November 16, 2007

Focus on Hate Crime is Far Too Narrow


Villagers, we shared information about the onsite conversation that Shane Johnson organized in conjunction with the Al Sharpton rally in Washington DC yesterday. In another example of the mainstream media picking up on stories reported first in the afrosphere we see that nationally-syndicated columnist Clarence Page picked up on the story:


Here's one from the "Taste of His Own Medicine" department: When the Rev. Al Sharpton led a recent Washington rally to protest what he called lax federal prosecution of hate crimes, at least one local black resident was waiting with a protest of his own.

Amid recent reports of noose hangings and other racial incidents, Sharpton, Martin Luther King III and other activists rallied outside the Department of Justice Friday to call for tougher federal prosecutions of hate crimes.

Shane Johnson, 32, a social worker by day and Weblogger on the side, staged a nearby dissent with a few sympathizers. He supported the prosecution of hate crimes, he said, but thinks Sharpton's definition of "hate" is too narrow. Johnson didn't draw much attention and he wasn't surprised. "Most people view me as taking on the black establishment," he told me in a telephone interview. "They think I am going to embarrass our leaders. My view is that they should be embarrassed."


Click here for the rest of Clarence's column

Any thoughts on the two events held at the Justice Department in Washington DC yesterday?

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