Saunders: It's time to show thugs you'll tell

Who died and made Tim Sutton the expert on black people?

Who died, of course, is 13-year-old Shakanah China, and Sutton, a white Alamance County commissioner, had the gall to call in to a talk radio show and blast Durham's black community for not fighting back.

Blacks, he said last week in the wake of Shakanah's still-unsolved murder, turn their backs on such incidents and refuse to confront crime and criminals.

What th...

Man, I was one angry Negro after reading those disturbing comments, and I couldn't wait to tell Sutton what I thought.

I had just two words for him.

No, not those two.

I told him, "Right on." At least sometimes.

Face it. The dude's got a point, because you know darn well somebody knows who killed that child. It wasn't even night when she was shot in front of the apartment she lived in all-too-briefly with her mama and younger siblings.

"All I said," Sutton told me, "was that 'That little girl who got shot in Durham broke my heart. I'll never forget the picture of that little white coffin (in the newspaper).' I made the reference that neighbors need to take back their neighborhoods, and that blacksweren't and whites would. People have to quit being scared."

That is, of course, easier to say when you don't live among the people who drive around with assault weapons and turn neighborhoods into battlegrounds, when you don't encounter them on your way to the convenience store for a loaf of bread or some baby formula.

There are, however, ways to fight back, and despite Sutton's supposition, some people are apparently doing it.

Arshad Ali, a counselor at Neal Middle School - I incorrectly said he was at Lakeview in an earlier column - said he and other teachers went to Shakanah's neighborhood to offer solace to other pupils within an hour of her death.

Police department spokeswoman Kammie Michael said people in the community have been helpful. "I can't tell you how many tips we have received because tips have come through several different sources and I don't have a total," she said.

Anyone with information, she said, should call 560-4440, ext. 29332 or Crime Stoppers at 683-1200. I'd go with Crime Stoppers, since it pays cash rewards and you don't have to identify yourself.

Richard Pryor talked about the time cops in his neighborhood asked a man, "You seen Jesse?" and the cat, observing the unofficial no-snitch policy, responded, "No, Lawd. I ain't seen nobody since 1922. In fact, I thought I was blind until I seen you walk in."

It was funny, then, and understandable: Nobody knew what the cops wanted with Jesse, and just because they wanted him didn't mean he was guilty.

There's nothing funny now, though, when a 13-year-old girl is dead in the ground and her killer is still out walking the street. Or worse, driving.

Somebody knows something.