It could have
been you; it could have been me.
The death of
29-year-old New Yorker Michael Sandy, resulting from a
beating by a group of white men who had intentionally lured
him to a parking lot, was cold, calculated, and
brutal. Chat messages between Sandy and the men were
reportedly found on his home computer, and a printout
from his computer showing directions to Plumb Beach, a
popular cruising area in Brooklyn, was found in his
car.
Sandy was robbed
and beaten by three men. He managed to break free but
was chased onto the Belt Parkway, where he was struck by a
car and severely injured. He never regained
consciousness and died on Friday, October 13,
2006—a day after turning 29—when his family
removed him from the respirator that had kept him
alive for five days after the attack.
It’s been
just over a year since the death of Michael Sandy, an
interior designer for Ikea. The trial of the three men
accused in his killing is coming to an end with a
startling admission from one that he too is gay. But
in the beginning, relatively little was said by gay groups
and even less was said by black civil rights groups
about Sandy’s death. One national gay group
said that Sandy’s death was a local issue, so they
were yielding its management to local organizations.
But tell me this:
When Matthew Shepard was murdered, was his death viewed
as a local issue? If my memory serves me correctly, the
world stopped because white gays across the country
made Shepard’s death a nationwide issue for the
media, politicians, and community groups.
Why didn’t
Sandy’s death merit the same response?
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