Sunday, November 12, 2006

Our Collective Voice - Cash Michaels

Dear Liestoppers:

Normally I visit the blogs like Durham-in-Wonderland, Liestoppers, Friends of Duke University and John in Carolina with interest. Their takes on the Duke Three case are always interesting and revealing, and based on their POV, even reasoned (I absolutely exclude Johnsville News from that list. He's an irresponsiblef lamethrower who does more harm than good, in my opinion, to your cause, and cowardly hides behind his worthless rhetoric, unlike the other bloggers listed).

But when I read how Harris Johnson's personal remarks about "rich white boys" from the North, regarding the Duke Three, being somehow morphed into disrespecting two outstanding, courageous heroes of the 60's civil rights movement who were white and unselfishly risked their lives so that ALL Americans could have equal rights and citizenship, I was aghast.
I expect that kind of irresponsible nonsense from that bottomfeeder over at Johnsville News - a big shot,classless wannabe who is so stupid, he thinks reporters who write their stories also control the links to them to - but not from you, Liestopper.
And here's why...

- Mr. Johnson's comments are his own, and just like many of you Duke Three supporters meekly and weakly disassociate yourselves from some of the vile, racist emails and message board posts by some of your sidetargeting the accuser, Black leaders, Black voters and the Black community, you are quick to have Mr. Johnson and NCCU student Chan Hall speak for everyone in Black Durham. That is patently unfair.

Mr. Johnson, for whatever his reason for making such a statement, has lived in Durham a long time. I know for a fact that over 20 years ago, the Durham DA's Office did make Duke student cocaine possession cases "go away" at the request of powerful people. I have no doubt that Mr. Johnson, and many other connected Black Durhamites, know that too. They want to make sure that regardless of guilt or innocence, this case at least is handled properly by the court.

- Secondly, it is absolutely ignorant to ignore that ever since this unfortunate case came about seven months ago, Black Durhamites have paid close attention to the defendants (more specifically their families) hiring literally the best attorneys in the state,putting up $400,000 in bond each (meaning none of them spent even ten seconds behind bars), and attracting the kind of national media attention that a comparable Black defendant accused of the same crime, under the same circumstances, would never get. And indeed, has never gotten in Durham, or anywhere else in North Carolina.

- Thirdly, you're assuming the Black community "loves" Mike Nifong. Wrong! They were suspicious of him when this case began last March. A majority of Black voters (56%) voted against him in the May primary, and he wasn't endorsed by the Durham Committee on the Affairs of Black People then. Blacks felt strongly that if the same allegations were made against a local Black college team, Nifong would have had everyone locked up until those DNA results came back. They felt that way because it has happened far too many times before. So there was already a feeling that the Duke lacrosse team members were the beneficiaries of special treatment, and Nifong was held responsible for it, so much so that when he went to NCCU the day after the negative results from the first set of DNA tests and told students and the community that "This case is not over," they still didn't believe he took the case seriously.

But a lot has happened since April. Nifong secured three indictments; the defense mounted a massive counteroffensive to his multiple pronouncements ofguilt by leaking evidence and castigating the accuser; support for the Duke Three has grown into a national movement with no less than CBS' "60 Minutes' joining the fray on the indicted's behalf.

Just like with Bill Clinton, Black people took all of this opposition in, and decided they didn't like seeing Nifong being ganged up on, especially since a judge or jury hasn't decided the merits of the case yet. And they heartily rejected the notion that they cannot, after hearing possibly three months of testimony as projected, be fair jurors and finders of fact.

Unknown to many of you outside of Durham, we are aware of only one very, very high profile case that ended in a hung jury in Durham, and the only reason why there was no retrial is because the NC Attorney General at the time, Mike Easley, now our governor, decided that no jury could ever decide the case.

Now it is perfectly understandable that Duke Three supporters are very concerned about the defendants getting justice, very concerned about the lack of evidence and prospect of a trial. It is also understandable that the Black voter support for Nifong has disappointed many of you.
But to take the errant comments of one or two people, and twist them into some kind of blanket communitywide racial hatred not only of the Duke Three, but condemnation of two white civil rights heroes - two brave men, in addition to the many, many other white male and female Northerners who were ambushed, dragged off of buses, beaten bloody and even killed, allbecause they believed in freedom, justice and equality- is beyond the pale.

These brave, true patriots were called "communists," "insurrectionists," and "nigger-lovers" by white Southern segregationists. They were marked for death the moment they set foot in the South. They didn't wait for one, two or three of their own to get into trouble before they got involved to bring about justice for all. Those white civil rights workers had selfless reasons for their actions. You didn't find any of those committed to the cause calling the people they were trying to help "savages" like one of your earlier posters cowardly wrote.

