Interviewed on ESPN, White mentioned that lacrosse case as an example of a rush to judgment that was wrong. Host Jay Crawford responded immediately, with a great off-the-cuff question:
During that case, the North Carolina chapter of the NAACP didn't show the same restraint that you're calling for now. In fact, they posted on their website 82 laws and torts that the lacrosse players supposedly broke, according to published reports, before the case ever went to trial--a trial that obviously, as you pointed out, never happened because all charges were eventually dropped.Because Crawford was able to formulate the perfect follow-up question for White, the NAACP head had to confront the issue, and admitted, "We have not always been right in cases. We are not going to make a mistake again. We want to say we made a mistake in that case.”
Why is the situation with Michael Vick different than the Duke lacrosse case, when the North Carolina chapter was guilty of doing exactly what you're asking people not to do?
To my knowledge, Crawford is the first journalist to confront a representative of the NAACP over its handling of the lacrosse case--in an example of a superb interview.
The full video is here.
26 comments:
A forced apology. The NC NAACP did not just make a mistake, they slandered and continue to slander the Duke 3 on their web site.
This apology is only being issued under pressure becasue they want to make their case for Mr. Vick. What a bunch of racisits.
BDay
Crawford is right and the NAACP can apologize all they want, they are still bold faced liars. The bogus list of 82 crimes and torts which touts a mountain of physical evidence remains on the NAACP website to this day. It's a disgrace and it's a pack of lies.
So, the NAACP can say whatever they want, as long as their website contains bold faced lies they are worthy of no respect.
Any organization willing to print ouright lies to further their own agenda is no better than Mike Nifong.
Folks,
While I agree the NAAPC (ha!) is one of the more racist institutions around, this is at the very least a step in the right direction. Yes?
Hear that, Gang of 88? An pology will not kill you and may just save your job/career.
ES Duke 1990
Pressed, one chapter of the NAACP very belatedly admits the absolutely inescapable truth, and it seems little short of amazing: that's the sad state that organization is in.
One can always make a first step. It's not clear to me if Crawford has control over the NC branch but I would hope that he asks them to take down the material off of their site at a minimum and apologize thereafter though perhaps that's too much to ask on their website.
At least a few are heeding Roy Cooper. And I do think that it is never too late to admit that you're wrong. It doesn't necessarily make it write for the damage that you've done but it does add to the vindication of the three.
Can someone - anyone - point me to a statement on the Duke Lacrosse case by the national NAACP?
Inferring that the NC NAACP speaks for the national body is simply incorrect. Its no different from claiming that a California chapter of the American Association of University Professors supporting a boycott of Israeli scholars and that being interpreted as that chapter speaking on behalf of the entire AAUP.
The belief of the 82 torts and laws that were "broken"----were they submitted by the Klan of 88?
The NC NAAPC has no credibility and no standing in the educated community. They have outlasted their usefulness and it is time for them to move on. At least the Atlanta chapter recognizes wrong when they see it. Of course, this may be only because they opened mouth and inserted foot. The NC chapter not only inserted 176 feet and scores of pots and spoons but a little crow for dessert. Even Mikey apologized, albeit in his own snide way. The Klan 88 and the NAAPC won't apologize. They are too far out of touch with reality.
There is no inference that they speak for the national NAAPC. I'm not even sure they speak for a majority of blacks. The organization is quickly approaching the same status as Jesse "high" Jack-em and Al Sharptongue. What leadership! What morals! What a magnanimous pile of cow excrement!
A tip of the hat to the defense team and to KC. Keep up the good work.
AF
Rev Al Sharptongue just said on O'Reilly that the Rev William Barber did speak out about the Duke rape case after it was over. Did anyone hear it or know anything about it? Was it a private audience with Rev Al?
AF
I sent an email to Dr. White in which I told him that while I agreed with the NAACP in calling for due process and cool heads in the presence, the fact that the NAACP took the stand it did in the Duke case only damages its credibility. I urged him to stand up for due process for everyone, not just people the NAACP favors.
It appears to me that he spoke extemporaneously. He did not hem or haw. He thought for maybe a second and just went and said that they made a mistake there.
Was it all rehearsed? I don't know. But he seemed reasonable and rational in his answers. I hope that someone in NC is paying attention.
I agree that the apology is a good first step.
However, I agree with the other posters that the current Atlanta answer serves the current Atlanta self-interest.
Until the national chapter makes a similar apology and gets the NC chapter to make publicly and post a similar apology, I feel I must take the Atlanta statements with more than a grain of salt.
This will be off point, but I thought would be appreciated:
KC Johnson is, through this blog, exploring the concept of teaching history in real time. I suspect that this is a new concept. History will always be open to interpretation and various points of view will deem some events more important that others. But the cataloging and interpretation of events as they unfold is an important part of the study of history....it seems to me.
So, ... KC Johnson has coaxed me back into the classroom. And for that I am grateful, for reading this blog and related comments certainly has opened my eyes, as well as my spirit for learning what others have to say..
