In Spike Lee’s seminal work, Do the Right Thing, the character of Radio Raheem (played brilliantly by Bill Nunn) is a street prophet who communicates through music and action as opposed to words. Rocking a high-top fade, an African medallion, and carrying a boom box, Raheem patrols his neighborhood, sometimes offering pearls of wisdom. One of these pearls came in the form of brass knuckles that he wears on each hand; one set spells out love and the other set spells out hate. In one of his few statements in the film, Raheem explains that love and hate are at war with each other, and just when it seems that hate is making a comeback and taking over, love knocks it out. But these days our culture is in need of Radio Raheem’s rhetoric because hate seems to be in abundance, and love does not appear to be prevailing.
To say that I was appalled to learn of the abduction, rape and torture of Megan Williams, a 20-year-old woman in Logan County, W.Va., is an understatement. Williams was abducted by six people — four men and two women — held hostage, repeatedly stabbed and raped, made to eat dog and rat feces and drink from a toilet bowl while being called racist and sexist epithets like “nigger,” “bitch,” and the infamous “c” word. Authorities are still not sure of how long Williams was missing, but they think that it was more than a week.
Williams is African-American and her captors are white, but — shockingly — there appears to be an unwillingness to prosecute the offenders under federal hate crime laws. In this case, U.S. Attorney Charles Miller announced that his office would not seek federal charges in the alleged rape and torture of Williams, even though the Logan County Prosecutor Brian Abraham stated that, “There is no doubt, from what I’ve seen, that race was a contributing factor.”
When hate crimes are not prosecuted, however, other problems emerge … as is the case with the Jena 6 in Louisiana.
If the school officials and prosecutors had come together and let it be known that there is no tolerance for hate crimes when the young white men hung three nooses over a “whites only” tree on the school property, the resulting chaos may not have ensued.
The prosecutor, who is also on the school board, overturned the initial expulsion of the white students and did not pursue charges against them for the hate crime. Not only should they have been expelled from the school system, the case should have been pursued as a hate crime to send a clear message that hate crimes will not be tolerated. Instead, the incident was not addressed adequately, allowing hate to fester and grow, resulting in the incarceration and overzealous prosecution of six black high school students. (A tennis shoe as a deadly weapon?)
The “underzealous” prosecution of the initial hate crime led to the resulting tragic events. Because the adults in the situation (school principal, school board, parents, police, prosecutors) failed as adults, these kids (black and white) took matters into their own hands with disastrous results. Now these young men are being railroaded by the very system that failed to protect them and their rights, while the hate mongers get away with a symbolic murder.
In the midst of all this tragedy, there are some signs of hope. On Sept. 10, 2007, a noose was hung on a tree near the black cultural studies center at the University of Maryland. But, unlike officials in Jena, university officials and police authorities are treating this incident as a crime. They have opened a formal investigation and plan to prosecute those that are responsible for the crime. Ironically, it’s thought that this crime is predicated on the growing national attention on the Jena 6 case. Mychal Bell, the first member of the Jena 6 who was tried and convicted was set to be sentenced on Sept. 20. But on Sept. 14, a state appeals court vacated his felony conviction, ruling that he had been tried improperly as an adult. Protesters, however, still plan to march on Jena this Thursday.
Perhaps we can take a cue from other more self-critical countries. Germany is embarrassed by its legacy of hate, such that they have some of the toughest hate crime laws in the world. Does that mean that they have no hate crimes? No. But it does mean that their citizens and visitors know that hate crime will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.
In this climate of hate, it is important to fight back with love. When we do not, our culture dies, like the character of Radio Raheem in Do the Right Thing. One of the ways that we can do this is by protecting the rights of all of our citizens, regardless of race, class, gender, religion or sexuality. Show some love on Sept. 20 for yourselves by turning away from frivolous distractions and turning towards your family, friends and neighbors — and pledge to end hate in our culture and society.
