Jackson Jambalaya

From the Editorial Cartoon Department of Jackson Jambalaya:

By now you have all seen the video of the truck allegedly driven by Dedmon running over James Anderson.


Horrific. Outrageous. Sickening. Despicable. None of those words can describe the horror of watching that video. Maybe Clockwork Orange comes the closest. I have no problem giving the death penalty to Mr. Dedmon if possible and if convicted. In fact, I'd have no problem volunteering to be the executioner although its a shame he would get a shot of happy juice instead of what he deserves: death by flogging.

There is no question Mississippi has come a long way since the days of its segregationist past. It took literally blood, sweat and tears from many people- black and white, to change things and today Mississippi is a better place. Then these little Alex's kill a black man for fun and bam- here comes the national media asking if Mississippi has really changed, running headlines about redneecks looking for black people to kill.

Then of course over at you know who's website, she finally gets to realize her dream: reliving the civil rights fights of the 1960's she so tragically missed. Of course, Ladd couldn't resist the opportunity to throw her filth in this direction:

"Agreed, Duan. The media bear huge blame for how people perceive Jackson. And the kinds of blatant bigotry we see in anonymous comments on local blogs and under Clarion-Ledger stories always play out in violence. These kinds of perceptions have long justified, in heads of young, confused men like Dedmon et al, heinous hate crimes."

Yeah, ok. this blog bashes Jackson (Yes, I'm being sarcastic) all the time and the crime problem. That's why I post the actual stats every week and then lately have attempted to somewhat analyze them. Guess what, crime is down across the city BUT for Precinct 4 and in that area, house burglaries are waaaaay up. I've been accused of being a tool of Downtown Jackson Partners and accused again of being too pro-Madison and Rankin. Can't please everyone, I guess. I also let people be stupid and make dumb comments on this website unless they slander or get out of control. I happen to believe in free speech and that includes letting people be stupid. People too often convict themselves with their own words and when they do it, I'm going to let them do it so everyone else can see what is out there. Now the Clarion-Ledger is indeed ridiculous and I can't believe some of the stuff that stays on that site but I won't apologize for taking a progressive approach to free speech. However, she was just getting warmed up:

"I rather agree with sunshine: Every Mississippian should be speaking out against this. Not speaking up about what appears to be a blatant race crime makes us no better than, well, the folks who didn't speak out against the murder of Emmett Till, and so many others.
Have we really changed, Mississippi? I believe yes, but let's prove it. The world is watching and waiting to her our outrage.
posted by DonnaLadd on 08/09/11 at 09:10 AM"

The old "if you don't speak out against it you condone it" line. Um yeah. Ok. Then one commentor said ONLY the CL covered this story. Must have missed the tv coverage on multiple stations several weeks ago or this earlier post publishing the police reports and reporting Alex and his droogs committed similar acts against other kids at school. Then of course they come up with the idea of a vigil for Mr. Anderson:

"Folks, let's do the vigil. We owe it to every black person every killed in this state because of his or her skin color. And we need to show these young whites growing up amid hate that there is another way. posted by DonnaLadd on 08/09/11 at 03:39 PM"

Well guess what folks, we are about to have a Robert Paulson moment. I'm pretty mad this guy was killed and if convicted, I want these thugs to fry. Everyone got that? But lets put this in perspective. If you are black and living in Jackson, the chances of you dying because some racist thugs come to Jackson to kill for fun is near zero even after this murder. But lets remember Robert Paulson. His name was not Robert Paulson but Deronnie Spencer, a rising junior at Lanier High School.

Look at his picture good because he doesn't deserve to be forgotten after his 72 hours of media coverage. He doesn't get any CNN headlines. He doesn't get the star reporters parachuting into Jackson to report their phony outrage over his death. He was from all accounts a good kid well-liked by his fellow students at Lanier. One could feel his coach's grief on tv as he talked about what that young man meant to him and his team. It wasn't too many years ago Lanier had a real problem with young black males doing well at that school- only two had a GPA over 3.0 one year. Now a leader among the student body only to be brutally gunned down while sitting in a car.

Where is the outrage over this act? Where are the vigils? Where is CNN? Oh, just a young black man killed by another black man. Its horrible you see but well, it happens all the time so we'll forget about it. A young man gunned down. All of his hopes and dreams taken away in one night. A family and school mourning when it should be celebrating the joy and promise of youth. Then there is James McKinney. Remember him?

James McKinney was a security guard working at the Shell Station on Fortification Street when he was brutally gunned down by some thugs. He died protecting an employee, a man of another race. Mr. McKinney just happened to be black as were his accuses killers. Mr. McKinney was being a productive member of society and doing a job few others are brave enough to do- and was killed for it. He deserves a place in Valhalla. He didn't get CNN. He didn't get more than his 72 hours of media coverage. His sacrifice won't be used in a crusade for anything. He'll just be forgotten in a few weeks while Mr. Dedmon and his friends receive more than their share of attention for killing Mr. Anderson.

Did I mention a search of the JFP site revealed no mention of James McKinney or Deronnie Spencer? (I'll correct that sentence if wrong.) Here is the only reference:

"Last night on Facebook, I saw some folks posting about the awful crimes we've seen in Jackson of late, including the Lanier High School student, may he rest in peace. Some of the comments seem to be headed the direction we often see a year or so before mayoral elections kick in: blaming the chief and mayor for not speaking out more. Having covered—or been mired in—the Frank Melton campaign and then mayoral tenure, that kind of language makes me nervous, and just sounds political even if it's not meant to"

Ah yes, it either has to go back to Frank Melton or be a defense of Harvey Johnson as he can do no wrong and is their precious little baby who must be protected at all costs. If there is a reason I'm against treating crime as a hate crime, this is why. All crime is an expression of hate and murder is the ultimate hate crime, regardless of reason. Suddenly the murderers of Anderson are elevated above those of McKinney or Spencer. They are all murderers and deserve the same retribution if convicted. The Anderson murder will probably be the only such crime committed by a white perp in Jackson this year as compared to 40-50 committed by blacks against black victims. Well, on this site we remember all of the victims, just not those who fit a political agenda or who can sell another issue. When remembering Mr. Anderson as you watch the video, remember Mr. McKinney and Mr. Spencer as well.