Full Version: Racism in Paris, Texas?
I believe this story broke earlier this week maybe Monday or Tuesday, yet surprisingly it has gotten little media mention. It is tough to gauge racism and racial disparity, however i think this story does illustrate and exemplify what minorities feel when they speak of what it means to be a minority in this country.
Shaquanda pushed a teacher when she was 14 years old. She was sentenced to up to 7 years in Juvenile detention center for this crime of pushing a public official. In this same town a young white man was sentenced to probation for killing black man and his grandson after being convicted of negligent homicide, and a white girl the same age as Shaquanda was sentenced to probation after being convicted of Arson for burning her home to the ground.
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationw...ll=chi-news-hed
Questions for Debate:
Do you believe this is a case of racial disparity in the Judicial System of Paris Texas? Or do you feel there are other reasons why such different sentences were needed?
Do you believe such a story deserves greater media coverage? Is a case that seemingly shows injustice between races national news?
Shaquanda pushed a teacher when she was 14 years old. She was sentenced to up to 7 years in Juvenile detention center for this crime of pushing a public official. In this same town a young white man was sentenced to probation for killing black man and his grandson after being convicted of negligent homicide, and a white girl the same age as Shaquanda was sentenced to probation after being convicted of Arson for burning her home to the ground.
QUOTE
The youth had no prior arrest record, and the hall monitor--a 58-year-old teacher's aide--was not seriously injured. But Shaquanda was tried in March 2006 in the town's juvenile court, convicted of "assault on a public servant" and sentenced by Lamar County Judge Chuck Superville to prison for up to 7 years, until she turns 21.
There was the 19-year-old white man, convicted last July of criminally negligent homicide for killing a 54-year-old black woman and her 3-year-old grandson with his truck, who was sentenced in Paris to probation and required to send an annual Christmas card to the victims' family.
Just three months earlier, Superville sentenced a 14-year-old white girl, convicted of arson for burning down her family's house, to probation.
There was the 19-year-old white man, convicted last July of criminally negligent homicide for killing a 54-year-old black woman and her 3-year-old grandson with his truck, who was sentenced in Paris to probation and required to send an annual Christmas card to the victims' family.
Just three months earlier, Superville sentenced a 14-year-old white girl, convicted of arson for burning down her family's house, to probation.
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationw...ll=chi-news-hed
Questions for Debate:
Do you believe this is a case of racial disparity in the Judicial System of Paris Texas? Or do you feel there are other reasons why such different sentences were needed?
Do you believe such a story deserves greater media coverage? Is a case that seemingly shows injustice between races national news?
QUOTE(droop224 @ Mar 16 2007, 04:12 PM) 
Questions for Debate:
Do you believe this is a case of racial disparity in the Judicial System of Paris Texas? Or do you feel there are other reasons why such different sentences were needed?
Do you believe such a story deserves greater media coverage? Is a case that seemingly shows injustice between races national news?
While this is actually a terrible injustice, it's impossible to tell if it's racially motivated or what really happened by reading this little article. Frankly, I'd guess that the chance that she was poor and had an inadequate lawyer, when the other people may have not?
I believe that it doesn't prove racism at all, but DOES need investigation. Were there court room antics? It seems like they gave her the max sentence, and I'd love to know why.
If it was racially motivated, it should be national news. I'd guess that the newspaper article doesn't tell the whole story. I really think this would be HUGE news if it doesn't have more than this to the story.
Do you believe this is a case of racial disparity in the Judicial System of Paris Texas? Or do you feel there are other reasons why such different sentences were needed?
I have a difficult time reasoning that this is a case of racial disparity. If she is from a poor family, and accepted an inadequate legal defender; those could be a couple of reasons. However, I think that more information is needed. If it is racial injustice, one would think that one of the 24 hours news stations would have picked it up by now!
Do you believe such a story deserves greater media coverage? Is a case that seemingly shows injustice between races national news?
Yes, I do think it deserves more media coverage so that all the facts of the case can be revealed. Racial injustice on all levels should be news and definitely be investigated IMO.
I have a difficult time reasoning that this is a case of racial disparity. If she is from a poor family, and accepted an inadequate legal defender; those could be a couple of reasons. However, I think that more information is needed. If it is racial injustice, one would think that one of the 24 hours news stations would have picked it up by now!
Do you believe such a story deserves greater media coverage? Is a case that seemingly shows injustice between races national news?
Yes, I do think it deserves more media coverage so that all the facts of the case can be revealed. Racial injustice on all levels should be news and definitely be investigated IMO.
