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Better Late Than Never
The reopening
of civil rights-
era cold
cases
Get $75 for your time
M arch 28. 2 00 7
M arc H. M o r iai .
During the summer
of 196(), when the body
of 12-year-old Freddie
Robinson washed up
on the shore of a local
creek in Edisto Island, S.C.. local
law enforcement concluded that he
must have drowned accidentally.
But Robinson's family suspected
otherwise - that he had been mur
dered for dancing with white girls.
Seven years later in Memphis,
Tenn., and just a few days after
participating in a civil rights dem
onstration, 16-year-old Larry Payne
was found shot to death in a city
housing project — allegedly by a
police officer who accused him of
looting.
The deaths of Freddie Robinson
and Larry Payne are just some of
nearly lOOunsolvedcivilrights-era
deaths that the U.S. Justice Depart
ment in conjunction with the FBI
will consider reopening as part of a
widespread agency initiative an
nounced last month.
The National Urban League,
NAACP and Southern Poverty
Center will also be working with
federal authorities to help produce
evidence and witnesses that and
who could be helpful in solving
some of these "cold" eases from a
bygone era when, to quote a recent
Seattle Times editorial, it was open
season on blacks in the South.
Recent successful prosecutions
of three high-profile civil-rights-era
murders brought out of the cold-
ease file prompted national law
enforcement officials to consider
taking another look at unsolved
deaths of blacks from the 1950s and
1960s.
In 2001, a jury convicted Tho
mas Blanton Jr. and Bobby Frank
Cherry forthe 1963 bombing of the
Sixteenth Street Baptist Church in
Birmingham, Ala. In 2003, Ernest
Avants got life in prison for the
1966 murder of Ben White, an eld
erly black farm worker. And Edgar
Ray Killen was sentenced in 2005 to
three 20-ycarterms for his involve
ment in the 1964 deaths of three
civil rights workers in Mississippi.
And 1 have to say it's about time
our federal government took com
prehensive action to wash the stain
of the senseless violence against
Americans of color throughout the
South in the 1950s and 1960s out of
ibric of our society. But better
late than never.
Interestingly enough, the
news of the new Justice De
partment initiative, interest
ingly enough, came down on
the same day that a grand
jury failed to deliver an in
dictm ent against Carolyn
Bryant, the wife of one of the
suspected killersof Emmett Till, the
14-year-old Chicagoan who made
the fatal error of whistling at a white
woman in Mississippi. Bryant was
thought to have been in the truck
that hauled Till off to his death. Her
husband Roy and J.W. Milam, the
two main suspects in Till's killing
had died long ago.
The Till ease illustrates just how
difficult it is for the justice system
todeliver indictments let alone con-
Bul I must respectfully disagree
with Mr. Jones. Reopening these
cases may seem like a waste of time
and resources to some in light of
the years that have lapsed. But
even if the Justice Department's
initiative garners no new indict
ments or no new convictions, it is
well worth the effort. At the very
least, it serves as a symbolic ges
ture of a nation trying to come to
grips with a tumultuous past.
African Americans who lived in
the South before the civil rights
movement know all too well about
terrorism - decades before the na
tion witnessed Muslim extremists
slamming commercial jets into the
World T rade Center towers on Sept.
11, 2001. The brand that affected
southern blacks came packaged
differently - or rather euphemisti
cally - in the form of "Jim Crow" or
"the Southern way of life."
In the century after the Civil War,
southern blacks endured a reign of
Not in a million years would the
federal government resist seeking
justice in the World Trade Center
terrorism case. Why should it be any
different in the cases o f innocent
African Americans taken out by lynch
mobs in the South ?
victions in murder cases in which
the witnesses are getting on in years
and/or the evidence has been lost
or damaged or has aged.
Attorney Doug Jones, who in
2001 won convictions against two
of the Birmingham 1963 church
bom bers, expressed skepticism
over whether the initiative would
break down the reticence ot wit
nesses of murders from so long ago
and bring about a deluge of new
information in these cases.
