Wednesday, December 1, 2010

Nasher Museum of Art open to the public… except for Nifong supporters

In the Sunday, November 28, 2010 edition of The News & Observer, staff writer Mandy Locke wrote an article titled “Plensa Gets His Hug.” The article is about six outdoor sculptures by contemporary Spanish artist Jaume Plensa that adorn the landscape of Nasher Museum of Art on the Duke University campus. More than that, the article is more about publicity for the museum, giving its hours and price of admission. Under normal circumstances, I would be grateful for the information about the exhibit at the museum, but ever since I was maliciously kicked off the Duke University campus while attending another event which was advertised as open to the public, I have adopted a different point of view. The premeditated act of kicking me off campus took place April 14, 2010, after I attended an public interview which featured U.S. Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer, has made me incensed that a newspaper would give coverage to a museum located on a campus that openly discriminates against individuals who are openly known supporters of Mike Nifong.

Although Duke spokesperson Michael Schoenfeld wrote in his May 10, 2010 letter to me that I was welcomed back on campus and had not been banned from it, unless there is appropriate resolution of the incident, how can I ever feel safe setting foot on that campus again? Appropriate resolution would be for Duke to take responsibility for its spiteful offense against me, or provide me with a valid reason for the actions taken by the security guard on April 14th. The former track would be the wise one for the university to take, as its attempt at providing a credible reason for my expulsion in the May 10th letter fell far short of its mark while being the best excuse it could conjure up.

As has proven to be the case over the years, The News & Observer, like other mainstream media, is biased against former Durham District Attorney Mike Nifong and his supporters. That is why the newspaper refuses to write stories that might put Nifong or his supporters in a positive light, and refuses to cast a shadow on Nifong detractors. The only story written about the Committee on Justice for Mike Nifong was the deliberate hatchet job by the newspaper’s sarcastic hit-man columnist Barry Saunders in July 2008, one month after it was founded. What the media has as its goals is to keep the public it serves ignorant about issues involving the unjust treatment of Mike Nifong, and the existence of individuals who support him. So, when Duke University discriminates against a person for no reason other than being a supporter of Mike Nifong, The News
& Observer is quick to say that that event is not “newsworthy.” In other words, the newsworthiness of an article is determined by media head honchos who weigh the impact that informing the public will have with regards to their agenda… in this case, that of the Carpetbagger Jihad against Mike Nifong.

The local Triangle Area media has no problem with carrying stories about other acts of discrimination, such as that which recently occurred at Cameron Village in which two lesbians were asked by security to leave the shopping mall because they were showing affection in public… but when it comes to discrimination by Duke University against someone… not for his/her actions… not for his/her speech… but solely based on the beliefs, thoughts and opinions carried in their head, then that story is not “newsworthy.” It was okay to write about three of Mike Nifong’s guitars being auctioned off, but it is not “newsworthy” to write about the fact that the Committee on Justice for Mike Nifong gifted him a guitar similar to one which he was forced to auction off. It is okay for stories to be written about other individuals and groups who advocate on behalf of a person, policy or principle, but writing about the Committee on Justice for Mike Nifong is not “newsworthy.”

The media has strongly adhered to the PAPEN (Protect All Prosecutors Except Nifong) policy, has done its best to keep the public ignorant of the fact that Mike Nifong is the only prosecutor to be disbarred since its inception in 1933, and has taken every opportunity to mislead the public into believing that the Duke Lacrosse defendants were exonerated and that Mike Nifong increased his chances to be elected as the incumbent Durham district attorney when he pursued the “black” vote by prosecuting the Duke Lacrosse case.

Because openly known supporters of Mike Nifong are subject to discrimination by Duke University, which can include being arrested without cause (like what occurred to former Duke University professor Henry Louis Gates Jr.), the media owes it to the public and masses to warn them that Duke University has zero tolerance for openly known supporters of Mike Nifong. That is the least that Mandy Locke should have done with her article, especially since the head honchos at the newspaper do not consider writing a story about the alleged discrimination by Duke against me, a Nifong supporter, to be “newsworthy.”

10 comments:

Anonymous said...

Let me get this right -- You say that the Nasher Museum is open to everyone except Nifong supporters, but you haven't actually visited the museum?

I suggest you go to the museum proudly wearing your "J4N" gear, pay your admission fee and enjoy the museum.

