Through the eyes of 'The Hurricane'
Friday, March 9, 2001____
mndaily.com
Erin Madsen - Staff Reporter
"Here comes the story of The Hurricane" -- Bob
Dylan
While in his prime as a world-renowned
middleweight boxer in 1966, Rubin "The Hurricane"
Carter was forced to redirect his energy to fight for his innocence in the case of a
Paterson, New Jersey triple homicide.
After serving 20 years in prison as a wrongly accused murderer, Carter is now
advocating literacy across the nation.
Carter arrived at the University's Ted Mann Concert Hall on Thursday evening in
front of more than 600 people to emphasize the necessity of literacy and the
personal freedom reading and writing affords.
Carter said he "devoured knowledge" from books while he was in prison.
While incarcerated, Carter educated himself with works on law, philosophy and
literature, thus re-creating the liberties of life absent within the restraints of
solitary confinement and physical inhumanity found in prison.
"I got my bachelor's degree from the streets, my master's degree from man's
inhumanity to man, and my Ph.D. in prison brutality," Carter said.
He went on to call prisons "assembly lines of death," pointing out the United
States is the only industrialized nation in the world that still has the death penalty.
Carter also said as of February 2000, the United States. has more prison inmates
than any country on the planet, including China.
And though he fell victim to malice and racism throughout his life, Carter said he
no longer has it in him to hate.
"Racism, it seems, has been at the forefront of my life," he said. "For a long time,
I was mad.
"But if you spend enough time in the darkness, you will begin to see things more
vividly than you ever have before. When you can't see outside, you can only look
inside and that's where peace and reconciliation begin."
And Carter had a lifetime's worth of darkness. Of his 20 years in prison, 10 were
spent in solitary confinement.
The time he spent in "the hole" gave him the opportunity to look past the wrongs
done to him, Carter said.
"Just because a jury of 12 misinformed people ... found me guilty based on
evidence that did not exist, that did not make me guilty," he said.
On the heels of his overturned conviction in 1985, Carter relocated to Toronto
where he has resided for the last 16 years.
In addition to his literacy campaign, Carter directs the Toronto-based Association
in Defense of the Wrongfully Convicted and is a board member of the Southern
Center for Human Rights in Atlanta.
At a press conference Thursday afternoon, Carter expressed his enthusiasm for
encouraging literacy on the nation's university campuses.
"It's a great honor for me to be able to go around the country and attempt to
engage these young university minds, these young fertile minds, before they
become calcified," he said.
Carter also spoke about his inability to harbor animosity toward his adversaries
who falsely accused, charged, convicted and incarcerated him.
"I refused to be destroyed," he said. "Hatred only consumes the vessel that
contains it."
How It All Went Down
On June 17, 1966, "The Hurricane" was in the midst of planning for a second
fight to secure the world middle-weight boxing championship title when his life
changed forever.
That day, at the Lafayette Grill in Paterson, New Jersey, three patrons and the
tavern's owner were gunned down. The owner and one patron were killed
instantly. Another wounded patron died one month after the attack. The lone
survivor of the attack would never identity Carter in court as one of the gunmen.
Carter and his friend, John Artis, were driving a white car with butterfly taillights
in the vicinity of the Lafayette Grill when the shootings occurred.
A car similar to Carter's was described by a woman who lived above the tavern
and saw two men running to the car after she heard several loud noises beneath
her. The only solid description of the two men's appearances she provided police
was they were "colored."
According to Alfred Bello, a criminal with a lengthy record, he too caught a vague
glimpse of the two men as they exited the tavern. He hid around a corner as they
left and then entered the bar and stole $62 from the cash register. He exited the
bar, gave the money to his friend who was nearby, and returned to the bar to call
the authorities.
Paterson police soon pulled over Carter and let him go when they recognized him
as the prizefighter.
Carter and Artis were pulled over again a few hours later and arrested and
charged for the murders.
An all-white jury determined the fate of the two black men. Carter and Artis were
convicted and sentenced to three life terms in prison -- all on the legitimacy of
three distant eye witnesses.
The murder weapons were never recovered.
"This is the moment you must begin to respect yourself," Carter said Thursday
night. "I had to act in accordance with what I knew rather than what people
thought."
Their first appeals were rejected, as were their second.
In 1974, Carter sent a copy of his autobiography, produced in prison, to
singer/songwriter Bob Dylan. Dylan quickly began voicing Carter's innocence.
Carter soon became immortalized in Dylan's song "The Hurricane," which stated
the fighter was their victim of racist coercion by police.
Later that year, Bello and another witness reversed their testimonies, which freed
Carter and Artis on bail in 1976.
After six months of freedom, Carter and Artis were hauled back to jail because
Bello again claimed they were the men he saw outside the Lafayette Grill in 1966.
Carter's conviction was overturned forever in 1985, when a federal judge said his
conviction was based on racism rather than truth.
In 1999, actor Denzel Washington portrayed Carter in the film "The Hurricane,"
which traced his life story. Washington was nominated for an Academy Award
for his portrayal.
"I know we live in a universe of unlimited possibilities," Carter said. "You young
people need to know who you really are, what you really are."
