Vol. 48 No. 38
January 11, 2018 - January 17, 2018
This publication is a Certified DBE/ SBE / MBE in the State of California CUCP #43264 Metro File #7074 & State of Texas File #802505971 The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy. Martin Luther King, Jr.
Recy Taylor, Who Fought for Justice After a 1944 Rape, Dies at 97
Editor in Chief’s Corner Email: sbamericannews@gmail.com Clifton Harris Publisher of The San Bernardino AMERICAN News
Statement Regarding CRC Decision to Overturn Ron Cohen’s Illicit Coup Attempt : By San Bernardino County Democratic Party Website Administrator
By SEWELL CHAN STATEMENT OF THE SAN BERNARDINO COUNTY DEMOCRATIC PARTY REGARDING THE CALIFORNIA DEMOCRATIC PARTY’S RECENT DECISION UPHOLDING CHAIR ROBLES AND IN VALIDATING THE ILLICIT COUP
Recy Taylor in 1944
ISSUED: January 3, 2018
Recy Taylor in 2011 in Lafayette Park in Washington after touring the White House. Credit Susan Walsh/Associated Press Recy Taylor, a 24-year-old African-American sharecropper, was walking home from church in Abbeville, Ala., on the night of Sept. 3, 1944, when she was abducted and raped by six white men. The crime was extensively covered in the black press and an early catalyst for the civil rights movement. The N.A.A.C.P. sent a young activist from its Montgomery, Ala., chapter named Rosa Parks to investigate. AfricanAmericans around the country demanded that the men be prosecuted. But the attack, like many involving black victims during the Jim Crow era in the South, never went to trial. Two all-white, all-male grand juries refused to indict the men, even though one of them had confessed. Decades passed before the case gained renewed attention, with the publication in 2010 of “At the Dark End of the Street: Black Women, Rape, and Resistance — a New History of the Civil Rights Movement From Rosa Parks to the Rise of Black Power,” by the historian Danielle L. McGuire. The book prompted an official apology in 2011 to Mrs. Taylor by the Alabama Legislature, which called the failure to prosecute her attackers “morally abhorrent and repugnant.” Mrs. Taylor died in Abbeville on Thursday, December 28, 2017, three weeks after the release of “The Rape of Recy Taylor,” a documentary about the crime. She was 97. The death was confirmed by her brother, Robert Lee Corbitt. “Many ladies got raped,” Mrs. Taylor said in the film, interviewed by its director, Nancy Buirski. “The peoples there — they seemed like they weren’t concerned about what happened to me, and they didn’t try and do nothing about it. I can’t help but tell the truth of what they done to me.” Born on Dec. 31, 1919, to a family of sharecroppers in Abbeville, in southeastern Alabama, Recy (pronounced “REE-see”) Corbitt found herself caring for six younger siblings after their mother died when she was 17. On the night of the attack, she had gone to Rock Hill Holiness Church for a Pentecostal service of singing and praying and was
walking home along a country highway bounded by peanut farms. A friend, Fannie Daniel, 61, and Ms. Daniel’s 18-year-old son, West, were with her. They noticed a green Chevrolet passing by several times. Eventually the car stopped, and seven young white men, armed with guns and knives, stepped out. One of them, Herbert Lovett, the oldest in the group, ordered the three to halt, and then pointed a shotgun at them when they ignored him. The men forced Mrs. Taylor into the car at gunpoint and drove her to a grove of pine trees on the side of the road, where they forced her to disrobe. She begged to be allowed to go, citing her husband and their 3-year-old daughter. But Mr. Lovett was unmoved. Ordering her to “act just like you do with your husband or I’ll cut your damn throat,” he and five other men raped her. (A seventh young man, Billy Howerton, said later that he did not take part because he knew Mrs. Taylor.) Dumped out of the car, Mrs. Taylor removed her blindfold and stumbled toward safety. Her father, Benny Corbitt, had learned of the abduction and gone searching for her. Soon the county sheriff, George H. Gamble, arrived. Mrs. Taylor told Sheriff Gamble that she could not identify her assailants, but her description of the car matched only one vehicle in the county, that of Hugo Wilson. When the sheriff returned with Mr. Wilson and his father, Mrs. Taylor identified Mr. Wilson as one of her attackers, as did the teenage friend. Questioned at the county jail, Mr. Wilson acknowledged that he and five others — Mr. Lovett, Dillard York, Luther Lee, Willie Joe Culpepper and Robert Gamble — “all had intercourse with her,” but insisted that they had paid her and that it was not rape. The sheriff sent Mr. Wilson home. The next evening, Mrs. Taylor faced new threats: White vigilantes set her porch on fire. The following day, she and her husband, Willie Guy Taylor, and their daughter, Joyce Lee, moved in with her father and siblings. Mr. Corbitt, her father, would sleep in a chinaberry tree in the backyard, watching over the family while
