3A
NEWS/ The Charlotte Post
Thursday, August 28, 1997
Image is
everything
MELODYE MICERE STEWART
39 counts await Espy
In the
spirit of
Ma’at
Imagery. Pictures that tell a
deeper stoiy. In contemporary
Alnerica, image is everything -
I it shapes our thoughts, views,
! ideas, consciousness. For
African Americans, the reality
of mass media imagery too
often dictates what we believe
! about ourselves and what oth-
I ers believe about us and them-
! selves. James Baldwin made it
pjain: “If I’m not who you say I
am, then you're not who you
think you are.”
I In particular, “mental”
imagery - provided by print
and audio as well as television
, and movies - are like mirrors
which reflect. Much of the mir
ror imagery given to us by
i iinage makers utilizes trick
I ipirrors: distortion rules.
African American distorted
images can be viewed on daily
television fare, from news
Iffoadcasts to situation come-
cfces to nightly television dra
mas. According to an article
! written by Jannette L. Dates
and Camille 0. Cosby, televi-
aon imagery is partly responsi-
Ble for “destructive self-esteem
itroblems found among young
African American viewers.” In
\yorkshops, I ask young people
£pid parents, “What does
‘Martin’ teach you about what
it means to be African
.^merican?”
jW.E.B. DuBois wrote about
idle reality of race-based
imagery in his concept of the
“^eil,” noting white control over
the black psyche which “only
lets him see himself through
the revelation of the other
world. It is a peculiar sensation
this double consciousness, this
sense of always looking at one’s
self through the eyes of others.”
Whites “see” and promote us
■ through a narrow, stereotypi
cal, Eurocentric lens which
serve their own purposes and
contributes to our destruction.
Whether its in the form of
“gangsta” movies, e.g., “Dead
, Presidents,” or gangsta rap, the
' image of violent black males
(and now, Queen Latifah and
the girls) fits with the version
spouted by network news and
does not serve our community
well. On the flip side, the tragi-
I comic minstrel tradition has
been magnificently updated by
the “Tom Joyner Show” and
African Americans regularly
consume and internalize nega
tive race-consciousness.
We must cultivate a new race
consciousness which integrates
our deep spirituality with an
i actively pursued knowledge
! and understanding of our histo
ry. With a renewed sense of
race-obligation and race-
responsibility, this conscious-
, ness will dictate the righteous
use and focus of our money,
resources, and collective living.
Continued from page 1A
travel to a National Football
League playoff game in Dallas.
The indictment charges that
Espy ordered the employee to
delete references to Tyson, his
girlfHend, and the football game
when his travel itinerary for that
day was requested by the
USDA’s inspector general.
'That count alone carries a max
imum 10-year prison term upon
conviction. He is also accused of
concocting a pretense for travel
ing to Dallas on official business
by scheduling a meeting with a
local USDA investigator “for the
purpose of justifying his pres
ence” in that city.
Espys law office in Jackson,
Miss., said Espy not immediately
available for comment. Reid
Weingarten, Espy^s defense attor
ney in Washington, also was not
immediately available for com
ment.
Espy resigned in December
1994, three months after an inde
pendent counsel began his inves
tigation. A former Mississippi
congressman. Espy has denied
any criminal wrongdoing.
The indictment also charged
that Espy Hed to the White House
when it investigated the allega
tions as part of an ethics review
and failed to disclose the gifts on
o
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his government financial disclo
sure report.
If convicted of all 39 charges and
sentenced consecutively he could
face a jail term of more than 100
years. The indictment includes
charges of wire fraud, mail fraud
and traveling in interstate com
merce to commit crimes.
Among the sources of gifts was a
lobbyist for Tyson Foods Inc., the
Arkansas-based chicken proces
sor. The company acknowledged
in June it was a target of the
investigation, but has professed
its innocence of any wrongdoing.
Tyson Foods general counsel
James Blair said Wednesday that
prosecutors would not be able to
prove that Espy “took illegal
favors fium Tfyson Foods.
“I don’t believe that, because I
don’t believe it happened,” Blair
said.
In May, a federal judge fined
Sun Diamond Growers of
Cahfomia, the largest grower of
raisins, prunes and other dried
fruits, $1.5 million for giving Espy
$6,000 in illegal gratuities and for
illegally donating $4,000 to the
failed congressional campaign of
Esp/s brother, Hemy.
Sim Diamond lobbyist Richard
Douglas is awaiting trial in San
Francisco on charges of lavishing
favors and gifts on Espy and his
girlfriend, Patricia Dempsey.
Smaltz was appointed to inves
tigate whether Espy violated the
law by accepting tickets to a
Dallas Cowboys football playoff
game and $1,009 in air fare for
himself and his girlfriend Sum
Tyson lobbyist Jack L. WilHams.
Wilhams was found guilty in
March of lying about providing
the football and airline tickets to
Espy. But in June, a federal judge
set aside Wilhams’ conviction and
ordered a new trial. Prosecutors
had argued that Wilhams hed to
hide his knowledge of giving gifts
to Espy on behalf of Tyson.
Smaltz was also investigating
why the Tyson Foundation gave a
$1,200 scholarship to Dempsey.
Douglas is accused of giving Espy
a $2,427 set of luggage and a
$4,590 trip for him and his girl
friend to the 1993 U.S. Open ten
nis tournament in New York City.
Douglas is also accused of lying to
investigators about the source of
two National Basketball
Association playoff tickets that
Espy received from the chief exec
utive officer of Quaker Oats.
The indictment against Douglas
charges that he told investigators
he got the tickets from a friend
who was an NBA player.
Decapitation suspect denied bail
By David Reed
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
INDEPENDENCE, Virginia
- One of the two white men
arrested in the death of a black
man who was burned alive and
decapitated will help prosecu
tors build their murder case
against his codefendant, an
attorney said Tuesday.
Federal officials are investi
gating whether the July 25
killing was a racially motivated
hate crime.
Emmett Cressell Jr. appeared
in court Tuesday and was
denied bail on charges of first-
degree murder and robbery. He
could face up to life in prison.
His codefendant, Louis J.
Ceparano, is charged with cap
ital murder and robbery and
could face the death penalty in
the slaying of Garnett P.
Johnson.
A witness. Hazel Louise
Anderson, told The Associated
Press she heard one of the men
threaten to burn Johnson on a
cross before he was killed. The
men also pinned Johnson down
and stripped him of his watch,
she said.
Cressell’s lawyer, Mark
Claytor, said in after the hear
ing Tuesday that his client will
cooperate with prosecutors in
making their case against
Ceparano, who also is being
held without bail.
Cressell, 36, and Johnson had
been “drinking buddies for
years,” Claytor said.
‘We want everyone to know
his (Cressell’s) involvement. I
think people will be surprised,”
Claytor said in arguing that
Cressell should be allowed to
post bail.
Claytor would not discuss
Cressell’s role in the killing,
but denied that he is a racist.
“I don’t know what
Ceparano’s motives were, but
to call my man a racist because
he was at a party when the
crime occurred is unfair to him
and the facts will bear it out,”
he said.
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