The Sept. 21 execution of Troy Davis sparked an international outcry.
Just moments before he was put to death, Davis spoke his last words.
"I am innocent," he said. “I did not have a gun."
Davis, 42 years old, was charged with the murder of policeman Mark MacPhail in 1989. With virtually no evidence and shaky witness testimonies at best, the case has resulted in a movement that questions not only the verdict itself, but also the universal ethics of the death penalty and prison system.
The Center for Race Relations at Duke hosted a discussion Sept. 26 titled Too Much Doubt: Troy Davis & What Lies Ahead. Senior Alex Alston, co-director of the CRR dialogues committee, voiced his concern regarding Davis’ death.
“I think the case of Troy Davis, as well as those who have and will suffer similar fates, should serve as constant reminders that even as Barack Obama sits in the Oval Office, the performance and the perception of blackness are still criminal in the popular imagination,” he said. “The implications are dark, angering, and frightening. I hope our generation will use this mismanagement of justice as a catalyst to begin taking responsibility for the evils we have inherited.”
Wahneema Lubiano, professor of African and African American studies department at Duke was present at the dialogue. Lubiano noted the facts that made some attendees uneasy, to say the least, and allowed for further questioning of the role of law enforcement in the United States.
“For every 100,000 people in United States, [748 are in prison],” Lubiano said.
This number may seem low, but it is important to note the corresponding rates in other countries such as France (100), Germany (75) and Japan (60).
Excessive imprisonment also has sever financial penalties, as the cost of keeping a prisoner in jail can reach up to $50,000 per year in California—only a fraction of that amount is spent on each pupil in the state public education system.
Statistically speaking, the United States is the most punitive country of the world. The United States remains the last western industrialized country to practice the death penalty—137 countries have abolished it.
Taking into account the numerous qualms our criminal justice system has yielded, it might be prudent to ask: Is prison the best way to handle crime? Or, on that note, what constitutes crime? Can race, socio-economic status or other minority identity factors be taken into account?
It is not often one can say that it is literally a matter of life and death.
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