O Tempora, O Mores! (November, 1995)
American Renaissance, November 1995
More Black Justice
Another mostly-black jury has delivered a curious verdict. Earl Williams of South Carolina, a 22-year-old black, was accused of shooting a police officer who was trying to recover a stolen car. The officer, also black, survived the attack and identified Mr. Williams, whose fingerprints were found in the car. Another witness also identified Mr. Williams, who admitted to relatives that he shot the officer. In court, however, he changed his story and claimed that he had admitted to the shootings because he was covering for the real shooter, his accomplice, Rafer Jones. He said he had no choice but to take the blame because Mr. Jones has voodoo powers and would turn Mr. Williams into a wolf if he did not do as ordered.
The jury acquitted Mr. Williams. Its members appear to think that the accomplice, Mr. Jones, is guilty. However, there is not enough evidence to indict him because all witnesses — except Mr. Williams himself — say that Mr. Williams was the gunman. [Lisa Green, Man didn’t shoot cop, jury says, The State (Columbia, SC), 9/30/95, p. 1.]
Florida Follies
On September 13, 1993, a British tourist was shot to death at a freeway rest stop in Florida. It has taken three trials to nail him, but the killer, a teen-aged black named John Crumitie, has finally been convicted. He managed to hang two mixed-race juries by claiming that every prosecution witness was lying. In the first trial, a single black held out for acquittal, and in the second, two blacks did. The third jury, which finally convicted him, was composed of ten whites and two blacks.
Mr. Crumitie grew up in rural Monticello, Florida, which state juvenile authorities thought was such a wholesome place they sent three black Tallahassee delinquents there to live in the hope that they would reform. Instead, they befriended Mr. Crumite, who had never been in trouble before. A few months later Mr. Crumitie was a murderer. [Michael Browning, City hoodlums sent to country: a deadly error, Miami Herald, 9/17/95, p. 1B.]
Imported Crime
Many immigrant shopkeepers keep money at home rather than use banks, which they do not trust. Immigrants of the same ethnicity have taken to invading their homes to steal the cash. Often they torture members of the household to extract information about where the swag is hidden. Criminals and victims tend to be Hispanics or Asians.
Perpetrators are well-organized gangs whose members deliberately use false names even with each other so that if one is arrested he cannot identify the others. Recent illegals who have not yet been arrested and whose fingerprints are not on file make the best operatives. It is even better if they cannot speak English and are unable to talk to the police.
During the first nine months of 1995, more than 750 such robberies were reported in New York City alone. Police estimate that the real number is much higher; the cash that many immigrant shopkeepers keep at home is unreported to the IRS, and victims do not want to call attention to their shady practices. [Clifford Krauss, Gangs find shop owners easy prey at home, NYT, 9/15/95.]
Of the 24,361 cases of tuberculosis in the United States in 1994, 7,627 were reported by patients who were foreign-born. That was 32 percent of all cases, up from 22 percent in 1986. Most of the sick foreigners were from Mexico, the Philippines and Vietnam. In Los Angeles County 64 percent of the TB cases were foreign-born people and in Hawaii the figure was 82 percent. It is not known how many Americans caught the disease from foreigners. [Reuters, Atlanta, Sept. 28, 1995.]
Ivy League Confederates
With one important excepted category, Harvard University has erected memorials to all alumni who died on the battlefield, including one who fought for Nazi Germany. The university does not, however, honor Confederates, even though one third of the Harvard men who died in the War Between the States fought for the South. Yale and Princeton pay equal tribute to their Confederate and Union dead. [Confederate memorial splits Harvard, Commercial Appeal (Memphis), July 5, 1995.]
Blacks are 10 percent of the civilian work force but are more than 18 percent of both state and federal work forces. Blacks are therefore almost twice as likely to work for government than they are to work for private employers. Since 43 percent of all black managers and professionals work for government (as compared to 14 percent for whites), if public employers hired as selectively as private ones, the black managerial class would shrink by perhaps 20 percent.
For anyone whose eyes are not firmly shut, the reason for this concentration in government is obvious: The public sector does not face competition and can hire deadwood without going broke. [Jonathan Tilove, Minorities have thrived in public sector jobs, Grand Rapids Press, July 30, 1995, p. A8.] Besides helping to explain why government works so poorly, the over-representation of blacks means something else — “diversity” preferences should no longer apply to black public-sector job seekers. No whites are likely to point this out, but some day it will dawn on Hispanic or even Asian activists, who will then start yelling about it.
