Bigotry. By Ron Keine Sometimes I am amazed by some of the things I have heard come out of the mouths of my brother and sister abolitionists. It was a wonderful but stressful morning. I had given a short welcome speech to the general assembly at UCLA . The subject of the speech was how happy I was to see so many concerned people in attendance joining together to stop government killing. Later I poured my heart out telling my story of how I was wrongfully convicted and sent to Death Row. As many of my fellow exonorees can tell you, this is not easy—especially for a then fledgling speaker like me. After the speech, you are both physically and emotionally drained. The question-and-answer period was pure torture as the audience touched on some of the very subjects I did not want to talk about. Some of the aspects of my ordeal are still very sensitive to me. Still I complied. As I walked outside I saw many large tables full of people, and one group beaconed to me the availability of an open seat. The table chat was friendly until a man said that he had read a news article about me and wanted to know if I was indeed the past Chairman of my local Republican party. “Yes,” I proudly replied . “Are you still a Republican?” he queried, to which I again said “Indeed”. The woman sitting next to me blurted out loudly that she hated Republicans. I politely thanked her for that information. She again reiterated her statement but louder this time. She went on to say that she can”t believe that she’s even sitting at the table with Republican scum. She looked at me with a face that blared of hate and anger. This woman was not only a lawyer but an avid abolitionist. I was floored. I said, “ Ma’am, I come from Michigan, and in Michigan it is the Republicans that keep the death penalty off the law books.” She then said that she cannot eat any more with a Republican at the table. In fact, she might be getting sick if she stays any longer. I said, “No problem,” and I left the table. This is not the way a honored guest and exonoree should be treated. As I stood by the building, finishing my lunch, I felt devastated. I had come all the way to California, with no pay, to help fight the death penalty. We are all here for a common cause, a cause I have dedicated my life to. I had received a standing ovation for my speech, and now I just wanted to go somewhere and hide. I then spotted my fellow exonoree Shujaa Graham and went over to talk to him. I told him what had happened. Those of who know Shujaa know that it didn’t take long for him to talk me into a lighter mood. On another occasion, in Chicago at a North Western University Wrongful Conviction seminar, sitting at the breakfast table I witnessed a lady bad mouthing Catholics as the Catholics at the table sat flabbergasted. This woman is a devout Christian but hates Catholics. I couldn’t help wonder “What kind of religion is this that teaches her to hate other Christians?” She went on to say that Catholics worship plaster idols which finally got a verbal war going over the table. These are all abolitionists. They are all there for a noble cause: a humanitarian effort to rid our land of its worst atrocity. Where does all this hate come from? At that same meeting in Chicago I charged Jesse Jackson Jr. To challenge him out about his epic speech that was supposed to be a speech against capital punishment but it was a campaign speech instead. His speech was about how all the troubles of the world are because of Republicans and White People. As I approached him, in anger, his security thugs stepped up to make sure I didn’t violate him. As I looked around, it reminded me of what comedian Ron White said. “I didn’t know how many of these bouncers it would take to kick my ass, but I could see how many they were going to use.” Being careful not to transgress the line, I stood two feet in front of the Reverend and told him that I have never, in my life, heard such racism, bigotry and hate spewing from the mouth of a man of the cloth, especially a congressman with a masters in Theology. “You were supposed to be here to help our cause. Thank you for setting us back a step or two.” He just looked at me. He was speechless. He just turned and walked away with his entourage in tow. While lobbying in New Mexico I was able to talk to several Republican house legislators whose votes were crucial, but they refused to even listen to coalition people because they were “fuzzy headed liberals.” We won that vote, but the bill was shot down in the senate committee. One woman recently published a letter proclaiming her distaste for rich people. Rich people give a lot of money to our anti-death-penalty coalitions. Not wanting to let this simple message become a tome, I’ll cut to the chase. I have seen so many instances of this bigotry, racism, bias and hate among our own abolitionists that it makes me sick. Democrats hating Republicans, Republicans hating Democrats. People hating other people because of their religious or political preference, ethnic origin, and human status in life. This kind of bias should NOT be evident in our abolitionist movement. We are a unique people. We are all working to better this world and end the killing of our citizens. Why can’t we all just get along? Why can’t we accept that other people may have differing opinions without hating them for it? Remember that WE are supposed to be the good guys. We can expect this kind of treatment from our adversaries, but when it comes from within our own midst, it is truly shocking. What we must remember is that whatever we do, however we act, reflects directly on our fellow abolitionists and the groups or coalitions we represent. The following is what Dr. Martin luther King Jr. Had to say on the subject. Our loyalties must transcend our race, our tribe, our class, and our nation; and this means we must develop a world perspective. Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere. We must learn to live together as brothers or perish together as fools.
Posted on: Fri, 09 Jan 2015 13:09:38 +0000
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