DISQUS

Thanks, Shaula. And I'm delighted to discover via your comment that you are blogging again.

The remark has been verified by Westmoreland himself, who has said he stands by it.

There is also audio of the original remark on the Congressional Quarterly website.

Thanks, suzel. I hope it has some effect...

Thanks for spreading it around. I'm glad to have discovered your blog via your comment.

Thanks for your comment, Ruel. I agree with you about Katrina—and other modern day crimes. In January 2006, I spent some time in Mississippi investigating the impact of Hurricane Katrina on African American communities along the Gulf Coast. Some of the material from my trip to Mississippi is available here. It is sad that the suffering of New Orleans, which desperately needs to be addressed, tends to overshadow the effects of Katrina (and Rita) elsewhere in the region.

Good post about twitter. I whole heartedly agree with you analysis of twitter's disappointing and I would say sexist behavior.

I don't much like the article that you're using for your analogy, though. It seems full of stereotypes and biases that I would rather not mix up with an understanding of Twitter's unwillingness to protect its users and uphold its TOS.

Just came to check this post out on Beth Kanter's recommendation. Really excellent. Do you think your overview of pitching to bloggers is the same for political bloggers as it is for tech bloggers? I know political blogging might not be your bailiwick, but I think how to pitch to political bloggers would be of interest to a lot of your readers from the nonprofit sector.

Thanks for your comment, Linda. Let us hope that the Nuremberg Code and the Geneva Conventions will continue to mean something.

You may also be interested in the PHR report Leave No Marks: Enhanced Interrogation Techniques and the Risk of Criminality.

(Full disclosure: I work for PHR.)

Interesting. What do you think he was doing there?

Great blog and photostream. You're doing really important work. Your photo of CJ Peete is utterly depressing.

Heyyyy. Great to hear from you Jeff! I trust Jackson is continuing to thrive... Did you end up making a book out of your amazing blog posts regarding the whole ordeal? Haven't heard much of anything from Scott B. in a while. Spoke with him some months ago, maybe back in the summer. Watch for the March/April ColorLines Magazine; I've got a something new coming out there. What's this I see about a Masters program? In what?

Thanks for visiting my blog! I've written you an answer in an email.

PS I like the CommentLuv plugin. Hadn't seen it before.

Ben Greenberg's last blog post..More Reasons to Vote for Obama

Hi again. It's your twitter friend @minorjive. Blog url is http://hungryblues.net.

Ben Greenberg's last blog post..More Reasons to Vote for Obama

Thanks, guys! And thanks Michael for the M. Ward news! I liked the tracks from the radio appearance and the studio track on the Merge site. A while back I stumbled on a youtube video of M. Ward playing solo electric guitar for Zoey D, as she sang I Put a Spell on You.

Yeah, I saw that on your blog. Pretty funny. Don't know how I'd deal if my main email was down like that...

Thanks, SF.

Thanks, Brandon.

Yes, agreed. I really miss her blog...

Hi Marshall. Thanks for taking the time to read.

I'm hard pressed to think of examples of privatized state function where a) efficiency increases and b) the state continues to fulfill its function. The case could probably be made for some charter schools in some places, but turning the whole public school system into charter schools sounds scary to me.

Walmart got to NOLA with water quicker than the government, but Walmart did not have a plan nor was it equipped to deliver thee necessary relief services--let alone manage an evacuation. Are there are other Walmart examples? I may not be reading your reference right.

Also I think we've gotta remember that for nearly 30 yrs now, since Reagan, there has been a trend towards denuding government of its ability to deliver its functions. If you don't fund enforcement of environmental regs, civil rights, etc. and you place ideologues in charge of those state functions, you end up with a government that seems more wasteful and ineffective than anything else.

You are most definitely too kind, swadfather; I ain't got nothin on zefrank. But I'm glad you liked it!

Yeah, I especially appreciated the rundown of the suspects. One does wonder why he waited till now; some of the info could have been published earlier and better influenced public perceptions of the case. Still an important day...

Hi Kevin.

I think there actually is evidence of bias. On the most literal level, at least one of the defendants has confessed that racial epithets were used by the perpetrators.

Bobby Brewster's statement also said that Karen Burton cut and pulled out Megan's hair, choked her, cut her ankle and forced her to perform oral sex on Frankie Brewster. His statement noted repeated instances when the N-word was used during the alleged attack.

Furthermore forensic evaluations for the sequelae of physical and psychological torture can provide further evidence for the prosecution.

If bias can be proven based on the confessions of some of the defendants, then I would say that the abuse can be judged as racially motivated.

It is also my opinion---though perhaps less likely to fly in court---that these acts of physical and psychological torture are themselves demonstrations of bias. Without a doubt, threats of hanging are no different than nooses. They cannot be separated from their historical meaning.

But I want to say even further that the reason why I am talking about whites going ape shit and white bloodlust for Blacks is that we have to recognize that racial violence has this dimension. I make this assertion from my perspective, as someone who studies the history of mid-twentieth century racial violence in the South. This kind of mind boggling violence against a Black person is eerily familiar to me.

Of course, in Megan’s case, the brutal physical assaults add another major dimension. It obviously can’t be the motive of all 6 as retaliation, since the police were called on just one. So her attorney has to raise the question: if this was not bias, what other possible motivation exists?

Gang violence by whites against Blacks has often been extra-judicial punishment for perceived affronts to segregationist decorum: registering to vote, buying property, Black men's interest (or perceived interest) in white women, a lack of adequate deference to whites, pressing charges against whites for their crimes against Blacks, etc. When extra-judicial mob violence rises to the level of execution, it is called lynching. Arguably, Megan Williams has survived a lynching.

Perceived violations, real or imagined, of segregationist decorum make some whites go ape shit. I am not talking about a literal motive (Bobby Brewster was angry at Megan Williams for filing charges against him) so much as I am talking about the psychology of the white torturers. While I think it is unlikely that the psychology of white-on-Black racist violence would be considered in a court of law, it is the best way I can explain why those six whites behaved with such blood thirsty abandon.

Thanks for your feedback, RR. I continue to think that your initial discussion of the hate crime question is about the best one out there.

Thanks, Yobachi. I'm on to Blair and have seen her/his cut and paste jobs around the blogs covering the Megan Williams story. I've got a little more to say about it, which I'll save for a post coming up soon.

I just noticed you've done some first-hand writing about the Gulf Coast, including the MS Gulf Coast. I am going to check it out!

Blair, I did mean legal. Thanks. I've corrected the text accordingly.

I can't really tell what point you are trying to make by bringing up these other terrible stories of sexual violence, torture and murder.

Are you familiar with the details of the Megan Williams case? There were 6 perpetrators and the torture, stabbing, rape, threats of hanging, burning and more occurred over at least a one week, possibly more than 5 week, period.

My point was that what might have started out as retaliation by a lover escalated into something more or other than that.

I am making an argument about how recognizable misogynistic violence intersects with racist violence. The southern context is significant because of the power dynamics in interracial relationships that have always been a feature of southern society.

What are you trying to say is more or less clear cut about any of these cases??