NewsFlash
CNN NEWS RELEASE - Racist Labor Day parade float draws fire in
New York, September 10, 1998 . Web posted at: 8:22 p.m. NEW YORK
(AP) -- A New York City neighborhood whose Labor Day parades over
the years have included floats poking fun at Jews, gays and
Asians has come under fire this time for a display lampooning the
dragging death of a black man in Texas. The float featured men in
blackface and has sparked outrage, from Mayor Rudolph Giuliani to
residents of the Broad Channel neighborhood in the borough of
Queens. "When I saw it on the news, I cried," Dan
Turbridy, a longtime Broad Channel resident, said Thursday.
"Nothing like this has ever happened." Many of the
2,200 or so residents of the predominantly white community say
they did not see the float. Some fear those responsible could
turn their neighborhood into the city's latest symbol of racial
intolerance. "I've been living here for nine years, and I've
never seen anything as drastically disgraceful as that,"
said Michael Shea, president of the Broad Channel Athletic Club.
Amateur videotape of Monday's parade aired by WCBS-TV shows about
a dozen white men in blackface wearing Afro-style and dreadlock
wigs, and riding on or marching alongside a green pickup truck.
The float featured a banner reading, "Black to the Future
2098." One of the men clings to the rear bumper and is
dragged slowly along the parade route, as if to mock the slaying
earlier this year. BACK
This is how Microsoft Publisher 98 (Bill Gates) has us
listed in "animals Categories". All you do is type the
word "Monkeys" Look at the two black couples sitting on
a Monkey Bars while the other monkeys are in trees..... Remember,
he had the audacity to say we didn't have sense enough to use his
product or we can't afford to buy Microsoft anything. Now shall
we let him get away with this? No... He's offering to give anyone
who has 98 Publisher a funky Publisher 2000. Will this solve this
issue? I don't think so. If anyone feels like I do then WE need
to take a stand, by letting him and his company know, we're not
going away that easy. I will join in with MR. JOHN ELIJAH from
San Diego California. If you already have it installed and your
using AOL (They) can erase it from your hard drive. How? They did
me earlier. I had to reinstall Publisher 98 so the picture would
come out again. If you already have 98 install and have the CD
(remove it) then (reinstall it). Not so fast Bill Gates. You
thought you could out smart us. Sorry you can't. We have rights
you know...
THIS PHOTO NUMBER IS: ( PHO1456J ) FORWARD THIS TO
EVERYONE!
 |
NOW ISN'T THIS A SHAME.............When is
enough, enough? It seems that there are a lot of bigamist
in the multimillionaire club. First there was Gloria
Vanderbilt, then Tommy Hilfigger and now Bill Gates. When
will it end? How much will we take before we make our
presence felt. We built this country and we support their
lifestyles. Without us there would be no them. Where are
our black brothers and sisters? I want to where their
clothes and use their inventions. I'm tired of all this
backhanded racism and halfassed apologies. |
(note) The couple in that picture should sue the shit out of Microsoft.
We all should email them and demand an explanation!
BACK
Whites-only covenant shows Bush's true colors Texas governor
and Republican presidential candidate, George W. Bush recently
sent waves through the black community following a discovery that
a Dallas house he sold in 1995 carries a racial covenant, which
restricts the sale of the house to white people only. Bush and
his wife, Laura, bought the house in 1988. How is this legal? It
isn't. The Fair Housing Act prevents the enforcement of racial
covenants, However, many houses still carry them as a remnant of
the Jim Crow era when it was common practice to exclude blacks
from buying houses and living in white neighborhoods.
The Bush campaign responded with a one-line statement saying
that the racial covenant was void and that Bush was unaware of it
when he sold the house. Yeah right! It's extremely irresponsible
for a public figure to accidentally overlook such a stipulation.
