Issue Number 996 | Hate Crimes in Black and White | Advocate.com Hate Crimes in Black and White  |  | Advocate.com

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Hate Crimes in Black and White
It could have been you; it could have been me.
From The Advocate  November 6, 2007
Hate Crimes in Black and White

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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Illustration by Monica Hellstrom
Keywords:  Jasmyne Cannick 

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