A COUPLE OF RANDOM MUSINGS COME SATURDAY MORNING

1) The story of Natalee Holloway, the 18 year old Alabama girl who was celebrating graduating from high school with classmates on the Caribbean island of Aruba and disappeared nearly two weeks ago, is certainly tragic, especially with the news (according to this story from CNN) that one of the suspects who have been detained has confessed to murdering her. Our thoughts and prayers are with her family, friends, and community as this story continues to develop.

However, one has to ask: If this were a young African-American female from a working class community instead of an attractive white girl from a wealthy community near Birmingham, would anybody give a damn? Would it receive the type of press that Natalee's disappearance has gotten? Probably not. It would not make the story any less tragic.

May Natalee's family and friends find closure and peace, regardless of the result, and may justice prevail.

2) While on the subject of justice, jury selection will begin Monday in Philadelphia, Mississippi for the trial of 80 year old Edgar Ray "Preacher" Killen, who is charged for his part in the murder 41 years ago of three civil rights workers. Killen, a reputed Ku Klux Klansman (which he denies) and Baptist minister, is the alleged ringleader of the mob that killed the three. He is now confined to a wheelchair due to a recent logging accident. This is the infamous case that was the basis for the movie Mississippi Burning. Court TV will provide live coverage.

USA Today ran a great story on the case and upcoming trial Friday. Part of it dealt with a coalition of community leaders spanning the racial spectrum --- blacks, whites, and Choctaw Indians --- formed last year. I have to note this part:

There were tensions at first, say co-chair Leroy Clemons, head of the local NAACP. When he called for a march to mark the anniversary, he says, "All of the white people in the room started looking even paler."

And when Prince suggested a resolution by the coalition instead, Clemons said, "All the black people started to frown. I mean, we've had enough resolutions. Let's do something."

Says Prince: "So we did."

They've done a lot of good work since then, coming to the realization that there is more to do than marches and resolutions. You've got to do more than the same old, tired measures that have been done for years and years.

From last week's Neshoba County Democrat:

"We don't know why a clarion call for justice finally emerged from within this community, except that younger generations seemed to feel more passionately these truths," he wrote. "Philadelphia, Mississippi is a good place. And murder is murder."

And the words of former Mississippi Secretary of State Dick Molpus on June 21, 1989 at a memorial service in his native Philadelphia remembering the three young men who gave the ultimate sacrifice to help their fellow human beings achieve freedom:

"...my heart is full today because I know that if James Chaney, Andy Goodman, and Mickey Schwerner were to return today, they would see a Philadelphia and Mississippi that, while far from perfect, are closer to being the kind of place the God who put us here wants them to be. And they would find—perhaps to their surprise—that our trials and difficulties have given Mississippi a special understanding of the need for redemption and reconciliation and have empowered us to serve as a beacon for the nation."