Tag: Courtney Allen Curtis

The Missouri House has voted, in the presence of one of Dred Scott’s descendants, to denounce the 1852 decision  by the Missouri Supreme Court to deny Scott his freedom.

In that case, Scott vs. Emerson, Scott sought judgement that he, his wife, and their two children were free because they had lived in the free state of Illinois.  The Missouri Supreme Court overturned a lower court’s ruling in Scott’s favor and said the family was not free.

Scott went on to sue a New York man who succeeded Irene Emerson in ownership of Scott’s family.  That case, Scott vs. Sanford, is better known as it reached the U.S. Supreme Court, which also found against Scott.

Ash Grove Republican Mike Moon offered House Concurrent Resolution 86, which condemns the Missouri Court’s ruling.  He did so at the request of Scott’s great-great-great granddaughter, Lynne Jackson, who was in the House when HCR 86 was brought up.

“I was honored to be able to bring this resolution.  I don’t know why they asked me, but Miss Jackson, thank you,” said Moon.  “I’m extremely grateful … to be included in this process to condemn the Missouri court decision of 1852 … for all of us working with the lady from Dred Scott’s ancestry, Lynne Jackson, for abiding by her wishes.”

Ballwin Republican Shamed Dogan said the Missouri high court’s ruling, and that of the U.S. Supreme Court after it, made worse more than a century of debate over the status of people of color in the United States, and said for the legislature to pass HCR 86 is an important step.

“Denouncing that decision, denouncing the words within that decision – the words which helped to, for more than a century after those words were put forth by the Supreme Court as the law of the land, that helped to establish the foundation for Jim Crowe, for all kinds of other injustices done towards not just people of African descent but other people who were treated poorly by this country – we can take one small step by passing this resolution,” said Dogan.

Ferguson Democrat Courtney Allen Curtis offered an amendment to HCR 86 that he said tweaked the wording, at the behest of Jackson, to make sure the resolution reflected her spirit of reconciliation.

“I’m honored to be a part of this because it’s not every day that I move forward in the spirit of reconciliation, but to know that there are people out there that are better than me that are, it makes me look at my actions and what I do and ask if I’m doing the right thing … I’m glad that she did bring this to us,” said Curtis.

Jackson said for the legislature to be willing to say that the Missouri court’s 1852 decision was wrong is all she wanted.

“The difference is that the U.S. Supreme Court decision was overturned by the 14^th Amendment, but Missouri never dealt with the fact that they said times are not as they once were when we made [decisions in trials prior to Scott’s that granted freedom to people who had been slaves], therefore we’re not going to let you have your freedom – it was just a political motion, that’s all it was, to save the institution of slavery – so the fact that they’re just acknowledging that it’s wrong is important,” said Jackson.

“I also think it may have a more spiritual connection.  It might be just the mere fact that sometimes when people say, ‘I’m sorry,’ that everything changes.  You can reestablish relationships.  When people say, ‘I forgive you,’ when they acknowledge they’re wrong, it’s easier to get back and have that relationship with people,” said Jackson.

Jackson thanked Moon and the other representatives that worked and voted for HCR 86.  The House voted 134-2 to send that resolution to the Missouri Senate.

Moon expressed hope that the resolution will pass this year because July 9 is the 150^th anniversary of the 14^th Amendment, which overturned the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in Scott vs. Sanford.