Winston, Georgia -- When Genarlow Wilson arrived as the guest of honor for a local NAACP fundraiser on Saturday night, hundreds rose to their feet and gave him a standing ovation before honoring him with an award.
For three years, the West Metro NAACP chapter led the fight to free the 20-year-old after he was sentenced to 10 years in prison on felony charges for having sex with an underaged girl at a New Year's Eve party, an incident that was videotaped. Wilson refused to accept a plea deal that would have required him to register as a sex offender.
"Free Genarlow" became a rallying cry across the country as the case turned him into an example of racial disparities in the criminal justice system. The Georgia Supreme Court freed Wilson on Oct. 26 on a 4-3 decision that called his sentence "cruel and unusual punishment," and now he is being greeted with a hero's welcome.
He is the latest young black man to blur the lines between being a cause celebre and someone worthy of being lionized. Wilson, the Jena Six in Louisiana and Atlanta Falcons quarterback Michael Vick have not only drawn support but also praise from many in the black community who seem willing to overlook their alleged offenses for the bigger picture...
Some in the black community may be ignoring such wrongs out of frustration, said Jeff Johnson, an activist and former national youth director of the NAACP. "I don't think that it is an intentional negligence on our part," he said. "It is an optimistic desire to be able to stick it to a justice system that has stuck it to us for so long. But we can't do that at the cost of justifying behavior that we know is unacceptable. What we've got to be able to do is get to the point where we can hold everybody accountable at the same time."...
Sonya Jines, who attended the NAACP fundraiser on Saturday, said she does not condone Wilson's behavior but supports the cause of equal justice. "I wouldn't agree with that," she said of the videotaped episode. "I wouldn't want my kids doing that. It's not that he's a hero, but he can be a good spokesperson for teens."
Kimberly Alexander, president of the chapter, said that while Wilson made some mistakes, his case is still a success story. And Dillard said she respected Wilson's perseverance, but wasn't sure she could go beyond supporting him. "There are so many people who are wrongfully arrested, wrongfully prosecuted, wrongfully incarcerated," Dillard said. "Do we give an award to all of them? Is it that we're so in need of heroes? I don't know."...
Here's the rest of this Errin Haines column.