Why don't you email Mr. Johnson and Mr. Chan Hall over at NCCU, and ask them how they feel about these brave pioneers before you infer that they would castigate them? Not to suggest that a rape or kidnapping occurred, but to compare the disgraceful behavior of a predominately white university team at a drunken, perverted party - pictures of which were shown on "60 Minutes" and literally shocked, saddened and dismayed Durham's Black community (I know for a fact that those still pictures of the players sitting around, alcohol in hand, watching two Black women making out with each other for the pleasure of white males, may have locked in Nifong's Black vote), to the selfless sacrifices of Northerner whites who respected Black people and would have never engaged in such debased activity, is an outrage on your part.

Many Duke Three supporters make Black Durhamites out to be racists, supportive of the NBPP and haters of Duke. In fact, if you knew anything about Durham, the divisions between Blacks and whites were already here because of constant and pointed battles surrounding the white-controlled but majority Black public school system, and the holier-than-thou behavior of some(certainly not all) Duke hierarchy and students towards Durhamites in general. To expect that the people who actually live here would instantly divorce themselves from that overriding context after negatively being in the national spotlight for the past seven months, is foolhardy.
Those voters decided that the case is in the courts, and that's who will decide what the truth is. That's what happens with innocent Black defendants, so the Duke Three deserve no less. If there's a trial, Black Durhamites want everyone involved treated fairly, and they want Judge Smith to make sure to that. They want all of the evidence and testimony put on the table so that a jury can appropriately decide.

In short, Black Durhamites want to see the state's system of law decide this (you forget, the courts here are creatures of the state, not the county. It's "The State versus...), not people from New York or elsewhere.

Their choice on Election Day boiled down to no choice at all - a district attorney under an ethical cloud that everybody says has no evidence, versus a candidate that wants your vote so he can decline the office, forcing the governor to choose someone they can't vote for or against; and a crazy Republican who couldn't get elected dogcatcher in Durham if he sent everyone fifty bucks in the mail. [emphasis added]

In May, Black voters had a choice.

In November, they had no choice.

If Nifong is wrong, the court will decide, they said. Duke supporters don't like that, understandably, and for solace, point to the fact that 51% of those who voted in total, voted against Nifong.

True, but given that the majority of registered voters that day never cast a ballot, including many Duke students who didn't care enough to switch their registrations to help protect their fellow classmates, it can also be logically said the over 60 % of Durham's registered voters overall didn't care; far, far more numerically than the 51% of those who voted that you cite.

In closing, I respect the right of Duke Three supporters to express themselves. They believe the defendants innocent, and have every right to. But when you start cherrypicking the errant remarks of one or two people in Durham's Black community as a symbol of broad based hatred towards whites, then using your model to suggest some castigation of the sacrifices of historic and heroic white figures of the civil rights movement without a shred of evidence, and then, and this is remarkable, absolutely failing to chastise the vile racists who are using your movement to hide behind as they issue statements that come to represent you because of your failure to firmly renounce them, the credibility that you've built is in serious jeopardy.

You can't go after Johnson and Hall, and leave Johnsville News, or the abc11tv.com message board,alone. You can't elevate Johnson, NBPP or Hall to leadership in the Black community one moment, but dismiss some of the most wretched, racist, unvarnished statements of hate coming from your side. The one thing the Duke case has indeed exposed is that this still is a very divided nation racially, though that is not necessarily desired. Like Katrina, problems of social injustice that have been allowed to fester at the expense of those perceived to be powerless, sooner of later come home to roost.

Many in both the Black and white communities work hard everyday across this country to address those issues of inequality, and the Black community knows who those committed white people were, and are. But they also know when those who suddenly recognize the value of justice and the potential for their criminal justice system to go mightily wrong, only when their interests are now at stake, will say and do anything to gain support for their cause.

Blacks recognize that about many, not all, but many Duke Three supporters, and their reckless behavior -the racial browbeating; cracks about Black leaders, Black intelligence, Black racism, Black women, the Black Press, the community; manipulating civil rights history; quoting Dr. King, etc. - and they have made note of it.

Duke Three supporters say this case is about three innocent young men who are the victims of a hoax perpetrated by "a lying hooker," and corrupt DA and police department. You want Durham's Black community to support your view, your vision and your interests in this regard.
But in the process, Duke Three supporters have, and continue to disrespect Black Durham's vision and interests, in addition to displaying what you truly think of them with distortions such as today's entry, attacking Mr. Johnson. By making him representative of Black Durham's majority view, without any real evidence of what that view is (something I believe I can speak to much more accurately than you, being with the Black Press), instead of at least inquiring WHY he would say such athing, is neither fair nor honest, and sends a signal that Duke Three supporters - the same folks who have beckoned Black voters to see things their way - aren’t to be trusted.

I have seen it repeatedly. Duke Three supporters who demand justice, but act anything but. Criticism certainly is fine, but as I, myself, have discovered, there are many on your side who feel now's their chance to unload all of their racial animus thanks to this case. They get nasty (beyond nasty, really), target specific people, and when those people, as I certainly have on many occasions, fight back in equally harsh terms,we're called wrong, and we had no business defending ourselves or our community.

