Black Ga. man lynched (hung) in White man's yard

[vetwife]

The police call it a suicide. This hatred is getting so bold.
The Mother of the deceased, said "NO WAY" would he have hung himself. She calls for an investigation. Police ruled it as a suicide. This folks is West Georgia again. Coweta County. Barr country. I don't know what happened but there were two sets of ropes on that tree. I will provide a ink.

[in_cog_ni_to]

1. OMG. No.

Not this shit again. :cry: <sigh>

[tom_paine]

2. Dear God, we are going to have to fight these monsters.

Their evil is so blatant, so ppen, and law enforcement is rapidly reverting to the law enforcement of the Souht of the 1930s where Bushevik Crimes are concerned.

If they think that Free America is going to just give it up without a whimper, those fuckers have ANOTHER THING COMING!

[liontamer]

3. When conservatives want to go back to the good old days

It sickens me that they don't realize how awful those days were. If things were so perfect do they really think people would have wanted to change the world?

[tom_paine]

4. Well, they WERE the ones doing the lynching

Of course the murderous Totalitarian FUCKS liked it.

I suspect that dep in all our reptile brains, we would want tobe able to murder those we hate and get away with it.

The difference is: Civilized People suppress those urges and Busheviks try with all their corrupt might to make it a reality.

[classof56]

5. Billie Holliday said it years ago:

"Southern trees bear strange fruit." This is a horrible, ugly thing, and I hope somewhere somehow someone is held responsible and punished. They doubtless, though, will feel no shame.

Ugly, awful excuses for human beings! Hard not to hate them, but it's hatred that caused this, I guess. Blind, insane hatred. So very sad!

[meow2u3]

6. This is an act of DOMESTIC TERRORISM!

and the cops seem to be terrorist sympathizers, if not terrorists themselves!
:grr: :grr: :grr: :grr: :grr: :grr: :grr: :grr: :grr: :grr: :grr:

[Arianrhod]

13. Precisely.

Terrorism is the intimidation of others through violence. While I don't want to accuse all police officers of such attitudes, I will point out that intimidation and violence are part of their jobs. Is it any wonder they're inured to it?

[Jacobin]

7. There is BLOOD on the hands of Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity,

George Fucking Bush, Dickless Cheney, Dild O'Reilly, and all the other talking heads who OPENLY espouse racism and dehumanize people who don't look like them.

Absolutely DISGUSTING. "suicide" my ass

[loudsue]

8. This does it.

It's time for black people and equal rights activists all across the country to scream bloody murder. I grew up during the civil rights movement. WE AREN'T GOING TO PUT UP WITH THIS SHIT IN AMERICA!!!! The racists didn't evidently "get it" the first time around. They want another battle? They'll get one... and it won't stop until they figure it out this time.

There are a whole lot more of us (civil rights activists) than there are of them (racists), and we've got a whole helluvalot more black men and women on the police force now.

:kick::kick::kick:

[vetwife]

9. Would you believe the mOther wanted investigation and

I can't find any link to this and it was all over local news this morning ! Still looking !

[Catfight]

10. But gays might marry and that's why Bush needs four more years....

so that blacks can feel superior to gays. It never ends.

[The Traveler]

14. We won't back down

They don't get it. We aren't going to be dragged back to the "good old days".

[The Traveler]

11. Where the hell is the FBI ???

Oh. I forgot. They work for Ashcroft.

For all its basic nobility, there has long been disease chewing on the soul of this country. I wonder if it can be otherwise, given the slavery and genocide perpetrated in its youth.

[FizzFuzz]

20. karma.

But the flip side of karma is, its not a destiny we can do nothing about. It is our challenge to act differently here and now, to create a better result.

[The Traveler]

37. To simply do the next right thing

given the situation put in front of you ... which in this case, I believe, is to take the myth of American freedom and justice as a national aspiration and somehow make it the reality.

[wicket]

12. Horrible :(

Oh god :(

[FatSlob]

15. Seems fishy to me.

There is no way that the property owner hung this guy in his yard. Nobody is that stupid. I think that jumping to a conclusion here is absolutely wrong.

