Essay Forty-Nine

Special Memorial Day MultiCultClassics Minutes — because discrimination and racism don’t take a holiday…

• Mexican President Vicente Fox planned to name special prosecutors for every state in his country to investigate crimes against journalists. The recent disappearances and murders of three journalists prompted Fox to take action. However, the initiative will be scrapped if the journalists turn out to be Black.

• Rapper wannabe Tiwan Barton is seeking to capitalize on his recent misfortune. Barton was literally run over by a speeding car — and a bystander recorded the horrifying spectacle on video. Now Barton, who escaped with only minor injuries, hopes to use the publicity to launch his career. His initial concepts include a CD titled, “Mow Me Down.” This dude brings a whole new meaning to street cred.

• Multiculturalism and motorcycles don’t mix in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina — or hogs and dawgs receive unequal treatment. When hundreds of thousands of mostly white bikers descended upon the area for the Carolina Harley dealers’ rally, things were typically rowdy. But when mostly Black riders arrived for the Atlantic Beach Memorial Day Bike Festival, the city blocked streets, diverted traffic and added 300 officers to its police force. Plus, certain restaurants and a hotel actually closed down during the weekend. Lawsuits have been filed to argue racial discrimination, but some won’t even go to trial until 2006. Justice delayed is justice denied. Or maybe the judges can’t get to the courts with all the blocked streets and diverted traffic.

• Officials at Comedy Central refuse to view the apparent loss of Chappelle’s Show as a major catastrophe. One executive said, “On a scale of one to 10, 10 being the worst disaster, one being the best, this is about a 3.” That remark is sure to send Dave Chappelle into a heroin-induced depression requiring rehabilitation at a mental health facility.

• Junior Allen was freed from jail after serving 35 years for stealing a TV set. He had received a life sentence for second-degree burglary in 1970 — a crime that now gets a maximum three-year sentence. In fact, Allen had watched for decades as murderers, rapists and child molesters served shorter prison terms. The North Carolina Parole Commission ultimately opted to let Allen go. They probably figured he wouldn’t steal another TV once he learned Chappelle’s Show is off the air.