cradling a double-barreled shotgun, going inside to sleep only after the sun rose. As word of the crime spread through Alabama’s black community the N.A.A.C.P.’s Montgomery chapter sent Mrs. Parks, who had spent much of her childhood in Abbeville, to interview Mrs. Taylor. The deputy sheriff, Lewey Corbitt (not a close relation), was not happy about Mrs. Parks’s presence. He drove past the house repeatedly and then forcibly ejected her. “I don’t want any troublemakers here in Abbeville,” he warned her. “If you don’t go, I’ll lock you up.” Mindful of the outrage surrounding the case of the Scottsboro Boys — nine black teenagers who had been wrongly accused of raping two white women in 1931 — the county prosecutor took care to provide a semblance of equal justice. But it was an empty gesture. When the grand jury met on Oct. 3 and 4, 1944, Mrs. Taylor’s loved ones were the only witnesses. None of the men had been arrested, and there had not been a police lineup, so Mrs. Taylor could not identify her attackers. The grand jury declined to indict the men. Word spread through union halls, churches, barbershops, pool halls and, significantly, through the black press. “Alabama Whites Attack Woman; Not Punished,” declared a headline in The Pittsburgh Courier, an African-American newspaper. It was the final year of World War II, and some blacks likened their struggle for equal rights to the fight against fascism. Eugene Gordon, a black writer for The Daily Worker, a Communist newspaper in New York, interviewed Mrs. Taylor and told his readers, “The raping of Mrs. Recy Taylor was a fascist-like brutal violation of her personal rights as a woman and as a citizen of democracy.” One of the men, Willie Joe Culpepper, however, backed up Mrs. Taylor’s account, saying she had been coerced. The civil rights activists eventually moved on, and Mrs. Taylor faded into obscurity. Fearing reprisals, she moved to Montgom-
ery for a few months with help from Mrs. Parks. Eventually the family moved to Central Florida, where Mrs. Taylor picked oranges. She and Mr. Taylor separated, and he died in the early 1960s. Their only child died in a car crash in 1967. Mrs. Taylor had two subsequent partners, both of whom died. She lived for many years in Winter Haven, Fla., before failing health prompted her relatives to bring her back to Abbeville. In addition to her brother, she is survived by two sisters, Lillie Kinsey and Mary Murry; a granddaughter; and several greatgrandchildren. The publication of Ms. McGuire’s book led to apologies from the mayor of Abbeville and from the county and state governments in 2011. The Alabama Legislature’s apology was formally presented to Mrs. Taylor on Mother’s Day that year at the Pentecostal church, now known as Abbeville Memorial Church of God in Christ, where she had worshiped the night of the crime. The governor, who was a mentor of the segregationist future governor George C. Wallace, came under considerable pressure as African-American activists like W. E. B. DuBois and Mary Church Terrell and writers like Countee Cullen and Langston Hughes took up Mrs. Taylor’s cause. The governor sent investigators, who found that Sheriff Gamble had lied about having arrested the men. By then, four of the seven men had admitted to having had sex with Mrs. Taylor, but they insisted that she had participated willingly. One of the men, Willie Joe Culpepper, however, backed up Mrs. Taylor’s account, saying she had been coerced. “She was crying and asking us to let her go home to her husband and baby,” he said. Despite the confession, a second grand jury, on Feb. 14, 1945, refused to hand up an indictment. In addition to her brother, she is survived by two sisters, Lillie Kinsey and Mary Murry; a granddaughter; and several greatgrandchildren. In Ms. Buirski’s film, Mrs. Taylor recalled how she could have easily been killed. “The Lord was just with me that night,” she said.
