We have criminalized everything in this society-and have a particular obsession and penchant for imposing draconian sentences on people for victimless crimes like marijuana possession and now, statutory rape.
Georgia, you’ll recall had a criminal statute against consensual sodomy between consenting adults until recently, and its puritanical insanity led to these latest racist criminal prosecutions of two young black men Genarlow and Marcus Dixon for aggravated child molestation for consensual sex between minors.
For those of you slow on the uptake, there has never been a white teenager charged and convicted of aggravated child molestation for consensual sex with his underage girlfriend in the State of Georgia. There will never be because the publicity these cases generated got the law changed.
Georgia imposes a lesser penalty on full blown intercourse between minors than for oral sex between minors. If Genarlow had gone ahead and went all the way, he would have only been facing a year in jail.
Marcus Dixon’s case was overturned by the Georgia Supreme Court and Genarlow’s has not been and will not be. We’ve heard a lot of B.S. in the media surrounding this case and the others involved who made plea deals with the prosecution in exchange for lesser prison time. In all, 6 boys with previous criminal records, except for Genarlow, went to jail and will be forced to register forever as sex offenders.
Most are already out and one is in college. Only Genarlow is left holding the bag that any teenage boy could be convicted of. That is the essence of white supremacy for me. A Superior Court Judge saw the horrendousness of this prosecution for what it was and attempted to lower this sentence and set the boy free. He was thwarted in that 
attempt by Attorney General Thurbert Baker-an Uncle Tom if there ever was one. He is appealing the Judge’s ruling and impeding Justice. It should please and baffle you to know that former President Jimmy Carter has written to the Attorney General asking him to back off and let this boy go home. Baker also had to contend with a protest in front of his office by the NAACP and Rev. Joseph Lowery. He refused to speak to them. Any black elected official who refuses to speak to Joseph Lowery spits in the face of the black community and is beneath contempt. If you live in Georgia, let the Attorney General know how you feel by writing him here.
rikyrah has also written about this travesty here.
Skeptical Brotha 
I posted on this today. It’s ridiculous. Ridiculous.
I will definitely let this Sambo know what I think of him.
rikyrah,
I read about this on Yahoo, on ESPN, on Oliver Willis, in the Atlanta Journal Constitution, everywhere. It is pervasive. I struggled through my rage to write something coherent. Do you want a link?
Thanks for the link. I’ll think of what to write. This is unreal….this Sambo wanting him in jail for consensual sex.
He walks, talks and grins like Sambo. Always saying “It wasn’t me, Massa; it was the Field Negro”.
Jesus.
I guess none of you have a daughter…….
wow….and who is the racist here…the State of Georgia or you all. Good Lord! I have never seen such a bunch of hypocritical name callers as you all seem to be. Why should anyone else be fair or refrain from racist acts when you all are so entrenched in it. Grow up. I am going to go now to my job, which is in 2007. You guys have fun with the centuries old name calling. Even though the name calling is sure to change things when you call these officials. It really gives your argument credibility….
good day.
and don’t get me wrong…I’m sure there are some racists involved with this case…but does it make anything better to be a racist too. Where does that get you in the long run? It is so counter-productive to just sit around and hate and blame all day every day…You only get one life, why not enjoy it instead of looking for some white person to call a racist or some black person who might actually like white people an Uncle Tom?
Marcus,
It was CONSENSUAL SEX between TEENAGERS.
There are PEDOPHILES who don’t get 10 years for MOLESTING children.
Marcus and Darrylm,
Unfortunately you have missed the point. The name calling was and is not that point. This injustice is the point, while Mr. Baker has a duty to protect victim, he also has a duty to ensure justice is served and appealing this ruling to a draconian and thankfully, now, obsolete law is not justice. What this ultimately comes down is a man worried about his statistics, so he can tell his constituency, “I kept crime down.” This is very unfortunate because as a black man in a position to really make a difference, he has chosen to insted perpetuate a system of inequity. He’s just a part of the problem instead of being an active part of a solution.
Rikyrak:
Thank you for the smack down of Darrylm. We really shouldn’t feed the trolls, but smacking them down is always good for props.
To the trolls – we do have daughters, and our responsibility is to teach them when they’re ready about the choices open to them and the consequences of those choices, especially when it comes to sex. As it has been pointed out, these were two consenting teenagers, and why does the state of Georgia have this antiquated law on the books and chooses to vigorously enforce it when it comes to Black children, espeically young Black men?
