> WS: May be, or may be not.
>
> However, if I were the NAACP, I would make Jonathan Luna,
> http://www.sunspot.net/news/local/crime/bal-md.luna08dec08,0,624434.stor
> y?coll=bal-local-headlines
> the "poster boy" against violence directed against the black people. I
> think Mr. Luna, being a successful professionsl, is an excellent role
> model that defies stereotypes, and his violent death makes it an
> excellent case against the violence that black people face in their
> everyday life.
>
> According to DoJ data, http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/bjs/cvict_v.htm
> Blacks are more likely than any other groups to be victims of violent
> crime (28 per 1,000, as compared to 23 whites and 15 of other races).
>
> However, the fact that Mr. Luna was a prosecutor may not sell well with
> the "wannabe gangsta" crowd - and that may explain the NAACP's and other
> group's silence on his case.
Luna's death is believed not to have had anything to do with his work, but more likely some kind of personal relationship. At least that is the local media's take on it. While this area certainly has a Southern share of racists and this could be a racially motivated murder, there really isn't any evidence I've seen to make that conclusion. If I were to wildly speculate that Luna was seeing a white girl and was murdered by some racists, I'd think that his murderers would be prosecuted vehemently.
By taking on cases such as the one that spawned this thread isn't the NAACP addressing a different kind of racism than the one practiced by murderous rednecks - the racism in the criminal justice system and specifically the racism in the Drug War?
I certainly won't speak for black folk but the kind of racism that allows cops to use over-the-top lethal force against black criminals and get away with it seems to me much more dangerous and insidious than the kind that motivates a bigot to murder.
Matt
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