I am not Troy Davis.
On the one hand I think it’s interesting and hopeful that white people (because POC don’t need another lesson) are personally identifying with the horrific injustice of Mr. Davis’ case, and that they are mobilizing. That they are recognizing how racially unequal the justice and prison system is, in general. For every Troy Davis we hear about there are hundreds and thousands that we don’t.
On the other hand we white folks really aren’t Troy Davis. We white folks are the governor who refused clemency, the parole board that disallowed the polygraph, we are the DA that pushed for prosecution based on little to no evidence in an attempt to placate the politicians, we are the cops who coerce testimonies and confessions and statements, we make false claims about ‘black men in ski masks’ stealing our babies because we know the white cops will more readily believe us.
And it’s for that reason, white folks, that black folks are justifiably cranky about you saying ‘I Am Troy Davis’. It’s ignorant. It’s insulting. Most importantly, it’s a useless maneuver around the the truth, and around the ultimate point.
Because white folks, we really aren’t Troy Davis. The likelihood that what happened to Troy Davis would ever happen to a college educated white man is slim to none; a young white man convicted of a capital murder with no weapon, no dna and no fingerprints? Are you kidding me? Wouldn’t happen.
We are the executioners, the institutions, the media and the system. That, however does not mean there isn’t power and hope in acknowledging that position. It is in that role that we have the ability to change the ideology and ignorance that fuels those structures that failed him so completely; We can refuse to continue enabling the racism and fear and ignorance that these corrupt systems are built on.
I’m not Troy Davis, and you, upper middle class white bro in your Prius on the way to the Odd Future show, are not Troy Davis either. Co-opting the part of ‘victimized and oppressed’ because you feel awful about it, changes nothing. I feel bad about it too. It is incomprehensible and maddening and scary and tragic, and it’s not the world I want to live in. But the problem here is that if I wanted to hold a picture in front of my face as some grand gesture, it would be more honest to hold the picture of the executioner. The bad public defender. The judges, the juries. It’s our own biases and ignorance that allowed him to be convicted on such flimsy evidence in the first place.
Is that embarrassing and humiliating and distressing? Yep. But that’s something I have to take responsibility for. We have to.
Only in taking responsibility for how fucked up this system is, as a member of the privileged, historically oppressive group that created and maintained the system that allowed this to happen, can things change.
I am the privileged and I refuse to let this continue.
White people, come get your folks.
This is how fucked up our world is.
Troy Davis
- No physical evidence.
- Multiple witnesses recanted their statements.
- No gun ever found.
- Continuously protested innocence.
- Found guilty.
- Executed.
Casey Anthony
- Victim’s hair found in car.
- Chemical air samples show evidence of “decomposition” in the car.
- Chloroform in the car.
- Home computer shown to have a history of google searches including “neck breaking”, “how to make chloroform” and “death”.
- Admitted lying to police.
- Admitted lying in court.
- Missing persons report filed after one month… By the child’s grandmother.
- Found not guilty.
- Freed without charge.
I don’t understand…
RIP Troy Davis / A message from Change.org:
The state of Georgia killed Troy Davis tonight.
Despite so much doubt about Troy Davis’s guilt — including seven witnesses who changed or recanted their testimony, and three jurors who convicted Troy who later asked that his life be spared — Georgia’s parole board decided he should die. And so tonight at 11:08 Eastern Time, he was killed by lethal injection.
His sister, Kim Davis, wanted to tell you what her brother said before he died:
“When Troy saw that more than 250,000 Change.org members signed a petition that was delivered to the board in his name, he called to tell me he was deeply moved. He told me he knew that he had supporters around the world, but he had no idea that the support was that widespread.”
Kim has said that she’ll keep fighting, for the next Troy Davis and the one after that. And she knows so many of us will join her in this fight.
Troy Davis was not alone when he died. Thank you for standing with him.
- Patrick and the entire Change.org team
P.S. Troy’s case has brought international attention to deep, long-existing flaws in our criminal justice system. If you’re interested in becoming more involved in advocacy around the death penalty, visit Amnesty International, The Innocence Project, or the NAACP. You can also start your own campaign on this issue on Change.org.
Sources: President Obama tried to save Troy Davis from execution
ATLANTA, Sept. 26, 2011, 4 p.m. - President Obama candidly Friday took a little time to explain how he tried to save Troy Davis and why he did not say anything about his controversial execution, two sources told Redding News Review.
Obama’s White House spent “three days” looking at how it could legally get involved in the case on a federal level, one source said. The Obama administration even called the state of Georgia about getting involved and were told “No”. (Updated on Sept. 27 at 3 p.m. ET - The source said the president never called and was only concerned about an injustice, as he would do for any American).
“‘We looked at every possible avenue legally,’” the source reported Obama said. “‘There was not one there.’”
“‘It was a state case and I could not intervene because it wasn’t federal,’” another source reported Obama said.
The two sources told Redding News Review that Obama talked about Davis, during a private lunch meeting of about 10 select black broadcasters.
Obama said the only reason why he spoke about Harvard’s Henry Louis Gates’ case, was because he was asked by a reporter, Obama told one source.
What’s more, Obama also said that the only reason why his administration spoke out about an illegal immigrant’s case, Humberto Leal Garcia Jr., in July was because it was an international issue, where his rights were violated.
Sure, the president could have simply spoken out about Davis, the source said, but it would not have done anything.
“‘I don’t want to make this man’s death political for me,’” Obama told the source.