Did Bush really know but just didn't care to do anything about
it? The real estate agent who prepared the papers for the sale
said that she notified Bush of the racial covenant but that he
signed the papers anyway Perhaps equally shocking as the racial
covenant is the fact that the media has swept this story under
the rug. Have you heard about it in any of the newspapers you
read or on any of the news programs you watch? Do you give Bush
the benefit of the doubt?
* Was he unaware of the racial covenant during the time he and
his family lived in the house or did he know and decide that it
wasn't worth having nullified?
* Should HUD initiate a law that requires all homeowners to
wipe racial covenants from their deeds?
* Did the media deliberately fail to cover this story? Do you
think it would have been handled differently if a similar story
was revealed about a black candidate? If you know anyone who
believes they may have been a victim of housing discrimination,
encourage them to file a complaint with the Department of Housing
and Urban development at 800- 669-9777. BACK
BLACK OWNED OR BLACK STOCKED?? (Long
story, but worth reading.)
| The Internet
is evolving so fast, everybody has a site. Every movie
has a URL and nobody does any advertising without carving
out a space in cyberspace. The Internet is so commonly
used, that I predict that by 2005, 85% of the families
living above the poverty level will have a presence in
cyberspace. Family web pages will be commonplace. I can
envision some sites headers now. "Coming in 2005,
www.atterberry.com to a domain near you. Check the family
tree and download relative's baby pictures.” So just who is using
the web? EVERYBODY IS. Every ethnic group in America is
utilizing the Internet. All the people who don't want to
be left out of the loop are making the adjustment. Don't
believe any of the hype saying African - Americans are
not flocking to the Internet. Don't believe one iota of
it. I have observed the African American web presence
more than double in a year. If you don't believe me just
try to do a search under some of the Black or African
American thematic topics that you used to. See how much
more data comes up.There is just one catch. Many of the
sites that you think are controlled by African Americans
are not Black owned, controlled and conceived. I have an
acronym for this. I ask is it a BOCC= B(lack) O(wned)
C(ontrolled) C(onceived) ?
Is this a problem?
Heck yes. Herein lies another disappointing thing
"happening" wherein we are not controlling our
images and ideas. Yes, I know that there are those who
think that "it is only important that the target
audience be African American." Some say it is not
relevant that popular African American sites be BOCC's. I
just want to name some sites, which most people assume,
are BOCC but have White ownership. Black Voices
(www.blackvoices.com) is owned by the Tribune Media
Corporation. Not Barry Cooper! Blackfamilies.com
(www.blackfamilies.com) is owned by Cox Interactive
Media. Not John Pembroke! Cybersoul (www.cybersoul.com)
is owned by HBO. I have just one statement, to those who
think that it is not important who owns the Black Image
in cyberspace. "If it was not important to control
the Black images in cyberspace White firms would not want
to!"
I am not saying that
Blackvoices, Blackfamilies and Cybersoul are bad sites,
they provide great information, but I am saying that this
trend is detrimental to the potential African Americans
on the Internet, especially from an economic
vantagepoint. I remember when Afronet gave space to a
White columnist. There were so many people who told me
what an ill-conceived move they felt this was. I agreed
then, but I ask, Where are your voices now!!
These sites are well
financed and whether they make money or not having that
cushion allows the worker bees to not worry about if they
are making money or not.But how do the sites make money?
ADVERTISING!! Proctor and Gamble advertises on Black
Voices, but do you think CEO Barry Cooper gets any of
that money ? Is he or his staff rewarded with a bonus?
NO!! Does he have any control over the way the money is
spent on the site. NO! The money goes straight into the
coffers of the Tribune Media Corporation. Advertising is
the lifeblood of television, newspaper, radio and the
Internet. Yes, those sites may look great and have all
the fancy bells and whistles, but do you really think Cox
Interactive, Tribune and Time Warner love the African
American way of life that much? What say do you have in
supporting BOCC ? Or the question should be. Are you
BUYING BLACK!! The Internet may be the last place the
African Americans can control the destiny of their
portrayal in the media. If we don’t support these
sites now, by buying books, music or other gift items
THROUGH these site, they eventually will go out of
business. Next time you decide to buy something on the
Internet, take the time to pull up a BOCC site and then
buy the item or recommend to the site owner that he or
she should carry that item, its not as hard as you might
think. Anything you can buy at Yahoo!, you can buy on any
BOCC site.
