Read Ebook {PDF EPUB} For the Color of His Skin The Murder of Yusuf Hawkins and the Trial of Bensonhurst by John Desantis For the Color of His Skin: The Murder of Yusef Hawkins and the Trial of Bensonhurst. During the Reagan/Bush years, America's race relations have festered. Aided by U.S. Supreme Court rulings, federal obstruction, and presidential insensitivity, a tone was set that inevitably filtered down to the local level. On the evening of Aug. 23, 1989, one of the most highly publicized cases of bias-related violence took place when Yusuf Hawkins, an innocent African-American 16-year-old, was murdered by a gang of white thugs. His killing occurred in Bensonhurst, Brooklyn, a mostly Italian-American New York City working-class community. In the months following, the impact of the incident helped elect New York City's first black mayor and was a subject of heated national interest. In a dispassionate, concise and thought-provoking book, For the Color of His Skin, John DeSantis unveils the story behind the crime and trial providing details and perspectives from a range of sources on all sides. Gotham is revealed as a city ready to split at the seams complete with a multiracial cast of characters who see the Hawkins case through the prism of their own agenda. Obviously, Yusuf Hawkins will not be racial violence's last victim. But if rationality ever prevails and Americans learn to accept each other, journalists like DeSantis will have helped. For the Color of His Skin is a book that unblinkingly points to the ugly side of our society. However, it's clear that the author was inspired by the hope that understanding racism's nature can help to end it. For the Color of His Skin: The Murder of Yusuf Hawkins and the Trial of Bensonhurt. I moved from Brooklyn to New Orleans one month before the murder of Yusuf Hawkins, a sixteen-year-old African American, by a mob of white men in Bensonhurst, Brooklyn. Saddened by the news of his tragic death, I thought about all of the other racially motivated assaults and deaths that had occurred in New York City during my twelve years in residence. Several made national headlines; others never even made the local news. I also understood how such a tragedy could occur “up south” in a city whose boon and bane stem from the same phenomenon—cultural, racial, and ethnic diversity. John DeSantis captures this diversity in his book, For the Color of His Skin: The Murder of Yusuf Hawkins and the Trial of Bensonhurst. In the opening pages, DeSantis describes Brooklyn as “one of the most ethnically, culturally, and economically diverse populations in the world.” In offering the reader a “thorough understanding of both sides of the controversy” surrounding young Hawkins's death, DeSantis tells us many stories at once. Bensonhurst Murder Trial: 1990. Defendants: Joseph Fama, Keith Mondello Crimes Charged: Riot, unlawful imprisonment, discrimination, murder Chief Defense Lawyers: Mondello: Stephen Murphy; Fama: David DePetris Chief Prosecutor: Paul Burns Judge: Thaddeus Owens Place: Brooklyn, Kings County, New York Date of Trial: May-June 11, 1990 Verdicts: Fama: guilty of murder in the second degree (manslaughter), guilty of riot; Mondello: not guilty of manslaughter; guilty of riot, menacing, and unlawful imprisonment Sentence: Fama: 32 and one half years to life imprisonment; Mondello: 4 terms of 1 year 4 months to 4 years to run consecutively for riot in the first degree, with consecutive 90-day sentences for each of 3 counts of unlawful imprisonment. Sentence was later modified on appeal (March 1, 1993) to allow the sentences for unlawful imprisonment to run concurrently with the other sentences. Total sentence: 5 and one-third to 16 years. Note: John Vento found guilty of lesser charges and sentenced to 4 years; other defendants either acquitted or sentenced to community service were Joseph Serrano, Charles Stressler, James Patino, and Steven Curreri. SIGNIFICANCE: This case brought national attention as a racially motivated "hate crime." The Reverend Al Sharpton led marches in protest against the killing and the justice system; and the case may have contributed to David Dinkins' victory in the New York City mayoral election over Edward Koch. Yusuf Hawkins, 16 years old, was murdered on August 23, 1989, when he and several other black friends walked down the street in the Bensonhurst neighborhood of Brooklyn near the corner of 68th Street