[Lydia Leftcoast]

22. Yet why would a black man go and deliberately hang himself in

a white man's yard?

The only explanation I can think of other than lynching is that he and the white man had a long and antagnostic "history."

[FatSlob]

46. A possibility.

There are many.

[msmcghee]

27. Unless he figured that . .

. . nobody would think he was stupid enough to do that.

[liontamer]

36. some people are that stupid. But he wouldn't have to be

If he knew he would never be prosecuted what risk is there? When men rape women it is because they recognize a power imbalance. Many expect to get away with it (and most do) because it comes down to her word against his.

For many people, there is no contest between white man's word against a black woman's .

[chimpy the poopthrower]

38. Who said the property owner did it?

I guess anything is possible, but my assumption was that the property owner was a secondary victim -- that if this was a hate crime than the property owner must have also done something the perpetrators didn't like.

[merh]

16. there have been 4 hangings in MS

2 in jails - 1 "accidential" while being chased by police and 1 ruled a suicide - even though his face was covered with a pillow case.

:shrug:

[Ripley]

18. That case in Mississippi was declared suicide by

the Black Police chief and deputy. Why would black men in power cover up a lynching?

[merh]

23. Why would the man that was committing suicide put a pillow case

over his face? :shrug:

[Ripley]

25. I remember reading the article here a few months ago.

I thought I read that his family said he was religious, so he felt shame that he took his own life. I just remember the family did not think it was a lynching, neither did the black officials.

I don't know about the other cases. But people do often jump to conclusions. This case in GA makes no sense. Who the hell would hang someone in their front yard? Not even KKK are that obvious.

[merh]

29. The family is the one that has questioned the ruling of suicide.

There were some disputes over land going on.
I have learned to not accept the words written by the media as the truth - they do not investigate and report the facts or the truth, they simply report the spin.

:shrug:

[Ripley]

31. The family I was referring to was the pillow case hanging.

Not this GA one. However, I don't have a link to that story at hand. But it was discussed by lots of people here.

Do you really think Mississippi spun a story about a black police chief? Just made it up to cover it up?

[merh]

35. Yes - power, fear and money often result in distortions of the

truth! Family of Mississippi suicide victim not convinced that this was a "suicide".


-----Original Message-----
From: Alvin Blakes
Sent: Saturday, April 24, 2004 1:53 AM
Subject: Seattle Post-Intelligencer: Washington man found hanging from tree

This was my cousin they found lynched in Woodville, Mississippi. He was researching papers in the same courthouse I go to. This white man
obtained one of the shares of the family plots when another one of my
cousins (now deceased) sold it to him in secrecy. Then he started trying to take other pieces of the land.

Take Care,
AB

Friday, April 23, 2004 Last updated 8:11 p.m. PT
Washington man found hanging from tree
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

WOODVILLE, Miss. -- Family members say a man found Friday hanging from a
tree in rural Mississippi had returned home to fight for his family's
land. The body of 55-year-old Roy Veal was discovered in Wilkinson County, relatives said.

Warren Strain, spokesman for the Mississippi Department of Public
Safety, said the body was discovered about midday in a wooded area of
the county near Woodville. Authorities declined to identify the man
pending notification of relatives.

But Doris Gordon, a Woodville native now living in San Francisco, said
the victim was her brother, Roy Veal of Washington state. Thelma Veal,
the man's mother, also confirmed the identity.

"They found my brother hanging from a tree with a hood over his head and
some papers burned at his feet," Gordon said in a telephone interview
with The Associated Press from San Francisco. "It's awful. We don't know
who did it."

Oliver James, 72, one of the men who led authorities to Veal's body,
said there appeared to be a blue-flowered cover over Veal's head. James
said one of the investigators said it appeared to be a pillow case.
James also said Veal's truck was parked about 50 feet away.

Gordon, who said she would be returning to Woodville as soon as
possible, said her brother had returned to the family home in Wilkinson
County "to help with a lawsuit pending against our family."
"There are people trying to take part of our land because they
apparently think there is oil on the land," she said.

Strain said the Highway Patrol's Bureau of Investigation was looking
into the death. County Coroner Travis Sharp said he had not been contacted; the
sheriff's department declined any comment.

