Circuit Judge Evelyn Clay: I Agree

A story in the Chicago Tribune reported that Judge Evelyn Clay has recently stated three times in her court room during jury selection that she will not have all white juries. When a few people seemingly raised a stink she apologized for being blunt but stood by what she believed would result in fair proceedings by a jury of peers. Her exact words, "I don't seat all white jurors."

Blunt? It is 2005 and people thought what she said was blunt? She is an African American woman who has become a judge in a system that has historically been the systemic deconstruction of the black identity. Thank-you Ms. Clay for being the honorable Judge clay. Thank you for standing up to a system that has never repented of its fiasco in the Emmett Till trial or even Greensboro, North Carolina. Thank-you for realizing that a jury of our peers in 2005 will be diverse in its ethnicity.

In my opinion the more diverse our juries the more fair they will become.

But about being blunt, I wonder if you haven't been blunt enough. Still in 2005 the majority of white people in this country has never repented for the systemic racism that has destroyed the African American family. We (the white community) have never repented for separating black slaves, forcing women to breed like cattle and men to be the studs in an effort for genetically strong slaves. We have never repented for the countless rapes that took place among slaves a hundred years ago. The systematic destruction of the family that white slave owners did 150 years ago still have devastating affects on the African American community today.

However, all around us we see those communities crawling out from under our curse. In spite of the limp we may have given them they have not given any excuses and have risen to become a beautiful, strong, and intelligent people.

No Ms. Clay it is not you who needs to apologize, but your critics and the courts of America for its injustice. But to those who are offended by your comments because they have little toleration for people who call a spade a spade, they owe you the apology for beating around too many bushes....lousy lawyers.