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Volume XVII, Number 36
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July 15, 1987
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The Empire
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Strikes Back:
Racial
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Violence on
the Rise
On December 12, 1986, Michael Griffith, Cedric Sandiford and Timothy
Grimes walked into a pizza parlor in Howard Beach in Queens, N.Y., to get
help after their car broke down on the highway. As they were leaving they
wre cornered by approximately twelve baseball bat-weilding white youths
who beat them while yelling racial epithets. One of the victims, Michael
Griffith, was chased onto the highway where he was hit and killed by an
oncoming car. The driver, who was later identified by Sandiford as a mem
ber of the gang which attacked the three men, failed to stop. He later re
turned to the scene claiming that he thought he had hit a tire or an animal.
(Griffith had been thrown up onto the windshield of the car in the collision).
Literally adding insult to injury, when Sandiford was found by highway
patrolmen walking along the side df The highway SeVerly bruised and in d
daze, he was made to stand spread-eagle against the patrol car, frisked,
and forced to sit in the patrol car for three hours before receiving medical
treatment. The police refused to believe Sandiford's identification of Domi
nick Blum, the driver who hit Griffith, and Blum was released without being
charged with a crime.
The Howard Beach attack was not an isolated incident. Over the past
year racial assaults have increased tremendously:
December 19.1986: The day before the Howard Beach attack and w ith
in the same police precinct, two Puerto Ricans, Rafael Gonzalez and Jorge
Torres, were beaten by a gang of whites.
January 27, 1987: In Manhattan Chinatown, the Wong family was beat
en by several police officers. The police had been sent to investigate char
ges that the W ong's were illegally using a cable telephone company s
phone line, a charge which has yet to be proven. When the Wong's re
fused to open the door, the police broke it down and dragged them out of
their apartment. Mrs. Wong, who was seven months pregnant, was struck
in the face with a pair of handcuffs, for which she needed twelve stiches.
The incident is being protested by the Coalition of Asian-Americans Against
Racial Violence.
Decem ber 13, 1986: Jimmy Lee Bruce, a Black man, was killed in Ellen
ville, N.Y., by an off-duty police officer who used a chokehold to subdue
the 20-year-old. Bruce was allegedly involved in a disturbance in a cinema
where the officer was working as a security guard.
Septem ber 3, 1986: A 26-year-old Black man, Robert Wright, was beat
en by whites in Toledo, Ohio. Wright was reportedly sodomized with a lead
pipe and an effort was made to castrate him.
Ju ly 1986: A Black teenager was shot to death in Lake County, Illinois,
by a man who allegedly shouted ''Kian, Kian, Kian" as he fired.
June 1, 1986: 17-year-old Gary Moy was beaten and stabbed in Brook
lyn by two youths who shouted, "These Chinks don't belong in this neigh
borhood."
May 28, 1986: In Coney Island, Brooklyn, N.Y., Samuel "Buzzy" Spen
cer was forced by an oncoming automobile to ride his bicycle into the curb.
He was then attacked by six young whites with baseball bats. He was stab
bed three times in the back and died.
M arch 1986: Charles Pyo, a Korean, was beaten in Brooklyn, N.Y., by
police shouting racial slurs.
February 1986: Two masked and armed whites attempted to throw Ran
dy Bowman, a Black student leader at the University of Texas, from an
eighth-floor dormitory window. Bowman has been a leader of the anti
apartheid divestment campaign on campus.
January 1986: A known Klansman and six others, armed with baseball
bats, attacked a group of Latinos at a bowling alley in Cedartown, Georgia.
Their primary target was 16-year-old Carlos Guzman, who they claimed
dated white women.
Contrary to popular belief, violence against Blacks and other minorities
occurs most frequently outside the South, according to a report released by
Klanwatch. Most attacks are conducted by independent persons who are
not members of the Kian or any organized group. In 1985 and 1986, there
were 45 reported arson attempts, cross burnings and firebombings at the
homes of Blacks and other minorities who had moved into previously all-
white neighborhoods. Klanwatch points out, however, that these figures
represent only a small fraction of the incidents of racial violence because
there is no centralized system of reporting rac'ally-motivated attacks.
Physical assaults on racial minorities has mobilized significant numbers of
minority activists. A new wave of young activists in the Black community
have mounted protests and marches against racial violence, and a growing
awareness of racially-motivated assaults have mobilized the Asian and Lati
no communities as well. As sociologist Hardy Frye of the University of
California at Santa Cruz has noted: "There are very few communities of
color where police brutality is not already an issue. Add to that the recent
activities protesting racial violence, and we have the beginnings of a new
wave of resistance forming in minority communities."
.
M ilitia m e n fro m the A tla n tic Coast of Nicaragua.
Report From Atlantic Coast
of Nicaragua
by Dr. Mildred McClain-Coleman,
Atlantic Coast Project, Witness For Peace, Atlanta, GA
In M arch eight A frica n A m ericans traveled to the A tla n tic Coast of
Nicarague w here a strong and independent m in o rity o f A fro Nicara
guans and A frican-Indian Nicaraguans live and w o rk . The fo llo w in g
is a statem ent made by mem bers of th is delegation upon their re
turn.
Our delegation travelled to the Atlantic Coast villages of Bluefields, Pearl
Lagoon Town, La Fe (Faith City), Orinoco and Marshall Point. In each of
these Black communities we saw [militiaI men, women and children every
where armed and ready for battle. We were there with common people
like ourselves who did not understand why a country as powerful and rich
as the United States w<)ted to destroy them.
Even though the spirit of the people was positive, the effect of the war on
them was evident everywhere. Families have broken up because of the
war. Children have been left with one or no parents. Many suffer from
gunshot wounds. Medical attention is scarce. But the vision of a free Nica
ragua is still there under all the tears, pain, sorrow and fear.
We were told that some joined the contras because they were promised
a lifestyle liketfeople in America. The U.S. has bought Nicaraguans to
fight other Nicaraguans.
It is crucial that Black people and other Third World people become more
involved in what is happening in Nicaragua. The aid to the contras must be
stopped. Black people in the U.S. are not speaking out because of a lack of
understanding of what is at stake in Nicaragua. Our Black Caucus is not
doing enough. The people of the Atlantic Coast asked us to bring back
this message: "W e are Black people of Nicaragua. We are Afro-Nica-
raguans and we are praying that our brothers and sisters in North America
will do all they can to end this war against our children. We want to raise
our children in peace."
The Black Delegation which has recently returned from Nicaragua is call
ing on all freedom loving people to work to end U.S. aggression against
Nicaragua. We are asking that Black people get more involved in local and
national work regarding Nicaragua. We feel and have seen with our own
eyes that the present U.S. policy is an affront not just to Black people but to
all people who love God and justice.
If you want to know more about the Atlantic Coast or get involved, con
tact Richard J. Brown, (503) 289-0707.
"