Deryl Dedmon, John Aaron Rice and Dylan Butler have pleaded guilty to the 2011 killing of an African-American man in Jackson. Their crime fell under the hate-crime enhancement from the 2009 federal hate crime law. The federal prosecutors have stated that the men can face up to life in prison as well as $250,000 fines. Deryl Dedmon has already plead guilty and sentenced to life in prison in state court and his two co defendants made their first appearances in federal court on Thursday. All three of the defendants have admitted to harassing African-American men in the past, including throwing bottles at them and driving at them with cars. The three men have admitted to beating 47 year old James Anderson and then running him over with a truck. Four other men have also been implicated. The three men are being charged under the federal Matthew Shepard and James Byrd Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act of 2009, named after Matthew Shepard, a gay man beaten to death and left tied to a fence and James Byrd Jr. an African-American man who died after being dragged around by white supremists.
As much as I hate to admit it, racism still, obviously, still exists in our society today. Despite the fact that it has been 149 years since the Emancipation Proclamation was given and 67 years since the Extermination camps were liberated across Europe, people still cannot tolerate other people based on their race, ethnicity, etc. And it scares me to know that racism is not going anywhere in the near future. As it is made obvious by this case, there are still ignorant people in this world who cannot tolerate other people because they are different. I am glad that these men are getting what they diverse and I hope that everyone who was involved is punished as well.
This article brings up the double-standard of people with liberal attitudes about jusitce. Imagine if this were not a hate crime, and if it were the beating to death of a regular person. First of all, the people commenting would be a lot more sympathetic towards the perpetrators, and more critical of the stern prosecutors. But as soon as it involves race, one sacred cow overrides another, and then, and only then, do these leftists display the appropriate reaction to such a heinous crime.
ReplyDeleteI agree with your Olivia's opinion about modern day racism. It really is more common that what most people would think. It is hard to think that the world is willing change when you have such an ongoing and never ending battle with something so simple as not accepting your neighbors.
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