July 28, 2003
Belle Glade Police: victim binds, hangs self with own shirt!
An AP story printed in the Tampa Trib is illustrative of the rich deep-south culture which so many rebel flag wavers would have you believe is all about manners:
Not long after the family of Feraris ``Ray'' Golden found his dead body dangling from a tree outside his grandmother's home, ugly suspicions began to surface.
Police concluded that Golden committed suicide, hanging himself with a work shirt as a noose. But relatives say that's impossible. They allege that the 32-year-old, who was black, was found with his hands tied behind his back.
Rumors swirled that Golden was lynched.
Friends say Golden was dating a white policeman's daughter in this rural farming community of about 15,000, divided almost equally between black and white residents.
But this is not about race. No. This is all about manners. I can close my eyes and hear ol’ Bubba, as quoted in tomorrow’s paper: “See, it just aint polite for a negra to date a white girl...”
Lynchings reached their peak in the United States from the end of the Civil War until 1902, numbering more than 100 each year, according to the Southern Poverty Law Center. The numbers dropped to double digits until 1935, when the average dropped again to a few a year until the 1960s.
In Belle Glade, a poor agricultural community surrounded by sugar cane fields and the Everglades, life for many has been the same for decades. Developers have passed over the city, preferring to fill the South Florida coastline 40 miles to the east, despite the town's efforts to bring in new jobs and development.
``I think a lot of people are still stuck on the old days,'' Federick said. ``A lot of people try and hide it, but it's still here.''
So, an inquest is being held today by the state attorney to look at residents’ concerns that Mr. Golden may not have been a suicide.
``We're not saying it's a homicide. We're not saying it's a suicide. We just think there are some questions that need to be answered,'' said Linda Johnson, local president of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People.
A death by lynching hasn't been documented for more than two decades, according to the Southern Poverty Law Center. But the heated reaction to Golden's death underscores the racial divide still present in Belle Glade and many small communities in the South, where accusations of lynching occasionally surface.
''We've seen a number of these cases where claims have been made and have not been substantiated,'' said Mark Potok, editor of the Southern Poverty Law Center's Intelligence Reports. ''I would simply caution people to be very careful if they assume lynching or even murder until the facts are in.''
Belle Glade Police Chief Michael Miller said the investigation and autopsy point to suicide. A police video shows officers cutting down Golden's body with his hands at his sides.
"It's a small town, and when those things happen, rumors fly," Miller said.
But investigators' conclusions mean little to a black community that's distrustful of the police and reluctant to believe Golden committed suicide.
So, Bubba may not have actually lynched the vicitm. He just spread rumors that he did. And the rumors were effective. They spread fear throughout the black community and sent a message that unwritten rules are still enforced in Belle Glade.
Posted by Norwood at July 28, 2003 05:55 AMI live in a neighboring community of Belle Glade. Your article was bullshit. I dont know if Mr. Golden was lynched, but the black community in Belle Glade, are not only NOT afraid of the police, but make a mockery of them. Just this week there was a stabbing at Belle Glade's only public high school's junior varsity football game.. Gonna do an article about that too? And when Martin Luther King III came to Belle Glade, hmmm... I wonder why he didnt stay there in a motel, choosing instead to stay in a nice Palm Beach motel. There are ALWAYS two sides to the coin.
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