Showing posts with label James Craig Anderson. Show all posts
Showing posts with label James Craig Anderson. Show all posts

Tuesday, August 7, 2012

At best, Mississippi is an apologetic racist state

A minority in the congregation of the First Baptist Church in Crystal Springs, Mississippi forced the minister, Stan Weatherford, to deny the right to Charles and Te’Andrea Wilson to get married in their church.  Charles Wilson said, "Because of the fact that we were black, some of the members of the congregation had got upset and decided that no black couple would ever be married at that church.”  Weatherford performed the ceremony at another church.

Charles and Te’Andrea Wilson
On a following Sunday, some members of the Crystal Springs Baptist Church reacted with surprise, which is interesting because it means that Pastor Weatherford only communicated with the racist group before denying the Wilsons a wedding at the church.  One member, Bob Mack, commented, "We hope we can straighten them out, you know, get them to understand what Christianity is all about because they have some misconceptions about it."  Too late, Bob.

I have done articles about racism in the South and Mississippi in the past, one resulting in a radio interview a couple years ago with a network of stations from Jackson, Miss.  I was blind-sided by vitriol from the show’s host who was bent on protecting the reputation of his state.  He argued over and over, this sort of thing doesn’t happen in Mississippi anymore.  Not so, according to Ryan Ebersole who wrote about the 2011 killing of James Craig Anderson in Jackson, Mississippi.

Video of Charles and Te’Andrea Wilson:
This pathetic church that shunned the Wilsons decided to apologize, which was no doubt due to the majority of the congregation finally waking up to realize they had a gang of bigots in their midst.  Why Pastor Weatherford didn’t realize this in the beginning is hard to understand.  Nor have I ever been able to understand how any professed Christian can justify being racist, unless, of course, they are just “Backdoor Baptists.”

In the South where I grew up, there were stories about Baptists drinking in a bar until the local minister walked in to see if any of his flock was there.  When he looked around, all the Baptists had left through the back door.  Thus the name “Backdoor Baptists.”  Any way you interpret this, they are simply hypocrites.         

Crystal Springs First Baptist Church
When the Crystal Springs Baptists finally got religion and apologized to the Wilsons, they basically said…shove it.  They called the apology “an insult” and “misleading to the public.”  Charles Wilson commented, “The pastor has not spoken to us since a couple days after the incident.  We have not heard from the pastor or any church official since the incident.”  Actually, at a rally following the incident, Pastor Weatherford purposely avoided the couple.

To say that racism is no longer prevalent in the South is pure bunk.  But this problem isn’t confined to the Southeast region.  I now live in Arizona and can attest to the fact that this state is one the most racist I have ever been in.  The modern take on racism has moved into the 21st Century to include Hispanics, and racial fanatics like former Arizona State Sen. Russell Pearce who authored anti-immigration bill SB-1070, signed by his partner in prejudice, Gov. Jan Brewer.

Arizona was also home to acknowledged racist J.T. Ready, who was also a neo-Nazi.  That is until he went berserk and killed 5 in his family, including a toddler and himself.

Hate could eventually bring this country down if Americans don’t find some way to get along and live with each other.  Hate is now so ingrained in politics that nothing has been accomplished by Congress in the last two years.  We can thank the Tea Party for its influence on Washington and their ruthless philosophy of abhorrence to anything that doesn’t agree with their beliefs.  And yes, there have been several incidents of racism attributed to the Tea Party.

Charles and Te’Andrea Wilson are happily married now and probably attending another church.  But wherever they decide to worship, there will always be the stigma from the Crystal Springs First Baptist Church.  And progressives like myself will continue to wonder how the state of Mississippi, and all other states that condone similar incidents, continue to survive in the 21st Century. 

Read more of my posts on racism here.

Wednesday, March 28, 2012

Mississippi hate-crime a sign state hasn’t gotten over its prejudice

James Craig Anderson
If the perpetrators in Jackson, Miss. were old guys who lived back when it was in vogue to suppress and even kill blacks, one might assume the hate just hadn’t worked itself out because of their age.  But the murder of African-American James Craig Anderson was committed by 3 racist goons aged 19, 20 and 19, who are, or were, just beginning their lives.  Where did they get their training for this heinous crime, and what kind of Mississippi household still produces this kind of maniac?

I grew up in the South, lived in Mississippi several years, experiencing the kind of hatred these 3 nutcases must have harbored for blacks.  But that was in the 40s and 50s, when it was open-season in that part of the country on anyone of color, or who was just different.  Prejudice was rampant but, fortunately, I had someone to compensate for the hate; a black man I looked up to with the same respect of any white person.  He was called simply Man and worked for my uncle.

This all started when I noticed Man always entered my uncle’s house through the back door.  Not yet in my teens, I still realized there was something wrong with this and asked him why he did it.  His answer was simple and to the point: he said it was to keep other people from thinking he thought he was good enough to enter through the front door.  In other words, my uncle didn’t care but the folks across the street would think he was “uppity.”

I told him I couldn’t believe what he was saying and, rather than talk about how naïve I was, he took time to explain the situation.  Although I had witnessed Negros—as Man identified himself in those days—going to the back of the bus and generally acting subservient to whites, somehow the severity of the issue didn’t register with me until explained by man.  There was absolutely no bitterness in his explanation, just the tone of acceptance, which I couldn’t accept.

Deryl Dedman
Man told me he thought it would get better over the years but, obviously, he was wrong.  The three young punks, above, just returned Mississippi to the days of Emmett Till, a 14-year-old African American, who was murdered in 1955 because of reportedly flirting with a white woman.  Deryl Dedmon, who drove the truck that killed Anderson, 47, pleaded guilty to murder and hate crime, admitting everything to Judge Jeff Weill who sentenced him to two concurrent life terms.

The judge added, "Whatever excuse you offer, forget that. There is no excuse. The state of Mississippi condemns this despicable crime."  In another comment by Weill, “This craven act isn’t who we are.”  Dedmond responded, "I wish I could take it all back.  I was young and dumb, ignorant and full of hatred. I chose to go down the wrong path."  Later, he indicated that he had found God, which seems to happen when they are cornered like this, but, unfortunately, a little too late.

James Craig Anderson murder scene




James Craig Anderson was severely beaten and when that wasn’t enough, Dedmon ran over him with his truck and left him to die.  Hinds County DA Robert Schuler Smith says, they "went out with the intention to harm and, in this case, kill a black man."  They drove all the way from Brandon, Miss. to Jackson just to carry out their crime which shows the amount of planning and preparation these racists put into the act.  More grist for just how deep these feelings must run today.

The other two culprits were Dylan Butler, 20, and John Aaron Rice 19; the former has been charged with assault, the latter has pleaded not guilty.  Now here is what makes me wonder if Miss. will ever learn its lesson, taken from a CNN account below of the incident.

Shortly afterward, Dedmon allegedly boasted and laughed about the killing.  “I ran that nigger over.”

"He was not remorseful," DA Smith said. "He was laughing, laughing about the killing."

Federal investigators also have been digging for months into other possible crimes in the area committed by Dedmon and others that might show a pattern of racial violence.

Morris Dees, chief trial counsel for The Southern Poverty Law Center, said, “James Anderson lost his life for no other reason than the color of his skin.  Those responsible must be held accountable for their callous and deadly actions. We are filing this lawsuit today to ensure his family gets a measure of justice."

The remaining question is whether the state of Mississippi should be held accountable for allowing this young person to harbor this kind of racial hate?

Read more here.

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