The Militant - Vol.64/No.30 - July 31, 2000 -- Michigan protesters condemn racist killing
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A socialist newsweekly published in the interests of working people
Vol. 64/No. 30July 31, 2000

Come to the Active Workers ConferenceCome to the Active Workers Conference
 
Michigan protesters condemn racist killing
 
BY ILONA GERSH  
DETROIT--Nearly 1,000 people rallied at the Federal Building here July 17 to protest the racist killing of Frederick Finley at the Fairlane Mall in Dearborn. This was the second rally to take place in two weeks. A week after Finley was choked to death by store security guards outside Lord & Taylor's in mainly white suburban Dearborn on June 22, some 5,000 people turned out for a rally at the mall.

Many of the participants in the rally here were on their lunch hour. One young man carried a United Auto Workers Local 2334 picket sign that said "Fight racism."

"This is a union issue because it's something that affects the lives of union brothers and sisters," he said. "Unions should support this because they support us."

For the first time, the protests against the killing of Finley got official endorsement from the labor movement. Don Boggs, president of the Metro Detroit AFL-CIO, spoke at the rally to explain why his council supported the rally. "There's a history of labor supporting civil rights," he said.

Many of those participating in the rally brought signs they made for the massive outpouring on July 5. One said, "Today you are not alone. There are many voices here today." Another said "Fairlane is not fair." "No justice, no peace" and "No justice, no profits," were popular signs and chants. Another popular slogan on picket signs was "Life is worth more than $4," referring to the $4 bracelet that guards accused Finley's daughter of shoplifting.

Leaders of the NAACP, Southern Christian Leadership Conference, and the National Action Network, the organizers of the two protests, pose various strategies to stop racist violence at the mall. These include boycotting Lord & Taylor and the Fairlane Mall, or buying company stocks.

A young woman explained to this reporter that attempts by the media to discredit the character of members of the Finley family have not changed her opinion that more rallies are needed. "The issue is not whether the bracelet was stolen. It's not Frederick Finley's family history. It's not how often family members have been unemployed, or on welfare. The issue is that Frederick Finley was murdered. We need to keep protesting. As long as we are protesting," she said, the cops and guards "will think twice about using violence against other Black people."

The day after the first rally, one of the guards was charged with involuntary manslaughter by the Wayne County prosecutor.

Protest organizers told the rally that they had written to U.S. Attorney General Janet Reno demanding a federal investigation of the killing. Local media reports that Gina Vitrano, of the U.S. Attorney's office in Detroit, said "the preliminary investigation could take anywhere from a couple of months to a couple years."

Among those who spoke were Dick Gregory; Martin Luther King III, president of the SCLC; Rev. Horace Sheffield III, president of the Michigan chapter of the National Action Network (NAN); Rev. Wendell Anthony, president of the Detroit chapter of the NAACP; and Geoffrey Fieger, the lawyer representing the Finley family in a $600 million lawsuit against Lord & Taylor and the Fairlane Mall.

Another fight against racism scored a victory July 17 when former Detroit policeman Larry Nevers was ordered back to prison for involuntary manslaughter. Nevers was released on bail after his conviction pending appeal. In 1992 he and his partner beat a Black motorist, Malice Green, to death with a flashlight. Amidst widespread community protest of the brutal attack, Nevers and his partner were convicted of second degree murder in 1993 and sent to prison.

State and federal courts threw out the convictions in 1997 on the grounds that the policemen were denied fair trials. In April of this year they were found guilty of involuntary manslaughter, a lesser charge. The Michigan Supreme Court revoked Nevers' bond July 17 and ordered him back to prison on the grounds that the state Court of Appeals had erred in releasing him on bail.

 
 
 
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