My hypothesis is that
in five years Whites will either own or become the
significant contributors to the majority of the most
popular "Black" websites. These people realize
that to be able to control access to data and what data
people receive is critical to controlling them. Since the
Internet is nothing more than a whole bunch of computers
networked together, it has allowed Black folk to meet and
express ideas without interference from Whites as you
have with television, radio, and other media. During the
days of chattel slavery it was a no-no for Blacks to meet
up and discuss ideas. Even in Africa, colonial European
efforts combined to prevent African People from
communicating without their presence. Although many
African countries have their independence now, the
colonizing groups still exert a lot of influence over
their radio and television programming. Nowadays Black
people can legally congregate in most places on the
globe. It is still discouraged like it is in my hometown
of New York City, but it’s just more subtle.
I remember some years
ago I was home from college for winter break and I was
accosted by police for simply walking with too many other
African American males at night. We were on the sidewalk
and they were riding in the street. They blared their
sirens and rode their vehicles on the sidewalk blocking
our path. They got out of the car with hands on their
guns and told us to get up against the wall. We were
orderly, quiet and had committed no crime, but we were
Black, all male and there was 20 of us. There was only
two of them initially, but by the time it was all over,
there was a 1 to 1 ratio of Black males to police
officers. Nobody got arrested, although due to my outrage
over being stopped, I came close. Their mission was to
give us the "subtle" message, "this is
what happens when we see too many of you people
together." The sergeant who arrived on the scene
said we were stopped because we were reported being
disorderly by a 911 caller. Likely story. Twenty Black
people were together doing nothing but "shooting the
breeze," but for this white woman, it was a
frightening scene. Just think about the fear that the
Internet represents when you have millions of people who
come together in website chatrooms, post to message
boards, read the ideas of other people who look like
them. It gets even scarier if some of these people aim to
do more than "shoot the breeze" but instead
talk about legitimate social issues like the murder of
unarmed African emigrant Ahmed Diallo at the hands of the
New York City Cops. Eventually this sort of linkage could
spill over into "activism." There has to be a
medium to dilute or control the way people interpret
national, global or local events. These types of
questions posed by the site administrators on the message
boards and the site survey questionnaire, which downplay
race as a factor are examples of the little things which
a White controlled site is more likely to do. To those
who feel the need to monitor us, the Internet is no
exception. The best way to do this is to use a
"Black Face/person" as the visible site person.
Another example might be in the case of a movie, or T.V.
series that Blacks feel is worthy of boycott. The white
site is not likely to endorse a boycott and takes the
route of "let's all watch the show before we judge
it prematurely, lets see how it represents
"us," as one White owned Black series did with
the short-lived television sitcom "The Secret Diary
of Desmond Pfieffer," which burlesqued slavery and
virtually made a joke of the horrible life that African
people enslaved in the Western Hemisphere experienced.
You would never see
that sort of nonsense done with other human tragedies
like the Jewish Holocaust. Thank God we were smart enough
to recognize that this show could not continue to air
with our economic support. I could draw thousands of
analogies of ways, in which these websites are likely to
subtly use subversive methods to control black
frustration and rage, but I feel that portion of my
conveyance should be left to your own imagination. I am
sure that you have experiences which would allow you to
recall or draw your own examples. Although there is a
small upside. I think the phenomenon of Black websites
controlled by whites can actually wind up being very
educational. There is a lot of information being
circulated which passes itself off as legitimate data
simply because it was done by a Black person without
careful attention being paid to the actual content of
that data. More so I believe that regardless of the race
of the author, the work the individual does should be
viewed on its scholastic merit. Scholarship can not be
quantified simply by race; cyber-browsers should go
further with information they receive on the web even
when Blacks control the website. If Black people realize
that the data they are receiving may be an interpretation
from a White controlled perspective (as are 95% of the
other media and communication outlets) they may dig
deeper and go further with the data and discover that the
data they received is erroneous. If the ambiguity of
website ownership causes cyber-browsers to do a double
take at the information they receive, then in my opinion
it is a good thing. Many Black people too easily accept
information on the basis that the author is Black or has
a cultural or ethnic sounding name. I have seen
information appear on BOCC sites which was more
detrimental in its propaganda than stuff that normally
receives a red flag on White media outlets.
