Family of man who was dragged to death dreads release of film (James Byrd)

ABC13.com (KTRK-TV, Houston, TX) ^ | 1-18-03 | Associated Press

[Houmatt]

The mother of a black man from Jasper who was dragged to death says she dreads the premiere of a documentary on the crime.

Three white men were convicted in the 1998 death of James Byrd Junior.

Two were sent to death row. The third man received life in prison.

Stella Mae Byrd wrote a letter published in The Jasper Newsboy.

She says her son has been dead for four years. She also says, quote: "What people said back then is their business and as for the family, we do not want to hear it!"

The film "Two Towns of Jasper" is scheduled to air on P-B-S on Wednesday night.

Filmmakers Whitney Dow and Marco Williams review the crime and the trials. They followed a cross-section of Jasper residents along the way.

A white crew filmed the white community. A black crew filmed the black community.

Dow is white. Williams is black.

Stella Byrd says Williams misled the Byrd family about the intent of the film.

But Williams says Mrs. Byrd is still grieving and is in the process of healing.

[Houmatt]

I don't see what they are bellyaching about. They didn't seem to have a problem with Byrd's daughter exploiting this horrific crime during the 2000 Presidential campaign.

[Double Tap]

For once I agree with you. They allowed the media to exploit their grief for political purposes. Why should they be suprised when it continues to do so?

[doug from upland]

Absolutely. They commercial ran many times.

[Clara Lou]

You're right about that-- I'd forgotten.
I wonder if this documentary will be about vicious hate groups with lots of ex-cons as members, or if the focus will be how whitey treated black folk. The crime was beyond heinous, but it needs to be put in proper prospective.

[basil]

I really can't think what the "proper perspective" might be. It was a heinous crime, period.

[dasboot]

I heard an interview wuth the film makers on NPR last week. And , according to what I heard, this is not a slam-dunk against anybody. The interviewer kept scraping for reinforcement of the usual Liberal bias, and failed. I'm gonna give it a look-see.

[Michael.SF.]

I don't see what they are bellyaching about.

I will venture a guess at what their problem might be. My guess is that the Dems gave them a sizable check for the commercial and they got bupkis from the documentary film maker.

[Chi-townChief]

"Filmmakers Whitney Dow and Marco Williams review the crime and the trials. They followed a cross-section of Jasper residents along the way.

A white crew filmed the white community. A black crew filmed the black community.

Dow is white. Williams is black."

Sounds like just the kind of racial harmony we need on MLK day.

[Harmless Teddy Bear]

I'm gonna give it a look-see.

Thank you for volunteering. You are now officially the "sacrificial penguin".

[deport]

It goes beyond just this PBS documentary film.. There are three shows on this week beginning on Tuesday night running one per night about the Byrd death...

they are as follows

• ABC News "Nightline" will preview "Two Towns of Jasper" on Tuesday, January 21 (11:35 p.m. ET) on the ABC Television Network. The broadcast will feature a conversation with filmmakers Marco Williams and Whitney Dow, lengthy excerpts of the documentary, and a study of Jasper in the aftermath of the Byrd murder.
  
  
• On Wednesday, January 22, P.O.V. will broadcast the documentary "Two Towns of Jasper" (9:00 p.m. ET on PBS, check local listings). In "Two Towns of Jasper", two film crews, one black and one white, set out to document the aftermath of James Byrd, Jr.'s murder by following the subsequent trials of the local men charged with the crime.
  
  
• On Thursday, January 23, Ted Koppel will anchor "America in Black and White: Jasper, Texas," a live town meeting on race in America from Jasper, Texas. The 90-minute town meeting will be broadcast live and in its entirety on PBS at 9:00 p.m. ET (check local listings). ABC News "Nightline" will broadcast one hour of the town meeting beginning at 11:35 p.m. ET on the ABC Television Network. The town hall meeting will be held with the citizens of Jasper, many of whom were interviewed for the documentary.
  

I'm not sure why they have lined up three nights in a row......

[LibKill]

Right you are. I hope they get to watch the film over and over and over and over.....

At least as many times as the KKKommukrats ran the anti-Bush ad that Byrd's illegitimate daughter made.

Turnabout is fair play.

[BunnySlippers]

They didn't seem to have a problem with Byrd's daughter exploiting this horrific crime during the 2000 Presidential campaign.

Exactly. To be fair, this shameless money grab should be included in the picture.

[Peter Libra]

We all, I am sure, await with bated breath, a film of the Carr brothers. Within four days they had murdered six people. The first one was a symphony orchestra cellist- a woman. The others murdered and raped after the most disgusting acts with each other, were forced on them. Associated Press did report it.

They were found guilty on 4th of November last. The Carrs were "African Americans" - the victims white. If I did not have FR, I would not have known a thing. This is unless the Canadian press covered it. Well, the mass media covered Charlie Starkweather and his girl many years ago aplenty. Long documentaries on the case, when there was a killing spree. Both white of course.

[basil]

Having spent a lot of time in Jasper through the years--(my uncle was once mayor there), I can tell you that Jasper is just another little east Texas town--probably comparable to any small town in the US. There are good people there, and some not so good. There are wealthy, and poor, liberals, conservatives, probably a representative of just about any group of people you can name. It just happened that some particularly vile types did this heinous deed, so the whole town must suffer the ignominy of it.

[sarasmom]

I am asking because I do not know the answer.

Did the family have any choice over media coverage? Is there any proof they were paid compensation by the press?

Before I blast the victims family, and add insult to injury, I would like to know if there is proof they profitted from this horrible murder.Setting aside the political add garbage aspect,I would venture to say I would seek justice by any means possible if one of my family circle had been so horrificably murdered.

I tend to be suspicious of the press, so that is why I want to know did the "sell" the story, or just not fight heavily against the resulting publicity, if they even could have?

[Redcloak]

Translation: They aren't getting the royalties they expected.

[Double Tap]

My point was that the family, mostly the daughter, of James Byrd was actively involved in the media campaign against George W. Bush in the 2000 election. She went on several talk shows defending the use of the commercial exploiting the James Byrd dragging death and trying to attach it to Mr. Bush.

I feel no sympathy for them. They tried to use it falsely, so what do I care how they feel now?

[Black Bart]

Heard from someone who comes from the Jaspar area that the media has seriously misrepresented this story.

His reports were that James Byrd and some others had seriously beaten a relative of one of these men over a drug deal gone bad. The three men sought Byrd out for retaliation.

If true, it wasn't right, but it also wasn't a racially motivated act. Just criminals dealing with other criminals.

[Slyfox]

There was a family murdered in northern Michigan a number of years ago. The murders went unsolved until this last year when an old Indian Native-American was overheard in a bar and he said that the murders took place as revenge. One of the murdered boys strung a wire up across a wooded path and a kid in their tribe came along on his motorcycle and was decapitated. So members of the local tribe went into the people's cabin and shot all six members of the family. The local police will not arrest anyone for the crime.

[lonestar]

The week before Byrd was murdered, a black man "loved" a white man to death in Jasper, TX, by beating him over the head until his eyeballs popped out. You never heard it mentioned.

About a year ago some blacks beat, ran over, killed a white loser. Trash. He wasn't from Jasper but they met up here at the dealer's house.

It is a common belief around Jasper that drugs were involved with ALL of the murders.

James Byrd was a felon, having been arrested for burglary and dealing. "Repeat offender" on all of the charges. He was on SSI.