African Americans ‘legally, politically captive’ in US: Activist

African Americans and other racial minorities in the United States have long been held “captive” on a legal and political basis, says an international human rights activist, also suggesting that racial discrimination and violence will persist in the nation as long as minorities do not assert their rights.

Elaina Porter of American Institute of Human Rights from Atlanta, Georgia, made the remarks in an interview with Press TV on Saturday.

“Now is the time for us to be released. We have been held captive in the United States legally and politically since 1865. We are a nation within the nation, the relationship that we have with the United States government is a parasitical relationship,” Porter said.

“So in order for us to remove ourselves from the parasitical relationship we must assert our international human rights to self-determination. We have a right to self-govern; we have a right to self-policing under the decolonization conventions and under the 1949 Geneva Convention, and its additional protocols concerning internal colonies like ourselves. We have rights that we have yet to assert and the only way to close these inequality gaps is to self-govern,” she added.

The human rights activist blamed the racial discrimination against African Americans on the “puppet leadership” in Washington and its disregard for the Black people’s rights.

“We have property rights, we have not asserted them, because we have puppet leadership in high places that continues to use the colorblind ideology to disguise the fact that we have a right to self-determination, a right to immediate reparations and a right to self-govern, and the right to self-police,” she underlined.

US police have 400-year history of anti-black racism: Academic

Racial discrimination against people of color, recently compounded by the brutal murder of African American George Floyd in the US police custody in Minneapolis, has a history of nearly 400 years in the United States, says an academic at Michigan State University.

Porter’s remarks came as the founder of a Black armed activist group is facing a federal charge after the FBI alleged he had aimed a rifle at federally-deputized task force officers during a September rally in Louisville, Kentucky.

FBI agents arrested John Fitzgerald Johnson, also known as Grand Master Jay, at his home on Thursday and the 57-year-old appeared before a federal judge in Louisville later that afternoon.         

A combined preliminary and detention hearing is scheduled to be held on Friday.

If convicted, Johnson faces a maximum sentence of 20 years in federal prison.

Commenting on Johnson’s apprehension, Porter told Press TV that he respected the law and expected all members of the armed group to abide by the law despite the "bad publicity" that he has received in the state media.

“During the formations and outside of the formations, we're supposed to carry ourselves in high character, abide by all the rules and regulations and also respect law enforcement,” she said.

“He's gotten a lot of bad publicity concerning the way that he handles things and it's not true at all. He's very professional in the manner that he carries himself and that he carries the militia, he makes sure that all of the members abide by the rules and regulations,” Porter added.

Founder of all-Black armed activist group faces federal charge after FBI says he aimed a rifle at officers

John Fitzgerald Johnson could face 20 years in federal prison if convicted.

Cecile Johnson, CEO and founder of African Development Plan, was another analyst interviewed by Press TV who said the arrest was a “tactic” to smear Master Jay’s name.

“When you look at the history of what has happened whenever you have a leader, who is able to mobilize the people, this is what happens; they either try to arrest you, they try to shoot you, they try to smear your name. They use the same tactics all the time,” Johnson said.

“If it took them three months to look at a video to figure out what they thought was a threat, then obviously the time that it happened wasn't a threat, right, because if it wasn't a threat, they would have taken action. So I just see this as intimidation in response to the fact that he's been out speaking about some of the actions that we've taken as we filed a declaration of self-determination,” she underlined.

UNHRC to hold urgent debate on ‘systemic racism’ in US

The UNHRC would debate ‘systemic racism, police brutality and violence against peaceful protests’ in the US.

The United States has faced widespread protests against racial discrimination and police brutality since George Floyd, 46, died on May 25 in Minneapolis lying face down on the street after a white police officer pressed his knee on his neck for almost 9 minutes as he gasped, “Please, I can’t breathe.”

The incident was caught on video by bystanders and later circulated on social media across the world, triggering angry protests in dozens of US cities including Washington, DC., New York, Chicago, Philadelphia and Los Angeles.

The brutal killing has also fueled anti-racism protests outside the US in several countries, including the UK, Germany, Italy, Lebanon, Denmark and Canada.

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