Take for example the
recently released "Encarta Africana"
Encyclopedia released by Microsoft. This double CD
package has been billed as the first comprehensive work
on African culture and history throughout the Diaspora
and Africa. The brain children behind this project are
Henry Louis "Skip" Gates Jr., Chairman of
Afro-American Studies and Kwame Anthony Appiah, professor
of Afro-American Studies and Philosophy. Both of these
men are Black and have a following among various groups
in the Black community. I have read interviews with them
and about them which makes me worry what they have done
with the original efforts of W.E.B. Dubois to produce
this Encyclopedia. Dubois moved to Ghana in 1961 to
establish the Secretariat of the Encyclopedia Africana,
but he died before it was completed. There is a lot of
criticism from sources regarding the efforts by Gates and
Appiah. I do know that the Secretariat in Ghana totally
disassociated Dubois’ original project from their
effort. The teacher in me forced me to go through the
lesson plans for educators at
www.encarta.msn.com/schoolhouse. In our efforts to learn
more about other white sites we spoke to John Pembroke of
Black Families.com which is owned by Cox Interactive. He
was quite evasive about providing information about the
staff, page views and amount of money Cox invested.
John’s official position is Brand Manager (now
what’s that) ? He is not the CEO, CFO, COO or even
the founder. So you know he answers to someone else. Are
all of these H.N.I.C. executives selling us out? Even the
recent BET venture is still partially white owned. Why?
The bottom line is
that you should know which sites are created by Black
efforts or White efforts. You should check it out for
yourself. You might be surprised by what you will find.
Just remember when you spend your money, are you handing
it over to the white man or are you buying black? With
the Internet, believe me folks, WE HAVE A CHOICE!!
|
|
BACK
CompuUSA Computer store (First
Microsoft now this?? )
Usually Tavis comes on and alerts everyone about something
that gravely affects or will affect the African American
Community if action is not taken. Lately, Tavis has been talking
about CompUSA. The issue with them is they spent $25 million in
advertising last year, of which not not one dime was spent on
Black radio. According to the Tom Joyner morning show, research
shows that Blacks total purchases for computers and other related
items totaled $1 billion. It is obvious that Blacks ARE
contributing and a portion of that (CompUSA will not release this
information) is probably going to CompUSA. However, CompUSA won't
even spend one penny of their revenue on Black advertising. As a
result of this, Tavis Smiley and Tom Joyner are asking the
listening audience to send COPIES of all receipts of items that
were purchased at CompUSA to Tom Joyner in hopes of finding out
how much we spend at this particular store.
Additionally, I was really upset when Tavis came on this
morning to share a letter that was sent to him from the Director
of CompUSA. The letter was not only poorly written, containing
several grammatical errors, but it stated a blatant racial slur.
