Verdict is lesson for whites

The lights are off, the cameras have stopped rolling and the action is over. The O.J. Simpson extravaganza has ended, amid much controversy. And white folks is mad. Ha, ha, ha. Don't they have a lot of nerve? If anybody needs to be pissed, it should be black folks.

How many times in history have all-white juries acquitted men for committing atrocious crimes against innocent black men, women and children in the name of justice? If you don't know the answer to this question, I'll help you figure it out:

In 1955, Emmit Till, a 14-year-old black teen, was forcefully dragged from his bed, beaten beyond recognition and killed by two white men, who were later acquitted by an all-white jury.

Several of the jury members later admitted they knew the men were guilty, but acquitted them anyway.

Medger Evers was murdered in front of his own house by a white man who was acquitted, also by an all-white jury. The white man later bragged about what he had done.

Rodney King was brutally beaten by several Los Angeles police officers on camera, and the officers were acquitted of all charges, by an all-white jury.

Yet white folks is mad. Well, like my grandmother used to say: "If something makes you mad, scratch your ass 'til you get glad."

The Simpson jury is being questioned by the mass media about its decision. Where were the media when the Rodney King verdict came down? How many of the jurors came forward to give their opinion of their decision to acquit the cops, when they knew the tape proved that King had been beaten? Yet white folks is mad.

I'm mad too. For more than 400 years my people, African people, have been enslaved, denigrated, beaten and killed. Our culture was stripped and stolen from us. We were told through the media that we were less than worthy, unqualified to succeed, three-fifths of a person, descended from apes, untrustworthy and unemployable. Every single black hero we've had has been killed. Why? Because the old white man's dream is still alive: kill off everybody else, and only whites will be left.

Now all y'all white folks can join the angry club that black folks have been members of for more than 400 years. Yeah, yeah, I know, y'all white folks are tired of hearing about the enslavement of blacks in this country. Too bad. 'Cause as long as I'm black and female, I'm going to be in your face reminding you of it every day.

[ Golden Gater Online October 17, 1995 ]

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