You obviously aren’t Black men, and therefore, you can’t understand; or you are Black men who endure this type of treatment daily and have been programmed to be House Negroes engaging in denial. Either way, there’s really no point in debating the obvious, especially when you willfully refuse to see the other point of view.
As Robert pointed out, Judge Baker has a responsibility to know and apply the law, as well as ensure justice is being served. If your state AG is telling you that your ruling is way off base, in some states (like California) one too many rulings from your boss (state Attorney General) is enough to get you fired if you’re appointed, and recalled if you’re elected. This brother has taken House Negro to a whole ‘nother level.
If a Federal Judge appointed by GeeShrubya, no less, accurately applied the law against one of Bush’s own Cabinet members for obstructing a Federal Investigation that outed an undercover CIA agent – throwing the book at him (Judge Reggie Walton), and this guy, who’s under NO obligation to BushCo whatsoever, why is he throwing the book at a young brother for being hormonal?
Better to alienate the black community with this bus toss than to piss off the state’s political base. This move suggests that Thurbert-Baker’s political sights are set much higher than State AG.
“y’all we got us a blick ‘torney Genul!!”
Uh huh. LOL
I have the misfortune to live in GA, having been exiled from the civilized confines of Chicago some time ago. Baker is a longtime DLC guy through and through, and the GA Democratic party, in its relentless quest for the lost white vote that LBJ predicted would go Republican for at least a generation in response to the Civil Rights Act of 1965, has drifted as far right as you can get without falling off into the abyss.
The Dekalb county CEO — and Dekalb is a majority black county of some 600,000 people in metro Atlanta is running for US Senate as an unabashed right wing “conservative” Democrat, though I personally think he will stop short of a senate runa nd grab for the seat the used to beling to McKinney instead.
The last white Democrat to run for governor in 2006, a guy who was welcome in every BLACK church in the state ran TV campaign commercials declaring himself in favor of writing a life-sentence TWO STRIKES provision into the Georgia state constitution. If the Dems are this bad, you can imagine the Repubs, and you can imagine the lack of enthusiasm in many parts of the black community for voting for or against either of these dismal choices.
I went to school with Genarlow and all the other guys that were charged and Genarlow was like my playbrother. He would never force himself onto any female. I think that what has happen to these guys was horribly. I feel that the “White Man” just wanted to hold some more positive young men down and make a mockery out of them. What really blows me is that in Georgia you can get married at 15 but you can’t consent to sex with your husband/wife. How contradicting is that?
We need to make Thurbert Baker ears ring with our indignation and outrage. Please supply us with more information and a strategy for freeing young Genarlow Wilson. BASG will be watching this case closely.
The Political Junkie,
I can only speak for myself, but the reason I frequent this board is the diversity of perspectives. How boring would it be if we co-signed all day? We don’t always agree, but I respect your otherwise thoughtful and fluid remarks. If it weren’t for the healthy debates between such greats as DuBois and Booker T.; Martin and Malcolm; or Martin and Adam Clayton Powell, Jr., we wouldn’t have the depth and breadth of Black thought today.
Now wait a minute.
If the age of consent is 17 out there, and a 17 year old is having sex with a “child,” then damn, y’all. It is what it is. It’s really not quite fair to say things like marijuana possession and statutory rape are victimless crimes.
Schoolteachers are finding this out in a big way. It might be consensual but it’s far from victimless.
If you want to say that 17 should not be the age of consent out there, fine. If you want to say the laws on the books are too harsh, fine. But work to get the law overturned, not resort to name calling.
We had a sodomy law on the books for an awful long time. Two gay men got caught, uh, sodomizing each other, and they went to jail. They worked to get that law overturned and they were successful.
For those of you slow on the uptake, there has never been a white teenager charged and convicted of aggravated child molestation for consensual sex with his underage girlfriend in the State of Georgia. There will never be because the publicity these cases generated got the law changed.
SB, you say the law was changed, if so, how did the boy in question get sent to prison for this?
yogo,
The law was changed after conviction to include a “Romeo and Juliet” exception that was previously in the law but expanded so that some right-wing racist can’t criminalize consensual sex between willing teenagers like these.
Hey, Yogo
“If the age of consent is 17 out there, and a 17 year old is having sex with a “child,” then damn, y’all. It is what it is. It’s really not quite fair to say things like marijuana possession and statutory rape are victimless crimes. ”
Who made that argument? I believe the controversey is that there is NO great disparity in age between the “victim” and the “assailant” in this case to warrant such a harsh penalty. As a mother of a 14-year-old boy, I agree with you that there should be much tougher penalities for women who have sex with underage boys. I disdain how such cases are portrayed as male teenage fantasies come true. My personal opinion is that anyone 25 or older having sex with someone under the age of 18 is sick even if legal!
