Posted on 04/01/2007 9:49:08 AM PDT by lqclamar
HOUSTON -- After spending a year behind bars, Shaquanda Cotton walked out of a central Texas youth prison Saturday pretty much like many 15-year-olds would: eager for a hug from her mom and pining for a Big Mac.
So McDonald's was the first stop for the soft-spoken black teenager, who was abruptly released by Texas officials after nationwide civil rights protests erupted over her sentence of up to 7 years for shoving a teacher's aide at her high school.
(Excerpt) Read more at chicagotribune.com ...
Soon after the restaurant stop, though, Cotton and her mother, Creola, headed out on the five-hour drive from the prison in Brownwood back home to Paris, the small northeast Texas town that has been roiled by protests and racial acrimony over her case and broader allegations of racial discrimination in the town's schools and courts.
NOTE: The "outrage" mentioned here were intentionally generated by Howard Witt himself, the author of this article. Three weeks ago Witt published a highly biased article on the Cotton case containing multiple intentional fabrications designed to present her as a victim of a "racist" criminal justice system. The "civil rights" protesters who showed up in Paris, Texas were organized by a black supremacist group affiliated with the Nation of Islam and the Black Panthers. Cotton's mother belongs to this group. Their website is located here: http://www.myspace.com/ccfre_paris_texas
At the heart of the controversy, which exploded across hundreds of blogs and then scores of newspapers and radio and TV stations in the past three weeks, was the seeming severity of the teenager's sentence for an offense that caused no documentable injury to the teacher's aide.
NOTE: This is a patent falsehood that Witt has repeated several times about this case. The teacher's aide WAS injured and her injuries were documented as evidence at the trial. From the Paris News, March 12, 2006: "About an hour after the incident, Brownfield [the teacher's aide] was removed from the school on a stretcher and was taken by ambulance to the hospital." Source: http://www.lamarcountyattorney.com/06news.html#anchor3708
Three months before Cotton, who had no prior criminal record,
NOTE: Witt has repeatedly used the talking point that Cotton had "no criminal record" in an intentional effort to hide her background. While this was Cotton's first criminal arrest, she had a long history of being a disciplinary problem dating back to elementary school (source: http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/front/4676774.html). A half dozen teachers testified against her at the trial indicating she had a history that included several previous threats of violence against teachers and a threat to burn down the school building. (source:http://www.lamarcountyattorney.com/06news.html#anchor3708). Cotton was also assigned to an Alternative School for bad behavior.
...was sentenced by Paris Judge Chuck Superville in March 2006 to up to 7 years in youth prison for the shoving incident, Superville sentenced a 14-year-old white girl convicted of the more serious crime of arson to probation. Later, when the white teenager violated her probation, Superville gave her yet another chance and declined to send her to prison. Only when the youth violated her probation a second time did the judge order her locked up.
NOTE: Witt is being intentionally deceptive again. The white teenager (whose name has never been released because she is a juvenile, meaning Witt's claims about her cannot be easily verified), was given a plea deal for probation because her parents agreed to cooperate with state probation officials (source: http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/front/4676774.html). The District Attorney offered a similar plea deal to Cotton. "Before trial, the Lamar County and District Attorney's Office (prosecutors) offered a plea bargain reduction from felony to misdemeanor assault and 2 years juvenile probation, which the mother and defense attorney turned down." (source: http://www.lamarcountyattorney.com/cotton.html) Cotton's mother claims this never happened, but her own attorney confirmed that the plea deal was offered and rejected (source: http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/front/4676774.html).
School officials, the Paris district attorney and the judge have all strongly denied that race played a role in the prosecution and sentencing of Cotton. But her case has coincided with an ongoing investigation of the Paris school district by the U.S. Department of Education, which is examining allegations that the district systemically discriminates against black students by disciplining them more frequently and more harshly than whites.
NOTE: More willful deception by Witt. The U.S. Department of Education has repeatedly cleared the school district of alleged racial discrimination. The ongoing investigation he refers to is simply the latest filed by members of the same Black Panther-aligned organization that Creola Cotton belongs to.
...but still not exactly Teddy Roosevelt.
You have started 3 threads on this same subject in the last 12 hours, what is it you want us to do about it?
Michael Johnson, a teacher/coach at the alternative school, said after a teacher “wrote her up” for violation of rules, the girl told him “I’m going to bust her in the nose.” She wanted to go home, but he made her go to the office with him, Johnson said. He said she told him, “You don’t know me very well, because I’ll burn this school down.”...When the girl told her, “I’ll knock your block off,” and moved to come in, [Teacher's Aide Cleda] Brownfield said, she put up her hands in a defensive posture, and the girl responded by shoving her hard.
