They say that the death of any man diminishes all of humanity. I believe this. As a Muslim, I was taught by the Prophet’s (PBUH) revelation that the act of slaying a human, for the one who commits the crime, shall be as though he killed all of humanity. Killing, when it must be done, most only be committed in self-defense. The article above is short, only a few paragraphs. Yet it makes clear what black life was like in 1935

I found this article concerning the death of Silas Coleman among a group of papers that Rudy Lewis (Chief-editor of ChickenBones: A Journal) gave to me. We at CBJ are always looking to add to our files and post interesting things about Black people on our site. As I mentioned, among these papers, was this article. It is remarkably short. Yet, it contained the story of the death of a human being killed on a whim. The act was committed simply, for the sake of knowing what “it felt like to shoot a Negro.” It was not my intention to write an immediate commentary on the small article. But, the article nagged at me. And whenever I started working on any other files, the article always seemed to be on the top of the pile begging for my attention. Perhaps, it was more than begging for my attention. The article was demanding my attention.

Last summer, I was given something else by Rudy to review. It was a book about Blues and the tradition of violence that attended the development of the Blues in the Southland. The book, Seems Like Murder Here, is filled with tales of lynching. And, its effect was to deeply traumatize me on the subject of violence and Black people. I found I couldn’t write the review. It was literally the first time in my life that I could not find something to say on the subject.

The death of Silas Coleman at the hands of some racists in 1935 is nothing new. Black men and women have been slain on whims ever since they came to America. But, in this small article, I somehow find that all these murders -- all of these senseless deaths -- are contained (made real to me) in this one incident. The murder says that Coleman ran for his life before he was shot down. In his heart, mind, and soul, Coleman in Detroit must have felt like an African running from the Arab slavers in Africa or a slave from the hounds of a plantation owner in the South.

One wonders if Coleman had time to think of his loved ones before he died. Or was the primal desire to escape injury and death so overwhelming that he had little time to think of anything but running for his life? When I read this article, I always feel as though I am Coleman -- the African or Black slave -- running for his life. I feel myself drop to the ground as white death overtakes me as it did Coleman. I look up at the grinning faces of white humanity and ask why, for what reason was I killed. And the only answer that I can find is that I was given Black skin by my Creator.

Coleman’s death haunts me. And, it will probably haunt me unto death. I only hope that his soul has found peace. As I hope that some day, America will find the strength to put the insanity of racism behind her.

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* The Black Legion by FBI accounts was a white cult organization that operated in the mid-west during the 1930’s supposedly to protect America from such things as Communism. Members wore black robes with skull and cross bones. Malcolm X who lived in Detroit as a child claimed that such a group was responsible for the death of this father. There is a currently a file maintained by the FBI on this group containing some 964 pages. 

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The Black Legion of hoodlums, thugs, murderers, and some politicians seeking advancement, dress themselves in black robes, decorated with the pirate's symbol of the skull and crossbones, and feel that they are all powerful, recognizing no law save their own. Their ridiculous costumes, titles and rituals would be of no importance, except that this organization, formed to commit murder and lesser crimes, seeks to extend its rule by terror and mystery, and imposed its bloody will on well-selected tools who actually commit murder under orders.

New York Daily Mirror, June 5, 1936

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Irene du Pont organized the Black Legion in the United States. This was a fascist organization that terrorized and murdered union leaders and disrupted union organizing campaigns. The members wore hoods and black robes with skull and crossbones. Another of his organizations was the American Liberty League, which taught hatred of blacks and Jews, love of Hitler and loathing of the Roosevelts. The DuPont and Morgan families even approached Major General Smedley Butler through an intermediary to determine if a military coup could be organized against President Roosevelt because Roosevelt's programs for the poor and working class were so hated by DuPont and other important American capitalists. Major General Butler was deeply offended and reported the plot to Roosevelt.

"Fascism and the Republican Party" by Gary Sudborough • Sunday March 02, 2003  IconoclastGS@aol.com

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In Black Legion (the film directed 1936 by Archie Mayo), Humphrey Bogart gives an outstanding performance as factory laborer Frank Taylor, who loses a promotion to a foreign-born coworker. Filled with hatred, Taylor joins the Black Legion, a secret white supremacist organization. The group burns down the barn of Taylor's coworker, scaring him out of town. Thus, Taylor receives the promotion. But when Taylor is forced to spend his time recruiting new members for the Legion, he is demoted from plant foreman back to factory laborer. The Legion attacks Taylor’s new boss, making friends suspect Taylor's involvement, while Taylor himself begins drinking heavily in a fit of self-loathing. When Taylor finally loses his job and the Legion gears up for an attack on a former friend, it appears that Taylor has hit rock bottom--with only himself to blame. This fast-paced, black and white tale of moral decay and redemption is based on the true story of the Black Legion's condemnable actions in Michigan in the 1930s.

Warner Home Video, Running Time: 83 minutes, Not Rated, B&W, item #VVWA65273

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update 2 July 2008