Sometimes it’s of use to respond to one’s more problematic commenters, if only to make a point or ten.
Jeremy, a William and Mary student, writes in my only other Stanley “Tookie” Williams post:
how come you all seem to be picking on tookie. about his impending execution when no one that has posted anything on this page was not in the court room when his trial took place you didn't here the evidence. so dont comment about it. As for his impending execution I hope Gov. Arnold gives him clemency because even if tookie did those murders. I believe and so do thousands around the world believe that stanley "tookie" williams has done more good then bad. It is possible that he commited those murders and killed four people. But he has saved thousands check that millions from making those same mistakes that he made and probable has saved many lives in the process. Oh and another thing people talking about killing tookie because he may be a murderer. How about we kill the actual murderers like charles manson and stop protecting him behind laws. Oh yeah he's white.To quote Commander Riker of Star Trek: The Next Generation—time for the long pants.from a 19 year old white william and mary student
Frankly, Jeremy, unlike you, I acknowledge that you are free to comment all you want from your dorm room or the library at William and Mary--as is your right---about anything and everything. But frankly, sir, I find your academically and experientially unlearned opinion wanting and, conversely, I am free to tell you why I think so.
(As an aside, were I one of the faculty at William and Mary, I’d give you an ‘F’ simply for staining that august institution’s reputation by displaying your poor writing skills; it wouldn’t matter what subject it was. Were I one of your parents, I’d demand a refund for your tuition. However, I’m glad that you are only nineteen because you will have time to improve all of the writing-skill deficiencies displayed above.)
As to your research skills, two seconds of Google work took me to the Crime Library, where I found out that Charles Manson had indeed received the death penalty for his infamous Helter Skelter gang murder spree, but the verdict—along with dozens of others—was commuted to life in prison when California abolished the death penalty in 1972. I wonder whether you think that the white residents of California’s death row of the time were the only ones to receive that little get-out-of-Hell-free (for now) card. (The California Death Penalty was reinstated in1977; however all of those who received clemency under the old law retained it, including Charles Manson.)
(Second-person off.)
Of course Jeremy knew nothing about that little historical tidbit because he didn’t care to look for it. To be fair, I actually remember when this happened—long before young Jeremy was born.
Other types of skill deficiencies displayed by this young man are more problematic--his ability to detect BS, for one. The idea that Stanley “Tookie” Williams might not be guilty has been planted all over the Internet and Jeremy--along with a boatload of others, if my comments section is any indication—have been reeled in to this bogus notion; hooked in the corner of their mouths like hapless fish. So, in order for their position to make some semblance of sense, the fish have to insert their fish-like logic into the mix: ‘you weren’t there; you don’t know what *really* happened, so shut up,’ forgetting that they weren’t there either and are merely going by the news and propaganda reports from "geniuses" like Bianca Jagger just like the rest of us.
Attention: just because the rumor is being passed all over the Internet that “Tookie” might be innocent doesn’t mean that it’s TRUE.
Okay, Little Fishies, let’s play a game. Let’s say that “Tookie” is indeed innocent of the four murders for which he stands to be executed at 12:01 AM PST on Tuesday, December 13, 2005. As the founder of the Crips, one of the most notorious TERRORIST organizations in the world, do you think he murdered anyone other than Albert Owens, Yen-I Yang, Tsai-Shai Yang and Yee-Chen Lin Yang during his reign over the neighborhoods of South Central Los Angeles in the seventies (I’m not buying the ‘South Los Angeles’ moniker) ?
And all you black, white and other “upholders” of the black race—like Jeremy proclaims to be in my comment section—if you concede that “Tookie” might have murdered others, do you think that any of those other people were black? As an aside, did any of you grow up in “Tookie’s” South Central Los Angeles of the 1970s like Cobb and I did? Do any of you live there like I do right now?
I’m curious about the answers to these questions for two reasons.
Leaving aside those who oppose the death penalty for moral/religious reasons, few of you have seemed motivated to move into my South Central LA neighborhood to see what “Tookie” and his Crip co-founder Raymond Lee Washington (who’s burning in Hell right now) have wrought for the last thirty-odd years. And I know that you won’t be choosing to live here anytime soon. That’s understandable; however, don’t tell me that we should coddle these TERRORISTS like “Tookie” and those he created if you don’t have to put up with them. (Okay, you can tell me, but you can expect a barely polite response and that’s if I’m feeling generous.)