I also suggest you conform to the solicitation policy as defined here:
http://www.studentaffairs.duke.edu/
osaf/resources/sponsored-corporate-
solicitation-policy

If you want to hand out business cards or website info, get a sponsor.

Anonymous said...

I am eagerly awaiting the posting of D'April Greene's detailed account of the shooting of Tyrone Baker.

Anonymous said...

Hell, Sid. The way you define the "protected class" as "openly known supporters of Mike Nifong" the practical impact of a discrimination lawsuit is virtually nil. How many people can that be? Two? Three? Frankly, I'd discriminate against y'all just for the fun of it. It would cost me nothing.

Lance the Intern said...

Sid - What are complaining about? Your "Friends of Mangum" got a nice little write up in the N&O. You can read it here:
http://www.newsobserver.com/2010/11/2
8/829837/friends-complicate-mangum-
case.html

Nifong Supporter said...


Anonymous said...
"Let me get this right -- You say that the Nasher Museum is open to everyone except Nifong supporters, but you haven't actually visited the museum?

I suggest you go to the museum proudly wearing your 'J4N' gear, pay your admission fee and enjoy the museum.

I also suggest you conform to the solicitation policy as defined here:
http://www.studentaffairs.duke.edu/
osaf/resources/sponsored-corporate-
solicitation-policy

If you want to hand out business cards or website info, get a sponsor."


The Duke University campus, on which the Nasher Museum is located, is extremely hostile to openly known supporters of Mike Nifong, as was evidenced by my near arrest on April 14, 2010 when I went to an event advertised at the Duke Law School which was open to the public. I have no desire to be humiliated, harassed, embarrassed, threatened, or arrested, so I will pass on ever setting foot on Duke University property. The cockamamie excuse and the lie told by Michael Schoenfeld tells me that my presence, as well as those of other Nifong supporters, is not wanted on its campus.

As you well know, the solicitation excuse was the best one that Duke could come up with. Are you trying to say that handing out business cards constitutes "solicitation" and is grounds for being kicked off campus? Do you know of anyone who has been harassed and nearly arrested and asked to leave the campus for handing out a business card? I didn't think so.

Nifong Supporter said...


Anonymous said...
"Hell, Sid. The way you define the 'protected class' as 'openly known supporters of Mike Nifong' the practical impact of a discrimination lawsuit is virtually nil. How many people can that be? Two? Three? Frankly, I'd discriminate against y'all just for the fun of it. It would cost me nothing."



Just go to the website to see the courageous individuals who lend their names and faces to the cause of justice for Mike Nifong. It is more than two or three people.

Because of people like you and some of those in the administrative offices of Duke University, it is necessary to have protection from civil rights discrimination.

Thanks for your comment which makes my point.

Nifong Supporter said...


Lance the Intern said...
"Sid - What are complaining about? Your 'Friends of Mangum' got a nice little write up in the N&O. You can read it here:
http://www.newsobserver.com/2010/11/2
8/829837/friends-complicate-mangum-
case.html"


Thanks for the link. I saw the hatchet job by The News & Observer's Jesse DeConto. However, the Committee on Justice for Mike Nifong and the Friends of Crystal Mangum are two different and separate advocacy groups.

The media is doing everything it can to keep the public ignorant about the existence of the Committee on Justice for Mike Nifong which was founded two and a half years ago.

Anonymous said...

"Are you trying to say that handing out business cards constitutes "solicitation" and is grounds for being kicked off campus?"

If, in the process of handing out business cards, you intercede "into a Duke community member's space in order to request information or communicate information about products, services, or events that are not related to Duke University or its educational mission" while on Duke campus you are soliciting.

That's the policy, Sid. You don't have to like it, but while on Duke campus, you have to abide by it. Ignorance of the law is, as always, no excuse.

Anonymous said...

"Because of people like you and some of those in the administrative offices of Duke University, it is necessary to have protection from civil rights discrimination.

Thanks for your comment which makes my point."

And thank you for your comment which makes MY point that you actually, seriously, think the civil rights laws apply to your little group and this situation.

Anonymous said...

After reading this post, can there be any doubt that the members of the Committee on Justice for Sidney Harr (www.justice4harr.com) will not rest until Duke apologizes to Sid and compensates him fully?