Chuck Turner's Trial Shows That America is Anything But "Post-Racial"
30 October 2010By Jason Pramas
Whatever the outcome of Boston City Councilor Chuck
Turner's trial in federal court over the next several
days, I can say as sure as poor DJ Henry was executed
in upstate New York by the Mount Pleasant 5-0 a few
days ago for DWB (Driving While Black) that Turner was
targeted for political elimination for being - first
and foremost - an outspoken progressive black
politician by former US Attorney (and Republican)
Michael Sullivan. These kinds of events are the
"exceptions" that prove the rule that we are not
living in a "post-racial" society yet. Far from it.
The government's case against Turner is light on facts
and heavy on weirdness. They had to pay their "star
witness" Ron Wilburn $30,000 to attempt to entrap
Turner - and also former State Senator Diane
Wilkerson, who looks to really have done the deeds
she's accused of doing ... having pleaded guilty to
eight counts of attempted extortion in June. Both
Turner and Wilkerson stood accused of malfeasance that
still remains totally small potatoes next to the major
league corruption that higher level (and significantly
paler) politicians commit in here in the Commonwealth
on a regular basis.
But unlike Turner, those white politicians never get
dragged out of their homes by a zillion cops and feds
at 5 a.m. and shuttled halfway across the state in
cuffs to get booked by some judge that a US Attorney
with an axe to grind considers safe. And this is one
of the issues that apparently gave Wilburn pause after
a fashion. He has since criticized the feds for not
going after bigger (and whiter) fish, and stopping
their operation after netting two of our state's small
number of black politicians.
Anyhow, Wilburn may or may not have given money to
Turner. The amount of money he may or may not have
given may or may not have been as much as $1000 and
may or may not have even been money. Turner may or may
not have accepted the money he may or may not have
been offered. And he may or may not have done
something illegal with this apocryphal money. The
videos and still photos the government is using
against Turner have not yet proved to be conclusive
evidence one way or the other. Nor has Wilburn's
testimony.
And there are more questions. Did Wilburn provide
Turner with a campaign donation as Wilburn and Turner
had discussed? Did Turner turn it over to his staff?
Did they record it properly? Did Turner have something
in his hand before Wilburn reached over to shake his
hand - which is when the feds say money was handed to
Turner? What can be said for certain is that the
government has succeeded in casting aspersions on
Turner that have caused many in the press and public
to doubt anything he has to say.
Wilburn for his part - is playing tug-of-war with
himself and his government handlers - nearly pulling
out of testifying earlier this week, and then
attacking the FBI and U.S. Attorney's office for
"hanging [him] out to dry in public." Which could all
just be an act to convince the jury that he's a
credible witness who is independent of the government
despite being given $30,000 to attempt to entrap black
politicians.
The rest of the Boston press corps seems confused by
the whole spectacle, though many local news
publications still seem to be hoping for some smoking
gun that will nail Turner to some wall somewhere.
Doesn't look like they're going to get their wish.
Wilburn's testimony shows conclusively that there was
no extortion. Turner did not say, "Do X for me and I
will do Y for you." More importantly, it was not even
implied by Turner according to the government
witnesses' testimony. This conforms to my own
experience of asking Turner to help out with a number
of social justice projects I worked on as a labor and
community organizer over the years - especially his
agreeing to welcome the thousands of people my friends
and I brought to the Boston Social Forum in July 2004.
And do so on behalf of the City of Boston. His
participation doubtless helped convince many people in
his council district to show up to the event.
Basically, he could have easily blown me off and said
he was too busy to help, but did not. He never asked
me for anything in return for his help.
Person after person - many with no organic connection
to his council district or his friendship network -
has been testifying to Turner helping them out in a
similar fashion over the years without any hint of
desire for remuneration of any kind.
Given my personal experience with Turner, the many
holes in the government case, and other obvious issues
that have been much discussed elsewhere, the
government's case against Turner just doesn't add up
for me.
I think the smart thing for the current (Democratic)
US Attorney to do would have been to drop all charges
against Turner and chalk the whole mess up to a bad
decision by a partisan predecessor. But I understand
that Democratic politicians - and Democratic
government prosecutors most of all - like to look
"tough on crime" and all that rot these days. As long
as the crime is allegedly committed by a politician
like Turner that regularly criticizes US foreign and
domestic policy - especially as it relates to poor and
working class communities of color like Boston's
District 7. And as long as said politician calls out
racism when he sees it. And Boston still being Boston,
Turner sees plenty of it. And he's hardly alone in
that.
But there's still time for US District Court Judge
Douglas Woodlock to stop this whole charade right now,
drop the charges against Turner, and issue a legal
smack upside the head to the government officials
involved in concocting the whole affair.
Open Media Boston would therefore like to go on record
enjoining Woodlock to do just that. Such an action may
not result in the most perfect court decision ever
handed down. But it would be - after a fashion - the
most just one in this instance.
And it would also be some small evidence that progress
can continue to be made on stopping racism in its
tracks in the US. Even as the Tea Party and other
less-than-thoughtful conservative forces are striving
mightily to push us back into the old sinkhole of
institutionalized racial barbarism.
But that's not going to happen.
Not if this publication has anything to say about it.
Jason Pramas is Editor/Publisher of Open Media Boston.
He has worked with Boston City Councilor Chuck Turner
on various social justice projects over the last dozen
years - including the Boston Workers Alliance and the
Boston Social Forum - and fully intends to continue
doing so in the future where it does not conflict with
his professional ethics as a working journalist.
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