This article appears in Sep 19-25, 2007.
Wow, quite a turnaround from your ‘innocent until proven guilty’ stance a few weeks back. Clearly there’s irrefutable evidence to charge them with a hate crime.
Well your Jena 6 whiners finally got some press, I’m sure you’re excited. Unfortunately it didn’t last because, when you get right down to it, the kid that’s being so unfairly charged is already a career criminal. He’s got how many previous felony charges? How many were violent? Any property theft in there? Guess it made a little too big of a story because when people did about two minutes of research the smart ones realized that Mychal Bell was nobody to start a cause for. Lucky for him the spineless politicians bent to the pressure and had the charge reduced. He seems like quite an industrious young man so far, I can’t wait to see how Mr. Bell fares with his virtually guaranteed future felony counts.
This is a common problem for black whiners like yourself, you put your criminals up on these pedestals. Why? Why are you so concerned with how harsh these criminals are treated? Why do you care whether or not it’s fair? Shouldn’t you be working a little harder to make sure your people don’t end up in these predicaments to begin with? It just seems to me like the self-pitying loudmouths like yourself would rather just do whatever you want and then complain about how unfair the consequences are. Then again, it’s apparent that’s why you have this column to begin with. Your ‘culture’ will not move forward, outside of our charity, if you continue to constantly put your worst of your worst in the spotlight.
Notice all the protests over these rednecks that allegedly tortured that girl? How about the outrage over the rush to judge them? Boycott threats, talk show discussions, letters to editors condemning their portrayal in the mediea? Nope, because reasonable people don’t care what happens to people like this. They’re probably guilty, they’ll probably go to jail, and who really cares, other than black people, what a bunch of criminals do anyway? Unlike popular black culture, being a criminal in white society isn’t a status symbol, it’s a stigma. Sadly, you and your protesters just can’t accept the inherent downsides (jail, death) that accompany such a lifestyle.
A doctorate? Really? What school? I’d bet anything they have a diversity program.
…and eventually they will move on to someone or something else. I dig your column. Keep on writing.
It is sad to see that someone who is a college professor, who helps to shape the minds of young Americans, seems so hell bent to teach racism while appearing to preach against it. Your columns seem to dwell more on the color of an accused person’s, or victims’ skin, than on the horrible crimes that have been committed. You consistenly defend people of color, regardless of their crimes, while attempting to discredit caucasians for similar behavior. I’m sure that many African-American readers feel you are right on target, because it is so much easier to blame someone else for horrendous acts, than it is to stand up and take responsibility for yourself, or others of your race.
I don’t mean to defend the actions of the white person(s) in Jena, LA who hung nooses from a tree in protest of a black student who wished to sit under the “white” tree. That action is despicable. And although I do believe that punishment is deserved for that act, how can you defend any situation where six people attack one single boy? I have not seen anything to even indicate that the boy attacked had anything to do with the nooses, although he may have. But would this be any different had six white young men attacked a young black man for an equal type of offense? Why are you not demanding that the “Jena 6” be prosecuted under Federal Hate Crime laws? Wasn’t their attack on a white person equally reprehensible? Seems to be a rather racist opinion if you think not.
The people accused of kidnapping, torturing, and rape of the young black woman in WV should definitely be prosecuted to the full extent of the law. Personally, I feel they should be put through the same exact torture and rape that they committed, but unfortunately our society doesn’t believe in the “eye for an eye” system of justice. However, I feel that you cheapen your argument for this and other tragedies of this nature, when you defend the actions of other criminals, based soley on the color of their skin.
Does racism exist in America today? Absolutely! Is it something we should try to wipe out? Most assuredly! But certain African-American people, like yourself, only tend to create resentment by constantly defending the actions of criminals, who happen to be black. Then, when a respected member of your own community has the courage to stand up and tell you to look to yourselves for the real reason that young black men and women are behaving this way, (Bill Cosby), he is accused of selling out, or being an Uncle Tom.