Although Denver public schools are more segregated than ever, a federal judge has ruled that the system can end its mandatory busing program. In 1968, public schools served 101,000 students, 63 percent of them white. It now has 59,000 students, of whom only 30 percent are white. The largest number, 48 percent, are Hispanic, and some schools are 95 percent nonwhite. Everyone recognizes that a return to neighborhood schools means something close to complete segregation. However, nonwhites now control the school board, as well as the lavish, $7,300-per-student budget that goes with it. Nonwhites appear to be content with segregation, so long as their schools get as much money as white schools. Denver now spends as much on students as the tuition at better private schools, but student performance is an embarrassment. Only two thirds of students manage to graduate, despite ever-lower standards. [James Brooke, Court says Denver can end forced busing, NYT, 9/17/95.]
Full Circle
A Boston lawyer has filed suit on behalf of his 12-year-old daughter, who was not admitted to the prestigious Boston Latin School because she is white. The school sets aside 35 percent of its places for blacks and Hispanics, and officials admit that Julia McLaughlin would have been admitted were it not for the quota. One hundred and three blacks and Hispanics with qualifications inferior to hers were admitted. The judge hearing the case is Arthur Garrity who, 20 years ago, started a program of forced busing that has brought the school system close to collapse. [Michael Matza, Race case has stung Boston, Houston Chron, 9/16/95, p. 20A.]
Touch of the Tar Brush
Betty Crocker the blue-eyed, creamy-skinned General Mills symbol of all-American wholesomeness since 1921, is to have a makeover. Although her hair style and costume have changed every decade or so, she is now to be made into a product of miscegenation. General Mills plans to take the photographs of 75 American women — representing all races — and “morph” or merge their features and skin-tones into the new Betty Crocker. Russell Adams, chairman of African American studies at Howard University says that the new Miss Crocker “will be less white bread and more whole wheat.” Her face is to appear on packages early next year. [Rebecca Quick, Betty Crocker plans to mix ethnic looks for her new face, WSJ, 9/11/95, p. 1.]
The British Commission for Racial Equality has mounted a campaign against racism, called “All Different All Equal.” It has unveiled “public service” posters across Britain that show a row of four brains. Three are the same size and are labeled “African,” “Asian,” and “European.” The fourth brain, much smaller, is labeled “Racist.” The poster has gone up in 29 sites in London alone. In Wales the poster is in both English and Welsh. [Commission for Racial Equality (all different all equal) press release No. 587, Sept. 21, 1995.]
Louis Farrakhan of the Nation of Islam is hoping to organize a “million man march” on Washington, DC. That would be three times as many participants as in Martin Luther King’s 1963 “March on Washington.” Curiously, the event is not being billed as a demand for handouts. “We have looked for too long to the government to solve our problems,” explains Minister Farrakhan. He says the march will be “a day of atonement to accept our responsibility for our women and our communities.” Feminists are annoyed that women will not be allowed to participate, and skeptics wonder whether black men will bother to demonstrate if there are no women to meet. The national coordinator for the march is Ben Chavis, former executive director of the NAACP, who was fired when it was learned he had spent $322,400 of the association’s money to hush up a sexual harassment suit. The NAACP does not support the march and predicts a poor turnout. [Edward Boyer, ‘Million man’ may end up short, Houston Chron, 9/17/95, p. 29A.] The NAACP, itself, has not done well lately. In September, fewer than 100 people turned out for an affirmative action rally in Connecticut that was supposed to draw thousands. [Connecticut, USA Today, sept. 11, 1995, p. 10A.]
His True Calling
A Haitian chiropractor has joined the list of immigrants who bilk American society for false insurance charges. Joseph Douze of Palm Beach, Florida, would send out “runners” to recruit people to stage false accidents for whom he would then file insurance claims. In several years, Dr. Douze filed some $5 million in claims. Nothing out-of-the-ordinary here, except that Mr. Douze is a former candidate for the presidency of Haiti. [AP, Chiropractor charged in insurance claim scan, Miami Herald, 9/19/95.]
