Thursday, June 14, 2007
Seale and my dreams of a better Mississippi
In the coming weeks, a federal judge will sentence James Seale to prison for his role in kidnapping two black teens who were beaten and killed by members of the KKK in 1964.
Seale faces the rest of his life in jail. At 71 years old and battling cancer, that may not be a long time.
Many people I’ve heard from believe the reputed Klansman should “rot” behind bars. But I was surprised to hear from almost as many, who wish the case had never gone to trial. That disappoints me. I’ve never been one to walk through life with blinders on.
First let me say, I love being back in the south.
But I hate the racism that still exists here.
Some of the kindest, most generous people I’ve ever met live here..
Unfortunately, so do some of the most ignorant, hateful souls.
To me, it goes far beyond James Seale and a forty three year old civil rights era case. It’s about how far we’ve come…or haven’t since that fateful day Charles Moore and Henry Dee where snatched up off that dirt road in Franklin County, mercilessly beaten, tied and weighted, then thrown into the Mississippi River, to die.
It’s not always about a big case or headline grabbing trial. It’s about the daily injustices that surround us every day. The subtle prejudices that speak so loudly, yet we choose to ignore.
Maybe it’s time we all spoke a little louder, ignored a little less, and worked to build the kind of Mississippi we can all be proud of. The kind of Mississippi we should have been, forty three years later.
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