Corey Booker's 1992 Column after King beating Verdict Echoes Ferguson Today

[JI7]

Booker had just graduated from Stanford at the time and wrote this after the cops who beat King were found not guilty. you should click on the link and read the entire piece.


<I’m a black man. I am 6 feet 3 inches tall and 230 pounds, just like King. Do I scare you? Am I a threat? Does your fear justify your actions? Twelve people believed it did.

Black male: Guilty until proven innocent.

Reactions to my kind are justified. Scrutiny is justified. Surveillance is justified. Search is justified. Fifty-six blows…Justified.

Justice? Dear God…

I graduated from Stanford last June—I was elated. I was one of four presidents of my class—I was proud. In the fall, I received a Rhodes Scholarship—I approached arrogance.

But late one night, as I walked the streets of Palo Alto, as the police car slowed down while passing me, as his steely glare met me, I realized that to him and to so many others I am and always may be a Nigger: guilty till proven innocent.>


http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2014/11/26/why-have-i-lost-control-corey-booker-in-92-over-rodney-king-echoes-today.html

[Odin2005]

1. K&R!