A part of the letter stated, "If Minorities would focus on
bringing their stores up to comparable standards to non-Minority
stores, then we could go to our own stores and not have to go to
stores like CompUSA". Okay, if this enraged you more than me
then spread the word to your friends, family, co-workers,
EVERYBODY you know who may have made purchases from CompUSA. We
need to pull together and do something about this foolishness
CompUSA is dishing out, obviously not threatened at all by the
Black community. Even if you haven't made any purchases from them
at least pass the word along and please don't put any more money
into this store because obviously they don't think we are worth
investing their money in. Send your receipts to: Tom Joyner
,13725 Montfort Drive ,Dallas, TX 75240
Peace and Love, (Originator unknown)
Now Chaz's 2 cents - If you dont notice more large industries
are making it harder for Minorities to access the internet and
computing or insult them when they are online. Making it hard to
access this wealth of information will make it easy for them to
control and keep us "in place." First Microsoft with
the "Monkeys" and now CompUSA. I WILL NOT tolerate or
patronize a business that wants to take my dollar and insult me
at the same time. Simply stated with the utmost of sincerity..
DONT PATRONIZE THEM AT ALL, and EMAIL them at COMPUSA to tell them that they
can write off your business forever. Lets see if we can make a
MAJOR dent in this companies profits. I also would LOVE it if you
put a link in that email back to CHAZNET or just let em know
where ya got it from. Its gonna get worse if we keep letting this
slide. At least click the link and send them a comment.. let them
know YOU wont take it and will hurt them with your money. Y2K,
dont let it take off without us.
BACK
HATE LETTER TO UNIVERSITY OF MARYLAND
Once again we have to deal with more unnecessary bullshit!
This is sent everyone, regardless of race because everyone needs
to know that this shit still exists! Instead of sheets, they are
wearing suits!!! FACE REALITY! Too bad they couldn't write a more
decent threat without grammatical errors! This is the actual
letter that was sent to the U of MD student union. This is so
crazy!!!! Editor's Note: This is the full, unedited copy of
the letter sent to the Black Student Union at the University of
Maryland College Park. Some names are witheld by request, but the
letter's grammar and spelling is unedited. This letter contains
content that may be offensive. Please read at your own
discretion. Nigga Student Union,We guess that you dirty
nigga's think you can just say and do anything you want. You
think you can take what is ours. You dirty nigga's got your nigga
accountant, nigga engineer, nigga business, nigga politics groups
and you think you can take what we have too. Since that nigga
whore bitch sga imitation president got into office yall think
you got some power. But the judge and jury have decided. The
sweep will begin in College Park on judgement day. We are taking
back what you dirty rotten nigga's think is yours.All we be
convicted for their part. Dirty rotten [name withheld] and [name
withheld] will have to pay. But it will begin with that whore
bitch Camille Adams. She thinks she can rally against our
brothers who are trying to get you nigga's under control. She
will be destroyed and any chances of having any little niglets
will end. You niggas can't even control your whore bitches. But
her dirty rotten tongue will teach all you niggas a lesson. No
marchs, no rally's, and no sit-in will prevent the coming of
judgement day. You niggas are out of control. And we are taking
back what's yours. You will not be able to run because the sweep
will catch all you dirty niggas. Judgement Day will bring rest to
all this turmoil. Die niggas die THE DAY FOR ALL YOU NIGGA'S TO
ANSWER IS COMING. THERE WILL BE NO WHERE TO RUN AND NO WHERE TO
HIDE. BECAUSE ALL YOU NIGGA'S ARE DESTINED TO DIE. THE JURY IS
END AND NONE OF YOU NIGGAS WILL WIN. UMCP WILL START THE SWEEP
AND ALL OTHER FOLLOWERS WILL REPEAT. DIE NIGGA'S DIE. DIE NIGGA'S
DIE. DIE NIGGA'S DIE. YOU CAN NOT PREPARE FOR THE DAY WILL NOT BE
ANNOUNCED BUT YOU WILL ALL DIE BYTHE HANDS OF THE JUDGE AND JURY.
DAY TIME NIGHT TIMEEVERYTIME IS THE RIGHT TIME. DIE NIGGA'S DIE.
EDITOR'S NOTE: This is the full, unedited copy of the
letter sent to SGA President Juliana Njoku, BSU Executive
Administrative Officer Camille Adams and the Afro-American
studies department.
BACK
NYPD COPS NOT GUILTY ??
