Death Outside Razzoo's Club, Ended in Acquittal

NAACP March on French Quarter Businesses for Racial Discrimination

As I read the paper in dis-belief, on the verdict of the bouncer at Razzoo's Club, who went on trial for killing Levon Jones, a Black college student visiting New Orleans on New Years Eve 2004, was acquitted.

My heart weeped for the family to hear that the verdict came back "not guilty. That's right, after witnessing the video of the beating of Levon Jones brought memories of Rodney King and a similar verdict of "not guilty".

I remembered shooting the video of the march that NAACP leaders put on inside the French Quarters as a demonstration against racism and discrimination. The march goers cried for boycotts, as family members only asked for justice, as we all witness the video, that clearly depicted an assault.

Moreover, "The bouncers killed that man," Orleans Parish Coroner Frank Minyard told TV news outlets. His office ruled the death a homicide caused by asphyxia that arose after "excessive physical force."

As we stood at the place where Levon Jones was killed, standing where his body marked the injustices on the streets, we all hoped it to be a different picture in court room.

The atmosphere in New Orleans had a stink of racism that many marchers surely believed was the results of Levon's death, but this verdict, is surely to reinforce that notion.

While racial issues plague this country, from actions of white house officials of Katrina, to Jena, LA, to Road Home to No Home, from Rev Wright's Obama sermon, perhaps is RIGHT, at exposing just how much we view race and the inequalities or injustice that the African American face. The irony, is that, some blacks literally died as a result.

We all know it, and there is nothing new about Black Folk dying at the hands of racism. The problem is, where is protection and justice under the law, or is it the same old meaning, that Black folk defined in the past, where it means "just us", meaning whites only.

Levon Jones' family, including his parents and college buddies, absorbed the verdict in silence. But once outside the courtroom, Jones' girlfriend, Glenda Milton, sobbed while her friends tried to console her.

"I can't believe it," Milton said. "I can't believe it."

The jury comprised nine white women, two white men and one black man who served as the foreman.

After the acquittal, the club's management issued a statement:

"While the owners and staff of Razzoo are saddened by any circumstance when a tragic loss of life occurs, after four days of trial the evidence convinced the jury that their verdict of not guilty was proper and just. Since cases related to this incident continue to be pending before our justice system, we must respectfully withhold any further comment at this time."

It seems as if we have to march over and over, ever time an incident of injustice is handed, and at some point, marches will hit the purse string of racism, and perhaps, cripple it for good. Otherwise, we'll continue to operate as some barbaric society, not willing to admit we have a big problem, and a lack of will to correct it.

From Martin Luther Kings speeches, to Rev. Jerimiah Wrights sermon, the lens of Americas injustice, are still the same decades later. Perhaps it goes back centuries, where the deaths of blacks slaves in the quarters where disregarded too. Wake Up America, The World is Watching You.