QuantumFog

December 9, 2005

A lifes work: opening the gates of hell

Stanley "Tookie" Williams is a prime example of how one life can affect many people. As one of the founders of the crips gang, he helped to set into motion organized thievery and countless drug sales. Those founders introduced a new wrinkle, a level of unprecedented street violence. The US Dept of Justice statistics shows 11,821 gang deaths from 1992 to 2002.

Certainly, the crips didn't take out all 11,821 people, but as one of the most aggressive gangs, it is responsible for a great share. Tookie helped to establish a system of territorial imperative and revenge that killed mostly blacks. In his own way, he created a form of genocide that could continue for still another ten years.

In case you missed it, Tookie was convicted in 1971 of shooting four people to death during two armed robberies. Absent a clemency, he is scheduled for execution next Tuesday. He claims he is innocent of these murders and has a crowd, including movie actors, protesting on his behalf. They are trying to convince us of his good citizenship even while he continues to bear the moral stigma of literally thousands of deaths.

If Tookie was released and hit the ground running from one decedent's door to the next, he couldn't repair the damage in a lifetime. Writing a couple of childrens books ain't gonna get it done. And, if he started with the relatives of the most recent death to work his way back, he wouldn't survive the week.

The execution isn't punishment. It's assurance that he can't pick up a gun and pull the trigger again. The damnable thing is, he will continue to do just that, whether alive or from the grave.

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