Black artists and entertainers, highly visible if not role model types of people, constantly call each other “Niggers” and young women “Ho’s”, “Bitches”, and worse, yet you wonder why the rest of society continues to see young black people in this same light. The major cause of death among young black men is murder, and it is normally at the hands of other young black men. And instead of looking for solutions to this problem, you look for “Whitey” to blame.
Yes, there is a dis-proportionate number of young black men in prisons. But is this due to racism, or is it simply that a dis-proportionate number of violent crimes are committed by young black men?
Young black people in our schools are constantly ridiculed for doing well. They are accused of “acting white”. Who’s fault is that? Is it acceptable to consider being black to mean that you speak ignorantly, disrespectfully, and in a hostile manner?
People everywhere should be mortified that this is occurring, but it is my responsibility to raise my children in an acceptable manner to become productive, well-behaved, and tolerant citizens. You have the same responsibility to raise your children the same way. And as an educator, you also have the added responsibility of helping to shape the minds of young people towards that same goal. Constantly whining about how life is unfair because you are black just won’t cut it.
We should all work towards a goal of true equality in America, if not the world, but constantly demanding special treatment because you are black does not promote equality – it promotes resentment.
For example, slavery was a horrible practice. Fortunately, it was abolished over a hundred years ago. Yet even today, there are certain black people who feel they are entitled to some form of compensation for slavery, even though they, their parents, and in most cases, their grandparents, were not slaves. How is that fair? And while we are on the subject, white people did not invent the idea of slavery. I believe that the Egyptians kept slaves over a thousand years ago. And weren’t the slaves that were brought from Africa, in most cases sold by other African tribes to white traders?
Stop defeating your goal of equality by consistently promoting inequality! If a person, black, white, Hispanic, or Asian, commits a crime, they should be punished. There should be no special treatment for anyone based on their skin color or heritage. Until the Black Community realizes this, they are, in effect, placing the noose around their own necks.
How very Orwellian, this idea of “hate crimes”: thinking the wrong thoughts makes the crime worse. The utter absurdity of it is made evident by looking att eh obverse: if one murder is made worse by hate, for example, then the murder of someone else that was not motivated by hate is less serious. The inevitable philosphical extensio of that is that the life of one victim was worth less than the life of another. The idea is bankrupt and that becomes obvious if it is examined critically at all.
(Noteworhty, by the way, is the fact that you don’t call for the Jena 6 to be charged with a hate crime. Unless you hold the positon that the actions of one group of students in placing nooses in the tree excuses the actions of another group of students in beating yet another student unrelated to the first group, you’r epositon is woefully inconsistent. You are taking the positon that your mother probably warned you about: two wrongs do not a right make.)
So what does all that mean for Jena? Well obviously the kids putting the nooses in the tree should have been charged with the criminal actions they engaged in: malicious mischief, disorderly conduct, vandalism. If their presence was disruptive to the school, they should have been removed. The students who assaulted the other should be charged with the crimes they committed: assault using a weapon and inflicting serious injury. If their presence in the school is distruptive THEY should be removed fromthe school.
But let’s leave thought crimes to Orwell.
Your allies are here and we’re reading. Don’t let the racists get you down.
I believe that in the W.VA case prison terms are actually worse if tried without the hate crime criteria. (it’s likely the will to put them away for a good while that commanded the choice of qualification)
We still do have a problem in this country. A serious one. The ignorance of A. Johnson is definite part of the problem.
Dear A. Johnson, after a while I skimmed quickly over what you wrote rather than reading with attention, as I have very little patience for ignorance. But your last set of comments caught my attention, still, and warranted a little schooling. Yes, slavery was a long time ago, however the apartheid that followed lasted long after that. And to this day, baby boomers can recall their growing up in injustice. And you don’t have to be black to know it is wrong to insult kids trying to get into a school. it happened then and would still happen today if it wasn’t for minorities to fight back agaisnt ignorance and insecurity.
