The method of execution isn't the biggest problem with the death penalty. Before society can debate whether capital punishment should exist in the United States, we need to make certain that racial bias is removed from the process.
Calls for clemecy for a murderer who has had a religious conversion have a certain appeal. As columnist M.W. Guzy notes, "Conservatives could take heart in his religious conversion while
liberals could celebrate the notion that the Department of Corrections
actually rehabilitated somebody."
As columnist Mike Guzy notes: "Facts are stubborn things and many of our fellow American Idol-izers
are simply ignorant of those necessary to perform such an analysis.
Worse yet, the things you think you know can be more dangerous than the
ones you know you don't. Remember, at one time 'everybody' knew that
Saddam Hussein had WMDs."
The cancer of racism has not been removed from American society. But just as doctors have found new ways to treat diseases over the past 50 years, society should rework the methods it uses to combat the legacies of discrimination. Kira Hudson Banks writes, "However, as I look at affirmative action as a remedy, it seems like a
Band-Aid or surface response to an underlying infection. Why can’t we
propose a remedy for the root of the problem?"
Mike Guzy, who once was a regular contributor to the Post-Dispatch Commentary page, returns to the land of punditry. In this, his inaugural column for the St. Louis Platform, he talks about his history, his convictions and conflicts of interest. Look for Mike's musings every Thursday.
Last update: 10-04-2008 08:47
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The St. Louis Platform is now the St. Louis Beacon. You can find us at stlbeacon.org.
