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BRUTAL
RACE KILLING IN TEXAS
U.S. Opinion Roundup
By Andrew N. Guthrie
Washington, DC, USA
June 15, 1998
Introduction
Newspapers across the nation are reacting with shock and
outrage, following an especially violent and brutal
murder in the southern state of Texas, that was
apparently racially motivated. we call on . . . to
provide us with a sampling of the editorial response, in
today's U.S. opinion roundup.
Text
A little more than a week ago, a trio of white
ex-convicts in east Texas allegedly picked up a black
man, James Byrd, junior, as he walked on a downtown
street late at night. Police say instead of taking him
home, as they had offered, they drove Mr. Byrd to a
deserted spot, beat him, and then tied him to their small
truck and dragged him several kilometers along a country
road until he died.
Reaction has come from many corners of the nation,
including President Clinton, who called almost exactly
one year ago for a national conversation about race in
this nation, and appointed a commission to examine racial
attitudes and attempt to fashion a strategy for improving
relations between the races.
We begin our sampling of editorial comment now in the
Pacific northwest, with The Oregonian [in
Portland] talks about this country "facing its
demons".
Voice
The temptation to view this barbaric act from afar as the
legacy of unresolved southern racism, however, is as
unfair as it is naive. It is unfair for failing to
recognize the strides made in the south in relations
between races, and it is naive to the degree that it
suggests such atrocities 'couldn't happen here. A town of
eight-thousand, Jasper is a bona fide member of the new
South. Its population is nearly evenly divided between
blacks and whites. The sheriff is Caucasian, the mayor is
African American. African Americans sit on the local
school board. Wednesday, the father of one of the alleged
assailants came forward to apologize for his son's role
in the victim's death. . . . This country has come a long
way in creating equal opportunity and protection for all
its inhabitants. But the racial animosity that festers
just beneath the surface of social acceptability
threatens that progress. This nation must heal its racial
wounds, and it must begin by facing them with frank and
open dialogue.
Text
The Los Angeles Times, calls the murder "an
act of barbarism", and an
"incomprehensible" crime, but by contrast with The
Oregonian, raises questions about the atmosphere of
Jasper.
Voice
The 49-year-old father of three was walking home from his
niece's bridal shower on sunday when three men with
reported ties to white supremacist groups allegedly
abducted him. Police say they chained him to their pickup
[truck] and dragged him more than three kilometers down a
winding, asphalt road, tearing off his head and his right
arm. . . . Such crimes do not spring from a vacuum. They
are stoked in the everyday acceptance of racial
intolerance. that's why it's so disconcerting to hear the
folk of Jasper express surprise that a racial crime could
happen in their "quiet country town...." Unlike
years ago, the crime has been pursued aggressively and
prosecutions will occur. In that regard, it's progress.
But the old demons of hatred based on what a person looks
like continue their grip. Even as the nation enters a new
century, it's too easy and glib to shake our heads and
pretend that what happened to James Byrd, junior,
couldn't still happen anywhere.
Text
The closest daily paper to Jasper, The Lufkin
[Texas] Daily News, ran an editorial by the
managing editor, Ernest Murray, in which he said:
Voice
For too long racism and bigotry have been allowed to
fester because it is something that's not discussed in
polite society . . . The inhuman tragedy that has riveted
the attention of the nation on east Texas is not
something can be ignored.
Text
For a big city reaction, here is a portion of an
editorial in The [New York] Daily News,
which calls the murder "a modern-day
lynching.'"
Voice
Thirty-five or 40 years ago, such racist crimes were
unfortunately common. Black men were lynched for
everything from whistling at a white woman to failing to
jump off the curb fast enough to let a white man pass. We
have come a long way since then. The culture has changed.
[Mr.] Byrd's murder made national headlines, including
page one of this paper. But we still have a long way to
go. [Mr.] Byrd's death must be a reminder to parents
everywhere to teach their children tolerance of people
who are different. His will be just another senseless
murder unless this country -- from the president on down
-- takes a strong stand against the kind of hatred that
caused it.
Text
Lastly, The Boston Globe points out that
criticizing the South for its atmosphere is faulty, when
you look at the latest crime figures for the northern
state of Massachusetts, considered one of the most
liberal of the 50 states.
Voice
Step back and the view worsens, because this example sits
in a nest of troubling statistics. From 1990 to 1997 the
justice department prosecuted an average of 32 cases of
racial violence a year. In 1994 there were 36 cases: ten
involved 22 defendants connected with organized hate
groups; 26 involved 52 defendants who had no affiliation
with hate groups. A bigger picture still comes from the
FBI's 1996 hate crime statistics, the most recently
available. This tally counted 73-hundred-59 crimes
against persons. . . . [including] 12 murders, ten
forcible rapes, 14-hundred-44 aggravated assaults, and
17-hundred-62 simple assaults. . . . Texas had a total of
439 hate crimes against persons in 1996, Massachusetts
had 523, although some of this may be due to higher
reporting rates in Massachusetts. . . . The statistics
show that . . . The James Byrd murder . . . Did not occur
in a vacuum. Racial violence is still a component in our
ongoing national tragedy.
Text
With those thoughts, we conclude this editorial sampling
of comment about a recent, apparently racially motivated,
murder in east Texas.
(Signed)
neb/ang/mmk
June 15,
1998 2:04 p.m. EDT (1804 UTC) nnnn Report 6-10764
Source -
Voice of America
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