The first thing she should have done was go down to the Courthouse and get that ridiculous name changed. Shaquanda and Creola..you're kidding, right? Was she born on Kwanzaa...ROTFLSHIPMP?
With this type of history, it is only a matter of time before she is suspended from school for another violent act and then back into jail.
There have been hundreds of news stories on this subject in the last 12 hours, so 3 is a small sample. You can do whatever you like about it, and nobody's making you read or post on these threads. My point is to illustrate the media's intentional bias in this case and its efforts to cover up facts attesting to Cotton's guilt and fully deserved punishment.
That's the sad thing about this story. Creola Cotton is a walking, talking real life example of every single negative stereotype that her supporters purport to be against. She's a lazy, rude, uppity, bigotted obnoxious black woman with a ridiculous name who sees a closet "racist" lurking behind every corner and is convinced that she's the perpetual victim of a giant conspiracy by "whitey" to persecute her and her bratty daughter with an equally ridiculous name. It's just like Cynthia McKinney - she's such a mockery of herself that it's hard to take her serious for anything. And that is why the MSM is intentionally covering up facts about this case to turn a farcical left wing gasbag into a sympathetic character.
Thank you for shedding light on this situation. This is the type of serious criticism and reporting outside the MSM box that I love FreeRepublic for.
What prompted her to shove the teacher's aide, precisely? Just curious if anyone knows the actual details.
You posted the same thing on another thread. I highly suggest that you simply avoid such threads if they are not to your liking.
The Sept. 30 incident occurred about 15 to 20 minutes before regular classes were to begin at 8:30 a.m. at Paris High School. Brownfield was the hall monitor in a building where some students were having meetings and others were being helped by tutors.
The hall monitor’s job is to lock the doors about 8:05 a.m., keeping all other students out of the hallways until 8:30 a.m. to keep disruptions at a minimum. Brownfield said she was on her way to lock the door when the girl walked in. When the girl was told she couldn’t come in, she protested, saying she had to go to the restroom, Brownfield testified.
She told her she’d have to use a restroom in the cafeteria across the courtyard, and the girl finally left, she said. Minutes later, when another student was admitted into the building for a meeting, the girl insisted that she also be let in. When the girl told her, “I’ll knock your block off,” and moved to come in, Brownfield said, she put up her hands in a defensive posture, and the girl responded by shoving her hard.
Ah. Then she got the sentence she deserved, I'd say. What's more, were it me she shoved, I would have beat her black and blue.
"You posted the same thing on another thread. I highly suggest that you simply avoid such threads if they are not to your liking."
Well now that is silly, asking what he wants us to do about something that he is crusading about, makes total sense.
And I politely answered you the last time you asked the exact same question.
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1810064/posts?page=8#8
Rather than acknowledge it, you chose to come here and post the same thing as if it had never been asked before. Behavior like that makes your motives seem disingenuous.
Precious Shaquanda was so pleased she immediately shoved a reporter and a well wisher. Then she and her mother, Lamongous Crayola, went to McDonalds where Shaquanda shoved other customers out of line. After they finished, Shaquanda was walking on air, and shoved Hamburglar and Mayor McCheese before leaving.
But the question is: did you learn a lesson?
What specific 'injuries' did the aide sustain?
Brownfield “was crying, very upset, holding her arm. I asked her if she was OK, and she said she was not. I felt she needed medical help. She was so upset she had difficulty talking,” said Ruthart, a Paris police officers who works as a school resource officer for PISD.
http://www.lamarcountyattorney.com/06news.html#anchor4455
"Prosecutors in the case counter that the incident involving Cotton was much more serious than a shove. It was an assault, described by Lamar County Attorney Gary Young as a "body slam" that sent a petite 58-year-old teacher's aide to the ground."
