Magic Words

Former UVA lacrosse player George Huguely headed to the joint.

On April 16, 1963 Martin Luther King Jr. wrote a letter from the Birmingham jail that contained these famous words, “Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.”  Now he was incarcerated for taking part in nonviolent demonstrations around the city during the civil rights movement. Since then this country has come a long way. However, the more things change the more they stay the same. The legal system is still a very unjust system as it pertains to race in this country.

On Thursday George W. Huguely the former University of Virginia lacrosse player that beat his ex-girlfriend to death was sentenced to just 23 years in prison. Now he was convicted of second degree murder and grand larceny bruh. What's so crazy is that the judge even reduced the jury’s recommended sentence by three years!

The story gets even better! Because the state of Virginia doesn’t have parole, he could reduce his sentence by 15% if he participates in prison programs. Therefore, he could only do 18 years for killing somebody’s baby girl! Now let me see the show of hands that thinks that makes any sense at all. Better yet, if you think that it does, stand on your head and spin around until you throw up.

Let’s keep it real or all the way 100, whichever comes 1^st! If that would have been Mookie or Ray Ray standing before the judge with the same charges they would have gotten life without parole plus 20 years. Like the old timers used to say, “When he dies they’re going to wake him up and make him do the other 20 years standing in the corner on GP.”

Unfortunately, I know some cats that are doing 20 years just for possession bruh! Now is murder, murder? Absolutely! So if murder is murder then boyz should do the same time regardless of socioeconomic status or race. That’s if we’re going to holler that we’re a better country that has now become color blind. 

I grew up with some cats that are doing 95 years in the joint for ATTEMPTED murder and this cat actually killed somebody and could do 18 years and keep it moving? How crazy is that? Now I hear some clown in the background screaming, “I bet the cats you’re talking about were repeat offenders.” Absolutely! However, murder is murder and that family’s baby girl can’t come back from that regardless of what color she was. That’s real talk!

We’ve got to do a better job as a country. Do you realize that under the current law, it takes 100 times as much powdered cocaine as crack cocaine to trigger the same mandatory sentence bruh? That same disparity, according to the Bureau of Prison Statistics, has contributed to the imprisonment of African-Americans at six times the rates of whites in this country. In real words these young brothers need to stay out of the judges chambers in the first place.

I always tell my kids that there are six words that can save your life, change your relationships and enhance your career. Those magic words are, “Do What You’re Supposed To Do!”

Holla At Ya Boy!

Jay Graves

Get @ me on Twitter: @jaygravesreport