” From that question came “We the People: The Nebraska Viewpoint,” an exhibit and series of free public lectures and community conversations underway this spring at the Nebraska History Museum in Lincoln, Neb.
Nebraska’s role in figuring out who “We” are is surprisingly large. As researchers at the Nebraska State Historical Society examined the record, two major themes emerged: the power of the right to vote and the importance of a vibrant free press.
As the first state added to the Union after the Civil War, Nebraska’s admission in 1867 involved conflict over race and voting rights. Nebraska drafted a state constitution that reserved the vote to “white men.” Congress demanded that it be changed to grant the vote to any male citizen of legal age; statehood was delayed for a year until Nebraska complied.
The power of the press is evident in the story of Standing Bear, the Ponca leader who in 1879 took the federal government to court to obtain the protection of the Constitution. For the first time, a U.S. court ruled that a Native American was a person under the law. But the famous trial would never have happed without the passionate writings of journalist Thomas Tibbles in the Omaha Herald.
Less well known is the story of John Elk. Mr. Elk was a Winnebago who had separated himself from tribe and tradition and was living in Omaha. In 1880, the year after the Standing Bear decision, Mr. Elk asked to be added to the voting rolls. Suffrage registrar Charles Wilkins refused because Elk was an American Indian and therefore not a citizen of the United States.
The lawyers who had represented Standing Bear filed a suit on Elk’s behalf, and it came before Judge Elmer Dundy, the same judge that presided over the Standing Bear case. But Dundy ruled against Elk, and, on appeal, so did the United State Supreme Court. The court held that while Elk was entitled to the protection of the Constitution, the 14th Amendment did not automatically confer citizenship. American Indians did not gain the right to vote until 1924. More recently, Elk v. Wilkins has been cited by those who argue that the children of illegal aliens are likewise not citizens at birth.
Nebraska was also involved in a U.S. Supreme Court decision regarding language. Long before “Press One for English…” became a rallying cry, language was a contentious issue in the state. The 1919 Siman Act forbade teaching children below the eighth grade in a language other than English. Robert Meyer of Hampton, Neb., was convicted of reading a German Bible to a 10-year-old boy.
The Nebraska Supreme Court upheld the conviction, but the U.S. Supreme Court overturned it. What is important is that this case was not decided on First Amendment rights to freedom of speech or religion but rather on the 14th Amendment principle of due process—the first time the court had applied this principle. In his decision, Justice McReynolds wrote that the “liberty” protected by the Due Process clause included teaching in and learning foreign languages. “That the state may do much, go very far, indeed, in order to improve the quality of its citizens, physically, mentally and morally, is clear; but the individual has certain fundamental rights which must be respected. The protection of the Constitution extends to all, to those who speak other languages as well as to those born with English on the tongue. Perhaps it would be highly advantageous if all had ready understanding of our ordinary speech, but this cannot be coerced by methods which conflict with the Constitution—a desirable end cannot be promoted by prohibited means.”
This interpretation of due process would later shape landmark decisions such as Roe v. Wade.
Incidentally, in 1920 Nebraska amended its constitution to declare English “to be the official language of this state, and all official proceedings, records and publications shall be in such language, and the common school branches shall be taught in said language in public, private, denominational and parochial schools.” It remains the law of the land in Nebraska.
The exhibit examines how conceptions of “We” transformed over time to include black Americans, women, children and youth, people of faith, the accused and the convicted. “The Shadow of Intolerance” looks at Nebraskans who would limit the Constitution’s inclusiveness. Among the painful stories are those of the Ku Klux Klan in our state, of neo-Nazis, of the Omaha riot and lynching of 1919 and of the World War I-era Nebraska Council of Defense. One of the more recent stories is that of Brandon Teena, a transgender male who was murdered in 1993. This crime focused the nation’s attention on hate crimes based on sexual orientation.
A series of speakers bring their own personal experiences as well as researched perspectives to the table. To date speakers at the museum have included federal judge Laurie Smith Camp, Pawnee scholar Dr. James Riding In, longtime State Sen. Ernie Chambers and First Amendment attorney Alan Peterson. March programs will include Charles Trimble, founder of the American Indian Press Association and former director of the National Congress of American Indians, speaking on “The Ongoing Indian Wars: Old Issues, New Fronts” on March 8. The remarkable influence of Mildred Brown, founder and publisher of Nebraska’s only African-American newspaper, the Omaha Star, will be featured in a March 17 presentation by historian Amy Forss. Dr. Thomas Sanchez, University of Nebraska at Omaha sociologist, will examine the history and culture of Nebraska Hispanics on April 21, and Dr. James Hewitt, attorney and historian, offers a critical review of the Nebraska Supreme Court on May 19. All programs are recorded for rebroadcast on 5CityTV and NET2 and posting on YouTube.
Community conversations on March 15 and April 19 will allow participants to discuss the continuing struggle over who is part of the “We.” Should rights be guaranteed to new immigrants and/or their children, the disabled, gays, Muslims? What should Nebraska’s role be in facing these challenging questions?
For more information on “We the People: The Nebraska Viewpoint” at the Nebraska History Museum, Lincoln, Neb., call (402) 471-3270, visit www.nebraskahistory.org or find the Nebraska State Historical Society on Facebook. The program is funded in part by the Nebraska Humanities Council and the Nebraska Cultural Endowment. Additional support is provided by the Cooper Foundation and the Woods Charitable Fund, Inc., via the Nebraska State Historical Society Foundation.
Delicious
Digg
StumbleUpon
Facebook
Yahoo
Post new comment