"We brought tons o f people to
the grand jury (for the church
bombing case), some of whom I'm
absolutely convinced com m itted
perjury, saying they didn't know
about som ething. Could I prove
it? No way," Jones told the B ir
mingham News recently. "But if
there was ever a ease for people
to step forward to do some recon-
ciliation or right a wrong, it was
one when four innocent girls were
killed in a bom b in a church. And
guess what? We didn't have any
body like that."
terror. They watched their homes,
businesses and churches bum to
the ground. They grieved for their
loved ones and friends who were
beaten and m urdered by lynch
mobs.
Not in a million years would the
federal government resist seeking
justice in the World Trade Center
terrorism case. Why should it be any
different in the cases of innocent
African Americans taken out by
lynch mobs in the South? With so
many years passed, closure may not
come for all thecivil-rightscralynch-
ings but at least we as Americans can
say we tried to right a grave wrong
from our past. That way we are much
less likely to repeat it.
Let me applaud the Justice De
partment and FBI for attempting to
prove, to quote Dr. Martin Luther
King, Jr., "the are of the moral uni
verse is long, hut it bends toward
justice."
Marc H. Moriai is president and
chief executive officer o f the Na
tional Urban League.
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J ulian B oni »
As has been re
ported, Bruce Gor
don has resigned
from the NAACP
after a l9 -m o n th
tenure as President
and Chief Execu
tive O fficer. On
b e h a lf o f the
NAACP. we support him in his
decision and thank him for his ser
vice. Dennis Hayes, who has served
as the General Counsel for the
NAACP since 1990. will act as In
terim President during the transi
tion phase.
We have had only five CEOs in
60 years - a good record for non
profit organizations. The CEO re
ported not to the full Board but to
a small Executive Committee. As is
standard procedure in every orga
nization. the Board sets policy and
the CEO is obliged to implement it.
We arc naming a search commit
tee to begin identifying potential
candidates. We hope that the pro
cess will be swift, but our first pri
orities are assuring quality and the
necessary diligence which this
position demands.
In the interim, our members, part
ners. donors and other stakehold
ers should expect the NAACP to
continue to move forward with our
daily operations to ensure the po
litical, educational, social, and cco-
nomic rights of all people. Leader
ship transitions often mandate that
we return to fundamentals; there is
nothing more fundamental than the
advancement, protection and
enforcement of the rights we
all have as citizens of the
United States.
We recognize Mr. Gordon’s
departure has raised ques
tions regarding the impact the
transition will have on the
N A A C P. W e u n d e rsta n d
these concerns. However, like
most organizations that have built
a legacy of achievement, we are
larger than one individual and as
we near our centennial, larger than
and challenge ourselves to be bet
ter so that we can push this nation
to be better. The NAACP’s Na
tional Board of Directors iscommit-
ted to making our organization
stronger and to working with our
new leadership, our members and
other partners to ensure that we are
guided by a forward-looking per
spective enriched by the lessons of
our past.
We live in a world that values
evolution and improvement, but
unfortunately ourcountry still faces
many of the same challenges now
w e’ve faced throughout our his
tory. The nuances may shift, but
the core issues remain unchanged:
We have long fought fo r
progressive social change, but we
also believe in organizational change
that enhances our effectiveness.
.
one generation.
We know the NAACP will ulti
mately be assessed by how we help
lead our country to a higher stan
dard. We stand on 98 years of turn
ing dreams into realities. Our ef
forts have made tangible improve
ments in the lives of millions.
We are an organization built on
change. We have long fought for
progressive social change, but wc
also believe in organizational
change that enhances our effec
tiveness. We have always demon
strated a willingness to look within
poverty, a biased criminal justice
system, denial of voting rights,
unequal education, and disparities
in earning power and job opportu
nities, lack of healthcare.
N inety-eight years later, the
NAACP is still fighting toeliminate
the racism and prejudice that feed
these inequalities and social ills.
As long as these issues exist, the
NAACP will exist as an aggressive
force seeking to eradicate them.
Julian Bond is chairman o f the
NAACP National Board o f Direc
tors.