Secondly—and this is especially for people like Jeremy: black people are thinking, functioning humans who, when adult and without some actual mental deficiency that they can’t control, are just as responsible for their actions as are members of any other race of people. We’re not murderers by nature (that is, any more than any other set of humans are). Therefore, we don’t need a separate, lower standard of behavior in any area, whether it’s education, employment or criminal justice.
When black people do well, they deserve recognition; when they do wrong, they deserve the consequences—no more or no less than any other. Certainly, there are instances in which black people are victims of racism. However, every instance in which a black person finds himself in a predicament where he will suffer the consequences for his actions does not stem from racism. In this century, I’d even say that most bad outcomes for black people don’t come from that social ill. Sometimes those outcomes are a product of the black person’s own sinful nature; sometimes it’s a product of that most insidious of sins: pride. Don’t forget that we all—black, white and all others—can fall victim to pride.
I submit that “Tookie” is very proud of his legacy. He just doesn’t want to die for it and--for the next few hours--is doing everything he can think of to keep from dying for it, with the help of those who are prone to believing the lies of psychopaths: the gullible, the ignorant and the stupid.
(Second-person back on.)
Jeremy, we—black people--are not children who need to be succored by you and your ilk, youngun, and we don’t need to be protected from men like your daddy (who’s likely paying a fortune for your demonstrably p*ss-poor education) or from our grown-up, functioning adult decisions, especially those decisions which land us on death row. We also don't need for anyone to listen to our sociopaths.
The affirmative action mindset seems to have extended to expectations of behavior for black people. Therefore, when impressionable minds like yours, young Jeremy, have the certain elements enter their conscious—prisoner, murder, death row—there is always that mandatory element—racism--that puts a black man there. It’s never the actions of that particular man that are the problem; at least not to a mind that is as brainwashed as yours seems to be.
Know that you’ve been deceived by a particular type of rhetoric; that type in which no black person is responsible for his/her actions, that type in which the white man is always the culprit. In its insidious and ingenious way, it’s the rhetoric of black inferiority.
You, Jeremy, believe that this heinous mass murderer—born Stanley Williams—isn’t as responsible as any white man who committed the same type of acts. Therefore, it’s the worst thing that you could do to come here and condescend to me as if you’re the go-to expert on all things Tookie, Crip and South Central or—most especially—race and California law.
In your way, you’re as racist as any white supremacist. They also believe that black people aren't as sentient as whites and others. However—to your credit—I believe that your racism is only an accident, a product of who-knows-what kind of half-explained propaganda. You’re trying to do good; your idea of good is simply warped.
Read, live, learn and—most of all—think before you comment and act on the things of life. After that, there will be fewer chances of you being slapped down like the ignorant child that you apparently are right now.
You may think that I’m being rather hard on you, Jeremy, but there are young men your age that are at this very moment experiencing tougher things than being slapped down by women who are the age of their mothers. That’s not a slam on you for not being in the military (it’s a choice), however the duty of all good citizens is to use the weapons with which God has inclined us to pick up. Sometimes those weapons are physical; in other instances, the weapons are cerebral. Which ever weapon that God has endowed you with, don’t waste your ammo as you did here. Live, learn---and then tell.
UPDATE: Darmon Thornton has also had much experience with "Tookie's" South Central LA. Read and understand how "Tookies" terrorists are the bane of upstanding black people; no less so than any Klansman.
UPDATE: David Anderson knows why also.
UPDATE: Thanks to all and sundry who have linked to this post. With my new job, I often have little time to post, so I pay more attention to the things that I *do* post. I put a lot of time and thought into this one (a couple of days). Though I didn't spell everything out as I probably should have, this one is from the heart. I didn't mean to hurt Jeremy or those like him; I simply meant to impart to him and others the facts of the type of life about which he probably knows nothing. People like Jeremy only know about the propaganda which they are fed at places like William and Mary. Some may deem my words to be propaganda also; however, the Jeremys of the world need to understand that there are (at least) two sides to every situation. They need to know about the side that experienced the actions of the "Tookies" of this world.
God bless and protect you, Jeremy. And may He open your eyes.
PREVIOUSLY:
Tookie Blogging
