Tookie's Death=More Violence

If America were different-Tookie, a native son, might be governor instead of someone else. If America were different, Tookie might have been a famous, wealthy actor with several Hummers in his garage. If America were different, Tookie might have married into the Kennedy family.

but America is the same. A young white boy from Austria could come to the US and day one he had things going for him that a Tookie or anybody like Tookie would never have. Being born in America, being born black in America, is not the blessing so many Americans like to portray to the world.

Maybe Schwarzenegger wasn’t mired in the hate, despair, hopelessness, oppression, etc that so many native sons and daughters have been. It’s hard to have that unfailing optimism when all you’ve seen is poverty, despair and oppression.

Yes, Tookie could have taken another road. But do any of you think he could have been Governor or anything near it for that matter? The truth is a foreigner can come to these shores and day one they have more opportunity, more hope than many of our native born. Why is it this way? Why is America so violent? Why is America so hypocritical? Why is America so self-righteous?

In the sixties, LBJ called for a great society. On that would lift everyone up…a society where all of us belonged. The Reagan/Bush years have destroyed any vestige of that idealism, the hope that came with that message. Now we only have the death penalty, wars where the American rich send the American poor off to die based on lies and deception. We have an America with leaders seemingly bought off by the highest bidder. And now we are going to kill off Tookie and everything will be all right.

Is it going to be all right for the children who have gotten inspiration from Tookie’s words? What are they going to feel? They are only going to feel the ugliness, the hate, the hopelessness that has been such an enduring part of this American experiment. Will Tookie’s death inspire them to do good things or bad? I think it will demoralize them and, for some, turn them in the wrong direction.

In many ways, Tookie’s fate was sealed when he was born. Born black in one of the most backwards states in the US, Louisiana. That sure doesn’t mean that he couldn’t have become a legitimate success in America, but lets be real. For many of us, the doors are closed at birth. Like Ann Richards said about George Bush, some people are born with a silver spoon in their mouth. Others are not.

Tookie’s death will bring no joy, no inspiration, no hope, no promise. It will do nothing positive. I think it will lead to more violence, more despair and more hopelessness. And it will drive more of a wedge between a corrupt government and the people who are its subjects.