Remember Tawana Brawley? Fast Forward to 2005, Schiavo

Remember the Tawana Brawley hoax of 1987? Black activists Reverend Al Sharpton, Attorneys Alton Maddox and C. Vernon Mason quickly seized upon her story as an example of the rampant racism in our society. They shielded Tawana's own voice from the media, yet at the same time staged many rallies, conferences and talk-show appearances to maintain the national spotlight on and frame the burning issue of the day as the need to confront rampant racism in our society - from racially motivated institutionalized violence to the racially biased and corruptible justice system. Except that Tawana was not a victim.

Neither is Terry Schiavo.

Fast forward to 2005. Terry Schiavo's silence allows the likes of '08 Presidential hopefuls Governor Jeb Bush and Senator Bill Frist, the ethically besieged Tom Delay and the extremist anti-abortion activist Randall Terry to lead the crusade against the attack on the moral conservatives movement in America. The individual rights, guardian rights, states rights and the separation of powers are all argued to be irrelevant if they do not "Err on the side of Life". Except Terry Schiavo is not a victim of an attack on her moral conservative values. Her wishes were to be allowed to die with dignity at the point that life support became a necessity.    

Terry Schiavo, still alive more than 15 years after the tragic incident which left her brain dead, has certainly had the benefit of "Erring on the side of Life" in spades. Years of medical analyses, experimental treatments and devoted caring by Michael Schiavo and Terry's parents together are erased from media coverage> Instead we get continuous coverage of the edited video-tape of her smiles, shots of activists outside the hospice screaming "MURDERERS! TERRORISTS!", 13-year olds getting arrested for trying to bring Terry water, the disabled group "Not Dead Yet" lying down in the hospice driveway, religious fanatics of all flavors chanting, preaching and praying and numerous courthouses where Terry's parents hopes are yet again dashed.

The fact is that Tawana's and Terry's "victimization" is a lie. This does not mean the issues of racial equality and role of religion in our Society are settled. But it does illustrate the fact that forcing these issues to the forefront of the nation via fictional victimization, media hysteria and the burying of certain inconvenient truths, extremist activists are sure to cause more damage than good for all involved.