Let's face it, apart from the court case, this is an online war that will get bloodier before it gets better. Many of you talk of Durham as if it is not even part of America. I could say the same of Wash., DC and New York, but Iknow better.

The fact is the case is in the hands of not only Nifong, but also the defense attorneys and a very capable judge. They will decide what happens next, not you!

And if castigating people you believe disagree with your view of the case makes you feel better, than go the Hell on. It's your choice. But this is a gauntlet many Duke Three supporters threw down long before the election, and given this outrageous Schwerner and Goodman comparison to the Duke lacrosse team, clearly you've shown there is no line you won't cross, no standard of decency you won't destroy. The sacrifices of Michael Schwerner, Andrew Goodmana nd James Chaney (whom you could only refer to as a"black man from Meridian," instead of at least briefly citing his work in the community) are revered in African-American communities across this nation, and have been since their murders at the hands of those who would deny even a trial for people of color.

Black people are not so stupid, Liestoppers, that they can't see the insidious twisting of history you perpetrated here. Indeed, and ironically, you have, in this instance, committed the very sin Liestoppers was created to expose - hypocrisy.

I expect that kind of lowlife behavior from Johnsville News, a cowardly blog by a cowardly clown who denies those he criticizes the chance to respond and correct his dishonest portrayals (I give you and other blogs much credit for allowing pro and con to respond). But I don't expect that from you. You and I may disagree on many issues, but I have respected your tone and judgment in the manner that you have expressed your side (even tolerated the cartoons and poems)
Today, however, the Schwerner and Goodman comparisons,and your inference that Durham Blacks today would have hatred for them, is way, way off the mark, and does adisservice to your cause.

Sorry for the length, but some things just have to be said.

Sincerely,

Cash Michaels

56 comments:

Anonymous said...

It is not the Duke Three supporters who have elevated Chan Hall to leadership in the Black community, it is Hall's fellow students at NCCU who have done that.

Anonymous said...

Cash maligns Johnsville News because JN has pointed out that Cash has soft pedalled the false accuser's more negative tendencies and, despite being in possession of the facts, insists that a trial should take place-- he knows full well no indictments should even have been made. Now he willfully twists Joan's words to accuse us of racism while he mount a defense of black racism. We read you, Cash, loud and clear. I think there's a place for you at the Herald Sun editorial page. sic semper tyrannis

Anonymous said...

Cash, whines that CBS 60 Minutes took up the cause of the Duke 3. Perhaps its jealousy. After all, Ed Bradley had distinguished himself as a premier black journalist and he spoke with unmistakable conviction that the accused were innocent. That's just something Michaels can't handle. If the truth be known, Michaels wants his "pound of flesh" as well. Liestoppers keep up the great reporting.

Anonymous said...

In supporting the Duke lacrosse players, Cash says we "disrespect Black Durham's vision and interests." Is that how Cash sees the criminal justice system -- as a symbolism machine?

This false prosecution is inflicting enormous pain on innocent human beings. To continue it for symbolic reasons is despicable. Cash clearly knows the truth here -- that the case is a hoax -- but lacks the moral clarity to see beyond his own obsession with race. If it makes some black people feel better, he's perfectly willing to inflict pain on the innocent.

Anonymous said...

Liestoppers, stay the course.
There must be a change in venue.
If there isn't, the fix is in.

Anonymous said...

"This goes to show that justice can't be bought by a bunch of rich white boys from NY". This is a quote by Mr. Johnson, a former Democratic party official.

Cash. Your letter is way too long.

The above is a quote by one of your own and it's a racist remark. I've been reading Liestoppers a long time and that piece was the best one ever. No one thought Liestoppers was disrespecting the two white boys who were murdered. Quite the opposite. But you like to use the white boys when it suits your convience and then throw other white boys under the train when it suits you. You are the worst kind of racist. And you know better.

There are heroes and role models surrounding you that you choose to ignore. Ed Bradley was the best journalist on 60 minutes. He happened to be black. When viewers see him as a journalist first, well it says its all. The Duke 3 did not ask 60 Minutes to get involved. I 'm sure the families prefer their privacy. Bradley wantd to do the story and he did it becuase it was an important one. It looks like he gave every ounce of his last strength to the story. If the accused victim didn't want a clip of herself dancing on 60 Minutes, maybe she shouldn't have been working 2 weeks after the party.

How can you criticize the boys for hiring a stripper? It's a legitimate business isn't it? Weren't we supposed to feel sorry for the poor student, struggling to support her children? I certainly was sucked into it.

As far as Johnsville being a bottom feeder, I suggest you look in the mirror and look at your own reflection.

I will stop now because I don''t want this to be as long as your letter.

Anonymous said...

I guess if the boys had initially rejected the strippers when they arrived (because they were black), Cash would have called them "racist."

This is what being PC gets you...

AMac said...

A minor point. Cash Michaels wrote:

The sacrifices of Michael Schwerner, Andrew Goodman and James Chaney (whom you could only refer to as a"black man from Meridian," instead of at least briefly citing his work in the community) are revered in African-American communities across this nation...

