MANSFIELD: Sympathy for the Devil

Sympathy for the Devil

Black folks are more compassionate, more forgiving than White folks. While I can’t prove this empirically, tons of anecdotal evidence abounds to support my contention. To wit: A recent story on National Public Radio (it aired as well on the CBS Evening News) told the tale of Mary Johnson and Oshea Israel.

In 1993, Israel (who was 16-years-old at the time) went to prison for shooting and killing Johnson’s only son at a party in Milwaukee. The mother had always simply wanted to ask her son’s killer one question: “Why… why did you kill my child?” Israel, however, would not meet with the woman.

Years passed, but toward the end of his sentence Israel finally relented and agreed to meet with Mary Johnson. They talked. She came back to the prison and they talked again, and again. And then, after thinking and praying over it, Mary Johnson forgave Oshea Israel for the hurt and pain he’d caused her.

Upon his release she helped him secure an apartment right next door to hers. In effect, this compassionate woman has adopted, as an adult, the man who killed her only son. Few of us could do what this wise and courageous woman did. But, she says she didn’t do it for him, she did it for herself and that her life was better for it. I believe her… even while doubting if I could ever be as strong as Mary Johnson.

The travails of slavery and Jim Crow, the ever-so-slowly ameliorating of rampant and systemic bigotry, and the constant indignities both large and small that Blacks have had to face in America for hundreds of years — and continue to face on a daily basis far too often — is what causes Black folk to be more willing to forgive (all too often to forget), and just move on.

Indeed, if we were to hold on to the hatred we have every right to harbor for our ill-treatment in this country, it would drive us — collectively — as mad as hatters. I remain in constant awe of the fact a person of color doesn’t “go postal” somewhere in America every goddamn day.

Which brings me to the Anthony Sowell case. In spite of the fact 10 of the 11 families of his alleged victims have signed a petition to accept a guilty plea that would sentence him to life without the possibility of parole… Bill Mason still wants to go forth with the trial and seek the death penalty. Why? Families of victims supposedly have tremendous influence in regards to these kinds of decisions… why not in this case?

Is Mason simply doing his job… seeking justice? Well — no. Indeed, truly “seeking justice” has never been a part of his vocabulary as far as I can tell. He’s seeking a book deal maybe for when he’s out of office, but he’s certainly not seeking justice for the families of the victims… if that were the case he would acquiesce to their wishes in the matter. But a potential publisher doesn’t want a truncated tale… one that ends with a guilty plea and no trial; editors at publishing houses know what sells, and cases that end in a finding of guilty and the invoking of the death penalty is what they’re after… justice for the families be damned.

This is perhaps the biggest case of his tenure as country prosecutor, and he’s not about to let it go without playing it for all it’s worth… and he has the media — which wants to increase circulation and TV ratings by forcing the families to relive all of the gory details for days on end — on his side. It’s a spectacle too gory, too satisfying, potentially too money-generating, to let go of… simply because sane Black families want closure.

Then there’s the lawsuit issue. If Sowell were to be allowed to plead guilty some of the families of his victims could immediately file wrongful death lawsuits due to the obvious bungling of his case by police… bungling that perhaps allowed more women to be killed.

But, if Sowell is found guilty rather than pleads guilty, the appeals will take decades, and the lawsuits can’t be initiated until all of his appeals are exhausted. So, instead of the families of the victims potentially being rightfully compensated, the monies will be spent — wasted you could say — on lawyer fees to litigate the appeal ad infinitum.

This gives a new meaning to the term, “Justice delayed is justice denied,” doesn’t it? I seriously doubt that Mason would be so cavalier with the wishes of White families for closure… and if you’re honest, you’d harbor the same doubt too.

Dress for Success?

It’s indeed welcome news that county employees will no longer be able to dress as if they dig worms for a bait store for a living, rather than do the public’s business. Just in case you missed it, a dress code recently went into effect at the fiscal offices in the Administration Building.

But I’m wondering why the effort stopped short? Other departments in country government have had dress codes in place for years, so why not make it a uniform, county-wide policy? This way, when it comes to the next round of county firings, perhaps the worse dressers would be first in line to get the axe. With a policy like that in place, in this economy, some folks would be showing up for work wearing tuxedos and ball gowns.

The Truth About the Economy

Robert Reich has nailed it. Who is Robert Reich? He was recently on The Bill Maher Show. Missed it? Ok, Robert Reich is Chancellor’s Professor of Public Policy at the University of California at Berkeley. He has served in three national administrations, most recently as secretary of labor under President Bill Clinton. He has written thirteen books, including The Work of Nations, Locked in the Cabinet, Supercapitalism, and Aftershock.

But if you want the truth, a real education about the economy, please review The Truth About the Economy at http://CoffeePartyUSA.com or http://RobertReich.org by Robert Reich.

Now that you are enlightened or reminded, what are you going to do?

From Cool Cleveland correspondent Mansfield B. Frazier mansfieldfATgmail.com. Frazier’s From Behind The Wall: Commentary on Crime, Punishment, Race and the Underclass by a Prison Inmate is available again in hardback. Snag your copy and have it signed by the author by visiting http://www.neighborhoodsolutionsinc.com.

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MANSFIELD: Sympathy for the Devil

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