As I have been reading article after article on this issue, the one thing that came to mind was that this whole issue is further proof that we live in a world of double standards.
Now as a general rule of thumb, anytime I come across stories like this that are very emotionally-charged, one of things that I do is to formulate a “What if” scenario by using the same situation but with different characters (usually based on race or gender). This way I know that whatever opinion I may formulate about the issue, I know that I would at least be consistent. Trust me, this is not always easy especially when you are competing with your own initial emotional response, but I have always found it to be worth it in the end.
Had “Tookie” been a Klansman…
This thought came to mind as I finally discovered the names of the four victims in this case: Albert Owens, Thsai-Shai Yang, Yen-I Yang and Yee Chen Lin. The first thing that you will notice is that three of these victims were of Asian decent. Although there is no known proof to the public that this was a racially-motivated crime, had Williams been a Klansman, the “dots” would have automatically been connected. If this was the case, any attempt to assert the claim that this was just a random murder would have been quickly struck down and deemed as and act of racist sympathy.
Had “Tookie”been a Klansman, the pictures of these four victims would have been imprinted on the minds of the general public. Think about all the documentaries and books you have seen over your lifetime of the 3 civil rights workers that were senselessly killed that unfortunate night in Mississippi. Try doing a Google search for the names of these four individuals. As of the time of this writing, there were no results. How about a documentary that told the life story of these four victims?
Had “Tookie” been a clansman, it would not have mattered how many children’s books he had written. The general public would have found it very easy to dismiss such a gesture as cheap atonement. Would we have been just as forgiving if people like Edgar Ray Killen (former conspirator of the killings in Mississippi of three civil rights workers) decided to show his remorse for his past actions by coming out with a series of children’s books? Or how about the former Nazi soldiers who although were not directly involved in the killings of Jews during the days of Nazi Germany, they were still found guilty by association. In many cases during post WWII, these soldiers were quickly executed despite the fact that some of them did not actually murder Jews. Should we as society morn for these “innocent”Nazis as well?
Had “Tookie” had been a Klansman, would the National Association of the Advancement of Colored People so readily taken his side to call for clemency, or would they have taken the “Colored” route and defended these four individuals of color (three if you want to be specific) who had their rights taken away from them?
Why do I draw a comparison between the KKK and the Crips? Because like the Klan, the Crips has a very long history of terrorizing and murdering innocent people. Four dead people are four dead people. Unfortunately it is society that makes the distinction based on race weather or not if murder was the case or just an unfortunate event in history.
What I also find not too surprising is that although you do have blacks that are actively involved in the “clemency for Tookie” movement, you will also find many whites (who are in many cases Liberal) leading this charge. As long as blacks are poor or imprisoned, the Liberal movement in this country will always have fuel. Think about this past election where you had an outpouring of concern from Liberals regarding the voting rights of blacks who are imprisoned. Are we to believe that this was a genuine show of concern for their overall plight as individuals? In some cases, maybe but generally speaking this had everything to do with one thing only: votes. Otherwise we would have seen a serious and well thought out effort on their part to keep our men from becoming repeat offenders regardless of the outcome of the election. Until then, the message to these inmates: see you next presidential election.
Make no mistake about it, to many within the “clemency for Tookie” crowd, he is nothing more than a black ticket of validation whose limited but ultimate purpose is to place their own organizations and agendas into the national spotlight. This is almost like those like to show off a picture of them posing with a past or present President or similar national figure. That one image of you standing side by side with someone of great importance can in most cases make you appear important (even though the people who really know you know better).
Williams is not a political prisoner nor is he a role model for young black boys. He is a convicted murder who is not man enough to admit to his crime while at the same time hiding behind children’s books and even worse the childish nickname of “Tookie”. He is a grown man for crying out loud. Stop treating him as an adolescent trapped in the body of a grown up who just didn’t know any better. Our men need strong male role models who are strong enough to admit when they are wrong, not a “Tookie”.
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Other commenting on this issue around the blogsphere:
Cobb – “Fond Memories of Tookie”
Tavares Forby – Stanley “Tookie” Williams
Shay Reily- Booker Rising on Tookie Williams
Juliette Ochieng – “Tookie Blogging”
Michelle Malkin – “The Tookie Files”
Here’s a decent article from LA Times. I think they do a pretty good job demonstrating how the black community is somewhat split on the issue. (“Barbershop Regulars Take Sides Over Tookie”–May need to register)
And here is another article from the San Francisco Chronicle written by an individual who has followed the case for years: “No clemency for ‘Tookie’ “