So. A. johnson, let go of the fake educated attitude and realize you are part of the problem… as much as of the solution. Be genuine in your concern for this issue and try to walk in their shoes, if you can.
Thank you.
PS: please forgive any lack in my use of English, I am a foreigner.I hope it wasn’t unbearable reading, the schools where I grew up were never segregated, therefore I got a fair chance, from which my children and grand children will benefit. What about you A Johnson?
how could a rational person not side with the jena 6? look at the injustice that has been so prevalent in the town. before the incident where the jena 6 fought the one white student, racial tensions in jena had been rising. the noose “prank” should have been charged as a hate crime, yet the white students responsible for that weren’t even expelled. how about the situation where a white male pulled out a shotgun on a group of black students. they managed to wrangle the gun away from him, but when the police showed up, the black students were arrested for theft of the gun. i really like how you racists left out the two black boys that were jumped by two different groups of white boys before the actual jena 6 incident happened. one black boy was jumped at a party. one was jumped outside of a store. one of the black students that was jumped had to be hospitalized for injuries. The white student that the jena 6 jumped was well enough to go to a party that same evening. This is in no way excusing violence, but it is disgusting how one sided and bigoted you racists can be. This is bigger than those six boys. this is about letting the public no that gross racial inequities do still exist, that racists like you don’t care to change that, and that there is a need for activism. How trivial of N to bring up the record of one boy. this is not about him, but i wouldn’t expect a racist like you to know that, and yes, i’m calling you all racists because that is what you are. i’m sure you love to feel like the supreme white oppressor on the internet and spew your hate speech because you are all cowards that are stuck in the past. wake up, people.
Why are the attackers in your article “white” and the victim is “afro-american”. Why the double standard that allows our white children in Char/Meck schools to endure the well known rules that you best walk around the black students in the hallway and that certain bathrooms are off limits..yes, my own kid was a documented, taken to court case in middle school as he was beaten to the bathroom floor by 3 black students who then proceeded to kick him in the head multiple times..he had to be taken to the emergency room. and we were awarded damages after a long hard fight with the school system which protected the black students to unreasonable ends. It wasn’t even law suite, but the threat of publicity through my contacts with the local media that finally got us some action. Why is it that blacks are tolerated to constantly make racial hateful statements about and to the whites. If we took a transcript from any number of black radio station programs and simply reversed the race…there would hell to pay. I deplore the extreme and very unusual violence that you cite above and animals that horrible should be put to death.Not because they were white and did something hateful to an “african american”..but because they did horrible things to another human. But for your couched questions about hate on the rise?… what do you expect? I’ve put up with reverse descrimination for over 30 years of my 50 yrs on earth. I’ve tried apologizing via big Promise Keeper rallies, I’ve paid my taxes to the welfare bucket, I’ve tolerated bad behavior in my society, and excused poor performance in schools at the expense of my own kids educational quality. I’ve been hated and threatened and robbed all becuase of the color of my skin and they never even knew me personally. When do you think all this will brainwash me to never have an ill thought in my head towards the stereotype of the black race? Hate crimes start in the heart and mind and often live there without ever committing a physical crime. the black community has failed on the whole to garnish self respect so now you want to force laws upon the whites to make them think and behave differently, without expecting the blacks to play by the same rules. You then prove yourself the racist by admitting that the blacks can not play on the same field, regardless of generations of public same education, and social welfare programs. As long as this direction continues, I believe you will see the hate increase.
btw: my son was engaged to a black woman, my daughter’s life long best friend since the age of 4 (now 22) is black, my son’s business partner is black, and the two men that are my all time heros and personal friends are black. I love black people. It’s the African Americans I can’t stand.
Dr. Burton,
i LOVE your
latest column.
i’ve posted it
and the last
one to my face-
book page.
peace,
sim