Erin Madsen covers culture and diversity and welcomes comments at
emadsen@daily.umn.edu. She can also be reached at (612) 627-4070 x3223
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Through the eyes of 'The Hurricane'
Friday, March 9, 2001____
mndaily.com
Erin Madsen - Staff Reporter
"Here comes the story of The Hurricane" -- Bob
Dylan
While in his prime as a world-renowned
middleweight boxer in 1966, Rubin "The Hurricane"
Carter was forced to redirect his energy to fight for his innocence in the case of a
Paterson, New Jersey triple homicide.
After serving 20 years in prison as a wrongly accused murderer, Carter is now
advocating literacy across the nation.
Carter arrived at the University's Ted Mann Concert Hall on Thursday evening in
front of more than 600 people to emphasize the necessity of literacy and the
personal freedom reading and writing affords.
Carter said he "devoured knowledge" from books while he was in prison.
While incarcerated, Carter educated himself with works on law, philosophy and
literature, thus re-creating the liberties of life absent within the restraints of
solitary confinement and physical inhumanity found in prison.
"I got my bachelor's degree from the streets, my master's degree from man's
inhumanity to man, and my Ph.D. in prison brutality," Carter said.
He went on to call prisons "assembly lines of death," pointing out the United
States is the only industrialized nation in the world that still has the death penalty.
Carter also said as of February 2000, the United States. has more prison inmates
than any country on the planet, including China.
And though he fell victim to malice and racism throughout his life, Carter said he
no longer has it in him to hate.
"Racism, it seems, has been at the forefront of my life," he said. "For a long time,
I was mad.
"But if you spend enough time in the darkness, you will begin to see things more
vividly than you ever have before. When you can't see outside, you can only look
inside and that's where peace and reconciliation begin."
And Carter had a lifetime's worth of darkness. Of his 20 years in prison, 10 were
spent in solitary confinement.
The time he spent in "the hole" gave him the opportunity to look past the wrongs
done to him, Carter said.
"Just because a jury of 12 misinformed people ... found me guilty based on
evidence that did not exist, that did not make me guilty," he said.
On the heels of his overturned conviction in 1985, Carter relocated to Toronto
where he has resided for the last 16 years.
In addition to his literacy campaign, Carter directs the Toronto-based Association
in Defense of the Wrongfully Convicted and is a board member of the Southern
Center for Human Rights in Atlanta.
At a press conference Thursday afternoon, Carter expressed his enthusiasm for
encouraging literacy on the nation's university campuses.
"It's a great honor for me to be able to go around the country and attempt to
engage these young university minds, these young fertile minds, before they
become calcified," he said.
Carter also spoke about his inability to harbor animosity toward his adversaries
who falsely accused, charged, convicted and incarcerated him.
"I refused to be destroyed," he said. "Hatred only consumes the vessel that
contains it."
How It All Went Down
On June 17, 1966, "The Hurricane" was in the midst of planning for a second
fight to secure the world middle-weight boxing championship title when his life
changed forever.
That day, at the Lafayette Grill in Paterson, New Jersey, three patrons and the
tavern's owner were gunned down. The owner and one patron were killed
instantly. Another wounded patron died one month after the attack. The lone
survivor of the attack would never identity Carter in court as one of the gunmen.
Carter and his friend, John Artis, were driving a white car with butterfly taillights
in the vicinity of the Lafayette Grill when the shootings occurred.
A car similar to Carter's was described by a woman who lived above the tavern
and saw two men running to the car after she heard several loud noises beneath
her. The only solid description of the two men's appearances she provided police
was they were "colored."
According to Alfred Bello, a criminal with a lengthy record, he too caught a vague
glimpse of the two men as they exited the tavern. He hid around a corner as they
left and then entered the bar and stole $62 from the cash register. He exited the
bar, gave the money to his friend who was nearby, and returned to the bar to call
the authorities.
Paterson police soon pulled over Carter and let him go when they recognized him
as the prizefighter.
Carter and Artis were pulled over again a few hours later and arrested and
charged for the murders.
An all-white jury determined the fate of the two black men. Carter and Artis were
convicted and sentenced to three life terms in prison -- all on the legitimacy of
three distant eye witnesses.
The murder weapons were never recovered.
"This is the moment you must begin to respect yourself," Carter said Thursday
night. "I had to act in accordance with what I knew rather than what people
thought."
Their first appeals were rejected, as were their second.
In 1974, Carter sent a copy of his autobiography, produced in prison, to
singer/songwriter Bob Dylan. Dylan quickly began voicing Carter's innocence.
Carter soon became immortalized in Dylan's song "The Hurricane," which stated
the fighter was their victim of racist coercion by police.
Later that year, Bello and another witness reversed their testimonies, which freed
Carter and Artis on bail in 1976.
After six months of freedom, Carter and Artis were hauled back to jail because
Bello again claimed they were the men he saw outside the Lafayette Grill in 1966.
Carter's conviction was overturned forever in 1985, when a federal judge said his
conviction was based on racism rather than truth.
In 1999, actor Denzel Washington portrayed Carter in the film "The Hurricane,"
which traced his life story. Washington was nominated for an Academy Award
for his portrayal.
"I know we live in a universe of unlimited possibilities," Carter said. "You young
people need to know who you really are, what you really are."
Erin Madsen covers culture and diversity and welcomes comments at
emadsen@daily.umn.edu. She can also be reached at (612) 627-4070 x3223 |
