Apartheid. USA 1988

February 24, 1987:

Last summer, Mrs Amzie Denson (42) tried to find a bigger and better house for herself, three of her children and two grandchildren. She found and rented a house in a predominantly white neighborhood of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The landlord cancelled the lease, however, when residents massed at the house in protest. During a second attempt, she could not ignore the sign that had been painted on the

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front of the brick house; ‘We don't want no niggers KKK’. The police tried to find witnesses, but no one in the street had seen anything. A single witness, a 13-year-old white youth, John de Marco, had observed neighbor Richard Keller spray-paint the words on July 22, 1986. John spoke up and testified spurred on by his mother to tell the truth. ‘I felt that blacks have the same right as whites,’ recalled John, ‘plus I have a lot of black friends, and I think there is really nothing wrong with black people at all.’ Judge Lydia Krikland of the Philadelphia Municipal Court, who is black, sentenced Richard Keller to one year in jail and a fine of 2 500 dollars.^54.

Robert D Riley (17), who was charged by the police as a participant in the Howard Beach racial murder, has nevertheless come forward and supplied the police with valuable information that helped identify and secure indictments against 11 other white suspects. Day and night two city police officers stand guard outside his house at the edge of Jamaica Bay. He has stopped attending John Adams High School and is now being tutored at home. He has also stopped working after school as a delivery boy at a local pharmacy. He spends most of his time indoors. ‘He did the wrong thing,’ said Gary Wagner (15), a sophomore at John Adams. ‘You shouldn't rat on your friends, and he better move to Florida.’ ‘Bobby Riley has no more friends. He is a stool pigeon and put my name under that,’ said Jody Aramo (16) a junior. Even among black students at John Adams, loyalty appears to be more important a concept than helping the legal system. ‘He should not have told on all of his friends,’ said Arthur Dennis, a black sophomore who lives in Richmond Hill.^55.

54. The New York Times, from a report by William K Stevens

55. The New York Times, from a report by Sam Howe Verhovek