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Anderson Case Sparks FAMU Activism

By Shauntel Lowe
Black College Wire

"Black men are not safe in America."

Josh King Students from FAMU and other local colleges protested not-guilty verdicts.

This bold declaration came not from a heralded holdover leader of the Civil Rights Era, like Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton, but from James Bland, a senior and the Student Government Association Vice President at Florida A&M University in Tallahassee.

The past few years have seen the revival of the protest movement for young black Americans. While a lot of media attention has been focused on those who are in the music industry or have chosen a lifestyle of crime, far less attention has been paid to those who have taken off their headphones and responded to the cries for justice.

Over the past few years, a string of cases involving African Americans have brought out the 1960s civil rights soul in young blacks across the country: the Jena 6; Megan Williams; Marcus Dixon; and now, Martin Lee Anderson.

Students in Florida have formed the Student Coalition for Justice, an activist organization in response to the death of Anderson, a 14-year-old black male who died on Jan. 6, 2006, a day after being kicked, punched, dragged, and forced to inhale ammonia tablets by seven guards at a Bay County juvenile boot camp in Florida while a nurse looked on. The violence was captured on videotape.

On Oct. 12, an all-white jury found all seven guards and the nurse not guilty of any charges, including aggravated manslaughter of a child. The defendants, who were white, black and Asian, faced up to 30 years in prison.

"We have to do a lot more. We've been given a lot more. It's time to prevent these occurrences so we won't have to rally when one of our children is killed by one of the guards," said Phillip Agnew, a FAMu senior and one of the organization's co-founders and current president.

On the day of the not-guilty verdict, which many have attributed to racism, students in Tallahassee began a peaceful march on the state Capitol that transformed into a major scene as the protesting students blockaded major intersections around the Capitol, risking arrest and disrupting rush hour traffic.

On Oct. 17, members of the SCJ met with members of the Criminal Rights Division of the Justice Department and the North Florida Deputy U.S. Attorney General's office. The officials assured the students that they would continue an investigation into the Anderson case. Agnew said since the meeting, the SCJ is holding off on further protests so as not to impede the investigation.

"The federal government, when they know people are watching and their actions are going to be scrutinized, they act more expeditiously," he said.

Much of the scrutiny over the handling of the case has stemmed from the six-member jury being all white while Anderson is black.

Benjamin Crump, the civil lawyer representing Anderson's parents, Gina Jones and Robert Anderson, said though it is possible for an all white jury to be fair in cases with black victims, "that wasn't the case in this situation."

Crump said the history of racism in the South and the fact that the jury only deliberated for 90 minutes before returning with the not-guilty verdict leads him to believe that the outcome of this case was due to racism.

"We knew we were going against a history of African Americans being killed and lynched. An all white jury ain't going to convict police officers for killing black people," he said.

Bland, said he feels race played a factor in this case, but he considers the main issue to be justice for humanity and not just for a black child.

"We are fighting for a cause far greater than ourselves," Bland said.

"I know it's become a racially charged case," he added. "I kind of look at Martin like, what if this was my brother, my friend? I would have been just as upset if he was a white boy."

Like Agnew, Bland said this case warrants attention because of what its outcome could mean for his future and that of his family.

"I don't know if justice is going to be served for me. I'm going to fight for Martin just in case down the line something similar happens to me. I'm going to make a change now for humanity, for mankind," he said.

Agnew said media outlets are ignoring this issue in favor of less important topics, citing extended media coverage of comedian Ellen DeGeneres' recent legal battles over a dog in contrast with a "five second blurb" about the Anderson case.

"I don't feel that's newsworthy, especially in the current climate of black issues in America," he said. The SCJ hascreated a Myspace page chronicling the case. Agnew said students from HBCUs such as Howard University in Washington and North Carolina A&T have reached out to express their concern.

He said the Anderson case, as well as the case of Megan Williams, a 20-year-old black woman from West Virginia who was allegedly abducted and tortured by six white people in September, are important because they are indicative of a broader issue of the "disrespect that America has for black people," he said. "If we don't act proactively, it's going to get worse."

The Florida State Conference NAACP is finalizing the details of a planned march and rally on Oct. 23 in Tallahassee to demand justice for Anderson.

Shauntel Lowe is a recent graduate of UCLA and a regular contributor to Black College Wire. To comment, please e-mail .

Posted Oct. 19, 2007