QUOTE(droop224 @ Mar 16 2007, 04:12 PM)
Questions for Debate:
Do you believe this is a case of racial disparity in the Judicial System of Paris Texas? Or do you feel there are other reasons why such different sentences were needed?
On the face of it does, however, I can't help but wonder what happened here - how on Earth could anyone justify 7 years for a shove? Comparing the other cases while illustrative isn't really useful. You can't compare an arson case, or a vehicular homicide to this. In the arson the 14 year old (white) girl burned down her OWN house and (it seems) no one was home.
It does look a lot like Shaquanda was exceedingly unpopular with school officials due to her mother's actions.
However, a shove doesn't warrant 7 years. This looks like retaliation - which could be based in racism.
QUOTE
Do you believe such a story deserves greater media coverage? Is a case that seemingly shows injustice between races national news?
Actually I'm all for making local news local again. I have no stake in things that happen in a Texas school.
I would have to read each case in order to determine if it was racially motivated. What the article fails to point out is that at least in one of the cases of probation it was for 10 years, which isn't exactly uncommon. Some people will get jail time of say 2 years or probation of 5 years depending on how the case pans out.
However I do believe that it should be something that needs to be further investigated to determine if there is racial motivations involved, because if there are it goes deep into the system, from the school all the way to the judge. The prosecutors office did press for the same sentence in at least two of the cases so there doesn't appear to be a bias in at least one of the links in the chain. It was hard to find information about the cases because they are juvenile cases which are usually sealed and not for public viewing.
Anyway it crumbles it sounds to me like this sentence is just ridiculous.
However I do believe that it should be something that needs to be further investigated to determine if there is racial motivations involved, because if there are it goes deep into the system, from the school all the way to the judge. The prosecutors office did press for the same sentence in at least two of the cases so there doesn't appear to be a bias in at least one of the links in the chain. It was hard to find information about the cases because they are juvenile cases which are usually sealed and not for public viewing.
Anyway it crumbles it sounds to me like this sentence is just ridiculous.
QUOTE(aevans176 @ Mar 16 2007, 09:26 PM)
QUOTE(droop224 @ Mar 16 2007, 04:12 PM)
Questions for Debate:
Do you believe this is a case of racial disparity in the Judicial System of Paris Texas? Or do you feel there are other reasons why such different sentences were needed?
Do you believe such a story deserves greater media coverage? Is a case that seemingly shows injustice between races national news?
While this is actually a terrible injustice, it's impossible to tell if it's racially motivated or what really happened by reading this little article. Frankly, I'd guess that the chance that she was poor and had an inadequate lawyer, when the other people may have not?
I believe that it doesn't prove racism at all, but DOES need investigation. Were there court room antics? It seems like they gave her the max sentence, and I'd love to know why.
If it was racially motivated, it should be national news. I'd guess that the newspaper article doesn't tell the whole story. I really think this would be HUGE news if it doesn't have more than this to the story.
Superficially, I think aevans176 has probably hit the nail on the head here. (But that's my assumption - the other two white kids might have come from poor families, while the Shaquanda might be middle class, in which case I daresay this IS about race.)
HOWEVER - assuming that this IS a case of institutionalised prejudice against poverty, rather than institutionalised prejudice against black people - is that okay?
If this is the case, where is the outrage? What can be done to fix the justice system so that it is about justice and not about who can afford which lawyer?
QUOTE
I believe this story broke earlier this week maybe Monday or Tuesday, yet surprisingly it has gotten little media mention. It is tough to gauge racism and racial disparity, however i think this story does illustrate and exemplify what minorities feel when they speak of what it means to be a minority in this country.
So, I was following links and reading about crime in Denmark when I came across a link to a story from the USA which reminded me of this thread. QUOTE
The U.S. Justice Department has reported that 85% of all inter-racial violence in America is committed by blacks against whites.
[snip]
Everybody in America, for example, knows who James Byrd is, and that he was brutally murdered by three whites in Jasper Texas four years ago. Byrd's lynchers offered him a lift in their pickup truck, beat him and chained him and dragged him to his death. An entire nation was outraged and guilty. The President issued a statement, legislators wrung their hands and the media keened over the inhumanity of the act and what it portended for the country's future.
Four years later - this year in fact - a white man named Ken Tillery, hitched a ride in Jasper, Texas. He was given a lift by four black men who then murdered him to a deafening national silence. Like Byrd, Tillery was held hostage and beaten. Then he was run over and crushed to death. The copycat nature of the crime made it a natural news story. But there was none, save a modest account in the Houston Chronicle, to which nobody paid any attention.