and 20th Avenue. The group was menaced by a largely white gang with baseball bats. At least one in the attacking gang, Russell Gibbons, was black. Hawkins died of two bullet wounds to the chest. Racial Jealousy Leads to Murder. The killing of Yusuf Hawkins was a case of mistaken identity. Earlier that day, Gina Feliciano had taunted neighborhood boys that she was inviting black and Hispanic boyfriends to her 18th birthday party. Feliciano had a reputation for taking drugs, for numerous sexual liaisons, and for jealous conflicts with others in the Bensonhurst neighborhood. Hearing of her taunts, a group of youths ranging in age through their early 20s, mostly Italian-American, gathered at a nearby schoolyard and armed themselves with baseball bats and golf clubs. Meanwhile, Yusuf Hawkins, who lived in another New York neighborhood, accompanied three friends as one of them sought to follow up in the possible purchase of a used car that had been advertised for sale in the Bensonhurst neighborhood. Neither Hawkins nor any of his small group had ever heard of Feliciano or their assailants. When the four boys arrived near the schoolyard, looking for the address of the owner of the used car, the gathering gang assumed they were Feliciano's friends, simply because they were black. The large group stalked and then halted and threatened Hawkins and the three others. Suddenly, one in the batwielding crowd pulled out a pistol and shot Hawkins twice. When the others realized a shot had been fired, they all dispersed. Police arrived to find Hawkins bleeding to death. Police Quickly Arrest Suspects. The police immediately decided that the killing fell into the special category of bias crime, and worked quickly to round up suspects. The recognized leader of the group leading the assault was Keith Mondello, whose father was Italian and mother, a Jewish convert to Catholicism. Mondello was arrested late that night. However, as members of the local group were rounded up, several agreed that the Joey Fama, a hanger-on, had fired the gun. Fama himself disappeared for a few days as police mounted a search. They feared he might have fled to Italy. However, after hitchhiking north, he surrendered to authorities in upstate Oneonta. Others in the group were arrested and charged with complicity in the murder, although all agreed that one shooter had done the killing. Racial Tensions Boil Over. The case immediately drew national news coverage for its racial overtones. It was clear that Hawkins had been assaulted and killed because he was a black youth. The Bensonhurst neighborhood in which the killing took place was largely Italian-American, and many assumed that the neighborhood itself was on trial. The reluctance of witnesses to testify or to identify all of the members of the gang that confronted Hawkins that night probably contributed to the sense of neighborhood solidarity along racial lines. Hawkins' parents were incensed that the accused youths were released on bail, rather than held in jail. Furthermore, only a handful of those in the attacking group were ever identified, leaving most of the group free and at large in the community. The press charged that a collective "Bensonhurst amnesia" protected most of the gang. Moses Stewart, the father of Hawkins, was a member of Louis Farrakhan's wing of the Nation of Islam. He approached Reverand Al Sharpton for assistance and advice. Sharpton helped arrange Hawkins' funeral and mounted several marches to the Bensonhurst neighborhood to protest the failure of the police to bring more of the perpetrators to justice. The demonstrations and marches were met by hostility from local white youths, who jeered at the marchers. A massive police presence prevented small episodes of anger from erupting into violence. The killing took place during a hot summer, when many youths were on the street and racial tensions ran high. Furthermore, it was an election year in which incumbent white mayor Edward Koch was opposed in the Democratic primary election by David N. Dinkins. Dinkins' victory in the primary election in September 1989 has been partially attributed to the heightened political consciousness in the black community brought about by the Yusuf Hawkins case. Both mayoral candidates attended the funeral and both pleaded for calm. Reverend Jesse Jackson participated in the funeral, as did local black community leaders, contributing to the sense that