Click image
ALBANY, N.Y. (Reuters) - Four white New York City police
officers were acquitted of murder and all other charges on Friday
in the shooting of an unarmed African immigrant who died in a
barrage of 41 bullets a year ago, sparking weeks of protests and
charges of police brutality against minorities. After three days
of deliberations in Albany, a New York State Supreme Court jury
of four blacks and eight whites cleared the four officers, one
after the other, of second-degree murder and five lesser charges
in the shooting of Guinean immigrant Amadou Diallo.
Angry but nonviolent demonstrations in Albany and in the
Soundview section of the Bronx where Diallo lived and was killed
began even as the verdicts were being read in court and broadcast
live on television and radio. On Wheeler Avenue in the Bronx,
where Diallo was struck by 19 of the 41 bullets fired at him as
he stood in the vestibule of his apartment building, several
hundred protesters briefly stopped traffic on a nearby highway,
taunted police and banged metal gates on closed shops but were
otherwise overwhelmed by a huge police presence. In Albany, about
200 protesters who had gathered near the courthouse marched
through a residential area, closely watched by six mounted police
officers and the same number of patrol cars.
The racially mixed crowd of mostly young people chanted, ''No
Justice, No Peace.'' The acquittals capped a year of tension and
debate about the mostly white New York Police Department's
often-troubled relationship with blacks and Hispanics. It was
also the latest talking point in the national debate over how
U.S. police departments treat minorities -- a debate that became
more heated following highly publicized cases including the 1992
acquittal by a white jury of four Los Angeles police officers for
brutally beating black motorist Rodney King and the 1997 sexual
torture of Haitian immigrant Abner Louima in a New York police
station house bathroom. Verdict Reached On Third Day The verdict
in Albany, where an appeals court moved the Diallo trial from the
Bronx 150 miles away on grounds that pretrial publicity and
protests would make a fair trial difficult for the officers in
New York City, came on the third day of deliberations after a
four-week-long trial that began on Jan. 31.
The four plainclothes officers of the NYPD's elite Street
Crime Unit all testified that they thought Diallo, 22, was
pulling a gun when they saw him standing in his apartment
building vestibule in the early hours of Feb. 4, 1999. They told
the jury that they feared for their lives and fired in
self-defense. Officers Sean Carroll, 37, Kenneth Boss, 28, Edward
McMellon and Richard Murphy, both 27, said they realized too late
Diallo had been reaching for his wallet, not a weapon.
In a tense courtroom, the jury forewoman stood up to announce
the verdict for each officer. One by one, the four men were found
``not guilty'' of second-degree murder by intent; second-degree
murder by depraved indifference; first-degree manslaughter;
second-degree manslaughter; criminally negligent homicide and
reckless endangerment. If the officers had been convicted, they
would have received possible sentences ranging from a minimum of
probation and no prison time to a maximum of 25 years to life in
prison on the murder charge. Diallo's mother, Kadiadou Diallo,
sat rigid in the courtroom while tears rolled down her cheeks as
the verdicts were read. New York State Supreme Court Justice
Joseph Teresi said after the jury announced the verdict, ``the
book is closed'' on the case. But within an hour of the verdict
being announced, U.S. Attorney for New York Mary Jo White said
that she, along with the Civil Rights Division of the U.S.
Justice Department, will review all of the evidence to
``determine whether there were any violations of the federal
civil rights laws.''
Sharpton Appeals For Calm - On Friday evening, the Rev. Al
Sharpton, who has led weeks of protests and a civil disobedience
campaign against police brutality toward minorities, appealed for
calm. ``I have been asked by the family to go to the street where
Amadou lived to let the people know we have not given up,''
Sharpton said at an impromptu rally outside the Albany
courthouse. ``But we do not want to tarnish his name with any
violence. Let not one brick be thrown, not one bottle be thrown,
not one epithet of violence come from us, we are fighting
violence, violent men who would shoot an unarmed man 41 times.''
