Who Will Mourn George Whitmore?

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October 13, 2012

By T.J. English, New York Times

Forty-eight years ago, as a New York City teenager, George Whitmore was initiated into an ordeal at the hands of a racist criminal justice system.

whitmore-in-custody — George Whitmore, a cognitively challenged 19 year old black man, was falsely accused of the “Career Girl Murders” and arrested in 1963.

For a time, his story rattled the news cycle. He was chewed up and spit out: an ill-prepared kid vilified as a murderer, then championed as an emblem of injustice and, finally, cast aside. That he survived his tribulations and lived to the age of 68 was a miracle.

That Whitmore could die [today] without a single mention in the media is a commentary on a city and nation that would rather bury and forget the difficult aspects of our shared history.

Read more about Whitmore and the wide-ranging impact of his case here.

Learn about T.J. English’s book about the case, The Savage City: Race, Murder, and a Generation on the Edge, here.

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2 Comments

Gladys Bensimon on October 19, 2012 at 3:50 AM

Dear Mr. English:
I read your article “Who will Mourns George Whitmore? and was deeply touch by it. It is a sad and not unfamiliar story of black Americans wrongfully convicted. I found this particular story very moving and would like to further speak with you about George Whitmore.
I am an independent Producer/Director of documentaries and educational films. My most recently “Celebrating Life in Union” narrated by Andy deals with Cuban former political prisoners. I will be away for a few weeks but can be contacted via email. Thank.

Reply
Sherry Masters on January 13, 2013 at 3:49 PM

Who Will Mourn George Whitmore?
Writer T.J. English wastes no time in this accusatory question/headline published in The NYTimes 10/13/12 that reflects a too typical life story of a black teenage boy quickly chained, both physically and emotionally, by a racist U.S. justice system. In 1963, I was white female just out of high school, I had a house to come home to in a safe area of Philadelphia, and enough food. Did I say I was white? Thank you, Mr. English for writing your painful and instructive words about George. ‘His’ story is posted on my office wall here and I will. remember. and honor. this young man and the living hell we good white people availed him. in\\(inadequate words but my heart knows I care. deeply.)

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