by Dr. Boyce Watkins, Syracuse University – Scholarship in Action
Raquel Nelson lost her 4-year old son on April 10, 2010 when they were hit by a driver who left the scene. Jerry Guy, the driver, was later found by police and admitted to driving under the influence of alcohol and pain killers when the accident took place. He was also blind in one eye.
Guy had a prior record of serious convictions, including two hit-and-runs in the past. After serving six months of his five-year sentence, he was set free.
This week, the mother of the two children crossing the street that day is also facing charges. Ms. Nelson was convicted of three charges, including reckless conduct, improperly crossing a street and second-degree homicide by vehicle. Each misdemeanor is punishable with up to 12-months in jail, giving her a possible three years in prison.
As the story has been reported, Nelson’s son started to walk across the street too fast, and she followed him. That’s when Guy’s car hit Nelson, her son and her daughter. Her son died soon after.
Nelson, who is black, was convicted by an all-white jury.
I find myself in agreement with Radley Balko of the Huffington Post, who says, “Prosecutors have a great deal of discretion over when to bring charges, and over what charges they bring. If those in the office of Solicitor General Barry Morgan are charging Nelson to punish her for her jaywalking, they’re misguided — it’s hard to conceive of a more potent punishment than the loss of a child. If their aim was to make an example of a devastated mother to prevent others from jaywalking, they’re delusional.”
One can’t make heads or tails over why any prosecutor’s office would want to send Ms. Nelson to prison for jaywalking, particularly given what she’s gone through. There is no shortage of outrageous prosecutions that take place in the south, including the state of Georgia, where African Americans fill the penitentiaries and make the state wealthy with slave labor.
Yes, jaywalking is illegal, but there are quite a few illegal activities that the prosecutor would not choose to pursue. I would suspect that it was the public nature of the case that led Attorney Barry Morgan to destroy the life of Ms. Nelson in order to make his point. As we are seeing all around the nation, poor single black women seem to make excellent scapegoats.
Dr. Boyce Watkins is a Professor at Syracuse University and founder of the Your Black World Coalition. To have Dr. Boyce commentary delivered to your email, please click here.
These prosecutors should be ashamed of themselves!! Why put this woman through more pain. It amazes me that these all white southern juries can move forward with a verdict like this and say race played no role. Thank goodness we live in post-racial America. WOW!!
Adding insult to injury!! Mashiste, I agree with your comment, except, living in a POST-RACIAL AMERICIA, Things are somewhat better, but there is still a long way to go. Racism is still alive and going strong, But on the job, in schools, in the court systems etc. They are finding different ways to do it.
I still beleive that there are two sets of laws on the book, one for the black race and one for everyone else.
I pray that this mother is not jailed, but it sound like is is having to abide by the real BLACKS law book.
It was a horrific experience for all. What struck me was that the laws of America are not designed to accomplish the stated goals. They seem to be to preserve the status quo-keep power in the hands of a few. That comes with the understanding that some in the powerless class co-sign this program. E. Franklin Frazier wrote of that in his seminal book, “The Black Bourgeoisie.” Victims do not change the outcomes of victimhood by participating in the enterprise
I saw this, this morning on the Today Show. It’s ridiculous!! Is there any way they can appeal it or anything? This woman has lost enough and now they’re going to take her away from her other two children for three years, but the man who did this got 6 months?! It’s insane.
It is my belief and understanding that in law, justice must be tempered with compassion.
Where is this justice and compassion.
Who is the victim here, Ms. Nelson OR the drunk one eyed driver with a track record of convictions including hit and runs.
Morphine, LSD and cocaine are called pain killers by druggies.
I know Ms. Nelson,s pain and anguish watching your child die
I too lost my first born to a driver high on marijuana who drove
his pick-up truck into my son’s car killing him on the spot.
Where is the law. what is the law. who does it seem to protect.
I would like to say… I sense your maternal pain as a result of your son’s death. I empathize with you. I pray for your comfort and relief from pain. May GOD bless & keep you.
May the Lord give you strength as you reflect on the loss of your own son…and may He intervene the injustice Ms. Nelson is going through.
I am seeing more and more African American women treated this way. Another genuis way to destroy the race.What to help? How?
Yes, it’s true. If you don’t have the money for right Lawyer, they will do just what they want to pretect there race.
Could any of these jurors relate to a single mother who had to rely on public transportion to scurry through the dark to get her family home.? A jury of her peers, I think not.
I saw this, this morning on the Today Show. It’s ridiculous!! Is there any way they can appeal it or anything? This woman has lost enough and now they’re going to take her away from her other two children for three years, but the man who did this got 6 months?! It’s insane.