This is from the original post:
We have criminalized everything in this society-and have a particular obsession and penchant for imposing draconian sentences on people for victimless crimes like marijuana possession and now, statutory rape.
I’m not for legalization of drugs, nor for the niggling around statutory rape. The consensual nature of the sex act is irrelevant.
About this young man, yes the sentence was harsh, and I hope he is released from prison. But from the way it looks he’s caught up in a ridiculous administrative/legislative snafu.
Lesson to boys: Stop videotaping yourselves having sex with 15year olds at hotel parties.
“Lesson to boys: Stop videotaping yourselves having sex with 15year olds at hotel parties.”
I would say that’s a valuable lesson for ALL boys and men. R Kelly, do you hear her? 🙂
I didn’t quite know where Yogo was coming from when I first started reading her comment. But I get her point. I loved seeing the lawyer come out n her. (smile)
I think we must do whatever we can to stop this type of abusive sentencing. I hate the idea of older women or men abusing younger children. But the age difference between the boy and the girl was too little to create that type of response from the state. It’s outrageous…
“Lesson to boys: Stop videotaping yourselves having sex with 15year olds at hotel parties.”
I would say that’s a valuable lesson for ALL boys and men. R Kelly, do you hear her?
How ridiculous is that this teenager has served 2 years, and R. Kelly hasn’t even gone to trial? 😦
SB,
Sorry to go off topic, but I’m curious why you haven’t written a post on D.C. Mayor Adrian Fenty and his recent replacement of high ranking Black City officials with Whites and now an Asian? He has appointed a White female police chief, a White male fire and rescue chief and now an Asian female school chancellor (superintendent). It would be easy to defend these appointments if they were exceedingly qualified, but they aren’t. The police chief, under 40 with only 16 years experience and none in high management, wasn’t on anyone’s list. And the new chancellor is too under 40 with no superintendent experience, no doctorate and relatively limited teaching experience. Is he betraying the Black majority, albeit rapidly declining, that helped catapult him into office on his “invisible majority” campaign or preparing for the inevitability of Black minority population?
Is he betraying the Black majority, albeit rapidly declining, that helped catapult him into office on his “invisible majority” campaign or preparing for the inevitability of Black minority population?
I’ve been wondering these things myself. You know how I feel. This is NOT Idaho. This is Washington, D.C.
You can find a qualified Black, IN ANY FIELD, within 45 minutes D.C., to do whatever you want.
He better watch out.
JMO.
I would love to know dblhelix’s take on this Fenty situation.
rikyrah,
Surprisingly, there doesn’t seem to be much backlash. Some grumbling but no massive outcry, although my family is getting tired of hearing me say “I told you so!” 🙂
rikyrah,
Surprisingly, there doesn’t seem to be much backlash. Some grumbling but no massive outcry, although my family is getting tired of hearing me say “I told you so!”
LMAO
I think it’s brimming, don’t you think? People aren’t saying anything, but they’re just putting bits of information away, bit by bit…
And, well, when he gets in trouble…
and you and I know they ALL get ‘in trouble’….
I’m trying to figure out who’ll ‘ have his back’…if you know what I mean 🙂
NMP,
I read an extensive story about the new Chancellor yesterday and found it interesting. I have no problem, however, because DC public schools ain’t workin’ and its time for something and somebody new. I understand his frustration and willingness to not be boxed in by race. We’ll see. If he produces results, nobody will complain. As for the Police Chief, I didn’t like Ramsey. He was too much of a top down autocrat and willing stormtrooper arresting dissidents and protestors in a draconian way. Would I have chosen her? No. Again, we’ll see.
The punishment doesn’t fit the crime, but I used this story as an example for the teenagers I work with to help them understand how one bad decision can place you at the mercy of severe consequences.
I’m glad that Genarlow is getting a second chance, though. Why on earth would oral sex warrant such a penalty in the first place? It doesn’t contribute to teen pregnancy.
Why on earth would oral sex warrant such a penalty in the first place?
Don’t you know that oral sex is just plain ol’ nasty…. (sarcasm)
I’m glad that Genarlow is getting a second chance, though. Why on earth would oral sex warrant such a penalty in the first place? It doesn’t contribute to teen pregnancy.
supermannino,
The key to this case is that IT WAS ALL ON VIDEOTAPE.
