Jim Crow and Troy Davis

Georgia, a traditionally racist U.S. state that carried the emblem of the slave-owning Confederacy on its flag until 2001, kills a man whose conviction had big question marks, but he was Black and now Troy Davis is dead.

Chalk one up for the Jim Crow crowd...

(ATLANTA) - We reported earlier this evening that the execution of Troy Davis in Georgia, was to be temporarily delayed, just five minutes before his being put to death by state officials.

Now we know that prison crews in Georgia went ahead and killed Mr. Davis anyway, after the U.S. Supreme Court denied a last minute stay of execution.

Witnesses in the case that led to the conviction of Troy Davis for the 1989 murder of Savannah, Georgia policeman Mark MacPhail, have changed their stories, retracted information and essentially killed the previous case.

But this is America and liberty and justice are merely fables, and in spite of the questions surrounding his conviction in a state that owned slaves until 1865, and carried out vast government orchestrated campaigns against Blacks for decades, this African-American man with a very questionable conviction, with millions of supporters all over the world, was put to death by the state that had the Confederate battle flag as part of its official emblem until ten years ago, at 8:08 Pacific Time.

It is a tragedy and in many ways, a disgusting act - one that flies in the face of American principles, and it takes place at the same time that this country is absolutely falling apart, and racist motivations have never abated, particularly when a Black man is accused of killing a white cop. There should never be an expected level of fairness for a man in Troy Davis' shoes, in a state that Jim Crow laws ruled until 1965, and well after that if you talk to some people.

It will be interesting to see what develops from this, it is unknown whether there will be demonstrations, rioting, etc. Of course the Supreme Court and those below it don't consider these consequences when making decisions and perhaps they are correct for not doing so, yet in another circumstance, for the sake of public security, a different conclusion would indeed be reached.

Convicted on shoddy evidence that was 'good enough' for a Georgia court, the now deceased Mr. Davis had his execution stayed four times over the course of his 22 years on death row. In spite of multiple legal appeals, in the eyes of the court, he failed to prove his innocence.

And why is it again that German states weren't allowed to have big swastika's taking up 2/3rd of their flags?

Tim King is a former U.S. Marine with twenty years of experience on the west coast as a television news producer, photojournalist, reporter and assignment editor. In addition to his role as a war correspondent, this Los Angeles native serves as Salem-News.com's Executive News Editor. Tim spent the winter of 2006/07 covering the war in Afghanistan, and he was in Iraq over the summer of 2008, reporting from the war while embedded with both the U.S. Army and the Marines.

Tim holds awards for reporting, photography, writing and editing, including the Silver Spoke Award by the National Coalition of Motorcyclists (2011), Excellence in Journalism Award by the Oregon Confederation of Motorcycle Clubs (2010), Oregon AP Award for Spot News Photographer of the Year (2004), First-place Electronic Media Award in Spot News, Las Vegas, (1998), Oregon AP Cooperation Award (1991); and several others including the 2005 Red Cross Good Neighborhood Award for reporting. Tim has several years of experience in network affiliate news TV stations, having worked as a reporter and photographer at NBC, ABC and FOX stations in Arizona, Nevada and Oregon. Tim was a member of the National Press Photographer's Association for several years and is a current member of the Orange County Press Club.

Serving the community in very real terms, Salem-News.com is the nation's only truly independent high traffic news Website. As News Editor, Tim among other things, is responsible for publishing the original content of 82 Salem-News.com writers. He reminds viewers that emails are easily missed and urges those trying to reach him, to please send a second email if the first goes unanswered. You can write to Tim at this address: newsroom@salem-news.com

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