FBI spokeswoman Deborah Madden said agents were available if needed but
at this point the investigation was being handled by local authorities.

Officials at the chancery clerk's office in Woodville said a lawsuit
pending in chancery court names several members of the Thelma Veal
family, including Doris Gordon and apparently Roy Veal, as defendants.
Chancery Clerk Thomas Tolliver Jr., said the case involved title to land
in the county and damages.

Thelma Veal said the lawsuit sought portions of land owned by her late
husband and his brothers. She said her son had obtained a map of the
property and was collecting documents to prove the family owned the
land.

"Now they have found my son hung back there on a tree," said Thelma
Veal, 79. She said her husband owned more than 40 acres in the area southwest of
Woodville and that it was being sought because it might have oil
deposits. There is oil production in that area of the state.

"My husband's daddy bought this land in 1926 and I've been here ever
since I was 18," she said. "It's our land."


http://lists.iww.org/pipermail/iww-news/2004-May/005007.html

[noiretextatique]

41. this is the story i heard about...it involved a land dispute

and if i'm not mistaken, this guy was either from northern california, or had lived here. he was a friend of someone i know, and there was lots of publicity about his death here in the bay area.

[merh]

52. Involved OIL!

The stories of black families that owned acres of land that have been found to have oil reserves and how those families "lost" their lands are many in Mississippi

[noiretextatique]

55. texas too...my family is among them

they were forced to sell...or else end up *disappeared*.

[merh]

60. Folks who refuse to accept that this goes on, even today, are

just fooling themselves. Sorry about your family's troubles.

[noiretextatique]

65. it was long ago..my dad was a child, but he remembers

and i agree...people fool themselves about a lot of things. it's a strange disconnect, one the rw and others take advantage of all the time.

[noiretextatique]

40. colin powell, condi rice, clarence thomas

all of them are black too.

[MostlyLurks]

32. Granted, that would be strage...

Covering one's own face for a suicide is rare, as far as I know, but not psychologically inexplicable. Criminal psychologits often point to coverage of the victim's face as a sign of remorse/regret/shame on the part of a murderer.

So if we extrapolate, it makes some weird sense that a person willing to commit suicide would cover his/her face as a symbol of shame.

Just a theory. I have to side with you in that it stinks of something else entirely.

Mostly

[Southpaw Bookworm]

50. Because they don't want their houses firebombed? n/t

[Wind Dancer]

17. This new movement by these RW radicals

teaches and promotes hatred. It starts at the top and goes right down to the people - Rush and his ilk are bought and paid for by * and the administration, kill the liberals, brown-skins, gays, etc.

I live in the south and fought hard for civil rights and I AM NOT GOING TO SIT BACK AND LET THIS HAPPEN AGAIN. I am too old for this shit and I never thought I would see the day we reversed time - this is outrageous.

We need to scream and shout for equality - have the NAACP been notified? I want this on the front page of every paper, take Laci Peterson off the news for a day and show this lynching. I can't take much more of this.

[vetwife]

19. Can anyone help me fina a link? This was on TV this AM and disappeared

I can see the Mother and the GBI was to investigate and the deceased was wearing a Camoflauge jacket. I cannot find one article, one news from TV Action news WSB, Atlanta Alive NEws, or any other source including the Atlanta Journal. I watched it on all the local channels and now its like it never happened.

[Wind Dancer]

21. Can you call the station?

[charlie]

26. Not there yet

Just clicked through every TV station in this list.

[klook]

28. What list? Link doesn't work. (n/t)

[charlie]

30. Fixed n/t

[noiretextatique]

24. is this an old story? like from several months ago

i recall a story about a man from northern california being lynched down south somewhere. he was down there checking on his family's property.

[vetwife]

34. No this story was on this morning and totally disappeared.. Man was

reported to have been a witness. The Mother cried foul from the Newnan or Coweta Police Dept. regarding ruling the man's death as a suicide. There were two sets of ropes on the tree. One rope her son was hanged on. They cut to commercial pretty quick on TV 2. They later said it was ruled as a suicide but the GBi was to investigate. What I don't get is why has that story totally disappeared. I was getting the kids off to school when the Mother was crying on TV and it caught my atttention. I guess it never happened after 9 0'clock this AM

[noiretextatique]

42. thanks...see post #35 for the other story

i was talking about. and thanks for the heads up on this one.