the case had political overtones. Media coverage often oversimplified the case, highlighting the racial aspects. Some reports suggested that Hawkins was gunned down simply because he was black in a white neighborhood; largely black crowds chanted, "No justice, no peace!" Even peaceful demonstrators were met by white youths holding up watermelons and shouting insults, episodes caught in newspaper photos and on television. Despite such publicity, it was an exaggeration to suggest that blacks could not walk peacefully through the streets of Bensonhurst, and elitist prejudice against working class Italian- Americans appeared behind many of the criticisms of the neighborhood. However, the fact that crime against blacks, whether perpetrated by whites or by other African Americans, is rarely given much attention in the press had produced pent-up frustration with the American justice system that this case brought to the surface. Controversial and Complicated Verdicts. The prosecution had difficulty in collecting evidence, since most of those involved in the case refused to testify against each other. Although urged to use a theory of a crime that all in the gang were "acting in concert," jurors only applied that theory to one of the defendants. Attorney Jacob Evseroff, who represented Charles Stressler, one member of the gang, commented that "nobody was ever shot with a baseball bat." That line of thinking appeared to impress two juries, which rejected the acting-in-concert argument for manslaughter against the other members of the gang. Defense attorney Stephen Murphy argued that Keith Mondello was simply "a jerk" taunted into action by Gina Feliciano and should not be made a victim of racial politics and hysteria. Nevertheless, it was clear that Mondello had organized the group that marched out from the schoolyard to attack Yusuf Hawkins. Even the evidence against Fama was shaky. He had reportedly told two other prison inmates that he had fired the gun. One of the gang, Frankie Tighe, testified that he saw Fama fire the gun, but he later recanted his testimony. Both the jury hearing Fama's case and the one hearing Mondello's case were racially mixed. The judge in both cases, Thaddeus Owens, was black. Each jury deliberated 11 days. On May 17, 1990, Joey Fama's jury found him guilty of "depraved indifference" to human life, and therefore guilty of murder, since it had been proven that he was in the crowd that attacked Hawkins. Judge Owens had instructed the jury that if depraved indifference could be proven, a guilty verdict could be returned. Such a decision appeared to imply that all in the gang were guilty, even if only one had fired the shot. Furthermore, the jury did not have to believe, by this logic, that Fama had fired the gun. Members of the press and public assumed that this decision paved the way for the acting-in-concert theory to lead to a group of manslaughter convictions. The next day, a separate jury found the ringleader of the gang, Keith Mondello, guilty of riot, menacing, discrimination, and possession of a weapon. However, Mondello was acquitted of manslaughter charges. Judge Owens imposed sentence on June 11, 1990. Both Fama and Mondello appealed their sentences. Mondello's sentence was modified on March 1, 1993, allowing concurrent service of the terms for imprisonment with the terms for riot as the crime was essentially the same. Fama's sentence and judgment were affirmed on February 5, 1995, in the Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York. John Vento, who had provided evidence against Fama, which he later recanted, was sentenced to four years on lesser charges. Steven Curreri and James Patino were acquitted of all charges; Joseph Serrano was given community service on a weapons charge; Charles Stressler was acquitted after a mistrial was declared in his first trial. — Rodney Carlisle. Suggestions for Further Reading. DeSantis, John. For the Color of His Skin: The Murder of Yusuf Hawkins and the Trial of Bensonhurst. New York: Pharos Books, 1991. Sullivan, Andrew. "The Two Faces of Bensonhurst." New Republic (July 2, 1990). John DeSantis - THE THIBODAUX MASSACRE: Racial Violence and the 1887 Sugar Cane Labor Strike. Meet journalist John DeSantis presenting and signing his new book, THE THIBODAUX MASSACRE: Racial Violence and the 1887 Sugar Cane Labor Strike . On November 23, 1887, white vigilantes gunned down unarmed black laborers and