This seems to imply that the post Michaels is responding to discusses Schwerner and Goodman by name--plus "a black man from Meridian."

From the text of that Liestoppers post:

[Picture caption:] "Michael Schwerner (rich white boy from New York), left, James Chaney, center, and Andrew Goodman (rich white boy from New York)"

[Text:] "The slain civil rights workers - Mr. Chaney, 21, a black man from Meridian, Miss., and two white New Yorkers, Mr. Schwerner, 24, a Cornell graduate, and Mr. Goodman, 20, who had attended Queens College - were participating in what became known as Freedom Summer, the climax of an intensive voter-registration drive in the South."

The remainder of the post focuses on the circumstances of the crime and the identity of the killers, rather than on the good deeds performed by those they murdered.

So it is a bit hard to see why Cash Michaels takes offense at this aspect of the Liestoppers post.

Anonymous said...

Cash,

P.S.

The lax players and their families did not set bail. The DA recommended it to the judge. The amount of $400,000 was excessive. One of the boy's family has to borrow the money. Remember? Only later was it reduced to $100,000 in line with reality.

As far as attorneys, the law says they are entitled to legal representation. They hired some of the finest attorneys available in the area. What parent wouldn't given what doing on in Durham?

Anonymous said...

What parent wouldn't do absolutely everything to keep their son out of jail in a town where many people were looking for vigilante justice--I would be scared to death to be in a jail in Durham under those circumstances. Nifong purposely set that outrageously high bail to establish the wealth of those parents, and keep that perception of rich, white Duke parents and sons in the public eye. He has calculated every move he has made.

Anonymous said...

Mr. Michaels,

It is a wasted opportunity that 'veers off course' at this juncture;

"Blacks felt strongly that if the same allegations were made against a local Black college team, Nifong would have had everyone locked up until those DNA results came back......So there was already a feeling that the Duke lacrosse team members were the beneficiaries of special treatment, and Nifong was held responsible for it"

The position you describe seeks to lower the bar for "our" expectations of justice, not to raise it.

Why the leadership within black community, as you describe their position above, do not levergae the Duke Hoax to insist on fair treatment from the DA and the larger legal system is beyond my understanding.

I can't think of a moment where such opportunnity existed for white and black communities to join forces - to fight for fair legal treatment.


Hopefully, leadership will see the light, and move forward and not stand still.

Tom W.

Anonymous said...

Cash if you are going to be racist, than please be a good one. I'm sooy you only see things one way, and that is through the ways of the past.

It's time to come to understand some women (not myself) use the word rape as a form of "EXTROTION" and CGM's co-workers are turning aagainst her now.

Anonymous said...

"there are many on your side who feel now's their chance to unload all of their racial animus thanks to this case."

Sadly, this statement could be true of both 'sides'.

While I don't personally advocate taking 'sides' but do advocate for justice on the part of our DA.

Nifong who has previously maintained that the accusation itself was enough to take the case to court now amazingly says...

"If a case is of such significance that people in the community are divided or up in arms over the existence of that case, then that [b]in and of itself[/b] is an indication that a case needs to be tried," Nifong said.

Did he really say... evidence be damned, that the fact that the community is divided is probable cause to take this case to trial??

Anonymous said...

Let the courts decide if Nifong is wrong? How about next time there is a rape in Durham and Cash was anywhere around where it happened during the day, Nifong has him arrested and tried for that crime. Who cares if Cash has evidence to prove he wasn't there at the time. No DNA? Who cares, let a jury decide.

Anonymous said...

"Did he really say... evidence be damned, that the fact that the community is divided is probable cause to take this case to trial??"

Well, it sure looks to me that Nifong implied just that.

Anonymous said...

So many words, so few sound thoughts. I don't care about black/white; Duke/NCCU, rich/poor, minority/majority. I know that Nifong siezed the drunken accusations of a woman to avoid detox. That is where it began. Nifong used her like all of her paying customers. As a DA, he did not fulfill his sworn mission. He does not deserve the office.

Anonymous said...

Cash is full of it. If the roles in this fiasco were reversed there would have never been any indictments.

Anonymous said...

To 2:14:

Very well put. Nifong indicted without investigating. Nifong indicted without interviews. Nifong is now hoping to prove a crime even happened. The whole thing is backwards. You shouldn't be having trials without being sure the crime took place. Nifong is a runaway DA and no matter how often Cash needs to inject race, it has nothing to do with it. And he knows it. Now he's spinning to his own advantage and attempt at relevancy.

Anonymous said...

Cash is spinning for one reason. He knows there is no justification for this case. He knew it weeks ago. Cash lacked the courage to take a stand. He showed himself weak and in the service of agendas greater than the truth.

Now, he hides behind race and bluster.

He has no relevance anymore. He and cousin Jackee can exit , stage left.

Anonymous said...

