If you don't believe in a human being's capacity to change, than you don't deserve to represent one single resident of the planet Earth.
This execution is a tragedy.
It sets the record clear once and for all that that this government cares nothing for people who are poor and especially black. Think this is going to send a message to today's gang youth? You bet it does. It says that you are nothing more than your previous actions. You're a criminal and a punk no matter what and from now until you die. Critics say that Tookie Williams was a charlatan--not well known among black youth until recently. But they know him now and they know that he represents the idea that you can reject violence even after a period of brutality.
The media always starts with: `supporters claim' when talking about the books this man wrote or the talks he gave to kids, and in the end the countless lives he saved. But supporters don't have to `claim' anything. There is no disputing he did all of these things and these thing help curb inner city violence.
But now these kids are left to conclude unequivocally that if the government won't spare Tookie Williams, what the hell chance have they got? Ask yourself, finally, who really are the barbarians in our society?
What a fucking shame.