In case you missed it commenter Rick made this empassioned plea that we as a city move past racial divisions when making the decision about the next mayor. At least that's what I got out of it. You may disagree.
Anyway, here it is:
The easiest way to rally racism in the City of Philadelphia is to mention Mumia Abu-Jamal. This is the same city that embraced the corruption of Frank Rizzo. This is the same city that FOP was synonymous with “Fascist Officials on Patrol” for many years. Why is it in 2006, we must continue to try to invoke fear, ignorance and racism in order to divide when given the current state of affairs of the city, country and world we should be attempting to galvanize ourselves in this Democratic process and embracing the privilege that goes along with it.
Not being a supporter of Mumia Abu-Jamal, I still feel that if the case against him is solid, just retry him and get it over with. It is that simple. Facts do not lie and if the absence of them bothers a group of individuals because of their personal biases, then they should stew in their opinion in social settings. Stand by your police department’s work and belief that justice has been done or your belief that the facts will extricate an innocent man. Either way, the most direct way of dealing with the ongoing situation is have another trial or accept it as a point of disagreement that will never be settled.
In essence just agree to disagree about how you feel about the case.
In a city can erect statues to fictional characters and individuals that stripped innocent men naked on the street and allowed police corruption to spread unopposed. If we are to constantly revisit the past, then let us open the vault and hold everyone accountable.
If we are to move forward, then let us, as a city embrace that fact that we have the right to disagree and move forward with issues of relevance not opinion and conjecture.