their families during a spree lasting more than two hours. The violence erupted due to strikes on Louisiana sugar cane plantations. Fear, rumor and white supremacist ideals clashed with an unprecedented labor action to create an epic tragedy. A future member of the U.S. House of Representatives was among the leaders of a mob that routed black men from houses and forced them to a stretch of railroad track, ordering them to run for their lives before gunning them down. According to a witness, the guns firing in the black neighborhoods sounded like a battle. Author and award-winning reporter John DeSantis uses correspondence, interviews and federal records to detail this harrowing true story. John DeSantis is the senior staff writer at the Times of Houma. His work has previously appeared in the New York Times , the Washington Post and other publications. A journalist whose criminal justice background was attained at John Jay College of Criminal Justice in New York, he has covered social justice and race relations extensively in New York, Louisiana, Mississippi, Florida, North Carolina and California. He is also a former city editor at the Thibodaux Daily Comet. His other books include For the Color of His Skin: The Murder of Yusuf Hawkins and The Trial of Bensonhurst and the New Untouchables: How America Sanctions Police Violence . A recipient of numerous awards from the Louisiana Press Association, the Associated Press Managing Editors Association and other news media organizations, DeSantis resides in Terrebonne Parish, Louisiana. John DeSantis. John DeSantis grew up in New York City, where he spent years as a street reporter, covering crime and courts on a free-lance basis for United Press International, the New York Times and other national entities. Coverage of a high-profile court case resulted in his first book, the critically acclaimed For The Color of His Skin: The Murder of Yusuf Hawkins & the Trial of Bensonhurst. A second, The New Untouchables: How America Sanctions Police Violence, followed. In later years he moved to the New Orleans area, where he wrote extensively about social justice issues. His new book The Thibodaux Massacre: Racial Violence and the 1887 Sugar Cane Labor Strike (The History Press) explores a story that nobody ever wanted told, the mass murder of an unknown number of sugar laborers in 1887 following a month –long strike. He continues to work as a full-time journalist in the Louisiana Bayou Country. Contact a speaker booking agent to check availability on John DeSantis and other top speakers and celebrities. For the Color of His Skin: The Murder of Yusuf Hawkins and the Trial of Bensonhurst. • Untold stories about race relations in Louisiana. (Based on the most recent book, to be released in November) • Do you know where your shrimp comes from? How a Yankee reporter came to live in Cajun fishing communities, what he learned and what he can share with you. Also covered Hurricane Katrina and many other storms, so prepared for answers on those topics. HOW TO BOOK John DeSantis? HOW MUCH DOES IT COST TO BOOK John DeSantis? WHO IS THE AGENT FOR John DeSantis? WHAT IS A FULL-SERVICE TALENT BOOKING AGENCY? Darren Walker. President of the Ford Foundation; Chair of the US Alliance. Dana Goldstein. Reporter for the New York Times & Best-Selling Author. Reniqua Allen. Writer, Producer & Journalist. Scott Ellsworth. Historian, Journalist, and Author of The Secret Game. Ijeoma Oluo. Writer & Social Activist Known for Her Work on Issues of. Pamela Newkirk. Journalist, Professor, Author & Multi-Disciplinary Scholar. Marcus Reeves. Cultural Critic, Digital Content Producer at BET.COM. Sheryl WuDunn. Pulitzer Prize-Winning Journalist; Co-author of Half the. William Rhoden. Sports Journalist, Former New York Times Columnist, Author. Anita Hill. Social Policy, Law & Women's Studies Professor at Brandeis. Jesse Holland. Award-Winning Journalist on Race, Ethnicity, Demographics &. Dexter R. Voisin. Social Scientist, Psychotherapist, Professor & Dean at the. Diane McWhorter. Pulitzer Prize-Winning Author of "Carry Me Home. Yolanda Caraway. President & CEO of The Caraway Group. Eric Schmitt. Pulitzer Prize-Winning Senior Writer for The New York Times. Michiko Kakutani. Bestselling Author & Former Chief Book Critic at The New. Douglas Blackmon. Pulitzer Prize-Winning Author of "Slavery by Another Name. Gary Younge. Professor of Sociology at the University of