Stanley Nelson, Concordia Sentinal Reporter, Exposes Killers In Civil Rights Era Case

latimes.com:

The Mississippi fairly glides through this old cotton country, nothing if not strong and serene. But look a little closer at the big river and you'll notice an upwelling here and a dark eddy there. Something powerful, it appears, lurks beneath the surface.

In this hollowed-out little town of 3,511 people, a newspaperman named Stanley Nelson can be found most days clattering away on a decade-old Mac computer. He moves with a slow and purposeful calm. But he too has been roiling the waters.

Not long past New Year's Day -- after four years of painstaking shoe leather, deep document dives and endless interviews -- Nelson published a front page exposé like none the weekly Concordia Sentinel had ever seen.

Read the whole story: latimes.com

Comments

[PathofTotality]

11:02 AM on 04/06/2011

A very good article and hopefully, there are more Stanley Nelson's out there we don't know about.

[bearcat92]

11:59 PM on 04/05/2011

Are there any non-profit organizations whose specific mission it is to investigate these cold cases and try to bring these cases to the authorities for further investigations? Something somewhat opposite of "The Innocence Project", which assists prisoners who can be exonerated via DNA.

One of the Discovery Channel's station has/had a show investigating civil rights cold cases but one would think something could be done on a more grandiose scale. Similar to the Innocence project, with public and corporate donations, these cases could be investigated by small staff of journalists and/or criminal justice professionals or professors with the support of journalism/criminal justice students. They could get the info that the FBI can't either due to resources or lack of cooperation and then collaborate with authorities on findings.

This decade could be the time to hit these cold cases up. Maybe there is a higher potential for some of these monsters to come clean in their twilight thinking that they need to repent, etc as they are getting closer to meeting their maker. Or, maybe other family, ex-family members wanting to come clean to provide closure for the victims family. They may be more willing to talk to journalists and students then the Feds

If there is a group out there doing this, please share name so a donation can be made.

[Gmoney1]

09:34 PM on 04/05/2011

it's a story that should be televised -

[loosebowel]

09:10 AM on 04/05/2011

Why hasn't there more comments on this article. I suppose this atrocity does not affect today's people. Old news? Not really. This could happen today. And it's more important than what Glen Beck has to report.

[CenaW]

10:40 AM on 04/05/2011

Yes, the conservative talkers for the Republican party are busy
fanning flames of h a. t e.

[ywcachieve]

05:43 PM on 04/05/2011

Many people would rather stay in denial about the racial hate that has permeated this country. Just last week, there was a naz! rally near my home. Despicable, I tell you.

[Boomerwoman]

06:37 PM on 04/04/2011

A hero who is now a target.

[Billar]

11:16 AM on 04/04/2011

First let me say that the LA times article was great, and well written. It covered the tenets of journalism. The who,what when and where.
Next I think the local reporter Stanley Nealson did a fantastic job of investigative journalism in this horrible case. Lets hope the killer gets caught and justice is served.

[fisher65]

11:11 AM on 04/04/2011

we need more exposure of the southern republican so called gentlemen . please!

[MosesDidItBest]

09:59 AM on 04/04/2011

I wonder what Rand Paul would make of this.

It took so long for the passage of the Civil Rights Act, and still prejudice exists.

Rand Paul and Haley Barbour are shining examples of a bias that should have died ages ago.

Good Work Mr. Nelson, let's hope Morris finds some peace in all this and that justice is served.

That it took so long is a statement in and of itself.

[LorettaSingbiel]

10:54 AM on 04/04/2011

In more than 30 years working at Hanna newspapers, he had learned the local police knew "everything."

The local police had their own "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy. And THAT is why it (justice) took so long.

[lotus321]

12:08 PM on 04/04/2011

I think if not for the death of kennedy, it may have never been signed into law.

[CenaW]

10:41 AM on 04/05/2011

I am not certain about that, but I am very glad Lyndon Johnson took the ball and ran with it.

[ALiberalKidd]

09:26 AM on 04/04/2011

Justice delayed is absolutely justice denied in these kinds of violent, horrific, terrorist murders’ by America's southern, original, “racial conservatives.” Moreover, this article seems more intended to paint Stanley Nelson as a hero, rather than addressing justice.

[kathy001]

03:07 PM on 04/04/2011

"Moreover, this article seems more intended to paint Stanley Nelson as a hero, rather than addressing justice."

It was. This article was pointing out a shining example of journalism - something not seen very often these days. Mr. Nelson's work did the job of addressing justice.

[Boomerwoman]

06:39 PM on 04/04/2011

When you have the courage to expose the ugly underbelly in your own community...you ARE a hero. What is the most herioc thing YOU have ever done. And texting your break up to your girlfriend doesn't count LibKidd.

[Kimpeach]

09:05 AM on 04/04/2011

Before I even read the article, I knew it had to be Mississippi or Alabama. Mr. Nelson, thank you for reminding us of the power of REAL journalism!

[pirx]

10:20 AM on 04/04/2011

Of course, we can overlook the fact that we know that Ferriday is actually in Louisiana.

[Kimpeach]

10:40 AM on 04/04/2011

Thank you! I just posted a second post explaining my first post. You are right---it happened in Ferriday, La. (along the Mississipp­i River). Sad and terrible event which proves that many Southern states (not just Mississipp­i and Alabama) have their ghosts, too!

[Kimpeach]

10:37 AM on 04/04/2011

I made a mistake. This incident actually happened in Ferriday, La (along the Mississippi). I guess I was so quick to blame Miss because of their tragic past and the antics of their current governor. Thank you to pirx for pointing it out for me!

[SouthernJewel]

07:44 AM on 04/04/2011

Thank you and much respect to you, Mr. Nelson.
May you be held up as an example of what a journalist does...find the truth and report it.

[Arthur Spooner]

06:17 AM on 04/04/2011

What touches me is it wasn't that long ago my grandfather was telling me what he had to endure while working on the railroad. It reminds me that this occurred during my parents youth and not the 18th century as some would like us to think.

[LorettaSingbiel]

11:04 AM on 04/04/2011

I was a teenager when the atrocities in the Southern States were FINALLY being exposed on national television. Why my parent's generation are called "The Greatest Generation" is beyond me! Yes, some walked with our African Americans in their march for Civil Rights ... but NOT ENOUGH. SHAME on those that didn't ... and STILL DON'T!

[UnknownSolider]

02:02 PM on 04/04/2011

The Greastest doesn't mean they were perfect. Many whites in other parts of the country had no idea this brutal caste system existed in the south the way it did. Many whites thought blacks didn't want to get out of the situation they were in, or they just weren't smart enough to excel in business or the workforce and that is why they were so poor in the south and other areas.......
 
they never thought that r@cist actually had their foots on the necks of blacks...... Dr. King exposed all of this

[spkninglsh]

01:25 AM on 04/04/2011

Real journalism works!

[Indalo]

12:24 AM on 04/04/2011

It is good to know there are journalists and reporters out there who still find a way to get their stories out and speak to truth in times when entertainment rules the day. It is people like Mr. Nelson who give our country hope when our media and government has been compromised by our corrupt monetary-market based system.

[Pam Herman]

11:33 AM on 04/04/2011

Excellent post.

[fredpa]

11:04 PM on 04/03/2011

Thank you Mr. Nelson for showing us what journalism can be and do. Thank you Mr. Rainey for an eloquent retelling.