Lawmaker, Lawbreaker
Maggie Glover is a black senator in the South Carolina state house. On Sept. 15th, she was clocked at 53 miles per hour in a zone marked for 30 and was pulled over. The officer discovered that her license had been suspended and told her he would have to arrest her. Miss Glover locked herself in her car and refused to come out. The officer, realizing he had a difficult case on his hands, radioed for help. Eventually nine policemen were on the scene, trying to persuade Miss Glover to give herself up. Finally, another black state legislator was found to come give her a ride home.
Miss Glover now says she could not be sure whether the officers were authentic policemen or were impersonators out to make trouble. “Rodney King got out of his car, too,” she told reporters. The state’s top prosecutor has decided to investigate the incident, a decision that another black state senator welcomes. “[I]t will show stupidity, how far these guys will go to target black elected officials, which is very, very far,” he explains. [Lee Bandy & Jim Davenport, State to investigate Glover incident, The State (Columbia, SC) Sept. 30, 1995, p. B1.]
The number of prison inmates in the United States has tripled to 1.5 million in the 15 years from 1980 to 1995. Half of all inmates have committed violent crimes and 80 percent have prior convictions. Fifty percent of the prison population is black. An additional 3.5 million convicted criminals are out of prison on probation or parole, which means that about three percent of the adult population is under the control of the criminal justice system. In Texas, nearly 4 percent of the adult population is on probation or parole.
One in every three black men in their 20s is either in jail, on probation or on parole. Only five years ago, the figure was one in four. In a few years half of all black men in their 20s are likely to be under supervision. [Alan Miller, Prison, probation rolls soaring, Chi Sun-Times, 8/28/95, p. 20. Fox Butterfield, More blacks in their 20’s have trouble with the law, NYT, 10/5/95, p. A8.]
Violent crime is not only becoming more common, its nature is changing. In the 1960s, more than 90 percent of murders resulted in arrests. This was because the vast majority of killers were acquainted with their victims. Now, so-called “stranger murders” are the majority of homicides, and they are much harder to solve. What’s more, there are proportionately fewer officers to solve them. Thirty years ago, there were three policemen for every violent crime reported. Now there are three violent crimes for every policeman.
Another trend is increased violent crime among the very young. With the surge of crack children and welfare-bred feral children, 14- to 17-year-olds are vastly more dangerous than before. By the year 2005 this age group will have increased by 23 percent. Adam Walinsky, who has studied crime rates for many years, predicts that by then there will be 40,000 murders a year, up from the 25,000 or so in the 1990s. [The Coming Crime Wave (editorial), NY Post, Aug. 19, 1995.]
Forgive and be Forgotten
In July 1986, Steven McDonald was a 29-year-old New York City police officer, following in the footsteps of his father and grandfather. Shavod Jones was a 15-year-old thief. Mr. McDonald was investigating bicycle thefts in Central Park and came across Mr. Jones and two friends. He asked a few questions but was met with hostile stares. He bent down to pat a suspicious bulge in the pants of one of the young black men. Mr. Jones pulled a gun and shot Mr. McDonald three times, leaving him paralyzed from the neck down.
Mr. Jones went to prison for attempted murder. Mr. McDonald publicly forgave him and dreamed of the day when the two would travel the country speaking to school children about the futility of violence. He began a correspondence with Mr. Jones, which ended when Mr. McDonald refused to help the convict get parole, saying he did not know enough about his prison record.
As it happens, Mr. Jones’ record was awful. He got into fights, refused to obey direct orders, and was a chronic trouble-maker. Still, after only nine years in jail, Mr. Jones was released. Mr. McDonald still believed he could redeem Mr. Jones and by joining forces to help children turn away from crime, could make some sense of his own shattered life. Mr. Jones never contacted Mr. McDonald. Three days after his release, he got on the back of a powerful motorcycle driven by a friend who was on parole for first-degree manslaughter. The man tried to do a wheelie on Madison Avenue, lost control, and slammed into two cars. Mr. Jones was killed. Mr. McDonald is still seeking redemption. [Dan Barry, 2 lives: attack, injury, hope, death, NYT, 9/19/95, p. B1.]