Link.[snip]
Everybody in America, for example, knows who James Byrd is, and that he was brutally murdered by three whites in Jasper Texas four years ago. Byrd's lynchers offered him a lift in their pickup truck, beat him and chained him and dragged him to his death. An entire nation was outraged and guilty. The President issued a statement, legislators wrung their hands and the media keened over the inhumanity of the act and what it portended for the country's future.
Four years later - this year in fact - a white man named Ken Tillery, hitched a ride in Jasper, Texas. He was given a lift by four black men who then murdered him to a deafening national silence. Like Byrd, Tillery was held hostage and beaten. Then he was run over and crushed to death. The copycat nature of the crime made it a natural news story. But there was none, save a modest account in the Houston Chronicle, to which nobody paid any attention.
The state department statistic was a real surprise since I was under the impression that if it was not the other way around then it was at least something approaching an equilibrium.
Given that statistic though I have to wonder why Shaquanda Cotton merits attention on a political debate forum. Does the fact that she is black make her news worthy?
Do you believe such a story deserves greater media coverage? Is a case that seemingly shows injustice between races national news?
Surely the underlying principle of individual responsibility ought to be applied to determine the merits of any matter? If this girl was treated badly then by all means report it, but its a dangerous path when a persons skin colour determines whether or not they've been subjected to a racist assault.
edited to fix tags
QUOTE(moif @ Mar 18 2007, 07:02 PM)
QUOTE
I believe this story broke earlier this week maybe Monday or Tuesday, yet surprisingly it has gotten little media mention. It is tough to gauge racism and racial disparity, however i think this story does illustrate and exemplify what minorities feel when they speak of what it means to be a minority in this country.
So, I was following links and reading about crime in Denmark when I came across a link to a story from the USA which reminded me of this thread. QUOTE
The U.S. Justice Department has reported that 85% of all inter-racial violence in America is committed by blacks against whites.
[snip]
Everybody in America, for example, knows who James Byrd is, and that he was brutally murdered by three whites in Jasper Texas four years ago. Byrd's lynchers offered him a lift in their pickup truck, beat him and chained him and dragged him to his death. An entire nation was outraged and guilty. The President issued a statement, legislators wrung their hands and the media keened over the inhumanity of the act and what it portended for the country's future.
Four years later - this year in fact - a white man named Ken Tillery, hitched a ride in Jasper, Texas. He was given a lift by four black men who then murdered him to a deafening national silence. Like Byrd, Tillery was held hostage and beaten. Then he was run over and crushed to death. The copycat nature of the crime made it a natural news story. But there was none, save a modest account in the Houston Chronicle, to which nobody paid any attention.
Link.[snip]
Everybody in America, for example, knows who James Byrd is, and that he was brutally murdered by three whites in Jasper Texas four years ago. Byrd's lynchers offered him a lift in their pickup truck, beat him and chained him and dragged him to his death. An entire nation was outraged and guilty. The President issued a statement, legislators wrung their hands and the media keened over the inhumanity of the act and what it portended for the country's future.
Four years later - this year in fact - a white man named Ken Tillery, hitched a ride in Jasper, Texas. He was given a lift by four black men who then murdered him to a deafening national silence. Like Byrd, Tillery was held hostage and beaten. Then he was run over and crushed to death. The copycat nature of the crime made it a natural news story. But there was none, save a modest account in the Houston Chronicle, to which nobody paid any attention.
The state department statistic was a real surprise since I was under the impression that if it was not the other way around then it was at least something approaching an equilibrium.
Given that statistic though I have to wonder why Shaquanda Cotton merits attention on a political debate forum. Does the fact that she is black make her news worthy?
Do you believe such a story deserves greater media coverage? Is a case that seemingly shows injustice between races national news?
Surely the underlying principle of individual responsibility ought to be applied to determine the merits of any matter? If this girl was treated badly then by all means report it, but its a dangerous path when a persons skin colour determines whether or not they've been subjected to a racist assault.
edited to fix tags
The gut impression, ad hoc though it may be, among whites I know is that there was a time when white-on-black crime was the norm, and today the converse is true. Your post seems to agree with this perception.
The limited facts available make this sentence seem outrageous. But, I suspect there is more. Why? Every white person in any position of authority in the US today knows that if they do anything to a black person that smacks of racial inequity, whether illegal or not, they are likely to be subject to at a minimum organized public ridicule, and likely much worse.
Blacks to their credit have organized and will organize to combat any perceived injustice. Whites, if they organize on any matter that pertains to race, are immediately mentioned in the same breath with the Klan. Also, I think white Americans today are just less socially communal and more socially individualistic than black Americans are, as a rule.
Consequently, I cannot believe we know all of the facts on this matter.
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