Liberator 3.2
Meet Marcus Dixon
words: Brian Kasoro
 

A young man named Marcus Dixon sits in a Georgia Prison cell today as his Vanderbilt scholarship letter sits at home collecting dust.

Dixon was convicted last May of child molestation, a charge that has garnered the attention of activists and the national media because of its vague definition in Georgia’s law books. According to the “Seven Deadly Sins” legislation, any injury done to a minor is classified as child molestation. The girl Marcus had sex with was a virgin; according to Georgia’s laws, those “injuries” that occur when virgins have intercourse for the first time were enough to give Dixon a minimum sentence of 10 years in prison without parole, putting a hold on the hopes of the all-state football star with a 3.96 GPA and a 1200 SAT score.

It isn’t about his SAT score though, nor is it about his GPA or athletic accomplishments. One organizer points out “it’s primarily about class. Marcus was adopted by a well-to-do, white, middle class family… the first piece of information given is his SAT score. That says a lot about who we deem valuable. As if to say, ‘he got a 1200 on his SAT; you can't do this to him.’ The Lionel Tates, the other Black, Latino, and poor White kids facing similar circumstances have gone unmentioned. Not to lessen Marcus’ plight at all, because it’s an outrage.” This writer is indeed guilty of pointing out the SAT and the GPA, both of which are exceptional.

I digress in an attempt to correct myself. It surely seems like it’s about race. Marcus is a black man from the state of Georgia. He had sex with a white girl. A witness at the trial testified that the girl came forward because she was scared of her notoriously racist father. Any more explaining should not be necessary in twenty-first century America. The most obvious, while unfortunate, conclusion seems to be that if her father were not such a racist, intimidating figure as to cause his daughter to bring such a case forward, Marcus Dixon would be at Vanderbilt University finishing his first year of college. Back to reality. Marcus is in a jail cell, a state prison, on a felony charge that, if upheld in appeals, will leave him socially scarred for the rest of his life, even after his release when he is 28 years old.

The fact that Marcus is a “good” black boy most likely does contribute to the shock value of the case and the fact that Marcus has been in the news so much. And there are thousands of young black men unjustly locked up daily, but this case seems crazy nevertheless. Tis’ better for one case to bring the nation’s attention to the others than for that attention to never turn in that direction.

The prosecutor in the case has taken blame from many of Marcus’ advocates. Bringing multiple charges against Marcus, John McClellan said that he hoped to hold Marcus accountable for any and all of the Georgia laws that he might have broken. Amongst them were statutory rape, child molestation, and rape. Marcus was exonerated of the latter charge of rape, which suggests to many that the sex was consensual and therefore legal in every way. But Mr. McClellan saw it differently. Rather than dropping the other charges, he pushed them harder, arguing that it was his duty to bring about justice for all of the crimes that Marcus had broken. Technically Marcus broke the law, a law that does not seem to have been written for cases such as these: Marcus is ironically the first person ever to be convicted from this law for having consensual sex.

This brings us to today, again, with Marcus sitting in a jail cell. And some interesting discussions are being held trying to answer the many “whys” of this case. There have been ridiculous accusations from racial rabble-rousers that Marcus’ white foster parents are to blame for their lack of knowledge with raising a black child. We have to dismiss this as nothing but ignorant ignorance of the highest caliber. Simply put, Marcus was far better off in a white household than in an orphanage or in no house at all.

Information has surfaced that Marcus was a repeat offender, that he had a history of sexual abuse that just went unreported until now. Floyd County, Ga., D.A. Leigh Patterson has pointed out two situations, one where Marcus exposed himself to a young girl in class and the other where he put his hands down another young girls pants. But Georgia State Rep. Tyrone Brooks who co-sponsored the “Seven Deadly Sins” legislation has explained that the law was not meant to “police relationships among children,” but that it was designed to “protect our children from predators.” The prosecutors are right to associate the defense’s past with what may potentially be his present crimes. Marcus, however, is not alone among high school students who often cannot control sexual impulses. These offenses, however stupid they may have been, do not seem synonymous with those of some mentally impaired child molester.

But the most adamant voices maintain that the reason Marcus is locked up is the institutional racism that still exists in much of America.

So what is to be done for this now 19-year-old man who sits in a cell with a GED instead of his high school diploma and jail time instead of 36 credit hours toward a college degree?

The case was appealed to the Georgia Supreme Court on grounds that Marcus’ 10-year sentence was cruel and unusual punishment. Georgia lawmakers also hope that the state court will interpret the law under which Marcus was convicted by referring to the intent of it and not what they call its misuse by public prosecutors.

So while attorneys argue, judges judge and everyone else either cheers or smacks their teeth, Marcus Dixon sits, in a cell, waiting for tomorrow.