[greekspeak]

33. A similar incident happened in Springfield, Missouri a coupla years ago

Soon before I left, a black man was found hanging from a cell tower in downtown springfield. Before the man was cold, the police had already closed the case as a suicide. This, despite the fact that 3 black men were lynched on the square in 1906, mere YARDS from that cell phone tower. They too were hung from a tower (and burned) that looked an amazing amount like a modern cell tower. The symbolism was clear. Nothing to see here but compassionate conservatism. Move along please so we can get this murd- eh-man who committed suicide taken care of. SICK! THIS COUNTRY IS BECOMING UNLIVABLE!

[FormerOstrich]

54. Hiya Greekspeak...

You lived in Springfield? I live in Arizona now, but I am from Springfield.

I believe the black community of Springfield would tell you that racism has alway remained under the surface. Twenty years ago I live a block south of Commercial Street. Beside Mrs. Ray, a 90 year old woman, I was the only white person in the neighborhood.

I had wonderful neighbors and heard lots of stories. There was no shortage of racism during that time.

Speaking of the old neighborhood, I'd would love some Crosstown BBQ!

[MadHound]

73. OMG, Springfield twenty years ago, man that brings back bad memories

I lived there for four years during the mid eighties. Coming from the college town of Columbia, Springfield was extreme culture shock. A good size city, with a very bigotted mindset. In the four years I lived there, I was pulled over by the police eight time, either walking or riding my bike, simply because I was a long haired guy.

Used to go to the local gay bar, the Warehouse at National and Chestnut Expressway, simply because it was the only bar where I felt comfortable, all the rest were either pretentious yuppie bars, or redneck dumps. What was really fun was when I started getting invited to the after hours spots. Go to this house, and I'd be the only white face in the joint, had a blast. Talked with many many people there about what being black in Springfield was like, heard many horrible stories.

Still wander down there on occassion, I still have a couple of friends there. The town has sprawled horrible, urban planning doesn't seem to be a topic the town leadership knows anything about. But even with the influx of new blood down there, the attitudes and prejudices have remained the same. When I read about that poor kid being hung from the tower, I wasn't suprised, I just shook my head in sorrow.

[FormerOstrich]

74. Not all of them sound

like bad memories. I think you threw in a good one or two.

I loved Springfield. For the most part I grew up there. Yes, there is a lot of bigotry. However, there are some really great people there, too.

I'm surprised (well just a little) the Springfield police harassed you. Not long ago I was telling of how I was harassed by a cop, but it was a Nixa cop. Now talk about a town I loathe. If I never step foot in that town again it would be okay with me. However, my parents still live in the area so I suspect I'll pass through there again.

I was a Harlow's regular (over by SMSU campus). If we were pretentious yuppie types I didn't realize it. I'm sure we weren't red necks :-). One of my favorite places was the little health food store and cafe under the viaduct at Chestnut Expressway and Glenstone. I for the life of me can't remember the name of it (it's long gone now). Still today there is always Anton's for breakfast!!

After Blane street, I lived out by Fellows Lake. I had some of the best parties out there.

Now I'm feeling a tad homesick.

[greekspeak]

83. Yeah...I lived in Springfield until July 2003

Or just shy of 30 years. I turn 31 in a few days...so I basically lived there all my life. I went to Kickapoo High, and I think there were about 5 African Americans in my class of about 400. No I was not one of the rich kids snotty kids. I was the rich snotty kids psychological punching bag.

You must have lived around Sherman street someplace. That seems to be the site Springfield has put its "ghetto."

On a note of interest, my partner used to be close friends with Springfield NAACP matriarch Carolyn Moncrief. He just loved that woman!

[rocktivity]

39. He went into someone's yard and hanged himself?

Did he know this person or was he just looking for the right tree?

:headbang:
rocknation

[Media_Lies_Daily]

43. Are you seriously asking a question or are you attempting to...

...provoke something?

