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racism

Sometimes My Inbox Leaves Me Speechless

I wasn’t sure how to deal with this particular bit of email so I thought I’d share it with y’all without commentary.

Or maybe with commentary… I really haven’t decided yet… Anyhow this is from my inbox, unedited except to remove phone numbers. What can you possibly say to someone who sees the world this way?

Jessica Gottlieb

re: Story idea.

Dear Jessica,

Last week, a columnist at TheHill.com wrote an open letter to Matt Drudge asking him to stop reporting stories involving racial violence.

As the mother of a son who was recently almost killed at the hands of a black mob, I say this violence happens more than is reported.

And we need to hear about it when it does.

The people who beat my son were never arrested. I put up a web site to bring them to justice. Justice for Trevor

There is also a good book on it: White Girl Bleed a Lot: The return of racial violence and how the media ignore it.

We need more reporting on this. Not less.

And that is why I wrote this article for Matt Drudge.

I recognize this is a difficult topic for a lot of reporters. Maybe that is the best reason of all for talking about it without generalities. Without stereotypes. But with facts. Which is what this commentary does.

If you find this interesting, give me a call.

Sincerely,

Sherry Godfrey

Springfield, Missouri

417.xxx.xxxx

p.s. Here is a story about our experience. Justice For Trevor Godfrey in Springfield, Missouri.

DEAR MR. DRUDGE: 

Please keep telling the truth about racial violence

by Sherry Godfrey

Dear Mr. Drudge:

As the mother of a young man who was recently almost killed at the hands of black mob, I was a surprised to read a columnist pleading with you to stop reporting on racial violence.

Our family had no idea that racial violence happened so frequently — and ferociously. All over the country.

That is because it is so rarely reported.

If we would had known about it, maybe our family could have been spared almost a year of physical and mental torture.

That is why we need more reporting on this. Not less.

Our trip through hell began in January. Our son was a student at Missouri State University in Springfield when, next to his off-campus house, members of a Afro American fraternity were having a party. Also present were several members of the Missouri State University football team.

During previous – and frequent — parties there, several cars had been vandalized. So my son decided to go outside and move his. It was almost 2 a.m. and near his car a group of 20 black people gathered.

The next thing he knew, he was in the hospital with bleeding, head injuries, and missing teeth and facial lacerations.

We later found out this was the second attack from that party within 30 minutes. A few weeks later, many of the same people were at a different party where it happened again. This time the victim had been in a minor bike accident when someone from the party — 20 feet away — came over and extended a hand to help him up. Then he punched him in the face and walked away laughing.

All three attacks came in the presence of large groups of Afro-American people.

Despite the presence of dozens of witnesses, no one was arrested. Nor did the assaults rise to the level of newsworthiness in the local press.

After several months of official inaction, I started investigating the crimes myself.  So did one of the other moms. We learned from police reports and our own phone calls who was at the parties and who saw what doing what.  This information was handed over to the School officials as well as the Police.  Neither seemed interested enough to even question many of the parties listed in the police reports.  After 9 months of inaction, I decided my only hope was to get the story out there on my own.

I posted it on a web page: JusticeinSpringfield.com. My family is hoping someone will come forward and say something.

But I also learned that black mob violence is an increasingly common — and ignored — fact of life in this country.

It happens in big cities where you might expect it: Philadelphia, Chicago, New York, Baltimore, Washington, Detroit and Los Angeles. It also happens in places that are not generally thought of as centers of urban violence: Minneapolis, Milwaukee, Portland, Seattle, San Francisco. It happens on college campuses. It happens in small towns like Peoria, Champaign, and now Springfield, Missouri. It happens to women, gay people, and  Asians.

A lot of it is on video. Still people deny it.

In Philadelphia, a social worker said it was just kids “blowing off some steam.” In Chicago, the Superintendent of Police blamed  Sarah Palin. In Baltimore, they focus their investigation on what the victims did to provoke the assault.

Others say it is not happening; then say the black mob violence is some kind of Karmic pay back for 400 years of white oppression.

The deniers are just as evil as the predators.

If you have never been to Springfield, there might be a  reason: Not much happens here. It is the home of Brad Pitt and Bass Pro Shops. It is a quiet and safe place to raise a family. So we thought.

After learning more about this epidemic of racial violence — well documented in Colin Flaherty1s White Girl Bleed a Lot: The return of racial violence and how the media ignore it, and in the news site WND.com — I asked the police officers investigating the assault on my son if this had ever happened before in Springfield.

“All the time,” he said.

But no stories in the paper.

Newspaper editors and police administrators are scared to death of reporting on black mob violence. Many even say so. One accusation of racism can kill a career and they know it.

As a result, the attackers are bolder. Even less concerned with getting caught. So it grows.

Today people are dying. Or in the case of my son, almost dying and still suffering.   As is our entire family.  We didn’t know about the epidemic of racial violence until we read Flaherty1s book and his news stories in

WND.com. Now we do.

Other families need to know as well. On behalf of them, Mr. Drudge, I ask — I plead — please keep telling the truth.

And to other media outlets around the country, I also have a request of you: Please start.