The story of America is the story of race. It has been since a couple Germans grafted the name of an Italian navigator onto the continents in the middle of the last millenium. That it is still the story of America (especially the United States of) is evidenced by two stories in the news this week.
The first concerns two life sentences assigned to Deryl Dedmon, a slight, blue-eyed, blond-haired lad of 19, who last year took part in the random and vicious beating of James Craig Anderson in Jackson Mississippi, then deliberately ran Mr. Anderson over with a truck, killing him. Then he got on his cell phone and called his friends to laugh and brag about what he’d done. You can see the murder on video, if you have the stomach for it.
The family of Mr. Anderson – by all accounts a kind man and pillar of his community – asked the judge in the case to spare Dedmon from a death sentence and asked the community to pray for reconciliation.
CNN reports that Dedmon’s attorney, in a bail hearing last year, “told the court he saw nothing to back up the ‘racial allegations.’” There are none so blind as those who will not see, as reporters easily found any number of people who described as Dedmon as a racist thug for years before the incident.
Dedmon – of course – found religion prior to his sentencing hearing and made much of his conversion for the judge. The judge was unimpressed and called Dedmon’s act a “stain” on the state of Mississippi that will take years to fade. An understatement, if anything. Now Dedmon will spend his life in prison, likely consorting with racists, in part to protect his skinny, pretty self and in part because they will laud him for his hate crime.
Another CNN report quotes the assistant police chief in Dedmon’s hometown saying the whole incident was blown out of proportion by the media. The dumbass, racist Southern cop is as much of an inaccurate stereotype as the hateful images Deryl Dedmon carried in his head, but Assistant Chief Chris Butts isn’t helping things. He’s not even smart enough to shut up.
The police department in Sanford, Florida isn’t helping its own case, either. As you ought to know – unless you too are trapped in a stereotype – this is the department that has yet to arrest self-appointed vigilante George Zimmerman after he gunned down 17-year-old candy purchaser Trayvon Martin almost a month ago. Zimmerman is white; Trayvon was black. Do I need to mention that or did you guess from the last sentence but one?
According to a letter penned Sanford’s City Manager Norton Bonaparte, Police Chief Bill Lee could not arrest Zimmerman. “Mr. Zimmerman provided a statement claiming he acted in self defense which at the time was supported by physical evidence and testimony,” Bonaparte wrote. “By Florida Statute, law enforcement was PROHIBITED from making an arrest based on the facts and circumstances they had at the time.”
Thanks for the capital letters, Norton. Makes it easier to read. Next time I kill someone in Florida, I’ll know what to say. I guess cops believe anything from the mouth of a white guy holding a still-smoking pistol.
What do you think that bit about “at the time” means? They know better now? Guess not, as Zimmerman has yet to be arrested or charged. Here are some other things the Sanford police don’t know. They don’t know if Zimmerman was drunk or high on drugs when he took Trayvon Martin’s life. They tested Trayvon’s body for drugs and alcohol (it was clean) but not the man who killed him. Funny that. They also didn’t bother to check to see that Trayvon was on his cell phone just before he died. A good cop – even a piss-poor cop – might want to find out whom Trayvon was talking to when he was killed and see what that person had to say. The media reports that Trayvon was speaking with a young woman who said he was scared for his life from Zimmerman.
Witnesses to the shooting said they heard Trayvon call for help, only to have Sanford cops “correct” them and say it was Zimmerman calling for help. Who you gonna believe, your lying ears or Sanford’s finest?
Oh, and the Sanford PD seems to have missed Zimmerman using a racial slur when he called 911 to report Trayvon as a suspicious person. To his credit, the dispatcher who took the call told Zimmerman to stop following Trayvon, an order he ignored and proceeded to shoot the youth. What do you think happens to black men in Florida who disobey direct orders from the police? Do you think police are PROHIBITED from arresting them?
Wow, that’s five basic things the Sanford PD failed to do. I say fire ‘em all, including Mr. Bonaparte, who should be sent to an island in the South Atlantic. And take Chris Butts with you.
© Mark Floegel, 2012
* Although it now seems trivial, I promised last week to let you know how I’m doing in the NCAA tournament. I’m 28 for 48 and it doesn’t seem trivial. It is trivial.
