Serial Murder, Society and the “Throwaway,” People

As a true crime author I analyze, research and write about crime. By virtue of the title, I should be able to write about any type of crime and gain recognition, right? However, due to America’s infatuation with murder, most of my books and publishing center around, what we in Illinois regard as class X felons. I mean, I could probably write about Leroy the crackhead or dimebag Dave or the time Lil Jessie got caught with one rock, but who cares about that? No, our society has a love affair with the darkest crime of them all, the taking of another person’s life.

For every crime written about, research is done. In my book “The Darker Side of Evil,” I speak of society’s “throw away,” people. Throwaway people are the drug addicts, street walkers and homeless people that we see but don’t see every day. Most of us have at least one of these people in our family. The person we hope won’t show up to family gatherings; or if they do, you are prepared for them to stink or to beg, or both. The person in the family that no one knows where they are most of the time, that is until we get a call from another family member or law enforcement notifying the next of kin of the person’s untimely demise.

The city of Chicago is no stranger to the serial murderer. The Roseland area of Chicago has been experiencing the effects of living among a serial killer for the better part of 20 years now. In the late 90’s into 2000’s, Geoffrey T. Griffin took the lives of 7-8 women from the area. More recently, Michael Johnson, a 6 foot 4 220 lb. 27 year old was arrested and stands accused of murdering at least 4 women. In both cases it is highly suspected that these men have committed many more murders than what’s known.

As in most serial murders, the targets of each of these killers were street walkers. Had the media provided adequate coverage of these crimes, lives that were lost may have been saved? However, if we as a community exhibit a lackadaisical attitude toward the victims of these heinous crimes, so will the media. One reason the media provides minimal coverage, if any, in reference to these crimes is our disinterested attitudes concerning the victims. Feeding off of the standpoint of society and the community, the murderer themselves take on the mindset that they are doing the world a favor by ridding the community of these individuals. These women are daughters, sisters, many of them mothers. But most of all they are human beings. Regardless of what kind of lifestyle they have chosen for themselves. They have a right to live just as you and I have.

The Prey

As communities, real communities we have to claim our own, no matter of their current plight. These murderers only exist and operate because we allow them to. It is our failure to watch out for the members of our neighborhoods. We are not to look down upon, but look across at the faces that make up our neighborhoods and when a member is no longer being seen in his or her normal areas, inquire about their wellbeing. Don’t get in their business, but take a moment to ask a known associate of theirs about their friend. History has shown that if we don’t claim our own, there is something waiting in the darkness that will.

Criminal Justice System Legalizes Discrimination

For over 3 decades the criminal justice system has legalized and practiced blatant discrimination in the form of mass incarcerations aimed at Black communities, and society has applauded their efforts. Not since the days of slavery has America seen such a mass incarceration of a people. In 1982 the “War on Drugs” was declared by President Ronald Reagan. Americans initially expected to see arrest after arrest of large drug cartels and importers, this was not the case. What did follow, for more than three decades, was an incredible amount of arrests of Blacks by local law enforcement for petty drug offenses. According to federal records, there were no Blacks arrested for the transport and wholesale sale of narcotics. In fact only 33% of those arrested for ANY drug related offenses were Black, yet 73% of those serving time for those same offenses were Black. According to a 1998, University of Georgia study, Blacks receive sentences and average of 6 months longer than non-Blacks for the same crimes. According to Federal statistics, due to crack's prevalence in predominantly Black neighborhoods the sentencing for “crack” convictions are 3 times as long as the sentencing for “cocaine” convictions. For those that don't know, (cocaine+baking soda+ heat=crack), it's the same substance. For the last 30 years Blacks have been incarcerated at a rate that would make Jim Crow himself proud.

After the arrest comes the arraignment. Courts across the country are backlogged with cases of Blacks arrested for otherwise, “ticketable” offenses. During this period, the Blacks accused usually cannot afford competent representation, in these cases a public defender is appointed. Public defenders, present the defendant with the possibility of an exorbitant amount of time that the defendant may be sentenced to if a loss in trial is sustained. Therefore, in lieu of spending a great deal of time in prison, the defendant will plea bargain by pleading guilty to a crime to receive a lighter sentence, thus giving up any rights to appeal. The innocence or guilt of the defendant is never a factor in these situations. Local governments and law enforcement agencies directly gain from these incarcerations. Predominantly white communities, where prisons are built, count these inmates as citizens thereby reaping the benefits of these mass incarcerations through federal funding, just as the communities from which these men come lose funding, the men become disenfranchised and families destroyed.

The legal discrimination doesn't stop there. These same individuals are expected to make a way for themselves though they are no longer eligible for basic human rights. Housing and employment possibilities are all but diminished. These ex-offenders are not placed in a precarious position. This person, arrested and convicted for a punitive,non-violent offense that he should have been ticketed for, (if he is guilty of a crime at all) is now labeled a felon. This label permits every form of discrimination imaginable. Doors that were opened through the civil rights movement are closed, legally. The ineligibilities that come with this label is innumerable. Next the essence of manhood is proverbially stripped from this individual through his inability to handle his responsibilities, thereby making the next step practically inevitable, the re-offense which starts the cycle again.

Due to this, "War on Drugs" there are currently more Blacks under correctional control than there were enslaved 170 years ago. Surely one cannot truly believe that African-Americans are on a 30 year crime spree. To eliminate this mass incarceration, society will have to first acknowledge its existence and we as a people must lead by example and not continue to ostracize these members of our community. Through future blogs, ways to break this cycle will be covered, not by way of hair-brained schemes or by becoming radical militants, but by utilizing sound business practices combined with the act of thinking outside of “the box”.Through determination and hard work, ex-offender's can and will realize economic recovery and financial independence and no longer be seen as “casualties of war”.