Dear Editor,

In light of the continued national and international coverage of the alleged Duke rape case, please allow me to share with your readers the story of the Martinsville Seven, the largest mass execution for rape in United States history.

In 1949 in Martinsville, Va., seven black men were accused of raping a 32-year-old married, white woman. Within 30 hours of the rape, all had signed written confessions. Within 11 days, all seven were tried, convicted and sentenced to death by all-white juries. Two were tried during the same trial. The youngest was only 17 and the rest, except for one, were all in their early 20s. The oldest was a 37-year-old man with a wife and five beautiful children.

Although no white man in Virginia had ever been executed for rape, the Supreme Court refused to hear the case and then President Harry Truman refused to grant clemency. By 1951, all seven had been executed in Richmond, Virginia.

This case was instrumental in helping change the rape laws that govern this great country. . Around the world, they became known as the Martinsville Seven. Russia and China sent telegrams asking President Truman to save the Seven but alas, to no avail. Americans were more concerned with communist intervention than saving seven Negroes.

By the way, three of the Seven were Hairstons, relatives of mine and I was born and raised in Martinsville,Va. And for the record, the true story of the Seven has never been told.

Pamela A. Hairston

Washington, DC

Dear LeCastor:

Go bugger yourself

LeCastor

If you don't like my way, change yours! & Stop being so Bitchy.

That's so classic. A woman who claims to be a feminist, calling another woman a "bitch." why not tell me to stop PMSing next? That will be really clever.

I mean what I say and I say what I mean! Go back to my previous posts, you may actually learn something! Plus it's free!

At 29, I was opinionated like you and I was sure the Left was Higher than the Right! It takes a Lifetime to reach the Light! The Quest for the Truth never stops! It's a Bumpy Road in Spin City. Thank God I saved myself from becoming one more Asshole with Diploma!

"You" sometimes means "People"! Don't be Paranoid!

It took me God and Love to finally Acknowledge the "Prince of Darkness"!

Look, we get it, you believe in god. congratulations. we can't really argue this point, since it's based on faith, which is not amenable to logical refutation. you believe because you believe, not for any other reason. i would be interested to know what precipitated your conversion. was it just smoking copious amounts of marijuana, or something else?

as for age, it's a fallback argument when you have nothing else. i think after the age of about 20, age does not correllate well with intelligence, maturity, enlightenment. There are plently of immature, loud-mouthed jerks in their 30's, 40's and 50's, and there are plently of polite, considerate, open-minded, humble people in their 20's. Maybe you don't know many people of different ages, but with your richeous attitude, i can understand why. :)

Otherwise I was as stupid and Big Mouth as the French! Almost!

I think it's pretty obvious that you're still a big mouth, and pretty stupid. You hate muslims, you believe in satan, you think all men are beasts, and now you're adding another group of people to the list of people that you (the open-minded pot-smoking, jesus and buddha-believing "feminist") HATE, the French. Charming, and consistent. :) You might be the best counter-example to your own age=maturity argument.

If you don't like my way, change yours! & Stop being so Bitchy.

I mean what I say and I say what I mean! Go back to my previous posts, you may actually learn something! Plus it's free!

At 29, I was opinionated like you and I was sure the Left was Higher than the Right! It takes a Lifetime to reach the Light! The Quest for the Truth never stops! It's a Bumpy Road in Spin City. Thank God I saved myself from becoming one more Asshole with Diploma!

"You" sometimes means "People"! Don't be Paranoid!

It took me God and Love to finally Acknowledge the "Prince of Darkness"! Otherwise I was as stupid and Big Mouth as the French! Almost!

"freedom of Speech"

If you are stupid by nature, I don't recommend Pot! If you don't have the Guts nor the Spiritual Power to Confront the Harsh Reality of Mankind, avoid getting High. Stick to Wine or Beer!

My advice is that before calling anyone stupid, maybe you should try to figure out why you're using german-seeming capitalization while writing English. :)

But I am loosing my time with you,

you are never wrong and despite your young age you have

already Found all the Answers to all the Questions that

Man has Faced since the beginning of Time, including the Question of God!

I'm not sure where I said that, but supposing I did, it seems pretty strange to

be picking on me for my age. Your arguments would be more convincing if they

could stand on their own instead of relying on your age to back them up.