Insanity Reaches New Heights
A ten-year-old Long Island white boy has been put on trial for a hate crime. Patrick, a 5th grader, got into an argument with a black boy named Gary. He reportedly called Gary a “nigger” and threatened to kill him. No punches were thrown, but the black child’s mother promptly called the police. Patrick’s mother called Gary’s mother to apologize, but police charged Patrick with a hate crime.
Ordinarily, whites admit guilt, grovel, and are ordered to take therapy. Patrick’s parents refused. They said they had not taught him to use the word “nigger” and insisted there was nothing wrong with him. Patrick went on trial in juvenile court. Gary, the black child, also ten years old, was a key witness, so he had to take the stand. He gave 45 minutes of terrified testimony until, under cross-examination, the defense asked him if, in his entire life, he had ever lied. Gary looked like he was about to cry. The judge called a recess, and Gary’s mother decided to drop the case. Patrick is now a free boy. [Ellen Yan, LIers put bias charge on trial, New York Newsday, July 14, 1995, p. A7.]
Good Riddance
Gov. George Pataki of New York plans to fire 105 of the state’s 131 affirmative action officers. These are essentially patronage jobs for Democrats, and pay from $35,000 to $80,000 a year. Most affirmative action officers are women and nonwhites. The new Republican governor plans to eliminate most of the state’s racial preference programs and thinks the officers are worse than useless. [Fredric Dicker, Gov to ax ‘quota cops,’ NY Post 9/12/95.]
Gov. Pataki has also implemented a new state law that permits him to deport criminal aliens before they have finished their sentences. Two hundred thirteen non-violent offenders will be booted out, saving the state $7 million over the lives of their unserved prison terms. The first 86, all Colombians, were to be flown home in August. The Colombian authorities were to check if any are wanted for crimes in Colombia but will not imprison them for the remainders of their terms. [Ian Fisher, Pataki announces aliens’ expulsion, NYT, 8/29/95, p. A1.]
Another Skirmish in the Undeclared War
In September, a gang of Los Angeles Hispanics attacked a family of whites who took a wrong turn and drove down their alley. At first, they tried to box the car in with garbage cans, but when the driver started frantically to escape, they opened fire. A four-year-old girl was hit in the head and killed, as she lay in her mother’s arms in the back seat. Her two-year-old brother was hit in the foot. The driver was hit in the back but managed to drive the family to safety.
The family was on its way home after attending a birthday barbecue for a friend. [Gate Holland, Tot slain in wrong turn onto ‘Avenue of Killers,’ USA Today, 9/19/95.] It’s only offense was to be white in a Hispanic part of Los Angeles. This incident was briefly national news but quickly dropped from sight. It is not hard to imagine the massive, saturation-coverage manhunt that would ensue if white thugs had shot up a nonwhite family.
Another Casualty
In September, Ryan Kieth Moody of Lubbock, Texas received a 99-year sentence for shooting to death a white, 39-year-old stockbroker. According to an FBI affidavit, an acquaintance quoted Mr. Moody as saying that he and a friend were going to drive into the white part of town and kill the first white man they found. They saw Randy Lawson sitting in his car in a well-to-do neighborhood less than a block from his house, and shot him with a rifle. Mr. Lawson’s widow testified that she did not hate the killer and that she would pray for him.
During the trial, Mr. Moody took the stand and testified that he had been having breakfast with his girlfriend at the time of the killing. He was so obviously unconcerned about what had happened to the white man, that the jury took less than an hour to convict him. There were no blacks on the jury, which has resulted in an outcry from the usual quarters. [AP, Man guilty in racial shooting, Sept. 13, 1995.]
Another Casualty
Twenty-year-old Kimberly Antonakos’ big mistake was to make friends with Joshua Torres’ girlfriend. She let the couple and their infant child use her Brooklyn apartment, which Mr. Torres noticed was nicely furnished. Mr. Torres and two other Puerto Ricans, Nicolas Libretti and Jose Negron, decided to kidnap Miss Antonakos. On March 1st, they forced her into the trunk of her own car, drove her to an abandoned building in Queens, and tied her up in the basement. They left her in the unheated building for three days while they unsuccessfully tried to leave a ransom message on her father’s answering machine. They did not have sense enough to wait for the beep, and never left a message.