These STUPID, yes, they were STUPID, teens thought it would be fun to VIDEOTAPE their activities.
Please tell those teens that if you’re going to be doing things you ought not do, the last thing you should do is VIDEOTAPE it.
Georgia Attorney General Thurbert (Unca Tom) Baker has committed a crime against justice and common sense and reason in blocking the release of Genarlow Wilson.
Baker should be lynched upside down alongside Georgia Governor Sonny (Bubba) Perdue.
“I read an extensive story about the new Chancellor yesterday and found it interesting. I have no problem, however, because DC public schools ain’t workin’ and its time for something and somebody new. I understand his frustration and willingness to not be boxed in by race. We’ll see. If he produces results, nobody will complain. As for the Police Chief, I didn’t like Ramsey. He was too much of a top down autocrat and willing stormtrooper arresting dissidents and protestors in a draconian way. Would I have chosen her? No. Again, we’ll see.”
Yes, we shall see. The organization she’s currently with, The New Teacher Project, raised my red flags. I’m not completely certain, but I think it’s the same program a former staff member, young White girl a couple of years out of college, is currently training with in Queens, NY. The reason for my concern is that, as explained to me, they train the teachers to act defensively so to speak with urban children. Teachers are by policy forbidden to show open affection, including smiles, for the first 30 days of school. The basis for this policy—again, as was explained to me—is that urban children have proven to be highly manipulative even at the age of 4 or 5 and unruly (over stimulated by excessive television common in urban households); thus, it’s important that the teachers, particularly young and White teachers, establish their authority early.
Well, I had a hard time NOT seeing the underlying racism of this ideology because it sounded too much like the directives prison guards are issued, so let’s just say I’m sure she’s glad not to have to face me day-to-day anymore.
I truly hope it’s not the same program and the chancellor can achieve gains that belie her limited experience.
Mayor’s Fenty’s Schools Chancellor :
Not so fast, y’all.
I think this appointment gives him additional political cover for his school reform effort.
Frankly, I think the local press will be much more reluctant to criticize her BECAUSE she is young and, more importantly, because she is Asian. This translates into a lot more leeway for her role as change agent. Certainly a lot more than would be afforded to a black person in a similar position.
Me thinks the Fenty administration may be using the “model minority” stereotype to its advantage.
I will take a wait and see approach.
When I found out how much DC pays per pupil, I had to go ‘ DAMN’.
I’m just not seeing it. The cost of living is just NOT that much higher, and the per capita spending is nearly TWICE what I had to deal with when I was in education.
When I think about just splitting the extra in half, and giving half to the administrative costs, what I could have done with the half I kept….man.
I hear you, Rikyrah.
And as we know, if there is no parental involvement or a culture of learning at home, you can spend a milliion dollars per child and it won’t make a damn bit of difference.
Denise/Rikrah
If I may expound on your sentiments, there is also no remaining sense of shared community. I’m a native Washingtonian. I love DC like a member of my family, so it’s hard to watch the soul and heart of the City decay. DC, like many other large Black cities, used to be a shining example of how Black folks could do for themselves. My apprehension about Fenty’s recent appointments is that it sends a message that we can no longer govern ourselves. With failure after failure of Black leadership, I sense a growing overseer mentality in Black communities which I find very discomforting.
I grew up in the heart of Anacostia (S.E. DC), and I can remember when there was a bond and trust between the community, police, mayor/council and schools. There were no transients…we were all rooted in the community. Ms. Mary and Mr. Ed weren’t just my teachers; they were my neighbors who would be on their stoops after school still keepin’ an eye on us until our parents got home. There wasn’t a chance of anyone skipping school or getting into serious trouble without our parents finding out because there was always someone keeping a watchful eye on us, including the police. The police didn’t knock heads and lock us up for doing stupid sh*t; they took us home and let our parents exact the punishment.
I can’t pretend that drugs and alcohol weren’t a problem in the community before the crack epidemic, but there was an unwritten agreement between the police/community and the addicts to do their “business” in certain areas like Hanover. And I don’t care if you were a stomp-down dope fiend, you still were addressed as Mr. or Ms. The confluence of drugs, rampant teenage pregnancy, mass migration of residents and jobs to the suburbs, and self-serving and ego-driven Black leaders who forgot who they were in office to represent changed all that.
