On Feb 16th, 2014, University of Mississippi student, Graeme Phillip Harris took it upon himself to drape a noose around the next of a statue honoring James Meredith on the school’s campus. Meredith was the schools first African American student in 1962 and faced unbelievable racism and resistance in that moment.

Harris was eventually caught and a federal grand jury indicted him Friday on two separate civil rights charges. Along with the noose, Harris also included a flag depicting a Confederate symbol on it officially making this a hate crime.

Has was indicted on one count of conspiracy to violate civil rights and one count of using a threat of fource to intimidate black students because of their race or color, prosecutors said.

“This shameful and ignorant act is an insult to all Americans and a violation of our most strongly-held values,” Attorney General Eric Holder said in a statement. “No one should ever be made to feel threatened or intimidated because of what they look like or who they are. By taking appropriate action to hold wrongdoers accountable, the Department of Justice is sending a clear message that flagrant infringements of our historic civil rights will not go unnoticed or unpunished.”

It is great to see the Department of Justice stepping in to take care of history and threats.

While we are pleased the grand jury and people of Mississippi decided to step forward and not allow Mr. Harris ignorance, racism and hate thrive on their campus and community, can’t help but wonder why a statue deserves this sort of honor and not the living, breathing black men and women killed by the police today?

Yes. This grand jury is separate from the ones opting not to enforce any judicious actions at police officers and killers of black men around the country, but the frustration is still real for us. Young, unarmed black people are being mowed down by people that are paid to protect and serve, but grand jury after grand jury continue to turn the other cheek at the death of black people by the police.

If you think i’m wrong for drawing these comparisons, then that is your business, but unfortunately it is my/our reality. We have no choice but to see the hypocrisy in honoring a statue of the past, but not honoring the people in the present that were born of the struggles the James Meredith’s faced and endured.

SOUND OFF: What do you think of the grand jury’s decision to indict the hate crime, but their lack of action against murder by police officers? Or Am I just wrong for this comparison?

Source: HuffPost