The three then realized they were in over their heads and decided to dispose of Miss Antonakos by burning her. She was alive but unconscious when they poured gasoline over her and burnt the house down. Some time later, Mr. Torres became convinced that Mr. Negron was going to talk to the police, so he shot and killed him.
When the charred remains of Mr. Antonakos’ only child were discovered by firemen, he posted a $10,000 reward for information about her disappearance. Someone who had overheard Mr. Torres and Mr. Libretti discussing the kidnapping was tempted by the reward and came forward in September, leading to the arrests. A Queens prosecutor has called the incident “one of the most brutal and savage homicides” ever to occur in his district. [AP, 2 charged with burning woman alive, Chi Trib, Sept. 9, 1995, p. 17.]
Richmond’s Finest
Richmond, Virginia’s longest-serving city councilman has stepped down, after he was video-taped selling heroin. Henry Richardson, who had served for 18 years, was a hero to Richmond blacks, despite having a brush with the law nearly every year. He has been convicted of assaulting a police officer and for speeding and causing an accident in a city car. In 1988, he was convicted of possession of cocaine and heroine, but did not go to jail. He has since won reelection four times. “It must have been a setup,” said a thirty-year-old welfare mother, who represents the core of Mr. Richardson’s constituency, “They don’t want a good man to help us.” [Richmond official quits after drug charges, NYT, 9/19/95.]
Get Rich Quick
Two illegal aliens from Mexico, Gabriel Diaz and Luis Ramos have been arrested for counterfeiting and selling identification papers. They were the leaders of a group offering Chicago immigrants complete sets of documents, including birth certificates, for $335 a set. Their ring was making profits of $1 million a month. Demand was so high — and the risk of arrest so small — that members of the group were stopping foreign-looking people on the street, asking them if they needed papers. [Rebecca Carr, Arrests break fake document ring, Chicago Sun-Times, 8/25/95, p. 9.]
African Americans
What may be the best-preserved West African tribal community has been found in the jungles of — South America. In the 17th century, African slaves were brought to work the plantations of Surinam. Many escaped and fled into the wild interior to establish villages. Today, there are six tribes of Maroons, so called from the Spanish word cimarron, which means a runaway horse that has gone wild. Maroon villages are still unlinked by roads and can be reached only by canoe.
Maroon society is matrilineal, as it is in Africa, and in the evening parents tell their children spider fables from Ghana. The Maroons worship snakes, and build thatched spirit houses for them along the forest paths. Recently, the Maroons have decided to promote tourism. “We want to show white people we are clever and smart, that we have a culture equal to theirs,” explains a tribal leader. [Laurie Goering, ‘Pure’ African culture thrives in S. America, Chi Trib, 9/11/95, p. 11.]
Felled by Freedom
South Africa’s first black-owned bank, which flourished for 20 years under apartheid, has closed its doors. African Bank, which had mostly black customers, was dragged down by a mountain of bad debt. [S. Africa’s 1st Black-owned bank closes, Chi Sun-Times, Sept. 12, 1995, p. 30.]
Separate in Death
The funeral parlor business is one of the most segregated in the country.
In most parts of the country, undertakers handle clienteles that are either exclusively white or exclusively black. Until 1985, funeral homes were labeled “white” or “black” in state directories, and there are still separate, black and white national undertakers’ organizations. The business is actually getting more segregated. Until recently, small towns supported only one funeral director who buried everyone. Now, families are more likely to drive to a nearby town to get service from someone of the same race.
Undertakers who still do handle both races say that traditions differ. Whites like to put the body in the ground in two to four days, while blacks often wait eight to ten days for family members to gather. White services are reserved, while black funerals are boisterous and full of song. Whites tend to show their sympathy for the bereaved during a visitation period, while blacks like to attend the funeral itself. Nationally, in 1993, 21 percent of American corpses were cremated, but fewer than one percent of black corpses were cremated. “Why burn twice?” is a common objection. [Suzi Parker, Equal but separate, Arkansas Democrat Gazette, 9/6/95, p. F1.]
Ethnic groups also differ in whether they want to be told they have fatal diseases. Only 35 percent of Korean Americans think patients should know the truth. The figure for Mexican-Americans is 48 percent; blacks, 63 percent; whites, 69 percent. [Lindsey Tanner, Truth not always best, doctors told, Houston Chronicle, 9/13/95, p. 11A.]