"But to take the errant comments of one or two people, and twist them into some kind of blanket communitywide racial hatred"
Cash, you do this in everything you write. You do it when you find the most outrageous comments on ABC 11 and "twist them into some kind of blanket communitywide racial hatred."

You do it when you take the "white cotton shirt" comment, which you repeat without its context as an answer to Kim's slur...and you try to try "to twist it into some communitywide racial hatred" by the WHOLE Lacrosse team.

You try to make Collin, Reade, and Dave responsible for someone ELSE'S comment, made when at least two of them were not present...but, on the other hand, in your mindset, Mr.Johnson is not accountable for what comes out of his very own mouth.

Why? Because of the color of Mr. Johnson's skin?

What other reason for your double standard?

Anonymous said...

Everyone needs to remember here that this case is about a rape. Liefong was the one who turned it into a racist issue, plain and simple. He did it by exposing an e-mail that had no revelence to the case. The 'accuser' NOT once recognized the writer as being at the party. He did it to enrage a community . He did it by lying about the racist remarks. (Yes, there was ONE, and it is inexcusable, as witnessed by the neighbor.) He did it by going on national TV and giving interviews about 'facts' he did not even have yet. He did it by trying to press the issue of 'wealth' with his bond amount. (MANY, MANY players on the team are from lower and middle class hard working families) Coincidence they were NOT the indicted, think not.
Ask Devon Sherwood, NONE of these lacrosse players are racist. They abhor racism. They abhor any act of violence against women.
This case should be about facts. Period! The fact is these boys ARE innocent. They have all passed lie detector tests. Why is Liefungus so afraid to test the 'accuser'? Why is he so afraid to even talk to her?
This case continues to be a travesty of justice but it is a foremost about rape not racism.

Anonymous said...

Hey Cash, Do you remember these words? Sound familiar?

"I look to a day when people will not be judged by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character."

- Martin Luther King, Jr.

Anonymous said...

Hey Cash - why did you capitalize "Black" every time, but leave "white" in lower case?

Anonymous said...

Despite Cash's repeated statements, no one in the white community agrees that had the races of the accused and accuser been reversed the DA would have locked up the players by the end of the day. He would have us believe everyone who's black does believe the DA would have locked up 46 young black men with no evidence to support the allegation that a crime even was committed.

If the DA for some reason HAD locked up 46 young black men in these circumstances, would the rest of the black community now be saying "hey, what's wrong with letting a trial determine their guilt or innocence?"

And remember that it was the DA who made this into a racial crime and it's the black community who see it as a racial issue. The accused aren't saying "We're innocent because we're white and the accuser was black." But there are a many in the black community who are saying specifically that they believe the players are guilty just exactly because they are white and the accuser is black. So on which side is the racial animus here?

Cash -- understandably -- talks about the vile and racist remarks flying in this case. But the players aren't accused of making vile, racist remarks. They're accused of rape. You don't send innocent men to trial -- let alone prison -- because people other than they have made some vile racist comments. Is that so hard to understand?

Anonymous said...

Cash, to use your own words, which the way you wrote would infer that the team requested 2 AA dancers for their deviant pleasure, when the truth is, and you know it CASH, they requested two either white or hispanic dancers and did not request AA dancers. But CASH you won't admit that because it goes against your skewd views. They did not make this a white elitist abusing the sexuality of Black women, you and Nifong and the MSM did.

CASH your quote and words:

"commpare the disgraceful behavior of a predominately white university team at a drunken, perverted party - pictures of which were shown on "60 Minutes" and literally shocked, saddened and dismayed Durham's Black community (I know for a fact that those still pictures of the players sitting around, alcohol in hand, watching two Black women making out with each other for the pleasure of white males,"

Now that you finished reading what you wrote, CASH, please at this time apoligize to the team for furthering the "the team is racist" statement. What makes it worse is that you have just accused Liestoppers and all others of what you have just accomplished with that one statement.

Thank you.

Anonymous said...

Oh Cash. You've really lost your way. This case is about rape. Whether there was a rape and if these three players committed it. You've seen the evidence. Would you convict them of rape?

I sense you know they are innocent. I'm also beginning to sense that this fact disappoints you. So, in an effort to get the players to pay for something - such as things that have happened in the past - you have resorted to playing the race card. Instead of dispassionately following the evidence like Ed Bradley, you're attempting to turn the case into a referendum on race. All along, all you've wanted is your pound of white flesh. How sad.

Anonymous said...

Cash and Justice truly want this woman to have been raped. They want it desperately. They want it so they can use it to further there own cause. A decent woman and a real man would not want a woman to suffer a rape where she is a stripper or not. But you can't have it both ways. You can't take your clothes off every night for money, use a vibrator, have sex with your driver, leave your kids in the care of strange men and have your nakes boyd dragged in the driveway by your co-workers at a strip club and then come back with this I'm so sweet and innocent routine.

