The Assassination of the Mayor of Castro Street Essay -- Essays Papers

The Assassination of the Mayor of Castro Street and the Consensus of the Judicial System It was November 27th, 1978. There was a cheerful atmosphere in San Francisco’s City Hall that morning. Supervisor Harvey Milk’s good mood was due to Mayor George Moscone’s upcoming announcement to the press. He was going to publicize that he had decided not to reappoint the ultra-conservative "voice for the family", Dan White, back to the board of supervisors. Harvey Milk was a fierce advocate of this political move, for he was the first openly gay elected official, and thus, the most important political leader for homosexuals at the time. Dan White, on the other hand, enforced family values and therefore was not someone that supported this progressive civil rights movement. Thus, the opposition towards Dan White shown by his colleges and the minorities of the community was a new victory for the homosexual rights movement and the many supporters of Harvey Milk. However, Dan White had other plans. The press did not hear that announcement, but instead saw this: [vi deo of announcement of assassinations, "As president of the Board of Supervisors it is my duty to make this announcement . . . Both Mayor Moscone and Supervisor Harvey Milk have been shot and killed. The suspect . . . is Supervisor Dan White.", Dianne Feinstein.] (Epstein & Schmiechen, 1984). Dan White abruptly and severely altered the success of the civil rights movement occurring in the most liberal city of its time. Richard DeLeon states this in his book, Left Coast City: Progressive Politics of San Francisco 1975-1991, "†¦this sad episode in San Francisco’s political history almost certainly delayed the opportunity to fulfill Mayor Moscone’s progressive agenda through the nine ye... ...duced. Their personal negative predisposition towards homosexuals was the underlying principle for their conviction. This obvious stigma associated with Harvey Milk’s sexuality was an instant and enormous step backward in all that Mayor Moscone and Supervisor Milk had accomplished. It is a shame that while the United States is supposed to be the most powerful country in the world, the structure of its judicial system has obvious flaws, which have not been modified for over two hundred years. To fix this problem of the oppression of minorities, one of two things needs to happen. Either the jury system needs to be modified, or society needs to be mature enough to respect each individual without discrimination towards race, gender, or sexual orientation. Until these changes occur, our judicial system will continue to allow people like Dan White to get away with murder.