In recent years, Paris, Texas has been reluctantly entered into a competition for the uncoveted title of Most Racist Town in America. The competition comes from towns like Jena, Louisiana and Texas communities like Tulia and Jasper. It hasn’t been the intention of groups like Friends of Justice to encourage this silly competition, nor do reporters like Nate Blakeslee (currently with the Texas Monthly) and Howard of the Chicago Tribune set out to blacken the reputation of small southern towns. Unfortunately, it is impossible to chronicle troubling instances of injustice without drawing unwanted attention to places like Tulia, Jena and Paris.
Recently, a community meeting in Paris degenerated into a angry free-for-all. At least that’s the way it appeared to Chicago Tribune reporter Howard Witt. In the wake of this debacle, a prominent resident of the North Texas community who had seen my post on Witt’s story, expressed his frustration to a Dallas resident. I don’t know the identity of the author, but these comments were passed on to me in the interest of airing all sides of the story.
I have been given permission to pass these comments on to my readers with the understanding that (a) the author should remain anonymous and (b) Mr. Witt would be given an opportunity to respond. My guess is that the comments below are widely shared in Paris and I share them with you because I believe the issues in Paris should be vigorously debated from every c0nceivable angle.
An email from Paris, Texas
The Tribune has been pushing this story for a long time. They came to Paris to write a discrimination article and they wrote one the facts not withstanding. Shaquanda Cotten had a long term history of relatively serious problems including an average of over an incident per day at school, all of which her mother chalked up to racism. The hall monitor was the last straw. She was almost 60 years old, barely five feet tall and left the school in an ambulance.
Superville went the TYC route only after offering different options if her mother would give up custody so as to stop the enabling. He, of course, did not sentence her to seven years but gave the normal “indeterminate” sentence which would have allowed for her to be released at any time after she showed any remorse and indicated she might be able to interact in society.
The Tribune knows this but continues to print misleading commentary. The local Black population not only was not “up in arms” — they were very supportive. The Black Panthers from Dallas came over and held a small demonstration — which was very helpful. Leaving alone the question of whether personal assault or the property crime of arson is more serious, the Tribune either didn’t bother to print or didn’t bother to learn that the “white” arsonist was also a victim of domestic assault and was acting out and that every psychologist and advocate that dealt with both cases recommended the sentences that Chuck handed out. They also didn’t follow up and learn that the “white” girl didn’t make her probation and went to TYC. And while no one knew what was going on at TYC at the time that girl was assaulted while under TYC jurisdiction.
The last case [Brandon McClelland] is more troubling, but once again the Trib ignores facts and details that confuse the situation. There were two white guys and a black guy, the black guy was killed in a horrible manner, they were also friends of some duration who were out drinking together. I don’t know whether it’s a hate crime but I know it was hard for the DA to figure what to make of it so they farmed it out to the former chief prosecutor from Dallas–the guy Watkins beat–which I think was a good idea.
Don’t get me wrong there’s racism in Paris and all our communities need a lot of work, but Chuck Superville ain’t a racist and the Chicago Tribune ain’t trying to promote social justice.
Friends of Justice 
When trouble is exposed in Tulia, Jena, Paris (TX), (and probably Paris France as well) or in ancient Israel, there are always those who blame those who expose the trouble. King Ahab said to Elijah, “Is that you, you troubler of Israel.” Elijah answered, “It is not I but you who trouble Israel.” So Howard Witt joins the unnumbered company of those exposers of trouble who are accused of causing it. Been there; done that.
