JoanWalsh attempts to hijack the Mumia issue by interjecting sob stories about the sorry state of the Oakland, Calif., school system. She's right; here in Detroit, we don't give a rat's ass about the Oakland schools, but we sure as hell care about Mumia. It hasn't been so long since the beating death of Malice Green by Detroit's finest that we've forgotten what racism in the criminal justice system means. Despite Walsh's broad-brush assertions to the contrary, Mumia activists of my acquaintance aren't blinkered, single-issue SUV-driving suburbanites with white guilt -- they're a broad cross-section of the community, committed to social change on their block, in their town, in their state and in their nation. They're concerned about the Abu-Jamal case because they rightly see it as a watershed, with oppression and malfeasance to one side and social progress on the other. They don't want more Mumias, more Malice Greens, or another incarcerated generation of young black men; they want an end to cop racism, to rigged trials, and to a barbaric prison system.

Mumia Abu-Jamal's guilt or innocence ceased to be significant as soon as exculpatory evidence started disappearing, false testimony was given, and his appeal process subverted by a single vindictive judge. Ultimately, Mumia isn't the issue -- the rotten state of the Philadelphia police department and court system is. And the Philadelphia story is repeated across the country -- in Detroit, in L.A., in Newark, in Giuliani's New York and everywhere in between. The state-sponsored cop lynchings of the Fred Hamptons, the Mumias, the Malice Greens and the Abner Louimas have got to stop. If that makes Joan Walsh "sick," then so be it, and to hell with her.

-- David Livingstone

Abu-Jamal may be a fabulous journalist, and the American justice system may well be racist, but Mumia Abu-Jamal has never explained how he came to be lying on the ground with a bullet wound, his fingerprints on the gun, next to a dead police officer. I have yet to meet a Mumia Abu-Jamal supporter who can rise above the rhetoric and, concentrating on the facts, explain their side's take on the incident on that night in 1981.

-- Michele Deniken

As a resident of the Philadelphia area, I have become increasingly disgusted by the international activism generated on behalf of Mumia Abu-Jamal. My disgust and dismay hit an all-time high over the Fourth of July weekend as hundreds of tourists were kept waiting in intense heat to view the Liberty Bell while police removed Mumia supporters who were staging a "sit-in."

I get the symbolism intended by Mumia's supporters, but feel the true "lesson" for those unfortunate tourists on that hot day was that in the United States, we must tolerate the uninformed and misguided.

-- Kristine M. Fogliano

To say that the Black Panthers self-destructed is to elide history a bit. The FBI's dirty tricks, including "snitch-jacketing" and agent infiltration, had a major role in generating mistrust among the group's membership. And Fred Hampton's only association with violence was his murder in his own apartment by federal agents.

-- George Stubbs
Melrose, Mass.

You mentioned that Mumia's radio commentaries appeared on NPR. Actually NPR elected not to run these recorded audio conversations with Mumia, due to pressure from national police unions. Mumia has been heard on and off on Pacifica radio, an institution that is not afraid to report on the "other" side of the story. I hope that in the future Salon can provide a more balanced report on Mumia's case.

-- Salvador Jimenez
Los Angeles

EDITOR'S NOTE:

Though NPR taped several Mumia-behind-bars commentaries, protests short-circuited plans to broadcast them, and they were later run by the Pacifica Radio Network. The article has been corrected.

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