I am very naive. I have never been to strip club and I don't know anyone who has. Can someone please tell me what is a VIP room in a strip club. Is that a room when you have sex with a customer for money??????? Please advise.

Anonymous said...

"I know for a fact that those still pictures of the players sitting around, alcohol in hand, watching two Black women making out with each other for the pleasure of white males, may have locked in Nifong's Black vote".

What about the pictures of her at the black-owned, black managed Platinum Club, dancing for the pleasure of black males?

Color makes one demeaning and one fine with you, hypocrite Cash?

Your problem is that she danced for white males? Take it up with her Black "manager."

Anonymous said...

Cash is a racist. Can we just acknowledge that and move on to rational people, please?

Anonymous said...

Cash,

You would not be saying the same thing if it were 3 black men facing bogus rape allegations by a lying white prostitute…that’s where you lose credibility with rationally minded people. I’m more concerned with the evidence of this case…not the race of the individuals involved. You, sir, cannot say that.

I was born and raised in Durham…I’m not white…and I’m 100% confident that Precious (the inebriated, bi-polar, pill-popping, prostitute) is lying. Three men are being accused of a crime that, according to a mountain of exculpatory evidence, they didn’t commit, because some members of our community have a malevolent political agenda and certain individuals want some sort of retribution for past injustices. This is wrong in everyway and not something I’m willing to condone.

Go ahead and say what you want about the wtvd11 forum…your animosity must be because most of us there feel that you’re full of sh*t. (The fact that you don’t even have the balls to censure Harris Johnson’s ignorant comments, only confirms our suspicions.) You, conveniently, forgot to mention the racist remarks coming from Precious’ delusional supporters on the wtvd11 forum (PJ, skatemd, and their sock puppets). In fact, you praise and encourage them…hell, you even join them. Whenever a black person stands up and shows support for the Duke 3, Precious’ supporters claim that they’re not being loyal to their race. They’re quickly labeled as “house negros,” “Toms,” and, as YOU like to call Jason Whitlock (of the Kansas City Star), a “homeboy sharecropper.” This is not about black loyalty or white loyalty…this is about right and wrong…at least it is to me. Cash, if you feel that I’ve been hard on Precious and her enablers…you ain’t seen nothing yet.

Btw…we’re still awaiting your response to Stuart Taylor’s allegations…

http://forums.go.com/abclocal/WTVD/thread?threadID=136728

Thanks for your time,
~krddurham

Anonymous said...

Is the Platnium Club a club that men of all races frequent or is in predominately black men? Can a local please inform us.

Anonymous said...

7:57

Yes, the Platinum club in Hillsborough is predominately black.

Anonymous said...

Chances are Cash has done a little "up close and personal" news reporting himself in Hillsborough. He seems to be an apologist for the morally bankrupt "exotic dancing"(prostitution) industry.

Anonymous said...

To 4:22. I emailed that very question to Cash a couple of months ago as it jumped out at me in his writings as well. Following is an excerpt from his response.

"Regarding your question about Black and black, there really is no mystery.

First some background - as you may know, people of African descent living here in North America, regardless of how they got here, have been called many names, few of which we really liked because we were being define by someone else.

Negro, colored, and worse would fall under that that category.

Then, after the civil rights movement of the 1960's, we decided that we wanted to define ourselves for the first time ever. So the terms "Black" and "Afro-American" were devised. Yes we were American citizens, no doubt, but we hadn't always enjoyed the fruits of that citizenship, meaning we were never really allowed to define ourselves in terms of heritage and culture like other proud ethnic groups did.

"Black" served that purpose, and it defined what we did - Black music, Black art, Black or soul cooking, Black athletes. For the world, the term represented a style of doing things that could be shared with everyone.

Later on, the US Census Bureau adopted "black' as an official category for Black people.

It was back in the eighties when our self-definition evolved further, just as it did for Irish-Americans, Chinese-Americans and Italian-Americans.

The term "African-American" replaced "Afro-American" (primarily because the majority really weren't wearing Afros anymore), which spoke even louder to heritage, like "Black" maintained its status as speaking to culture and heritage.

And so today, the two terms are interchangeable in our writing and speaking.

So, when I'm referring to someone by category out of necessity, namely the victim or perpetrator, i use "black."

But when I'm referring to someone who shares in both culture or heritage, my preference is for "Black." And since I'm writing to Black people, about Black people, then I employ the exact same point of institutional privilege that any industry or arm of government has - I capitalize the term being held in esteem.

So whereas I might write "the president of the United States," which is correct, White House stationary always capitalizes the "P." Same with "mayor," "City Council," or the "Board" in other government documents."

Anonymous said...

Let's be clear - it was the Black community that made this a case about race. It was Nifong pandering to the Black community that turned volume of the racial anger to "11".

Three college students attended a party where two strippers were performing. That's not unusual and it's not wrong. It's natural. It's even healthy.

At this point, having heard a good bit of evidence, these three kids are so clearly innocent of the crime of rape that the only real question remaining is: What are the motives of those who still wish to have them tried?