I also found this petition to the Gov. of Georgia… I don’t know if it will help or not, but I don’t think it could hurt. There are already have over 73,000 signatures.
http://www.change.org/petitions/cobb-county-ga-release-grieving-mother-of-hit-and-run-install-a-crosswalk
Absolutely disgusting, bunch of animal white juries ,this unfortunate woman must protest ,get the media involved get the nation of islam involved,black panthers whatever it takes ,this type of crap is going on for too long ,black folks have to fight back.
This is Disgusting…..”As we are seeing all around the nation, poor single black women seem to make excellent authority is really taking their anger out on Blacks and abuse of their power….IF Casey Anthony can get away with murder and you have a Woman trying to save her child and she has to Jay walk in the process….we have MAJOR problems with the legal system……
I believe these incidents continue to happen in order to test the tolerance of Eric Holder and other African Americans who hold power in the justice system. Once they attempt to deal with these issues, the white power structure will begin to say “they (African Americans who hold power in the justice system) are using their influence and position to keep African Americans from having to face the letter of the law”. Although that was something they’ve done for the entire time this country has been in existence. Just think of all the crimes committed by caucasions that don’t get the intense response that continues to plague us. Its obvious Casey Anthony killed her child, and today she’s free, now here’s a woman who lost her child at the hand of an idiot who chose to drink while on prescription meds and is being sentenced to a possible 3 years. I say Eric Holder and other African Americans in the justice system need to pull up their pants and deal with these types of injustices and not care about what the white power structure says, and tell them that the inequality in the Justice system will no longer be tolerated.
no doubt the white drunken driver who actually murdered the child got less time than a mother who attempted to chase the child who darted out into the street. Where are our civil rights leaders when civil rights like these are being violated?
The fact that a one-eyed, drug induced, drunk driver is being held to no justice at all and that a prosecutor would make a case that a jay-waling mother is more lethal in society than this illegal driver is most definitely a “travesty of injustice”. What could an all white jury hear or comprehend from the mouth of a DA that anything that he’s expounding on is more of a detriment to the breaking of the law than his outright prejudice and bigotry in sequestering an all-white jury not in no way a jury of her peers in all fairness of law. A case of this injustice needs to be heard in a court of higher jurisprudence period.
Elected officials need to get themselves in the “limelight” by doing things which attract media attention. In my opinion, this is simply a highly calculated method by which this prosecutor is getting a media frenzy – thus putting his name and familiarity out there for the next election.
Smitty some elected officials or worse that that lawyer .Mr. West of Florida is a classi example.Our elected officials in Washington rather take from Medicare and Social Security than take from the big boys.We are getting the shaft all around
There is a blatant attack on Black women and their children. This case is one example, and the educational system here in GA is another. White folks have an agenda in order to preserve themselves and that is DESTROY, DESTROY, DESTROY.
Is anyone doing anything? What can be done? We need to write our congressmen, or start a writing campaign.
http://www.change.org/petitions/cobb-county-ga-release-grieving-mother-of-hit-and-run-install-a-crosswalk
I was thinking the same!I’m trying to figure out who to contact and what to say in the letter. I’m in Alabama. Are you from where this took place?
This is domination. This an example of a racist prosecutor imposing his will on a hurt, helpless and poor mother. The tragedy here is not only the misuse of power by an evil prosecutor but also the absence of protection by Black Lawyers. Where was the NAACP? Where were the Black lawyers? Jews would have represented a jewish mother free.
Black people will not receive justice in the Superior Courts of America. Justice will come at the Appellate level or beyond. The US Supreme Court should be the destination of all evil cases like this one. But there must be Black lawyers willing to represent poor Black people…to the death or forever whichever comes first.
Where are the Black lawyers like Johnny Cochran or Thurgood Marshall?
Instead of decreasing racial hatred grows more every day…
What in this world on this planet is it going to take for us to accept responsibility for our mistakes? Why are we all blaming our shortfalls on predjiduce? Taking more children out near busy intersections and streets than one person can retain control over their responsibility results in such trajedies and we need to hold one another accountable. This lady caused the death of her own child and it is not the jaywalking that is being punished. It is obviously the loss of this child’s life due to his mom’s not keep her children under control in such a dangerous enviornment as having them in the presence of busy city streets.
She is being used as an example for all races in America that parents will be held responsible for their bad choices and especially for causing the loss of the life of a child regardless if it is your own or that of another.