Diallo's mother echoed Sharpton's appeal for calm. ``The killing
of Amadou was wrong,'' she said, but added, ``I ask for your calm
and prayer.'' New York City Mayor Rudolph Giuliani, a former
federal prosecutor who has overseen the steepest drop in crime in
a generation with sometimes aggressive police tactics, offered
his sympathy to the Diallo family. ``The death of Amadou Diallo
was a great tragedy,'' Giuliani told reporters at City Hall. ``We
express once again our regret, sympathy and support to Mrs.
Diallo and Mr. Diallo.'' He also expressed sympathy to the
officers and their families. First lady Hillary Rodham Clinton,
Republican Giuliani's Democratic rival for a Senate seat from New
York, said while raising campaign funds in Illinois, ``The death
of Amadou Diallo was a terrible tragedy. My heart goes out again
to his parents and family.'' ``We must not allow this verdict to
divide New Yorkers. We must reach across the lines that too often
divide us and the mistrust that stands between us and join in
common resolve to ensure that no tragedy like this ever happens
again,'' she added.
Diallo's Right to remain
Silent as given by the NYPD
Klansmen found guilty in 1963 church
bombing
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (AP) -- A former Ku Klux Klansman was
convicted of murder Tuesday for the 1963 church bombing that
killed four black girls, the deadliest single attack during the
civil rights movement.
Thomas Blanton Jr., 62, was sentenced to life in prison by the
same jury that found him guilty after 2 1/2 hours of
deliberations. Before he was led out of the courtroom in
handcuffs, the judge asked him if he had any comment.
``I guess the good Lord will settle it on judgment day,''
Blanton said.
Blanton is the second former Klansman to be convicted of
planting the bomb that went off at the Sixteenth Street Baptist
Church on Sept. 15, 1963, a Sunday morning.
The bomb ripped through an exterior wall of the brick church.
The bodies of Denise McNair, 11, and Addie Mae Collins, Cynthia
Wesley and Carole Robertson, all 14, were found in the downstairs
lounge.
Denise's parents, Chris and Maxine McNair, did not comment as
they left the courthouse. Chris McNair was hugged by U.S.
Attorney Doug Jones, who fought back tears as he told reporters:
``We're happy for the families. We're happy for the girls.''
The Rev. Abraham Woods, a black minister instrumental in
getting the FBI to reopen the case in 1993, said he was delighted
with the verdict.
``It makes a statement on how far we've come,'' said Woods,
the local president of the Southern Christian Leadership
Conference.
``We're mindful that this verdict will not bring back the
lives of the four little girls,'' added Kweisi Mfume, head of the
National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, in a
statement. ''(But) justice has finally been served.''
Defense attorney John Robbins said the swift verdict showed
the jury was caught up in the emotion surrounding the notorious
case. He said he would seek a new trial, arguing the case should
have been moved out of Birmingham and Blanton's right to a speedy
trial had been violated.
He also said the lack of white men on the jury -- eight white
women, three black women and one black man returned the verdict
-- ``absolutely hurt Blanton.'' The jurors, who were publicly
identified only by number, left without comment.
The case is the latest from the turbulent civil rights era to
be revived by prosecutors. Byron De La Beckwith was convicted in
1994 of assassinating civil rights leader Medgar Evers in 1963
and former Klan imperial wizard Sam Bowers was convicted three
years ago of the 1966 firebomb-killing of an NAACP leader.
But the church bombing was a galvanizing moment of the civil
rights movement. Moderates could no longer remain silent and the
fight to topple segregation laws gained new momentum.
During closing arguments, Jones told the jury that it was
``never too late for justice.''
He said Blanton acted in response to months of civil rights
demonstrations. The church had become a rallying point for
protesters.
``Tom Blanton saw change and didn't like it,'' Jones said as
black-and-white images of the church and the girls dressed in
Sunday clothing flashed on video screens in the courtroom.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Robert Posey added: ``The defendant
didn't care who he killed as long as he killed someone and as
long as that person was black.''