STATEMENT OF THE SAN BERNARDINO COUNTY DEMOCRATIC PARTY REGARDING THE CALIFORNIA DEMOCRATIC PARTY’S RECENT DECISION UPHOLDING CHAIR ROBLES AND INVALIDATING THE ILLICIT COUP The California Democratic Party has emphatically declared that Chris Robles has been and remains Chair of the San Bernardino County Democratic Party (also known as the San Bernardino County Democratic Central Committee). A brief email summary of their unanimous decision was sent late Wednesday night: “The California Democratic Party Compliance Review Commission (CDP CRC) has considered the challenge pertaining to the validity of the meeting held by Mr. Ron Cohen on December 7, 2017, relating to the San Bernardino County Democratic Central Committee (SBCDCC). In summary, the CDP CRC held that the cancellation of the SBCDCC December 2017 meeting by the SBCDCC Executive Committee on November 10, 2017, was valid, thereby invalidating the subsequent actions taken under the color of the SBCDCC, including but not limited to the meetings held and actions taken on December 7, 2017, and December 28, 2017. Further, the CDP CRC held that pursuant to Elections Code 7241 and the holding in Eu v. San Francisco County Democratic Central Committee, 489 U.S. 214 (1989), the SBCDCC Bylaws supersede Elections Code 7243. Accordingly, the SBCDCC officers elected prior to the December 2017 meetings above shall remain duly elected and recognized by the CDP, including Mr. Chris
The Weeknd,
Robles as Chair of the SBCDCC. A full written decision of the CDP CRC will be issued.” On December 28, 2017, Mr. Ron Cohen effectively resigned his position as Second Vice-Chair of the San Bernardino County Democratic Central Committee in another unsuccessful bid to become the Chair of the SBCDCC. Although, his bid was disavowed by the CDP, his resignation was immediately accepted by Chair Chris Robles. Notably, Mr. Cohen touted the fact that he was no longer the second vice-chair when he issued a press release and only identified himself as the new Chair. Therefore, an election will be held to fill the second vice-chair position as soon as is practicable. This recent coup d’état by Mr. Cohen is the sixth time the California Democratic Party invalidated his actions. Mr. Cohen is dishonest about his purpose, and guilty in covering up his own transgressions by spreading discredited lies, making false accusations, and conducting personal attacks on members. Cohen has a history of insubordination and refusing to comply with our rules and bylaws despite being given every opportunity to do so. He has an established history of making false representations and failing to disclose his conflicts of interest. The Compliance Review Commission summed it up well: “The CRC finds disturbing the allegations of inappropriate behavior by the body and encourages all members to act in a courteous and respectful manner in accordance with our core democratic values and hopes and expects people conduct themselves appropriately at all Democratic Party meetings. The CRC notes that the actions of Mr. Cohen, including repeated attempts to circumvent the democratically and duly elected leadership, do not meet the aforementioned standards.” Because of these and other numerous transgressions, Cohen is the subject of an internal investigation by the San Bernardino County Democratic Party. Coolest Monkey InThe Jungle Ad By
H&M
‘Deeply Offended’ by ‘Coolest Monkey’ Ad, Severs Ties with H&M See Page 7
Our Values, Mission, & Vision Statement Our Values: Treat all people with care, respect, honor, and dignity. Tell it as it is with love, truth and integrity. Promote the interests of advertisers and sponsors along their strategic interest for the betterment of the community and beyond. Speak truth to power. Our Mission: To continuously improve communication between all people of the world. Our Vision: To be the best community newspaper in our region and the nation. Provider of: A voice for the poor, the underserved, those that are marginalized, Positive and edifying news about people, places and businesses. Keep San Bernardino, Riverside, and Los Angeles Counties informed about global trends while retaining the consciousness of local events and processes. Memberships and Associations: The San Bernardino American Newspaper is a member of the California Newspaper Publishers Association, National Newspaper Association and addociated with California Black Media.