[rocktivity]

44. I'm ALREADY provoked

by being asked to considered that someone would wander into a complete stranger's yard and hang himself.

:mad:
rocknation

[Media_Lies_Daily]

75. Okay...I gotcha now!

[hiphopnation]

45. Link??

Link, link, link Please?

[FatSlob]

47. Lots of possible racism at DU.

Seems that everybody is jumping to the conclusion that a white person caused this. Seems that everybody assumes that the black man was lynched. I call bullshit. Nobody here has enough information. I see what some term "reverse racism". I suggest that everybody just reserve your judgements until you actually know what happened. I find this behaviour to be repulsive. Lots of ASSumptions here and in the original post. Start being thoughtful, and wait until you have all the info. The cops are saying that it is suicide, according to the original post, where there are NO LINKS. I tend to believe them until there is evidence otherwise, but I haven't made up my mind. It isn't the 1960s and 50s anymore.

On edit: Is my subject line provacative? Sure is. It is designed to make us think. So many of us automatically assume racism. Isn't that racist itself?

[Xithras]

48. Yep, no link, no outrage

I've heard too many misreported TV stories to get too worked up over a secondhand recollection of a half-heard news story run on some local newscast. This post has been here for hours without any supporting links, and there are several important key details missing.

1) Define "yard". Was this guy hung by the street in front of someones house, or is this someones 4 acre forested back lot?

2) Does this town have any recent history of racism? Have the other black residents seen any recent uptick in racist or threatening behaviors?

3) Was there any relationship between the homeowner and the deceased?

4) Did the deceased have any previous history of suicide attempts or depression?

5) How did the homeowner react? Did he or anyone else see anything?

It's hard to get too worked up and start screaming racism when key, core details of the events are completely missing.

[FatSlob]

49. People here get way too worked up.

It's hard to get too worked up and start screaming racism when key, core details of the events are completely missing.

Right, but that won't stop some around here. Where the hell is the sanity?

[hiphopnation]

51. It's all hearsay and bullshit.

I haven't seen or heard one thing about it outside of DU. :shrug:

[951]

62. Yo Yo Yo I don't think anyone could hang another person in deez dayz

n' times dis is the new millennium aight people love each otha.

GET YOUR HEAD OUT OF YOUR ASSES AND SMELL THE RACISM IT STILL DOES EXIST!

[hiphopnation]

63. That's cute.

I see some racism right in that post of yours.

[Carson]

64. No one is saying racism doesn't exist.

The point is to discover facts, not have a knee-jerk reaction. "A black man was found hung in a tree in THE SOUTH!!"...ergo, it MUST be a lynching.

Wait until the story is supported by evidence before leaping to conclusions.

(edited for spelling)

[nothingshocksmeanymore]

71. "a black man is found hanging from a tree in the south"

Gosh...it's reallyy jumping to conclusions to suspect foul play, eh?

[Forkboy]

72. Yeah,black men hang themselves from other people's trees all the time

[FatSlob]

68. "Lets get outraged about something that might not have happened!"

[merh]

56. Not every insident is racially motivated - money and power

have their hand in it too - the class system is involved & like the MS hanging, the poor guy trying to find out who took his family's land that has oil reserves, he just happens to be black.

[noiretextatique]

57. there's absolutely no reason to assume that it's NOT racism

without more information as well.
it's not like lynching didn't happen for a lot longer than the 50's and the 60's...and not just in the south.

[hiphopnation]

58. this story is unsubstantiated

and until it is there's no point in even carrying on this discussion, wouldn't you say?

[noiretextatique]

61. yes...but see post #35

that's another story about another lynching.

[Carson]

67. self-delete...sorry

[TahitiNut]

69. Hearing hoofbeats and assuming zebras only makes sense in Africa ...

... not Georgia!!!

[nothingshocksmeanymore]

70. There is no such thing as reverse racism.

Yes there may be some PREJUDICE occurring as people don't have the facts yet, but when someone posts the term REVERSE RACISM my bullshitometer goes off. Can you please define REVERSE RACISM to me given that racism is a belief that one's race is superior? I don't see anyone claiming this proves the black race is superior to the white race...I do see people jumping to other conclusions without the facts...but I don't see that.

