Save Tookie

The latest argument I've heard is that, beyond the crime for which he was convicted, Stan Tookie Williams is responsible for an incredible amount of death and gang violence as founder of the Crips gang. So I suppose this means he's getting what's coming to him.

But this exposes a real contradiction about capital punishment. If we reserve this ultimate punishment for the worst crimes, and "worst crimes" is really about actions that inflict the most human suffering, why are our American death rows full of poor people, a disproportionate number of people of color, and people who were all relatively powerless?

Most Americans are more at-risk for death and suffering from unsafe workplaces, pollution caused by industry, or health problems caused by smoking, toxic chemicals, and fattening foods. So, why aren't the powerful, mostly white, very wealthy CEO's of corporations that cause all this human suffering on death row?

How many Americans have been killed in unnecessary wars (Vietnam, Iraq, etc.) in the last 50 years, and how many have been killed by gang violence?

Is there a single police officer on any death row anywhere in this country convicted for killing an unarmed person while on duty?

The death penalty is not about keeping us safe. It is about continuing to lynch people of color in a time when it is unacceptable to hang us from a tree. It is about keeping the masses of poor, working people in their place. It is about making rich, white Americans feel safe, whether or not it actually makes them safer. And, it is about satisfying the appetites of sick politicians and district attorneys.

Besides the problems with Tookie's trial and the fact he has changed and now speaks out against gang violence, he should not be executed because it would only bolster our backward, racist system of capital punishment. If you are in Northern California, please try to get to San Quentin Monday night.