The email from Paris is a good example of whats wrong in Paris. Its full of lies. And those lies came straight for the D.A.s office, the judge who sentenced ShaQuanda Cotton and The Paris News. I know because I was there. While its true, ShaQuanda had numerous writeups, some were found to be untrue and some exaggerated. Thats why, since they are allowed to be used in court as absolute fact but are one sided and created, at least ShaQuanda Cottons case, by those who brought the charges against her, they should have both sides of the story on them. There should be a place where the student or parent can respond. After her arrest, ShaQunada’s writeups were tripled and most of those were minor such as “looking around”, messing with her sweater”. School policy, at least at that time, stated a parent must fill out a complaint form in order to talk to the superintendent. You had to fill it out if you talked to the principal as well because if you failed to do that and wanted to talk to the superintendent or school board you were not allowed. But ShaQuanda Cotton was punished because of her mother following those rules. In court, the D.A. went on and on about how she was always filing complaints. The incident with the hall monitor was not “the last straw”. It was the golden opportunity because they were tired of Creola Cotton and myself filing complaints. The hall monitor walked around the school laughing and talking for two hours before she was told by the principal and school police officer, who is also a teacher at the school, to go to the emergency room on a stretcher. The incident was most likely captured on video. When Creola Cotton requested it be pulled and reviewed, at first she was told they would do that but a couple days later, she was told the equipment mal-functioned. Superville went the TYC route because thats the route the school officials and D.A. wanted him to take. There was never any mention of giving up custody. There was never any mention of probation except when Gary Young questioned Creola Cotton regarding her going along with the terms of probation and she repeatedly said “Yes” and “Of Course I will”. As we all know by now, sentencing a 14 year old to “Up to 7 years”, can be all of 7 years if you are given an extra pair of socks or a cup of water and you forget to throw away the cup. Superville had publicly claimed he only sentenced juveniles to TYC after he had exhausted all other options. In ShaQuanda Cottons case, he never exhausted anything. He never even concidered any other option. I don’t know what “local black community” the email writer claims it was that supported the sentencing but the black community I live in certainly did not support it. Of course there were a few who believed anything they were spoonfed but in general, the black community was well aware that it could have just as easily be done to their child. Thats why to this day, they live in fear of openly complaining about racism. I know because they come to my organization, Concerned Citizens For Racial Equality with their complaints. Many white citizens of Paris show great concern with the fact the white juvenile was placed in a facility where the guards were rapists and abusers but they fail to care that ShaQuanda Cotton was placed in the exact same facility in the care of those same rapists and abusers. They try to explain how she deserved it. In the white Juveniles case, Superville stated, according to a Paris News article, that he didn’t want to send her to TYC because TYC was only for punishment and didn’t offer rehabilitation but in ShaQunada Cottons case, Superville said he had to send her there because it was the only place that offered rehabilitation. Rickey Smiley came over from Dallas and held a large demonstration with some Black Panthers participating. Thats called exercising your rights. It did help by bringing more attention to ShaQuanda’s plight. Brandon McClelland was dragged to his death by means of a pickup truck. I still haven’t figured out how anyone can claim a “friend” did it, especially when that “friend” shot another “friend” three times in the head. Are Judge Superville and Gary Young racist? It depends on who you ask. White public officials and friends and family of the two say no but almost everyone I’ve talked to in the black community say yes. Superville went on a local radio show in Paris the day after the last DOJ meeting and made claims that Brandon McClelland was not dragged and that we were just saying it in order to make it sound worse. The statements he made in the Chicago Tribune regarding racism not being a reality in Paris but the real problem being illiteracy, drugs, and a lack of parenting and the blacks were just lashing out blaming white for our problems is just washed up. Its just not going to cut it. If most of the blacks are illiterate, that would mean theres an enormous problem in the schools since most blacks graduate in Paris. Drugs are an enormous problem in Paris but the problem is within the white community just as much as it is the black community and I haven’t seen a single public official try to come up with solutions to address that problem other than giving the black offenders 40 to life. None of this explains why a white person with an equal criminal history can get “shock probation” for the same crime a black person gets 60 years for or why a white person gets a $3000 dollar bond for the same crime a black person gets a $50,000 bond. It doesn’t explain why its mainly black students sitting for days in ISS when white students misbehave at the same rate. Rather than trying to attack reporters for writing the articles you should be trying to address the issues. Otherwise, there will be much more racist incidents for reporters to write about.
this is very good. It helped me very much with my assignment on civil rights.