Troy Davis was executed on Sept.
21, pronounced dead at 11:08 p.m. Davis had been falsely convicted of the 1989 killing
of a Savannah police officer.
Since his trial, seven of the nine
witnesses who had testified against Davis recanted their testimony. Five
witnesses signed affidavits asserting that they were coerced by the police.
Three individuals said that another man, Sylvester “Redd” Coles, confessed to
them that he committed the crime. The case against Davis lacked any physical
evidence—no murder weapon, fingerprints or DNA evidence were ever presented.
None of that stopped the State of
Georgia from taking the life of an innocent man.
In the weeks preceding the
execution date, over 1 million people signed a petition; many more made phone
calls and sent emails to local, state and federal officials demanding that they
save the life of Troy Davis.
Students from Howard University in
Washington, D.C., held rallies Sept. 16 and Sept. 21—the scheduled execution
date. Hundreds of Howard students marched following the Sept. 21 campus rally
and gathered at the White House, joined by other Davis’ supporters. Continuing
to demand a stay of execution, at least 12 students were arrested.
When an announcement came minutes
before the execution that the Supreme Court had granted a temporary reprieve
delaying the execution, the demonstrators militantly marched to the Supreme
Court to demand justice, holding a picket until the court’s decision was
announced and the execution was carried out. Hundreds remained until after midnight,
some of them having been in the streets for 12 hours, speaking out about their
experience and plans to continue the struggle.
Despite this determined effort,
repeated in cities across the United States and throughout the world, the
Supreme Court allowed the execution to go ahead.
While there is much to be said
about the case and the implications of the Save Troy Davis struggle, here are
three lessons worth highlighting:
1. We are not living in a “post-racial” society
We can finally lay to rest this
tiresome phrase.
The case of Troy Davis is at the
intersection of race and class in the United States. The cops who coerced
witnesses in the Troy Davis trial knew the odds were stacked in their favor.
Georgia does not guarantee counsel for death row inmates, making it harder for
poor defendants to properly mount appeals. According to the American Bar
Association, those convicted of killing white victims in Georgia are 4.5 times
more likely to be sentenced to death than those convicted of killing Black
victims.
What these cops knew was the true
essence of the criminal justice system. The death penalty and other “law and
order” methods are political tools. They send a chilling message to the most
oppressed sectors of society—primarily Black and Latino working-class
communities—meant to discourage any resistance to their own oppression.
2. President Obama won’t save us
President Obama said it was
“inappropriate” for him to “weigh in” on the Troy Davis case because it was a
“state” issue. Seriously? In 2009, Obama weighed heavily against the trial of a
woman in Iran that the United States government claims was innocent. The U.S.
president can take a stand against an alleged injustice in another sovereign
country, but not against a proven injustice in a U.S. state?
The White House raises the banner
of democracy, freedom and human rights as a weapon against those governments it
seeks to replace. The Obama administration and U.S. officials are brimming with
quotes of condemnation against its targets abroad, yet are silent on the most
egregious violations committed on U.S. soil, aiding and abetting the execution
of an innocent man.
That is the true role of the U.S.
president: the protector, the commander-in-chief of this corrupt system. Obama
could have taken a stand for justice, but instead he stood by silently as Troy
Davis was killed.
3. The fight-back movement is on
The fight is not over. Troy Davis’
executioners cannot be allowed to escape scot-free. There are many Troy Davises
across the country, both in prison and outside. This is the time to escalate
the struggle, to take the spirit of the fight to save Troy’s life and turn it
into a mass fight-back movement against racism and the system of class
oppression that depends on it.
The upsurge to save Troy Davis’
life is part of a rebellious undercurrent. From the massive immigrant rights’
movement in 2006 to the Jena 6 struggle in 2007 to the labor battle in Wisconsin
this past winter, the fight to save Davis was a glimpse of potential, a signal
of militant rejection of the suffering and oppression afflicting working people
in this country.
Moving forward from here, we must
turn the fight around Davis’ life into a general struggle against racism,
oppression and exploitation. Troy Davis did not die in vain.