Now the verdict seems to be that this grand experiment of Black self-determination and governance has failed, so we have to look outside of the community for salvation. It may be the right medicine, but it’s still a bitter pill to swallow.
I grew up in the heart of Anacostia (S.E. DC), and I can remember when there was a bond and trust between the community, police, mayor/council and schools. There were no transients…we were all rooted in the community. Ms. Mary and Mr. Ed weren’t just my teachers; they were my neighbors who would be on their stoops after school still keepin’ an eye on us until our parents got home. There wasn’t a chance of anyone skipping school or getting into serious trouble without our parents finding out because there was always someone keeping a watchful eye on us, including the police. The police didn’t knock heads and lock us up for doing stupid sh*t; they took us home and let our parents exact the punishment.
Sounds like where I grew up. I keep on saying that there has to be such a thing as ‘Black Values’, because I was raised on them. The only White person I saw on a consistent basis were SOME teachers in my school. But, all the lessons that my parents taught me at home were reinforced with the other Black adults that I came into contact with in my life; even the ‘problems’ in the neighborhood would keep ‘ that mess’ elsewhere.
I think the Black Baby Boom generation didn’t teach the lessons of their forefathers. Somewhere in the mid-80’s, we began to seriously lose our way.
Talking like this makes me feel 30 years older than I am. I used to think that it was a curse that I had much older parents; as I get older, I believe it was a blessing. My parents were too old by the time I was born (48 & 40) to believe in ‘ new fangled’ parenting. They were straight up Old School, but now, that I’m older, them being so set in those ways helped me immensely.
My sisters and I talk about it all the time. I’m used as reinforcement for my sisters with their kids, who just can’t believe some of the rules that my sisters have come up with, and think that they’re ‘ so unfair, and simply not cool’, but I have to back them up, by telling them, yes, their parents lived under the same rules.
The support this piece of garbage is getting is the same mentality that supports a pervert like R.Kelly.
darrylm,
I am really starting to think that you need to see a therapist. Your antipathy towards blackfolks in trouble is mind boggling.
Darrylm-
Our kids need more guidance and compassion, not your condemnation and raging indignation.
(And SB is right. you might want to get that checked out…)
Sincerely,
I am one of the few that seem to be having a arduous time understanding why Genarlow should be let out of prison. The law was broken, he was convicted and the bottom line is there are consequences to our actions. Until people learn to stop and think before their actions there will always be people crying racism and feel victimized by a system. When the entire problem could have been avoided if Genarlow would have thought about the consequences of his actions. Parents need to step up to the plate and teach their children right from wrong!
The comment, “For those of you slow on the uptake, there has never been a white teenager charged and convicted of aggravated child molestation for consensual sex with his underage girlfriend in the State of Georgia” is racist. Maybe there has not been a white 17 year-old boy receiving oral sex from a 15 year-old girl and was dumb enough to tape it! What is wrong with this country? If I was the girls daddy, I would be in favor of Genarlow’s release so I could have a serious talk with the boy.
the comment, “For those of you slow on the uptake, there has never been a white teenager charged and convicted of aggravated child molestation for consensual sex with his underage girlfriend in the State of Georgia” is racist.
you really don’t see a distinction between no-one being charged and convicted and no-one having committed the same offense?
I find it really difficult to believe that white kids in Georgia are as neutered as that. After all, hordes of pundits tell us this is an epidemic.
Stupid is as stupid does.
It was STUPID to make a video!
Whoever said a football player was an Einstien?
Where in the the HEll is his “DADDY”?
Oh I guess he was just, (as usual) a “sperm donor”!
What about the “white boy”?
http://www.dailyreportonline.com/Editorial/News/new_singleEdit.asp?individual_SQL=6/14/2007@_Public_13816.htm
Oh, I forgot, ONLY BLACKS FOLKS ARE “MISTREATED”!
Can I ask a question here? Why is consensual sexual activity between two willing participants (redundant, I know) criminalized anyway?
I mean, I understand age may be a concern, but to actually lock people up? Maybe some community service at a church or community center or something but I don’t understand the need to incarcerate.
Also, was the girl charged and locked up or was it only the boys? Unless she pleaded out or was locked up as well the law really doesn’t seem all that fair.
The 1,2,3’s of sex offenders.
1. The recidivism rate of sex offenders is under 5%
2. 90% of all sex crimes are committed within the family.
3. 92% of all sex crimes are perpetrated by people not on the sex offender registry.
If the bulls eye is 5% of the target and the bulls eye scores no points, what justifies the billions of tax payer dollars for the project?