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Gatsby
Joined: 09 Feb 2007
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 Posted: Sun Aug 26, 2007 7:06 am Post subject: Former Klansman gets 3 life terms in prison for killings |
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Take a look at this story, please:
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August 25, 2007
Ex-Klansman Is Sentenced to Life for Killings in 1964
By JERRY MITCHELL and BRENDA GOODMAN
JACKSON, Miss., Aug. 24 � Calling the crime �unspeakable because only monsters could inflict this,� a federal judge on Friday sentenced a former member of the Ku Klux Klan to three life terms in prison for his role in the 1964 kidnapping and murder of two black teenagers in Mississippi.
The case was one of several that focused a spotlight on white supremacist violence during the civil rights era.
The victims, Henry H. Dee and Charles E. Moore, both 19, were hitchhiking in Meadville, Miss., when a group of Klansmen, including James Seale, picked them up and took them to a wooded area, where they were beaten and their weighted bodies thrown into the Mississippi River. Both young men drowned.
Their bodies were not recovered until later that year in a high-profile search for three civil rights activists whose deaths generated widespread revulsion against the racial violence in Mississippi.
�The pulse of this community still throbs with sorrow,� Judge Henry T. Wingate of Federal District Court said as he imposed the sentence, which will effectively keep Mr. Seale, who is 72 and has cancer, behind bars for the rest of his life.
Judge Wingate asked Mr. Seale, who was shackled and dressed in an orange jumpsuit, if he wished to comment, but Mr. Seale declined. His lawyer, Kathy Nestor, said her client planned to appeal his conviction on kidnapping and conspiracy charges.
The main prosecution witness, a former Klansman who was granted immunity, testified at Mr. Seale�s trial that the defendant had told him he killed Mr. Dee and Mr. Moore. Mr. Seale was not charged with murder.
At Friday�s sentencing, Mr. Moore�s brother, Thomas, of Seattle, who has pushed for justice in the case since 1998, was given the opportunity to address Mr. Seale.
�When you took away Charles Moore, you took away my best friend,� Thomas Moore said. �I cried when I thought about how hard they suffered at your hands.�
Mr. Dee�s sister, Thelma Collins, said her brother�s killing �hurt us so bad I had to get a psychologist.�
At a news conference after the sentencing, Assistant Attorney General Wan J. Kim said that some 100 cold cases from the civil rights era were awaiting investigation and possible prosecution, including 30 in Mississippi.
Judge Wingate said that he took into account Mr. Seale�s advanced age and poor health. �But then I had to take a look at the crime itself, the horror, the ghastliness of it,� he said, adding that he would agree to the defense recommendation that Mr. Seale serve his sentence at a medical facility.
Jerry Mitchell reported from Jackson, and Brenda Goodman from Atlanta. |
Some people have a mistaken impression of the state of the Deep South. First of all, things have changed, a lot. Second of all, not every white person in the South even during legalized racial discrimination, was a racist.
Take a closer look at the name of the reporter on this article, Jerry Mitchell.
http://www.clarionledger.com/crimes/jerrybio.html
It is because of Mitchell, more than perhaps anyone else, that Seale was brought to justice. Do a google search, and you will see more of the articles by him and about his work.
Here is one:
http://www.onthemedia.org/transcripts/2007/02/16/07
Here's another:
http://www.motherjones.com/news/update/2007/01/jerry_mitchell.html
There's a lot that is wrong with the United States. But then there are the people who risk all to put things right. Jerry Mitchell is one of these. |
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Tony_Balony
Joined: 12 Apr 2007
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| Posted: Sun Aug 26, 2007 10:52 am Post subject: |
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| Yea, theres a good living to be had in the racism industry. BTW, did the SPLC make a statement on the Armenian Genocide yet? |
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Gatsby
Joined: 09 Feb 2007
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| Posted: Sun Aug 26, 2007 2:49 pm Post subject: |
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Tony_Balony
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| Yea, theres a good living to be had in the racism industry. BTW, did the SPLC make a statement on the Armenian Genocide yet? |
I'm not sure what you meant by this. And to tell you the truth, I don't really care.
Jerry Mitchell is a reporter. He is an outstanding journalist. He is quite capable of making a living covering any of a number of subjects. He probably could have had a job with the national, or international news media, based on his work. He chose to cover a beat that would bring some justice to a part of a country where the wounds of history had never healed. He undoubtedly received more than a few death threats. But he stuck with it for two decades.
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| The case was one of the "forgotten killings" of old wrongs in this state in the dark days of the civil rights fight. In 2000, the FBI reopened the case after The Clarion-Ledger reported that federal charges were possible since the two were beaten in a national forest. |
His editors also stuck by him, as did his publisher and the owner of the newspaper, Gannett. They all deserve praise.
The United States has made some horrible mistakes in its history. One small lesson it can provide is that a country can face up to its mistakes, admit them and correct them.
Unfortunately, people from other countries should be aware that the United States is not a homogenous, unified country. While the majority may oppose racism, there are still racists. There are still people who actively favor segregated schools. There are people on the U.S. Supreme Court, a majority, who think schools segregated by race are not a problem, as long as they are not actively segregated by law.
The U.S. has a remarkable ability to forget the lessons it has learned all too briefly from the past. And by U.S., I mean, of course, Americans. The blame for America's problems lie not with the politicians, but with the citizens who elected them, and the citizens who did not bother to vote. Sometimes America looks like a mindless, unthinking school of fish.
But then there are the courageous souls who do think, and who do what is right, regardless of the consequences. Often, it is these people who really deserve the credit for saving out country.
But sometimes it is people not born in the United States who deserve the credit.
In this instance, Assistant Attorney General Wan J. Kim played a role in prosecuting the case as the Assistant Attorney General in charge of civil rights prosecutions. He announced his resignation from the Bush Administration post on Aug. 23.
http://www.usdoj.gov/opa/pr/2007/August/07_crt_652.html
http://www.usdoj.gov/crt/wan_kim.html
http://www.usdoj.gov/crt/speeches/crt_testimony_070621.html
So Koreans can also take some pride in what was accomplished in Jackson, Mississippi last week.
Want to learn more about the state of Mississippi?
http://www.clarionledger.com/apps/pbcs.dll/frontpage |
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