Twenty-Four year old Brandon McClelland is dead. He was murdered in a town with a rather recent history of racial tensions, and reports have said that one of his possible murderers had White supremacist ties. However, police say there is no direct evidence that this was a hate crime. Where is the line in the sand?

Here are the facts: McClelland, a Black man, was last seen picked up in a truck with two White friends. Witnesses saw the three men together before finding the body in what was initially thought to be a hit-and-run accident. The two men who allegedly hit McClelland had a history with McClelland, including McClelland serving a two year prison stint for perjuring in an attempt to aid one of the men, Shannon Finley, avoid serious jail crime for manslaughter.

Paris was the subject of a racial controversy last year due to the harsh jail sentence given to Shaniqua Cotton, a Black girl, for shoving a hall monitor. 

Now, the accusations: The family of Mr. McClelland has alleged that Mr. Finley, while imprisoned for the manslaughter charge that Mr. McClelland went to jail perjuring, fell in with a White supremacist crowd and had issues with Mr. McClelland over romantic overtures McClelland made towards a White female.

There are two areas of interest in this story. Paris, TX is roughly ninety miles northeast of Dallas, TX. However, the vast majority of the information found above was not taken from the Dallas Morning News, where one would expect a story such as this. Instead, the Dallas Morning News chose to run this woefully short story . Instead, most of these details are from this story in the Chicago Tribune , which is centered a bit more than ninety miles north of Paris. One might expect a local newspaper to perhaps be bereft of details; after all, they do not profit if Paris is painted as a hotbed of racism. However, even Mary Madewell, editor of the Paris News newspaper has decried the situation and requested no stone be left unturned, saying "Hopefully, this community has learned from its past, ... Even if our worst fears prove to be true, let us realize that the actions of single individuals should in no way bring condemnation to an entire community."

The second sad area involves the police investigation.  As Ms. Madewell cited, given the history of the town, it is in everyone's best interest to have a thorough investigation in this matter. It is clear and obvious tha, not only will there not be a full investigation, but there will be no political or media pressure this time to have any.

So... what is the right line in the sand?

So... how exactly does one explain this wonderful usage of Photoshop? This is taken from a GOP Women's  Club newsletter in San Bernadino Valley, CA.

Check out the original LA Times article here .

For bonus points, please try to explain this explaination from club president Diana Fedele: "
"If I was racist, I would have looked at it through racist eyes," she said. "I am not racist, which is why it probably didn't register.""

 Thoughts?

No Grapes Were Harmed While Writing This...

If you're not going to crush a few grapes, why go to the food fight?