Ellington

"Why don't y'all just leave him alone?" The passion in the caller's voice was alarming. "He's an old man. Just leave him be. Let sleeping dogs lie." When I heard these words back in February, I stepped away from the sink where I was washing dishes and stood in front of my television, with suds dripping down onto my feet and the hardwood floors below. The anonymous caller was ranting to the hotline of a local news station, and the "old man" was James Ford Seale.

I'm not sure why it was important for me to look at the TV as the caller's voice bellowed through the speakers; it's not like they show the people who call in to voice their opinions. So I read the station's brief transcript of her comments about how "you folks" should just leave Seale alone. I shuddered. "You people" references always make me nervous, even when the "people" aren't specified. This woman, who I assumed was white and around Seale's age, wasn't the only one who wanted Seale left alone. Other callers shared the same sentiment, and I stood, listening in disbelief.

This column is a letter to them.

I cannot imagine having one of my loved ones snatched away from me for no reason other than their belief that all humanity was created equal and should be treated as such. I cannot imagine suffering such a loss and then hearing others argue that the killer shouldn't be brought to justice because "that was a long time ago." Had it been your loved one, could you ever accept that defense?

Thankfully, U.S. Attorney Dunn Lampton does not share that view, so to the dismay of Caller Number One and others, James Ford Seale's criminal trial for kidnapping and murder begins this week. Some 40 years after the former Klansman allegedly ended the lives of two young black men, changing their families' and friends' lives forever, Seale will face justice.

Charles Moore and Henry Dee's case was abandoned in the '60s and not reopened until 2005. I find it humorous, if troubling, that Seale's attorney Dennis Joiner suggested that U.S. District Judge Henry Wingate and U.S. Magistrate Judge Linda Anderson recuse themselves from the case because they are African American. Forty years ago, Seale walked away from the crime because District Attorney Lenox Forman believed a grand jury would never indict him, and I'm sure I don't have to tell you that the members of that grand jury were white. I wonder what response District Attorney Gerald Chatman, the prosecutor in the Emmett Till case, would have gotten had he requested that Judge Curtis Swango recuse himself because he was white? Oh, how times have changed.

As is the case with many history lessons, particularly those about race in this country—especially here in the South—part of the story was left out. Most of the civil rights history I learned growing up, I learned from my family. We never talked about civil rights when I was in high school except to mention key figures like Martin Luther King (the good one), Malcolm X (the bad one) and every now and then, Douglas Conner (the local hero). It seemed that almost every story had something to do with passive blacks being mistreated by vicious whites until a few good whites came to the rescue. Such stories proved Malcolm X wrong, for while there may have been a few "blue-eyed devils," one of the few phrases many folks know the activist uttered, there were blue-eyed angels, too. Anyway, those stories clearly implied that even in the Civil Rights Movement, white people ran the show.

It wasn't until 1995, on the verge of my sophomore year in high school, when I saw the film "Panther" that I actually saw black people prepared to fight back. It was good to see, but then again, none of those people lived in the South. Still, after "Panther" I began to hunger for history lessons that told the story of African American resistance, a hunger that was largely unsatisfied until a recent conversation I had with Donna Ladd, when she described research she'd done on the Deacons for Defense. I had never once heard of these men—black, Christian men (who are often seen as meek and mild mannered, unless they're fanatics)—who armed themselves to protect their friends and families from white violence. In fact, Seale and his accomplices may have been hunting for the Deacons when they kidnapped and murdered Dee and Moore.

Despite the frustration I felt because I'm almost 30 and still learning what I consider to be basic information about my past—from a white woman, no less—I felt empowered. For so long, I learned that African Americans weren't assertive in their march toward freedom, and if they fought back, like the oft-misunderstood Brother Malcolm, they were bad people. Bobby Seale, co-founder of the Black Panther Party for Self-Defense, said he wasn't anti-white; rather, he was anti-oppression. What's so wrong with that?

The sleeping dogs we let lie, Caller Number One, inevitably trip us up in our strides toward progress. When we refuse to speak up for those whose voices have been silenced, we betray not only the victims but also ourselves. Dismissing unsolved civil rights cases sends the message that the lives of black people are insignificant, that they are not worth "stirring up trouble." Sometimes, when people are told they don't matter, they hang their heads and go along. Sometimes, however, they stick their fists in the air and strike out at a world bent on throwing them away.

The riots that broke out after the Rodney King verdict in 1992, for example, helped no one, but violence is the inevitable result when we decide that some people just don't matter. If a person's voice is ignored, she will shout until she is acknowledged. When an entire people's voice is ignored, they will find a way to be heard, no matter the damage they do to themselves or those around them. In the end, Caller Number One, letting sleeping dogs lie does more harm than disturbing the peace.

Previous Comments

ID

74949

Comment

All, don't miss Natalie's great column about the Seale trial.

Author

DonnaLadd

Date

2007-05-30T18:43:54-06:00

ID

74950

Comment

Natalie, it irks me too when I hear callers say - or even worse, email - such comments. I'm sure it rocks their world when they thought that everyone forgot about what happened and everything is hunky-dory until someone dares to want to - gasp - get justice for the wrongful death of a loved one. Well, hold on to your hats, folks. It's gonna be a bumpy ride.

Author

LatashaWillis

Date

2007-05-30T19:09:57-06:00

ID

74951

Comment

It ain't over 'til it's over. (At the risk of repeating myself. )

Author

DonnaLadd

Date

2007-05-30T19:13:23-06:00

ID

74952

Comment

Thanks, Natalie, I think a lot of us needed to hear this from you, a young black woman, and not filtered thru the mouth of a white person who, no matter how much good they meant, would not quite really understand it all. I can't tell you how powerful and encouraging it is to hear someone just speak out, straight and simple, without defensiveness, fear or sugar-coating. I admire your courage.

Author

C.W.

Date

2007-05-30T20:38:53-06:00

ID

74953

Comment

I don't get, either, why some people would say "he's an old man, leave him alone." To me, justice delayed is justice denied. If JFS is found guilty of these murders, he wouldn't have a lot of time left while serving his sentence, but the time he would serve will give him enough time to think about what he did and repent of his wrongdoings before meeting his Maker. It's taken over 40 years for the Dee and Moore families to finally see justice for their loved ones. Their quest for justice shouldn't be left alone.

Author

golden eagle

Date

2007-05-30T21:53:02-06:00

ID

74954

Comment

It's taken over 40 years for the Dee and Moore families to finally see justice for their loved ones. Their quest for justice shouldn't be left alone. Couldn't agree more. Would any of these people say the same thing if if it were one of their family members that was murdered 40 years ago and the perpetrator has been walking the streets the whole time?

Author

LatashaWillis

Date

2007-05-31T05:34:13-06:00

ID

74955

Comment

Good piece, Natalie - thank you

Author

Izzy

Date

2007-05-31T07:05:41-06:00