The white dude is never going to see the light of day ever again.
you sound ridiculous Mike and race plays a part just from the statement you made. the white dude gets 6mths where does that say he will not see the light of day. get the whole story and stop talking out your arse!
Mike you obviously live in world where there are no mistakes made or maybe you’re just the biggest dick headed dip-shit out there!
really Mike? the driver – who broke numerous laws, only got 6 months. Eventhe prosecuter concluded that even if she were in the crosswalk, this blind, drunk, high driver – with priors for hit and runs – would still have hit them. They are trying to giver hr 3 years when she shouldn’t be charged at all. obviously, you don’t have children, as sometimes they can get away from you. she was walking with her 2 children and one walked a little further and tried to cross the street. she went after him but this sicko hit them. how is this in any way her fault?
Wow- you’re really stupid and so disgusting. You are so stupid I wish I was nearby to pop you one for such a horrid comment. The number of children has nothing to do with control; busy intersections are just that busy, but as the driver of any vehicle you are personally responsible for the control of that vehicle which this person did not have under the influence and the fact that he is blind in one eye – it’s called VEHICULAR HOMOCIDE. You are blaming the mother – you must not be a parent and know less about human nature. I am appauld by your response – really and seething right about now. The other aspect of this ridiculous situation if the charge and the racist manner by whom she was convicted by: an all whte jury – what there are no other ethnic groups in this county. This situation is a assinine as your remarks and I pray that you never loose a child or loved one in a vehicle accident – then I want to hear or read about who you old responsible.
what a sad world we live in!!!! i dont know how anyone on the jury would be able to live with themselves if they put that poor woman in jail.
I think it’s crap when the juror for black people is all white and the juror for white people all black. It’s racist and we ALL know it. The same thing happened in North Carolina a few years back when a black man under the influence of drugs robbed a store and killed 2 people after he had already gotten the money. He never had a prior record but he did have head trauma years before and after undergoing psyciatric evaluation, was proven to be psychotic. He had an all white jury and even after people of the state complained about the all white jury, the judge didnt see anything wrong with it. He was given the death penalty. On the other hand, just last year a white boy was charged with shooting and killing a black boy over some drugs. The white boy was in his right state of mind he just wanted some drugs and when the boy told him he didnt deal anymore, he shot and killed him. Do you think he got the death penalty. Why no! He got 3 years in jail. Now tell me thats not racist. Tell me another thing about this woman, why was she charged with murder. She wasn’t the stupid drunk driver. What was he charged with, convicted of, and sentenced with? Drunk driving? Manslaughter? He was probably given 12 months too.
How shameful you get 6 months for drunk driving and she gets three years for a so called jaywalking charge when she was only attempting to make sure her child was not crossing the street by himself. What is this world coming too.
I just dont undersand the court system. Why would you want to put a woman in jail who has other siblings to care for. that only makes all the family be on some type of assistance to be taken care of.Get you on the SYSTEM and you will be right where they want you. Why not just give her a citation or warning instead of jail which they who locked her up will be paying for her to be incarcerated as well as her kids being on the system. I do believe that there are some racial action going on.
Fyi, the driver is black…so stop throwing the race card smh
Yes, Jerry Guy is a Black man, but I still believe her being charged and ultimately convicted had everything to do with race. With that said, I will agree that the race card is, at times, abused and over-used.
when are the victims of white supremacy going to get themselves together to destroy it. all this crying and praying to god ain’t gon git it?
I don’t know what to say,it’s wrong and sad.for one i see a lot of parents young ones allowed their babies to stand by the curb,stand by the door on the train and bus and they are not paying attendtion or just dam stupid.young people see babies as tiny adults now and love and care for a child will never change.i seen a lady old enough had a child,newborn in a small fold up stroller on a crowed bus in the doorway in the back of the bus.she was nowhere near the baby.the baby could have flew out. noone really knew till they started getting off in the back.stupid things like that.why?she were not holding her child hand.and our law is embrassing to ones who don’t believe in them.someone hit another person,thats murder thats it .this person had a history.he should have never been on the streets again.as for her,it’s not about unfair treatment,because she has to live with this on her.so many has been judge wrongly i know i am one.and money,power how you play the system matters.i can only hope she pull through.there’s no punishment that the judge make her sever,can compare to the lost of her child.our country laws is bad i am ashame to be a born and raise american.some have their color,how they look,views of life the way they live all against them.something has to give.our country laws in each state needs to change maybe we will have less crime if we do what other countries do to criminals that they know did wrong not assuming.this country i believe would be a better,safer place to live.
hi, nice to meet everybody