What do all of these three things have in common: Troy Davis, the death penalty, and race? Well, for starters, the supports of Troy Davis, the man who was executed earlier this evening in Georgia, are playing the race card yet again. I am here to try and be the voice of reason, although many in the black community will call me a racist, bigot, and whatever other term they learned from Left leaning radio.
First, I want to start out by telling everyone something that may surprise them: I am, in many instances, against the death penalty. I know that is very odd for someone who calls himself a Conservative, but I have my reasons. One of those reasons is because there are many doubts in many cases, and since our system is not fool proof, I believe that in many of the circumstances the death penalty can do more harm than the good it is supposed to do. Having said that, I also believe that there are times when it must be used. Some may call that hypocritical, but I call it being as consistent as possible on an issue that is never the same. Case by case we, from the outside, can look and judge for ourselves if we believe the person should die or not. The fact of the matter is that we, from the outside in many cases, only have some of the information or we choose to join the crowd that is against the death penalty because it pushes our belief system to the next level. Having said that, we need to look at this case in general. Those who are angry that this man was CONVICTED, and in subsequent appeals was not able to be set free or his death sentence set aside, are angry not at the process but those who made that decision.
Tonight I decided to stay in and watch what the social media would do with this, and I was not left without the sight of awe I thought I would be left with. On Twitter, many blamed the original jury for being racists, appeals courts for wanting to kill a black man, and the Supreme Court not caring about a poor black man’s life. When I mentioned that Davis’s original jury had majority black individuals sitting on the jury, there was no one that wanted to say anything back to me. Why is that? Was it because they knew I shot a big whole in their argument or because they looked at this from a color perspective and not a logical perspective? I believe it was a little of both. This was about race. Those who say they were against the death penalty in EVERY case were not tweeting about the execution in Texas that happened a few hours earlier. Why is that? Because the man in Texas, a convicted killer and white supremacist, was not good enough to fight for. The man had killed a black individual, and many of those who were tweeting to save Troy Davis happened to be black. Those who were white still were not tweeting about the man in Texas because it does not fit their world view. I promise you that if Troy Davis was not executed tonight, you would not have heard a word from these people about the death penalty.
I am one to stay away from the race discussions because I know it can set people off, but we have to be honest with ourselves. Race did play a role in this discussion, just not the way the supporters of Troy Davis believe it did. Race only came into play when those who were fighting for his sentence to be reduced lost and say an opportunity to say this has something to do with race. There are white individuals put to death as well, and if we were to be fair there should be people screaming about that as well. I will be more consistent than any of those who were screaming tonight for the courts to stay the execution of ONE MAN. I will say right here, right now, that BOTH of the death sentences should have been stayed. Why do I say that when I know very little about either case? Because I believe the death penalty should be left as a last resort. If a man who was convicted of killing a cop should be taken from death row, then why not a man convicted of a hate crime? Does that screw with the world view of some people who say that it was ok for the state of Texas to put a man to death, but not the state of Georgia? If we are truly going to be a society that looks past color, then we must start with ourselves and look for answers as to how we can make this nation great again, all colors together.
Though I believe the death penalty is wrong in many cases, and that is strange for a Republican to say, the fact remains that if we do not start looking past color then color will continue to divide us. I chose not to stand up for this man, Troy Davis, because I do not know his case and there are many unanswered questions I have. I will not stand up for something that turns out to be false just because society says we should. I will not be used and will not use my voice and my words for a purpose that many of those out there tonight screaming do not fully understand themselves. If we do not like the system, we must fight in the political process to change it. I do not base my vote on the death penalty and never will. I will not because, when you get right down to it, that issue will not make or break the nation. When the economy is great, we are all working, and life is good I will pick up the Republican fight against the death penalty with the small group of us that are out here. Until that time we need to look at what matters in this nation and fix it. To say many of those people tonight who were talking death penalty really care about it would be a lie. For many, this is the first time they will speak out on it and the only reason many of them are is because of the person who was executed, not because of the underlying issue. Let us put race behind us and look at the facts: If you want to be against the death penalty, that is fine. But be against it the next time that WHITE man, or in the case of those white people who were screaming about the execution in Texas, a black man, is put to death!
