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My Statement in Response to the State
by Kamau "Ponchai" Wilkerson
[The following is an excerpt from "My Statement in Response to the Setting of an Execution Date and the State of Texas' Plan to Murder Me," by Ponchai Kamau Wilkerson]
The 13th Amendment abolished slavery "...except as punishment for crime whereof the party shall have. been duly convicted." Slavery has never ended; prison slavery is legal. The mentality of the Confederacy still exists and persists today in Texas, especially among its lawmakers and its law enforcement system, the courts, prisons, and police.
My participation [in this execution] would be an insult to the working, oppressed class -- the underclass -- who know and understand the political nature of the death penalty and therefore work to bring it to an end. An insult to the citizens of this young country who would like for it to grow, mature and prosper, and to do away with such things as the death penalty that prevent this, but who cannot because of the stranglehold its greedy capitalist rulers have over it.
Those privileged few own and control all of the wealth and means of production and distribution and, therefore, dictate the lives and control the minds of the masses. (Do the citizens of this country support this system because they believe in it, or because they fear the consequences of not supporting it?)
Because I understand that this country is governed by a ruthless system of white supremacy -- of capitalism -- of patriarchy -- that so viciously and violently terrorizes its citizens into submission and conformity, I will not participate in the process of this planned murder. There was nothing honorable or just or noble about the way I was convicted or sentenced. This case is not even a capital murder case. There was much prosecutorial misconduct and investigative misbehavior. A lot of dirt got slung around and swept under the hem of the judge's robe in the courtroom.
I am one who knows that the things that went on in the courtroom and during the investigation were all wrong. As a result of those wrongs, the things that have happened to me since are wrong. I am one who knows that I have been wronged. This is not justice; it is a mockery of it. It is an insult even to the victim's family, which has been deceived. I will not contribute further to this injustice. I will continue to fight. I will not participate in the process of this planned murder.
Source: Revolutionary Worker
[The following is an excerpt from "My Statement in Response to the Setting of an Execution Date and the State of Texas' Plan to Murder Me," by Ponchai Kamau Wilkerson]
The 13th Amendment abolished slavery "...except as punishment for crime whereof the party shall have. been duly convicted." Slavery has never ended; prison slavery is legal. The mentality of the Confederacy still exists and persists today in Texas, especially among its lawmakers and its law enforcement system, the courts, prisons, and police.
My participation [in this execution] would be an insult to the working, oppressed class -- the underclass -- who know and understand the political nature of the death penalty and therefore work to bring it to an end. An insult to the citizens of this young country who would like for it to grow, mature and prosper, and to do away with such things as the death penalty that prevent this, but who cannot because of the stranglehold its greedy capitalist rulers have over it.
Those privileged few own and control all of the wealth and means of production and distribution and, therefore, dictate the lives and control the minds of the masses. (Do the citizens of this country support this system because they believe in it, or because they fear the consequences of not supporting it?)
Because I understand that this country is governed by a ruthless system of white supremacy -- of capitalism -- of patriarchy -- that so viciously and violently terrorizes its citizens into submission and conformity, I will not participate in the process of this planned murder. There was nothing honorable or just or noble about the way I was convicted or sentenced. This case is not even a capital murder case. There was much prosecutorial misconduct and investigative misbehavior. A lot of dirt got slung around and swept under the hem of the judge's robe in the courtroom.
I am one who knows that the things that went on in the courtroom and during the investigation were all wrong. As a result of those wrongs, the things that have happened to me since are wrong. I am one who knows that I have been wronged. This is not justice; it is a mockery of it. It is an insult even to the victim's family, which has been deceived. I will not contribute further to this injustice. I will continue to fight. I will not participate in the process of this planned murder.
Source: Revolutionary Worker
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