Still the Story of America
The story of America is the story of race. It has been since a couple Germans grafted the name of an Italian navigator onto the continents in the middle of the last millenium. That it is still the story of America (especially the United States of) is evidenced by two stories in the news this week.
The first concerns two life sentences assigned to Deryl Dedmon, a slight, blue-eyed, blond-haired lad of 19, who last year took part in the random and vicious beating of James Craig Anderson in Jackson Mississippi, then deliberately ran Mr. Anderson over with a truck, killing him. Then he got on his cell phone and called his friends to laugh and brag about what he’d done. You can see the murder on video, if you have the stomach for it.
The family of Mr. Anderson – by all accounts a kind man and pillar of his community – asked the judge in the case to spare Dedmon from a death sentence and asked the community to pray for reconciliation.
CNN reports that Dedmon’s attorney, in a bail hearing last year, “told the court he saw nothing to back up the ‘racial allegations.’” There are none so blind as those who will not see, as reporters easily found any number of people who described as Dedmon as a racist thug for years before the incident.
Dedmon – of course – found religion prior to his sentencing hearing and made much of his conversion for the judge. The judge was unimpressed and called Dedmon’s act a “stain” on the state of Mississippi that will take years to fade. An understatement, if anything. Now Dedmon will spend his life in prison, likely consorting with racists, in part to protect his skinny, pretty self and in part because they will laud him for his hate crime.
Another CNN report quotes the assistant police chief in Dedmon’s hometown saying the whole incident was blown out of proportion by the media. The dumbass, racist Southern cop is as much of an inaccurate stereotype as the hateful images Deryl Dedmon carried in his head, but Assistant Chief Chris Butts isn’t helping things. He’s not even smart enough to shut up.
The police department in Sanford, Florida isn’t helping its own case, either. As you ought to know – unless you too are trapped in a stereotype – this is the department that has yet to arrest self-appointed vigilante George Zimmerman after he gunned down 17-year-old candy purchaser Trayvon Martin almost a month ago. Zimmerman is white; Trayvon was black. Do I need to mention that or did you guess from the last sentence but one?
According to a letter penned Sanford’s City Manager Norton Bonaparte, Police Chief Bill Lee could not arrest Zimmerman. “Mr. Zimmerman provided a statement claiming he acted in self defense which at the time was supported by physical evidence and testimony,” Bonaparte wrote. “By Florida Statute, law enforcement was PROHIBITED from making an arrest based on the facts and circumstances they had at the time.”
Thanks for the capital letters, Norton. Makes it easier to read. Next time I kill someone in Florida, I’ll know what to say. I guess cops believe anything from the mouth of a white guy holding a still-smoking pistol.
What do you think that bit about “at the time” means? They know better now? Guess not, as Zimmerman has yet to be arrested or charged. Here are some other things the Sanford police don’t know. They don’t know if Zimmerman was drunk or high on drugs when he took Trayvon Martin’s life. They tested Trayvon’s body for drugs and alcohol (it was clean) but not the man who killed him. Funny that. They also didn’t bother to check to see that Trayvon was on his cell phone just before he died. A good cop – even a piss-poor cop – might want to find out whom Trayvon was talking to when he was killed and see what that person had to say. The media reports that Trayvon was speaking with a young woman who said he was scared for his life from Zimmerman.
Witnesses to the shooting said they heard Trayvon call for help, only to have Sanford cops “correct” them and say it was Zimmerman calling for help. Who you gonna believe, your lying ears or Sanford’s finest?
Oh, and the Sanford PD seems to have missed Zimmerman using a racial slur when he called 911 to report Trayvon as a suspicious person. To his credit, the dispatcher who took the call told Zimmerman to stop following Trayvon, an order he ignored and proceeded to shoot the youth. What do you think happens to black men in Florida who disobey direct orders from the police? Do you think police are PROHIBITED from arresting them?
Wow, that’s five basic things the Sanford PD failed to do. I say fire ‘em all, including Mr. Bonaparte, who should be sent to an island in the South Atlantic. And take Chris Butts with you.
© Mark Floegel, 2012
* Although it now seems trivial, I promised last week to let you know how I’m doing in the NCAA tournament. I’m 28 for 48 and it doesn’t seem trivial. It is trivial.