``These children must not have died in vain,'' he said.
``Don't let the deafening blast of his bomb be what's left
ringing in our ears.''
Robbins argued that the government had proved only that
Blanton was once a foul-mouthed segregationist, not a bomber. He
said murky tapes of his client secretly recorded by the FBI were
illegally obtained and should not have been admitted as evidence.
The surveillance began after Blanton and other Klansman were
identified as suspects within weeks of the bombing.
The FBI planted a hidden microphone in Blanton's apartment in
1964 and taped his conversations with Mitchell Burns, a fellow
Klansman-turned-informant.
Posey went over the tapes for jurors, putting transcript
excerpts on the video screens. He read from one transcript in
which Blanton described himself to Burns as a clean-cut guy: ``I
like to go shooting, I like to go fishing, I like to go
bombing.''
Posey also quoted Blanton as saying he was through with women.
``I am going to stick to bombing churches,'' Blanton said,
according to Posey.
On one tape, Blanton was heard telling Burns that he would not
be caught ``when I bomb my next church.'' On another made in his
kitchen, he is heard talking with his wife about a meeting where
``we planned the bomb.''
``That is a confession out of this man's mouth,'' said Jones,
pointing to Blanton.
The defense argued that the tape made in Blanton's kitchen
meant nothing because prosecutors failed to play 26 minutes of
previous conversation. ``You can't judge a conversation in a
vacuum,'' Robbins said.
Robbins also said Blanton's conversations with Burns were
nothing but boasting between ``two drunk rednecks.'' He dismissed
Burns and other prosecution witnesses as liars.
Another former Klan member, Robert ``Dynamite Bob'' Chambliss,
was convicted of murder in 1977 and died in prison in 1985.
Another former Klansman, Bobby Frank Cherry, was indicted last
year but his trial was delayed after evaluations raised questions
about his mental competency. A fourth suspect, Herman Cash, died
without being charged.
The Justice Department concluded 20 years ago that former FBI
Director J. Edgar Hoover had blocked prosecution of Klansmen in
the bombing. The case was reopened following a 1993 meeting in
Birmingham between FBI officials and black ministers, including
Woods.
The investigation was not revealed publicly until 1997, when
agents went to Texas to talk to Cherry.
^MOG GEN BAL
onpassing from u.s. newswire. wdc-rg.
bc-NAACP-bombing-verdict
NAACP President Says Justice Is Finally Served In Birmingham
Case
To: National Desk
Contact: NAACP Office of Communications, 410-486-9227
Web site: http://www.naacp.org
BALTIMORE, May 1 /U.S. Newswire/ -- Kweisi Mfume, President
& CEO, the National Association for the Advancement of
Colored People (NAACP), said that with the guilty verdict of
former Ku Klux Klansman Thomas Blanton, Jr., ``justice has
finally been served in one of the most vile and vicious murders
this country has ever seen.''
However, Mfume said: ``We're mindful that this verdict will
not bring back the lives of the four little girls who were
senselessly killed in the 1963 bombing of a Birmingham, Alabama
church. Nor will it erase the collective pain that this nation
has lived with for the last 38 years. I hope their deaths will
remind us of how hate can destroy when left unchallenged.''
An Alabama jury on Tuesday found Blanton guilty of
first-degree murder in the deaths of four black girls, killed in
one of the most shocking crimes of the civil rights era. Cynthia
Wesley, Carole Robertson and Addie Mae Collins, all aged 14, and
Denise McNair, 11, died in the blast of the Sixteenth Street
Baptist Church.
------
Founded in 1909, the National Association for the Advancement
of Colored People (NAACP) is the nation's oldest and largest
civil rights organization. Its half-million adult and youth
members throughout the United States and the world are the
premier advocates for civil rights in their communities,
conducting voter mobilization and monitoring equal opportunity in
the public and private sectors.
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