By now it's old news that Stanley Tookie Williams will be the next inmate on California's death row to be executed. There has been a lot of debate on DailyKos today about the death penalty in general, Tookie Williams alleged redemption, the racist nature of the punishment, and what all this says about our society. There has also been a lot of exploitative lying about the death penalty in California, and I just wanted to lay out a few facts, for those who are interested in the truth.
Fact 1: Of the twelve men executed by the state of California since the reinstatement of the death penalty, one was black, one was asian, and ten were white.
Several people have alleged that Tookie's execution was not commuted because he is black. If history tells us anything, it is that the death penalty has not been applied in a racially discriminatory fashion in California. If anything, it has been discriminatory against white people, who make up about 50% of the state's population and 83% of the state's executed. I suppose it has also been extremely favorable to Latinos, who make up about 30% of the state's population and 0% of the state's executed.
If you want to check out information about the men who have been executed (their race, their crimes, photos of them, etc.), find it here:
http://www.corr.ca.gov/...
Fact 2: Tookie Williams never admitted to murdering anyone, has not repudiated his membership in the Crips (despite apologizing for starting it), and continues to socialize with members of the gang in prison. Additionally, despite his efforts to keep kids out of gangs (via his children books), his own child (Little Tookie) is currently serving time for a gang related murder in Los Angeles.
I'm not sure if "redeemed" is the right word for such a man. For more on these facts, see:
http://en.wikipedia.org/...
Fact 3: Some facts about Snoop Dogg (Tookie supporter): Snoop was a member of the Long Beach Crips, Snoop was indicted on murder charges (although he was acquitted...much like Robert Blake, OJ, and probably Tom Delay), Snoop has made millions of dollars selling albums which glorify the gangsta life (marvelling over the abundance of sluts, drugs, and violence in his life), and Snoop has never previously publicly expressed an opinion on the death penalty.
Just a guess here, but maybe Snoop cares less about the death penalty and more about maintaining his street credibility by publicly maintaining his ties to the Crip's founder.
My final thought: I think that the death penalty has no place in our society, but, I don't think that Tookie Williams is the appropriate person on which to lay our case against capital punishment. Many of the best arguments against the death penalty are inapplicable to Tookie, and stretching the truth to make them fit this situation only weakens our case with the public, the majority of whom support the death penalty and would presumably strongly support it against someone like him.