Since you chose Law, try to connect with Something called

"Divine Justice" next time you'll be confronted to a Life Matter!

Because whether or not you believe in a God above us,

the Idea of that Ultimate Intelligence and Beauty still can Lead

and Inspire us Human Beings! The Right and the Left have two opposite

Ideologies when it comes to Sharing the

Responsibilities and the Burden of Societies from

the Individuals to the Whole!

Okay, you believe in God. congratulations. I'm not sure why you think that a

belief in a divine being is necessary to be inspired. What about being in awe

of the accomplishments of your fellow human beings? Why does god need to be a part of this?

One refers to Marx the Thinker (Punishing/Materialistic God),

the other (at least in the US!) refers to Jesus the Man (the God within)!

But no Group has reached yet the perfection of their Role Model!

Maybe Marxism can never lead to Perfection because the System is full

of Flaws! In the case of Jesus, He was too High to be able to be

truly Understood or Emulated! Without Jesus coming Back and Revealing

to us all the Mysteries of Life (economic, politic, Philosophic,...),

this Discussion and this Division will never End,

the Danger being that while we in the West will

ontinue shouting at each others, the East and the South already Hijacked

by Horror, Death and Ignorance will be the Cause of the Inevitable

Destruction of Planet Earth! It Happened Before!

It was caused by two great Civilizations in essence (Germany and Japan),

now it's the Turn of the Muslim World! The Danger is even bigger because

These new Conquerers force you to Fight God Itself! Even though their God is actually Devil!! Read the Qoran!!

Um, okay, it seems you subscribe to the apocalyptic version of Christianity. A particularly strange statement is that "the inevitable destruction of planet earth" "happened before." More importantly, okay, you believe in Jesus and all, what does this have to do with the Duke rape case and smoking weed? And if you are so into Jesus and Buddha, what's with all the man-hating? Isn't jesus about loving your neighbor and being humble, not full of hubris? Yes you declare that you don't trust humanity and think all men are beasts.

LeCastor, you put too much Faith in Mankind, their Laws,

Their Political Systems,... Those you agree with!

You stereotype Conservatives as Ultra-Conservatives and by doing that,

you contribute to the forever Division between the Left and the Right!

You are not interested in finding a Common Ground because you are unable to

Let Go anything that comes from your Mind!! That's not how one should

treat His Superior! Imagine being in front of the Dalai-Lama,

will you be able to Humbly Shut Up and Listen to His Words carefully!

As they say: a Disciple must come with an Empty Mind!

Otherwise it would be like Pouring Tea in a cup already full of Liquid!

Your Mind that is!

Okay, suppose i put too much faith in mankind, but what you suggest is putting arguably too much faith in god, aka the bogeyman. You don't want to listen to me, and i don't want to listen to you. Neither one of us the Dalai Lama, though. I don't understand why I should listen with an empty mind to you in particular. Are you an authoritative figure on ethics, or anything at all, for that matter?

There are many other Worlds and Realities than the one you are being Taught

in your University! You should at least recognize that:

There are a lot of other Sources of Knowledge than the Western Civilization!!

And other Sources of Spirituality than Judeo-Christianism!

Plus you are quick to refute the Bible anyway!!!

Indeed, so why should i trust in jesus or buddha? it doesn't seem you're very open-minded to islam's teachings, so how can you require me to be open-minded to your, shall we say, strange beliefs?

You say I am all over the places just because

I don't See the World in Black and White!!

Sorry I ain't Liberal!!! It's the Jesus & the Buddha's way!!!

Me and You are both victims of your ignorance!!

Um, okay. It seems that in the same breath you advocate believing in Jesus and Buddha (tolerance, open-mindedness, humility, spirituality), and at the same time a very christian version of the apocalypse, and hatred of, by last count, muslims (who, according to you believe in the devil) and men, who are according to you beasts. How do you reconsile all that?

By the way, last time I smoke Pot it was 9 months ago

as there is not Addiction to Pot as we all know!

I will always Cherish Her, that's for sure!!

Okay, congratulations. I didn't really say it was bad to smoke pot, or that it was addictive. but thanks for defending pot anyway.

You are a strange and rambling person, and quite hypocritical, dishing out the insults with so much arrogance, while arguing for humulity, understanding, open-mindedness, and for fearing the apocalypse.