Nifong is wrong for indicting them for the crime of rape. The Black community is wrong for indicting them for the sole crime of being white in Durham, North Carolina.

Anonymous said...

It is very telling that the LAX players assisted the passed out accuser to the car while the club manager dragged her out to lie in the gravel parking lot.

Anonymous said...

please. only one duke player was helping her. the others were taking photos of her laying on the steps. that was shown on 60 minutes. cash is right, a lot of black people were angry at the photos on 60 minutes and the case became racial once it was known how the players called them racial epithets. and for those of you on here saying the accused did not use racial epithets, you have not been reading about the accuser's statements posted on the smoking gun because she alleges those raping her called her a n----b---. so much for that theory that the duke 3 were not involved in racial hostility as the victim says they were cursing her while they were raping her. just so you know, she says reade started it off with oral, then broke it off(must have been to start his alibi) and then she was raped and sodomised by finerty and then evans. check it out.

Anonymous said...

Hard to beleive that the 'accused' called her anything racial because they did not rape, sodmize or do anything to her. Those racial slurs are as fictious as her allegations of rape. IT IS SO OBVIOUS THAT THIS 'woman' HAS LIED!!! Is it that hard for the AA community to believe one of their own has lied to them? Read the facts NOT the lies!!

Anonymous said...

Maybe it was only one...who cares...the point is that they helped her NOT dragged her.
In retrospect, thank goodness that these boys did take pictures of her passed out. It helps in the exposing the 'accusers' FANTASTIC LIES!!!

Anonymous said...

4:15am - which one of her stories are you relying on for your point? The I was not raped, raped by 20 or 5 men? The part about being torn away from Kim, was that the part? Where is the physical evidence of being sodomised? Just the short list of non-evidence that you quoted. Thank you.

Anonymous said...

7:56am, Rather than admit the accuser is lying the AA community I presume expects a lap dancer/pole dancer/hooker to open her mouth a sing Amazing Grace. They should be more concerned that her lies have damaged the entire community. If they want to waste energy on their concern for the accuser, it would be more productive to direct it to the welfare of her children who are being abused by this woman.

Anonymous said...

bait and switch by Cash.

Anonymous said...

Mr. Michaels,
You indicated that innocent black defendants are forced through the trial system, and these Duke boys who are demonstrably innocent of the charges against them deserve no less. You have the attention of many people who are extremely interested in the integrity of our justice system. Would you care to offer specifics about current or recent black defendants who have been subjected to the kind of treatment the Duke Three have faced? Many on this site have indicated their concerns about the integrity of our justice system. Many, I believe, want fairness and would like the opportunity to understand on a detailed level the problems currently outraging the Black community. They must be extreme. What else could possibly explain the desire to see three people with much highly persuasive exculpatory evidence put through the trial process based on the accusation of a deeply troubled person with no credibility? Why not use this platform for your own innocence project? Perhaps it already exists. If it does, could you point the way for me? Thank you.

Anonymous said...

There goes Cash again, speaking for the Blacks in Durham, arrogant in his view of how and why Blacks behave as they do, another Jesse Jackson , Al Sharpton wannabe. He sees the Blacks, not as individuals, but as a group or mob with its own identity. A sub-nation of easily led sheep. The most powerful force in the modern world is racism. Look it in the eye and you'll see Blacks and the U.S. Left condemning Israel and Zionists when Arab States attacked Israel in 1967. You saw in the 70's when the Communist Angela Davis went to trial for her role in the Black panthers kidnap in the courthouse,
and shotgun killing of a Chicago
judge. Blacks and the U.S. Left said the only way whites could prove they weren't racist was to acquit Davis, and she was guilty and acquitted. And then there was OJ. And then the Bronx, where 70 % of Black criminal defendants who go to trial are found not guilty, while in the rest of the U.S. 95% are found guilty. So, don't delude yourself if you have Black friends. All objectivity and rationality vanishes when it comes to race. And while Chan Hall may be one of a few who actually stated that infamous thought, sadly almost all my Black friends and acquaintances share Hall's sentiments. They want a trial and a conviction, no matter what. What should be clear now to non-Blacks is that when each of us looks within ourselves we know now that we, individually, are not the racists. That line separating good and evil passes right through each person's heart, and non-Blacks should realize that we have overwhelmingly made the choice to not be evil racists.

Anonymous said...

(sigh)
CGM is a liar.
In her statement, she said that:
A)RS was there thoughout the rape
B)He helped get her dressed (w/Kim)
C)He helped her to the car.
The only problem with these lies, is that RS was long gone, and can prove it.
People can continue to fabricate stories to help the liar,
but her own words prove she is a false accuser.

Anonymous said...

To 12:18:

Of course you're right. We can cloud the case with claims of racial slurs and debauchery, but the truth remains: there is no evidence of a rape; especially by those accused. End of story.

Anonymous said...

