Afro-Americans fighting against racism


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Reverend Al Sharpton

Part of the black community of the United States denounces a rise of racist crimes and the partiality of Justice, which they estimate to persecute more Blacks than Whites with equal offence. A march gathered thousands of people besides, last Friday, in Washington, claiming in particular for more equality.

Thousands. They were thousands, Friday, to protest against racism in the streets of Washington. Joined together after the call of Reverend Al Sharpton, the Black Americans denounced the recent raise of racist crimes and the Justice process which, according to them, is always done regardless colored people. “When you hang a cord of hung, it is not a joke for us”, fustigated Al Sharpton, which fought in the Sixties for the civic rights of Black people. The religious leader refers to the cords found a bit everywhere since the “six of Jena”, from the small town of Louisiana’s name (South).

In September, this town of 3.000 inhabitants, for 85% of them white, was found in the middle of local news after a conflict opposing white pupils to black ones. Few black pupils had lunch under a tree where their white pars were used to for ages. To avenge themselves, the following day, the white pupils hung cords on the branches of the tree, causing a series of fights and attempts to intimidation. But, at the end, whereas the white pupils were not annoyed, six Blacks were accused of attempt at murder to have slightly wounded a white comrade.

Megan Williams: a martyrdom and zones of shade

Another affair which pushes the black community to think that American Justice is not totally blind: the martyrdom that six Whites, apparently followers of the racist movement Ku Klux Klan, would have inflicted to a 20 year old Black woman. Megan Williams had been victim during a week, in September, in the county of Logan (State of Virginia), of a cruel maltreatment because of the color of her skin. She was violated on several occasions, lacerated with knives, partly scalped, strangled with a cord, obliged to drink toilet water and urine, obliged to eat dogs and rats’ dejections… According to CNN, Megan Williams escaped thanks to an anonymous call.

However, the three women and three accused men – well known by the police – are prosecuted for kidnapping and sexual aggression. Crimes for which they are exposed to prison till they die or 35 years of detention each. Malik Zulu Shabazz, the lawyer of Megan, is fighting against them for what they did to her – which is still subject to investigations – would be judged like a racist crime. Although two of the accused people ensure to have acted by racism, the task of Me Shabazz will not be simple. Some estimate that the story of Megan Williams, explained by certain afro fundations, is not clear enough.

Racist crimes remain the same

The prosecutor of the county of Logan says that the supposed victim had a relationship with one of her attackers. A video entitled “Megan Williams, the truth” indicates on its side that the young woman knew her attackers, from which she was advised her to move away. The clip recognizes by elsewhere that the committed crime was “horrible” and that the authors should stagnate in prison. It underlines in substance that it is not a crime related to racism but related to people who did not have anything to do together…

The march of Friday was held three days before the publication of statistics for 2006 concerning the crimes or offences perpetrated because of skin color matters, the race, the religion, the origin or the sexual orientation of the victims. According to the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), 9.642 victims were attacked on such criteria, these are stable figures compared to 2005 ones. These crimes were for 51.8%, racist acts and two thirds of them were against Blacks.

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