[DrWeird]

78. For the sake of argument: let's say a Jew is beaten to death in Germany...

with a swastika carved into the body.

Would, perhaps, a gentile, and maybe even a German gentile, fit the profile?

[Blue_Tires]

53. someone with an account

check the AJC site...if it's not there under Coweta County, it probably didn't happen...or check with the Coweta County police or something

and to answer the "it's not the 1950s and 1960s anymore," i guess because we're in the 21st century, we've all kissed and made up with the klan, nazis, crazed 'necks, et al...

[noiretextatique]

59. i detest the "it's not the 50's and 60's" thing

as if racism has magically disappeared in the relatively few years that the country has been actively working on it. it seems we're a few centuries short of healing (based on the centuries of racism) before we can declare a victory.

[Chovexani]

66. For real

Certain people seem to think lynchings are a relic of a bygone era. Terrorism against blacks in the south (and that's exactly what it is) never stopped. They just can't be as blatant about it as in the olden days because less whites are on their side. But sometimes they still are. It was just a few years ago black churches were getting firebombed. And don't forget James Byrd.

Damn people are clueless.

[vetwife]

77. I don't provoke anything..I saw this on the news and it disappeared

As soon as I get a link I will provide it. The Mother of the deceased was calling foul on the police dept. From what little I heard it was about this individual witnessing something. He was hung, whether by self or others in a person he may or may not have known's yard. This may not be racially motivated. It may be something else. There are white and black who die of homicide and not suicide and the police are too quick to call it. I was looking for the story is why I posted it as to see if this was a retunee from
Afganastan or Iraq. The fellow was wearing cammies. It showed him with a picture of a lady who was white and could have been his wife and it showed his Mother in tears. 5 Ft. Bragg soldiers killed themselves after receiving a drug called Lariam. We do have racism in the South and people do get lynched..Black and white. This was posted to see if anyone else heard the story on local news, maybe I should have posted it Georgia forum. I will listen again at 6:00
If necessary I will call the station..Not that I will get any more answers if the GBI and FBI are involved but the local news station told this story this morning then pulled the story. It is not hearsay and was not meant to cause trouble. I think if he was lynched, and was a witness, it may be more of a military thing. Who knows? The Jessica Lynch rescue people died too. One by drive by shooting. One by suicide and one by car accident. I say there is a lot to this story and I wanted to follow up.

[hiphopnation]

79. ...

It is not hearsay and it was not meant to cause trouble <-------- Actually, it's the very definition of hearsay and take a look at this thread!! If it's not trouble, I don't know what is.

You have not "followed-up" on ANYTHING because you have not made any effort to corroborate this story with a link or story from any media outlet in Georgia. I've done a lot of checking myself and come up short. What's the deal?

Until I see the story substantiated or corroborated, I'm hesitant to make a call. Tis quite telling, however, how many DUers jump all over a story, claiming the starting premise as fact, and go off on these wild tirades which include detailed arguments and counter-arguments. Quite telling, indeed.

[Politicub]

76. Oh my god

That is so horrible and fucking sad. It's 2004 for crying out loud.

I sincerely doubt this was a suicide.

The GOP with all of their naked bigotry says its OK to hate and do this to people. The ones who condone hatred are as responsible for this as much as the one who perpetrated the crime.

[scarletlib]

80. This also happened this spring in Palm Beach County

in a little community on the edge of the glades by the name of Belle Glade. Police ruled that one a suicide too.

[vetwife]

81. His name is Joseph Smith according to news desk and then

they said they were too busy to talk but would follow up on the story from this morning. Thats all I know.

[Ripley]

82. Thanks for trying to get the info Amanda.

I bet you didn't think this thread was going to be like this. But it always ends up this way. The guy is probably white and was killed by another white guy. But hey, that won't stop DUers in New York from saying lynchings happen every day here in the South! Of course they don't have any blacks killed up there by Police or anything.

It sounds horrible whatever happened...I agree a lot of strange deaths of returned soldiers from Iraq. I fear violence will spread even more if Stupid Ass steals the election. People are so volatile right now, and it's not just racist volatility.

Let us know if you hear the details.