THE UGLINESS OF RACISM

There was recently an upheaval over the execution of Troy Davis has rallied all types of protest. Many believe that there was evidence showing that this man was innocent of the crime in which he was convicted. Initially I was skeptical about making any judgement or statement on the matter as I had no clue what the protest was about. Something seemed odd to me in the way things suddenly appeared on the national scene.

All of the headlines read that 7 out of 9 witnesses had changed their own testimony. I thought, certainly this man's trial should be looked at. Since he was black, I also thought that the witnesses were white and that they had conspired against this man to find him guilty in the first place. I was wrong on both accounts.

From all of the information the media was putting out I thought surely the Supreme Court will intervene and this man will have justice. Alas, the Supreme Court did not intervene. I was dumbfounded and driven to look into the case a bit. It did not take long to find the answer as to why the Supreme Court passed on a case that had so much controversy, justice had already been served.

The truth is that there were many more witnesses than 9. In fact, there were 34! 34 eye witnesses, some of which were this man's friends. The original testimony by his friends gave proof of guilt. It was not until later that they changed their tune. 34 eye witnesses that saw this man shoot at a passing stranger, beat a homeless man, and then brutally and without mercy shoot a police officer in the head at point blank range. There was no injustice, no racism, no malice on the part of the court. This man was guilty and deserving of his penalty. Perhaps more so since he maintained his innocence till the end.

That fact that so much of the truth was masked by the media to create a story sickens me. It sickens me because it fanned the flames of racism. At a time when the nation has more problems than one would like to think about the media brought to the forefront a fraudulent story that only complicated the social landscape of our country. I wouldn't mind if it were true. I wouldn't mind if it had feet. I mind because it was blatantly dishonest.

So many people I know of color were screaming foul. So many people I know were screaming racism. The story bread an air of distrust for the police, the courts, the nation as a whole, and whites in general. It took a story in which justice was served and turned it into a tool of demagoguery. The very ugliness of racism alone in its truest form is reason enough to never fraudulently portray such an injustice.

I am bothered deeply. A story such as this has only added fuel for those already suspicious of white men from stories nearing that of folklore. I know people who have never experienced bold, in your face racism. I question the reality of what they believe to be prejudice. A story like this gave all of their conspiracy theories/fears credence. There are people that are now awaiting the execution of the next innocent black as institutional racism continues its path through our people. Do you see the problem? This was irresponsible, an atrocity. It was ugly.