Friday, October 27, 2006
LEE UN-TARGETS YOUNG BLACK MEN
WWL TV
Ben Lemoine
(excerpt)
Jefferson Parish Sheriff Harry Lee said he is abandoning an idea he had to stop and possibly search young black men in high crime neighborhoods after complaints from the NAACP.
In an interview on WWL-TV Thursday night, Lee said the main reason behind the escalating murder rate in Jefferson Parish is black on black crime involving drugs.
He said that the overwhelming majority of victims of the murders in Jefferson Parish this year have been black, as have the majority of the suspects.
“The white community is not the problem. The black community is the problem,” said Lee. “I think in the last few months now, the black community is recognizing it, and they’re willing to say, the sheriff is right. The problem is in the black community and we have to start doing things differently than we did in the past.”
Lee added that he harbors no ill will nor has any problem with the NAACP for its criticisms of his idea.
“All I’m trying to do is to save some black kid’s life.”
