What's Race Got To Do - Got To Do With It

Due to the nature of this blog I never know what I'll be writing about next. Zero advance preparation is put into topics of discussion as my posts are nearly always a reaction to something interesting going on in the world, my personal take whenever I feel the urge to contribute to the narrative. I did not think there was much chance I'd be writing about Casey Anthony because I had paid insufficient attention to the matter as it unfolded. On my way up the TV dial to obtain daily intake of political postering I frequently passed by Nancy Grace's show. Every so often I'd pause, just long enough to gather that the case centered on a woman who had been photographed partying perhaps a bit too hard, although countless similar shots can be found on Facebook serving as profile pictures. From this I gathered Nancy and most likely the prosecutor as well was aiming to prove Casey was an unfit mother. Plenty of unfit parents do not resort to murder of course, but certainly this non June Cleaver type behavior was being displayed to indicate Casey had her own interests at heart over those of her child.


I noticed from the number and frequency of comments on Facebook and Twitter that many people were following the trial with voyeuristic fascination. The consensus appeared to be that the majority believed Casey to be guilty and wanted her to pay dearly. I was unable to tell from these glimpses if the defense or the prosecution was doing a better job of proving its case beyond doubt, but most people outside the jury box were inclined to believe the prosecutor.

When the Not Guilty verdicts were read aloud I fully expected the mass outcry to follow. Far more surprising to me were the various comments about race being a factor. Throughout the trial I don't believe I saw a single statement about racist motivation pertaining to the case. From what I could tell the various participants in this particular tragedy were white. I learned when the verdict was pronounced that the judge was black, but so what? The chatter was not about a demonstration of bias on his part. I began to ask in earnest on Twitter - What's race got to do with it? One person basically replied - Oh, you know. No, I really didn't. I was sincerely clueless, though perhaps in hindsight I should have anticipated the reaction. But at that moment I legitimately wanted to know who the heck had behaved in a racist manner towards who in this matter, and why was it not remarked upon until a verdict was rendered.

Soon enough I got my answer. The verdict was supposedly racist because a white person who most (and that would include other white people) believed to be guilty of a crime was acquitted. White privilege on full display. Had Casey been black she would've gotten the chair. Never mind that the alleged victim was a white child. People started bringing up the OJ Simpson verdict even though it in no way bolstered their argument about racism in effect. Both cases illustrate that a person of any race can get away with killing white adults and children if they have good enough lawyers. Also possibly if the evidence against them is insufficient or if they happen to truly be not guilty, which isn't quite the same thing as being innocent, but in a court of law it's close enough.

When people began bringing up Michael Vick and Plaxico Burress I grew increasingly baffled. Other than also being high profile legal cases, what was the connection, what point did they prove exactly? That black people not named OJ are always found guilty and whites are always set free? That's a pretty easy theory to disprove, isn't it? The names of Oscar Grant as well as Aiyanna Jones, another little girl lost, also surfaced with tenuous connections made to the Casey Anthony trial. One name that did not come up was Derrion Albert - yet another somber cautionary tale.

Do I believe too many black people are doing jail time for drug related crimes because it's the most convenient way to attempt escape from a cycle of poverty? Yes, I do. Do I believe there have been many cases of racial profiling (most of which don't make the news) by police officers? Yes I do, even though I also appreciate how difficult a job cops have and recognize that for the most part they are the good guys on our side. But do I believe the judicial system is set up exclusively to screw over black people and simply make a few whites a little nervous before sending them back home? That's preposterous, no? Yet that is what many seem to believe.

It's one thing to acknowledge that racism by certain whites against blacks in general exists, another to point at every single perceived injustice as proof of racism at work. Here's what I've learned about life. 1) Some things are my own damn fault. If I want a better result I need to step up my game. 2) In certain cases as Howard Jones told us - No one is to blame. Another name for this phenomenon is Shit Happens. 3) Sometimes someone in particular will not give me a fair shake, not on account of race but because they're a jerk or perhaps believe (falsely of course) that I'm a jerk. Bias may not be fair at times, but nor is it always race based. 4) In the remainder of instances perhaps the way I've been treated has been a direct result of my personal ratio of coffee to milk.

The line between well warranted cynicism and self-pity party delusion isn't all that thin - Is it?

I echoed these sentiments on Twitter in abbreviated form and the most tangible result I noticed was a handful of lost followers. Shame on them for having such a narrow minded perspective. They will not be missed. And here I am once again willing to rub people the wrong way rather than nodding in agreement with folly and trying to sell books. Must be a reason for it.

REST IN PEACE, Caylee Anthony - child of God.

Doing the Crime and the Time

Lately there have been countless discussions taking place around water coolers, online message boards, and in back & forth tweets on Twitter regarding the topic of crime and punishment. Fyodor Dostoyevsky would be so proud. Professional athletes being arrested for various infractions is no new thing, but lately the profile of the players has been especially high, and despite the top notch lawyers they've hired, repercussions are actually being paid. In cases where the legal system did not hand down a stiff penalty, league commissioners have stepped in to lay down the law in a heavier manner. The message stated has been clear. Professional sports leagues are extremely image conscious, quite PR savvy, and the image they wish to project is a relatively wholesome one. We're not supposed to think of steroids or recreational drug use or gunplay in clubs between posses or drunk driving or any other types of reckless, illegal behavior when we see the NFL, NBA, or MLB logos. We're supposed to look at admiration towards superior athletes and all around class guys who at worst may have to deal with some paternity suits in the offseason. Perhaps it was OJ Simpson who got this ball rolling. He famously escaped criminal punishment, at least initially, but it seems as if he was the straw that broke the system's back. After that, preferential treatment for celebrity athletes went out the window, particularly when it came to criminal activity at the more serious end of the spectrum. No doubt ballplayers still get away with speeding through red lights in order to get prime parking in a handicap spot all the time. But if they think they can walk around acting like Billy the Kid or Tony Montana and not end up paying significantly for the damage left in their wake, they would be well advised to think again. Donte Stallworth somehow got away with only having to spend 24 days in jail after killing someone in a drunken hit & run accident. Much public outrage was expressed about this, but that outrage didn't add a single minute to his sentence. The fact that he spent less than a month in prison for killing a man says more about the quirks of our justice system than the fraternal twin powers of money and celebrity. Had Stallworth been a construction worker instead of a NFL player he may have received the same sentence. Then again, had he been a construction worker he might have been able to go right back to his job after leaving jail. But since he works for the NFL, which we've been repeatedly told is a privelege not a right, Stallworth finds himself indefinitely suspended. He may never again play football for an extravagant salary and has no one to blame for this but himself. Michael Vick had to spend a couple years in prison for his crimes, but now that he has paid for them he is being allowed to put pads on once more for a NFL team. In the revolving door between the NFL and prison, just as Vick re-enters the league Plaxico Burress exits stage right to the penitentiary. Carrying a loaded unlicensed weapon into a New York nightclub simply is not a good idea. Taking a self-inflicted bullet that night probably was painless when compared to the 2-year prison sentence he's about to start serving. There's a decent chance that he too will never play in the NFL again. Burress will just have to use the memory of his Super Bowl winning touchdown reception to sustain him on lonely nights. Is there a lesson to be learned from all this? Nothing that isn't so blatant it shouldn't need to be taught in the first place. If you somehow are talented and/or lucky enough to end up with everything you ever dreamed of, stay asleep and drag that dream out for as long as possible. There's nothing waiting for a man in prison but restless nights. So if you're a well paid professional athlete considering illegal activity, I recommend turning the other away and departing from that scene quicker than Usain Bolt.

- By Roy L. Pickering Jr. (author of Patches of Grey)