Manchester;. Spectacular Smith. Founder & CEO of Adwizar Inc; Member of Pretty Ricky; Author. La Carmina. La Carmina is a top travel and fashion blogger. This website is a resource for event professionals and strives to provide the most comprehensive catalog of thought leaders and industry experts to consider for speaking engagements. A listing or profile on this website does not imply an agency affiliation or endorsement by the talent. All American Entertainment (AAE) exclusively represents the interests of talent buyers, and does not claim to be the agency or management for any speaker or artist on this site. AAE is a talent booking agency for paid events only. We do not handle requests for donation of time or media requests for interviews, and cannot provide celebrity contact information. If you are the talent, and wish to request removal from this catalog or report an issue with your profile, please click here. Your Location: John DeSantis. John DeSantis. Louisiana Bayou Reporter and Author of Race Relations and Social Justice Issue Topics. John DeSantis Biography. John DeSantis grew up in New York City, where he spent years as a street reporter, covering crime and courts on a free-lance basis for United Press International, the New York Times and other national entities. Coverage of a high-profile court case resulted in his first book, the critically acclaimed For The Color of His Skin: The Murder of Yusuf Hawkins & the Trial of Bensonhurst. A second, The New Untouchables: How America Sanctions Police Violence, followed. In later years he moved to the New Orleans area, where he wrote extensively about social justice issues. His new book The Thibodaux Massacre: Racial Violence and the 1887 Sugar Cane Labor Strike (The History Press) explores a story that nobody ever wanted told, the mass murder of an unknown number of sugar laborers in 1887 following a month –long strike. He continues to work as a full-time journalist in the Louisiana Bayou Country. Contact a speaker booking agent to check availability on John DeSantis and other top speakers and celebrities. John DeSantis Books. John DeSantis Speaking Topics. • Untold stories about race relations in Louisiana. (Based on the most recent book, to be released in November) • Do you know where your shrimp comes from? How a Yankee reporter came to live in Cajun fishing communities, what he learned and what he can share with you. Also covered Hurricane Katrina and many other storms, so prepared for answers on those topics. FAQs on booking John DeSantis. How to book John DeSantis? How much does it cost to book John DeSantis? Who is the agent for John DeSantis? What is a full-service talent booking agency? John DeSantis is a keynote speaker and industry expert who speaks on a wide range of topics such as. The estimated speaking fee range to book John DeSantis for your event is $5,000 - $10,000. John DeSantis generally travels from LA, USA and can be booked for (private) corporate events, personal appearances, keynote speeches, or other performances. Similar motivational celebrity speakers are Darren Walker, Dana Goldstein, Reniqua Allen, Scott Ellsworth and Ijeoma Oluo. Contact All American Speakers for ratings, reviews, videos and information on scheduling John DeSantis for an upcoming live or virtual event. John DeSantis Speaking Topics. • Untold stories about race relations in Louisiana. (Based on the most recent book, to be released in November) • Do you know where your shrimp comes from? How a Yankee reporter came to live in Cajun fishing communities, what he learned and what he can share with you. Also covered Hurricane Katrina and many other storms, so prepared for answers on those topics. Customized Service. Our agents find the right fit for your event. Unparalleled Database. Full access to all speakers & celebrities. One Stop Shopping. A reliable and unbiased point of contact. Logistics Management. Your personal Logistics Manager who takes care of all event details. We are happy to help! Call us to speak with a booking agent about your event or specific speaker request. Gauge interest and check availability for speaking engagements, appearances or corporate events. Provide you with the speaking fee to book John DeSantis or other celebrity appearance fees. Give you personal recommendations for the best keynote speakers or celebrities. Assist you with any questions you have throughout the talent booking process.