Cash,

This has always bugged me and I have always wondered where Al Sharpton has been because he is always leading the way when there is a percieved injustice against AA at the hands of white yet he has not gotten involved in this case. Why is that?

Anonymous said...

to 1:32,
I've often wondered what became of Al and Jesse once the evidence came rolling in. On the other hand if the colors were reversed here, given the same lack of evidence does anyone doubt Al and Jesse would be screaming loudly? And even more disturbing, does nyone doubt tha the Feds would have intervened by now?

Anonymous said...

Get your facts straight. You are wrong about the indicted boys not spending even 10 seconds in jail. They are still waiting to be interviewed by the police department. We don't even know if 1 of them was even there.

Anonymous said...

first let me set the record straight.

There have been many letters written to the Attorney General's office in NC. I have personally spoken to one of the A.A.G's on September 22 the same day the young men had a court date.

There has been no less than three letters sent to the department of justice.

And Al Sharpton said in an interview on CNN that the reason we don't see him in Durham attached to Jackson's hip is because Sharpton doesn't believe the FA at all and he even said it.

He wished Jesse Jackson all the best,because he "Sharpton" had the Twanna B. case slammed in his face.

Jesse has been down in Durham, he is paying for the FA to continue her education, in the field of law.

Anonymous said...

As a group, black people are by far the most racist people on earth, seeing virtually EVERYTHING through a prism of race, and a "pack-mentality" contest of black versus white. In fact, you can ask the average black person WHY they vote Democrat, and instead of giving you a policy explanation concerning ideology, they'll say "because Republicans are racist". Obviously, the Democratic party understands this, because every election season they trot out the Confederate Flag debate, which of course fires up the black electorate. Blacks are the Democrats' "house negroes", always doing as they're told.

Amazingly, Muhammed Ali even successfully turned blacks against Joe Frazier and George Foreman simply by portraying them as agents of "the white man", which they weren't.

In the Duke Rape Hoax, blacks are completely unconcerned with the facts of the case, they have defined the anti-Nifong forces as "white", so therefore they take the anti-white position, giving Nifong 95% of the black vote. It's really quite predictable.

And what's funny is...as much as blacks like to say "We Are Not A Monolith"...they ARE monolithic in many ways. Of course, the ones who do NOT follow the black group-think are called "uncle Tom's" or "oreos".

I'd like to go on record right now...and I hope that others will follow my lead...as saying that IF the accuser was white, and IF the accused were black, and all else held constant...I would be JUST AS ADAMANT that the rape charges be dropped, that the accuser be arrested for making false charges, and that Mike Nifong be removed from office.

Will any of you Nifong-supporters go on record and say that IF the accuser was white and IF the accused were black, you would STILL want this case to go to trial???

One more thing...Cash Michaels, you are a disgrace. You are so utterly fearful of infuriating your readers by speaking the truth, that you engage in fence-sitting double-speak of the worst kind. How sad that you have such low regard for your own manhood. Perhaps you witnessed the rage with which blacks turned on Geraldo when he dared say OJ was guilty. Oh well, you have no soul, but at least you still have your readers.

Anonymous said...

Hey Cash, has it ever occured to you that Ed Bradley might have been trying to get the truth out to Black people. That they were being manipulated by a White guy who was going to drag them right down into the mud.

Anonymous said...

Cash, your hysterical screaming like a sissy indignation is ludicrous. Learn how to read. There was no outrageous Schwerner and Goodman comparison to the Duke lacrosse team. And it was not suggested or implied that Harris Johnson's racist remark meant that Durham blacks hate slain civil rights workers. Maybe the point was that it is wrong to prejudge someone based on the color of their skin and/or their economic status. You know be fair, like the presumption of innocence that you brothers gave to Michael Jackson. He is rich, white, from up North, and he likes boys. Well that's a bad example because he did buy justice for himself. Anyway, you should have listened to Jesse and stayed in school. You are not fooling anyone, Cash. You didn't write that diatribe all by yourself. Anyone who has seen your previous work knows that even that crap is above your skill level.

Anonymous said...

After this case is over, there will be one more special interest group left holding the bag...women. I am old enough to remember the days when the the public and the courts were quick to assume that women were asking for it when they claimed they were raped. Fortunately, society progressed, laws were enacted, and rape crisis evolved into a medical specialty.
What this woman's false accusations will do to this progress remains to be seen, but it certainly won't help. Rape crosses all racial bariers. It won't help white women, black women, brown women, or any other color woman.
Go ahead and stake your territory for the black community, but remember that black women are part of that community. If you really want to help black women, you would write about their reality not the falsehoods told by one woman.

Anonymous said...

This case is about JUSTICE!!!
It is NOT about racism, it is NOT about economic status.
I find it amazing that the AA community still refuses to see the big picture here. READ THE FACTS!!
The 'accuser' has lied and the DA has USED, yes used, you people... like a pawn.
Simply asking...just open you minds and imagine yourself in this position...is it justice?

Anonymous said...

Cash is getting really old....