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/front/4676774.html
Excerpts:
The latest flagrant case of Black youth attacks involves a 14-year-old from Paris, Texas who was targeted, set up by a school system and taken from her mother by a racist juvenile court system because her mother has been a loud, vocal watchman against the abuses and assaults on Black children in Lamar County. “A plantation mentality exists in Paris,” said victimized mother and activist Creola Cotton. “Black kids are being targeted, harassed and terrorized. I am outraged because of what happened to my daughter and for the lack of justice here.” Cotton’s daughter has Attention Deficit Hyperactive Disorder (ADHD) and was trying to get into the building that day so she could get medication from the school nurse. “ADHD is a very serious condition,” said Brenda Cherry. “This child was punished for her disability.” She was sentenced to a state juvenile correction facility “for an indeterminate period not to exceed her 21st birthday” for allegedly shoving a 58-year-old teacher’s aide. The 14-year-old was not known for having a combative behavior or being threatening to others and had no prior reports of incidents where the police were called to her home for domestic disturbances of unruly behavior.A closer look at the case reveals that she may have a strong argument since the 14-year-old was pushed, shoved, verbally assaulted by the adult first and had to have medical treatment as a result of the encounter with the aide. The girl allegedly admitted to pushing the teacher’s aide, Cleda Brownfield, who is white, after she was pushed during the incident, but no action was taken against her for assaulting the child.
Dallas County official chose to take her out of the home of a hard working mother. Cotton, who has been in Paris for over six years, and lifelong Lamar County resident Brenda Cherry are among the few African Americans in the county willing to stand up and fight the school board, police department and justice system trying to stop the brutality, profiling and other abuses against Black youth and young Black men. Cherry, who monitored the trial, said the case was highlighted by Paris High School officials cover ups, half-truths and the “loaded” testimonies and documentation from “Plantation Negro” and white teachers that improperly framed the 14-year-old as a troublemaker and a threat to the school and the community.
Many of the Black children in throughout Paris school systems are being tormented, documented and not given proper due process before being thrown out of the county. It was also reported that Lamar County District Attorney Gary Young and prosecutors argued against probation and home monitoring, charging that Cotton was perhaps her biggest problem – an attack on Black activism. The group attacked Cotton for being an activist and speaking out for Black youth being mistreated in the system and for complaining about issues in the Black community. It is quite amazing that prosecutors would say that the girl has no hope of getting better as long as she stayed with her mother. What is wrong with that picture? We are not talking about a mother who is a convicted felon, murderer or drug dealer. We are talking simply of a mother watching out not only for her own, but also concerned about the future of the “African village”. Adding insult to injury were those Black educators who turned against their own race and attacked the 14-year old child. In excerpts from Willie Lynch – The Making of a Slave, incidents and conditions in Paris Texas appear to mirror the kinds of images written about over 200 years ago. … The Black slaves after receiving this indoctrination shall carry on and will become self refueling and self generating for hundreds of years, maybe thousands. Don't forget you must pitch the OLD black Male vs. the YOUNG black Male, and the YOUNG black Male against the OLD black male. You must use the DARK skin slaves vs. the LIGHT skin slaves, and the LIGHT skin slaves vs. the DARK skin slaves. You must use the FEMALE vs. the MALE. And the MALE vs. the FEMALE. You must also have you white servants and over- seers distrust all Blacks. But it is NECESSARY THAT YOUR SLAVES TRUST AND DEPEND ON US. THEY MUST LOVE, RESPECT AND TRUST ONLY US ... Evidence in the 14-year old’s case lends credibility to the modern day lynching going on with our Black youth at the hands of “safe” Negroes who have sold their souls to the master for crumbs and a few pieces of silver. According to Cherry, Michael Johnson, one Black teacher, even turned the 14-year olds words around making it seem as though the girl would do something bad to the school. Althea Dixon, another Black educator from the Paris District, never met Cotton, but testified during the sentencing phase in favor of having the 14-year old removed from the home. Black preachers in Paris and Lamar County were neither outraged nor concerned about the way African-American youth are being persecuted and sent off. None of those so-called men of God raised Bibles, fists of defiance or demanded justice. Not one pastor even showed up at the trial or made any statement on behalf of the Black community. Also at issue is the stiff penalty and intimidation Black face for speaking out in Paris. Officials are all but using the same principles used during Jim Crow to terrorize Black folk and scare them into a quiet state of fear and fright. Cherry also believes that Cotton is a victim of a new Jim Crow system intimidating young Blacks and telling grown Blacks in the county to be good “Negroes” or else. “The message here is simple. Negroes don’t complain or question us or this is what will happen to you,” she said. “They want to get to us by going after our children.” According to Cotton and Cherry, years of documentation, tapes and materials reveal how Paris school and police officials attempt to justify the harassment, pushing, beating, stopping and threatening of Black youth and harassing adults on a regular basis. “We need help here. We are being hurt here by the racist action of whites and the do nothing attitude of Blacks,” Cherry said. “Our children have no rights, no voice and will continue to be put down because Black pastors, leaders and community are sitting on its hands and helping white folks throw away our kids.”
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