So ... in the spirit of Gregory:
KC Johnson was able to do what no other professor was able to do: through only his wisdom, research, facts and style,... KC was able to rehabilitate a singular non-disciple of learning from teachers. (Inman quoting himself, 2007) BAA: Inman
ESPN is obviously aware of the NC NAACP website, as their talking head was waiting with it springloaded. This certainly is an indication that the more the fringe continues to deny reality, the more reality is going to get in their face.
Is Gaynor a Communist?
7:25
There is nothing...ABSOLUTELY NOTHING...that the 88 buffoons (or the feckless stumblebum leader of the band) could say or do that would save their butts if I had anything to do with it!!!!!! These scabs on the face of humanity....oops, my blood pressure. Maybe later.
trinity60
The story about Vick's house and dog fighting broke on April 25. The fact that it took 3 months before the NAACP claimed a rush to judgment is strong evidence that there was no rush to judgment. Saying that the NC NAACP was wrong in the Duke case does make the R.L. White right in his claim that, "to treat him as he is being treated now is also a crime."
I agree with 10:11,
and would add some sprinkling of the elements expressed by other posters:
if the NAACP of North Korealina can't - or won't - be bothered to change its website,
it's either because they're lazy, hateful or profoundly stupid,
or any/all of the above.
Not a good combination.
My business has a website: it is not up-to-date. That's because I'm
lazy (and sometimes stupid,) and my website doesn't include current events.
What we're seeing is the final throes in the demise
of the NAACP; I think it's called rigor mortis.
Too bad, for a once noble organization: it should be buried along with the hateful word it
helped put to rest recently, if it can't do better than NCNAACP has done.
Thanks for the video, K.C.! That was the first time I had seen it. I was pretty surprised to see that it was Dr. White who first brought up the Duke Lacrosse Hoax. Then, I remembered that it is good trial strategy to admit the bad facts of your case before the other side gets a chance.
The interviewer did a smashing job with his quick follow-up question. It came out of his mouth (and it was a mouthful) like quarters out of the slot machine next to mine. I think Jay Crawford must be a BLOG HOOLIGAN! (Or, he is just serious about being a good reporter).
Mr. Crawford hails from Ohio and went to both a college and high school that don't currently offer lacrosse.
_______________
As for the NAACP, it is a start, but I will be cynical until I see more evidence. Reverend Barber: "TEAR DOWN THAT BLOG."
In the college town I'm from, we had a minor incident about a month ago when a young man, who had been approached by police looking for a suspect, ran away. He was tackled, and he fought back. Nobody, thankfully, was hurt. The young man wasn't going to be arrested until he committed the battery against the police. There was a smallish protest. The local NAACP leader in town, when asked to comment, said, "Perhaps the boy should have just cooperated with the police."
I had to change my pants.
Maybe Bill Cosby, Alan Keyes, Martin Luther King, Jr., Shelby Steele, Ed Bradley and others are making a dent? I think so.
_______________
"When Stan Lee first came up with 'Spiderman,' he decided to give the character K.C. Johnson's intelligence, K.C. Johnson's super strength, K.C. Johnson's crime-fighting ability, K.C. Johnson's wit, and a spider's silk." HISTORY OF THE GRAPHIC NOVEL, by Inman (2007). MOO! Gregory
NAACP?
The group to watch are the Mom's of Jack and Jill of America and their many chapters.
These ladies make a huge difference in their communities.
Jack and Jill of America
http://www.jack-and-jill.org/
Mid-Atlantic Chapters
http://www.jack-and-jill.org/ma_chapters.htm
::
GP
Gregory ... your continued work on this blog causes me to proclaim my humility and deference to the wit and wisdom of your posts.
You, Sir, are also a teacher...and one who I appreciate.
Thank you!
This is VERY lame. NOW they say we're sorry, when it is safe to do so. They should have come out early and loud affirming the presumption of innocence, if anyone did.
At 9:54pm, Anonymous said...
Is Gaynor a Communist?
Oh dear, the daily humorless comic relief... on the wrong thread!
Is Rev. Barber an Honorable Man?
9:54 inre; Gaynor/communist...no it's much worse, he's a progressive...
The difference? A progressive is using the same marxist playbook and expecting a different outcome. The only thing missing are the mass graves...
Obviously he knew that if he bought up the duke case, the reporter would ask why the difference.
He may have been intending to use that format to clean up the Duke issue (dirty laundry) and move on for the NAACP.
Now the NAACP can say we may a mistake, recognized it, and moved on. They should still clean up the web site and issue a new statement on it about the Duke case.
Very little. Very late.
"Mistake" sounds like something out of Nifong's "apology."
Late can't be cured, but little can. If Dr. White is serious he'll be calling out the NCNAACP and demanding they fix their website. Every day until they do, at every press conference he holds about the Vick case. Anyone here expect that?
Every day of silence from the national NAACP and other state NAACPs is a sin of ommission.
While this forced "apology" from an NAACP subchapter doesnt impress me, I am somewhat hopeful about the other precedent set today: a journalist has actually grown a pair and confronted the NAACP's BS. Since journalists travel in groups (like sheep in wolves' clothing) this just may be the start of a trend. Here's hoping that the NAACP's Teflon coating falls apart like a frying pan's once it gets that first chip.
Contact Mr. White here. rlwhite@atlantanaacp.org
Let him know personally how you really feel.
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