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| Marcus in Rome…
Marcus is his name. And, he’s now almost 20, living in a small prison cell somewhere near his hometown of Rome, Georgia. Rome, Georgia…the words bring to mind pictures of historical monuments and beautiful art; but for most people in the state of Georgia, the name evokes something closer to a shake of the head, a sneer or a blunt statement: “You don’t want to be there after dark.” Marcus was born and raised there. The tall, dark, handsome young man is a picture of “the boy next door.” Despite his fresh, good looks and his athletic build, Marcus is soft-spoken, amazingly articulate and from all reports, highly intelligent. He maintained a 4.0 grade point most of his high school years. Why, then, one might ask, did he end up behind bars after a made-for- television rape trial that turned into a child molestation conviction? The answer, in a nutshell, is that Marcus lived in Rome, Georgia and the girl he agreed to meet for sex, was a sixteen -year old white girl. It’s a long story, but one that Bryant Gumbel synopsized so brilliantly this past week on MSNBC’s “Abram’s Report”, that somebody should be already sending his name in for an Emmy. Marcus’ conviction, as Gumbel’s story imparts, is a prime example of a crime not fitting the punishment; and, about how quickly young black men’s lives can be changed when youthful errors in judgment, mixes with a racially-tainted judicial system. But, the larger story, here, is predicated on yet another fact: Young Marcus either forgot, or was never told, the ugly part of America’s history. While the fact that Marcus doesn’t judge a book by its color is to be lauded; given Rome, Georgia’s racial history, his color-blind attitude might very well have been his undoing. Rome, Georgia has a very dark history (pun intended.) Most in the white community don’t cater to the mixing of the races. Some there can hardly stomach the fact that there are “other” races residing there. Marcus’ parents, seemingly nice white Georgians, learned that hard lesson, too. The young couple applied for legal guardianship of the young boy when he was just 12 years old. Marcus’ adoptive father, who was his baseball coach, first; said, he saw something special in the boy, and sought legal advice about adopting. A friend suggested legal guardianship, rather than adoption. The parents, from all indications, are good-hearted southern folk who do a thing because it’s the right thing to do. Rome, Georgia, however, is probably not the most likely place to do a thing simply because it’s the right thing to do - especially when it involves white parents adopting a black child. The couple experienced racist taunts, and the loss of support from families and friends. They, in fact, were relegated to the role of outcasts - in a community they’d called home all their lives. The story of Marcus in Rome, Georgia touched my heart like few television stories have. But, while I was grieving for the young man’s unfair conviction; my husband pointed out an even more sobering fact: America’s jails and prisons…and, grave yards, are filled with human testaments to a judicial system that is still less than fair. Thousands of young black boys have been convicted unfairly… many killed without a fair trial, based solely on the words of one hate-filled white man, or maybe one desperate white woman. Marcus’ story reeked of racism: the accuser who reportedly told a friend that her father, an avowed racist, would kill both her and Marcus if he learned about their sexual escapade; the prosecutor, who fought so diligently to see Marcus behind bars, then contended, with a straight face that the conviction was not racially motivated; the judge, who, in spite of the extenuating circumstances in this case, still saw fit to send the boy to prison for 10 years without parole; and, even the jurors, who felt obligated to send up a guilty verdict on a child-molestation case, though they believed the sex was consensual. Marcus’s story, in the end, was a painful reminder of the lessons we, in our comfort with progress, often forget: That our journey toward justice and freedom, is just that. That the scales of justice…certainly in America’s South, are still not as balanced as we all would like to believe. And, finally, that even in this 21st Century, we must continue to teach our children about our pasts, which, in the end. instructs our present. What was taboo in all of America, yesterday; is still taboo in much of America…certainly in Rome, Georgia. Janis F. Kearney is a Chicago writer, former journalist and diarist to President Bill Clinton. A Harvard W.E.B. Du Bois Fellow, she is currently completing William Jefferson Clinton: From Hope to Harlem; and a personal memoir, Cotton Field of Dreams. Kearney Communications 5138 S. Kenwood Ave.#2 Chicago, IL 60615 (773) 493-2007 --ph (773) 493-5747 -- fax janisfk@aol.com |
