Roy Exum: How To Handle A Gang - And Response

  • Tuesday, April 3, 2007
  • Roy Exum

A long time ago, out in the Old West, they used to have these gangs that were a lot worse than the ones we now find in Chattanooga.

Back in those times, they had the James Gang and the Dalton Gang, and all us kids, gathered around the old black-and-white TV, knew things would get dicey when the gang rode into town, their horses raring up and pistols shooting in the air and women screaming real loud.

But on TV they did something back then that is curiously lacking today.
Back then they called in the Texas Rangers or Hopalong Cassidy or John Wayne and, brother, they worked things out in a steel-fisted way within the next 30 minutes.

Today, we need to do the same thing.

When I read the other day that 500 kids text-mailed each other to meet at the Riverpark, I was easy with that until I read where some park ranger saw 12 fights break out, and, although I read the account over twice, I failed to see where anybody got arrested.

I’m one of these guys who wants everybody to get along, who wants to be kind and nice and “let none walk in fear.” But if somebody yells profanity, or gets in a fight, that’s “disturbing the peace” and ought to be worth a ride to jail.

If they have drugs or guns or knives in their pockets, that ought to assure a few extra days in the “crossbar hotel,” and if you do it at school, at the mall, in a restaurant, across from a parking lot, near a church or anywhere else, you also get to go to jail. It ought to be real simple.

I don’t understand “school resource officers.” We always called ‘em policemen. And we were taught the only thing you ever said to a police officer was “Yes sir” and “No sir.” Sass one and you got hit – period.

This isn’t real hard.

Don’t blame it on bad parents or the fact Uncle Will has been out of work for three years. We all know the rules. We all know right and wrong.
Whether you are black or white or Hispanic or Asian has nothing to do with obeying the law. So let’s enforce the law and give our park rangers or police or resource officers whatever it takes to put a punk in jail.

Now, if I was setting the bar, I’d call that sheriff out in Arizona and tell him to send me a bunch of those hot-pink jumpsuits like he makes his inmates wear. Then I’d get a bunch of those old push mowers, those old-timey ones that whirled just so, and me and the Bloods and the Crips and whoever would go into the grass-cutting business.

We’d cut every day for 10 hours. We’d cut in the rain, in the heat, in the dust, whatever. I’d have several “plans,” starting with seven days and on up. Trust me, 70 hours with a push mower will change even a surly child.

Let the psychologists and human-rights sufferers and decency experts say what they will, but when I put a crowd of hot pink lawn mowers down the median of the interstate and out at the Riverpark and in front of the courthouse, those gangs will move along to somewhere else, somewhere far away.

We’ve got the best collection of judges we’ve ever had, but it seems to me those who elect them – not the Crips or the Bloods – ought to send word that this town just ain’t big enough for anybody to misbehave.

And that brings me to my favorite story from the Old West.

Once upon a time, there really was a guy named Judge Roy Bean. He ran a bar and dispensed justice in Langtry, Texas, this back in the late 1800s.

His legend was so rich, they made a movie about him, with Paul Newman doing the honors, and while Hollywood may have well glitzed it all up, there is a very authentic and very real tale of Judge Roy Bean sentencing a bad hombre that’s my all-time favorite.

According to the record, they caught and justly convicted this wretch of rape and murder, so let’s listen as The Honorable Judge Roy Bean presides:

“Jose Manuel Miguel Gonzales, in a few short weeks it will be spring. The snows of winter will flow away, the ice will vanish, the air will become soft and balmy. The annual miracle of the years will awaken and come to pass.

“But you will not be there.

“The rivulet will run its soaring course to the sea. The timid desert flowers will put forth their tender shoots. The glorious valleys in the imperial domain will blossom as the rose.

“Still, you will not be there.

“From every treetop, some wildwood songster will carol his mating song. Butterflies will sport in the sunshine. The gentle breezes will tease tassels of the wild grasses and all nature will be glad.

“But you will not be there to enjoy it.

“Because I command the sheriff of the county to lead you away to a remote spot, swing you by the neck from a knotting bough of some sturdy oak and let you hang until dead.

“And then, Jose Manuel Miguel Gonzales, I further command that such officer retire quickly from your dangling corpse, so that vultures may descend from the heavens upon your filthy body until nothing is left but the bare, bleached bones of a cold-blooded, blood-thirsty, throat-cutting murdering son of a b-----.”

Judge Roy Bean wouldn’t have tolerated gangs.

We shouldn’t either.

Roy Exum
royexum@aol.com

* * *

As an old-timer who has enjoyed Mr. Exum's articles for many years, may I say that we could use him in public office--how bout Attorney General of this country? It is obvious that the powers that be in my former home of Hamilton County are not going to do anything to stop the lawlessness perpetrated by roaming gangs in said county except to deny that they exist.

Having been to Langtry a few times and looked at pictures going back to the nineteenth century, I seriously doubt that there was a tree anywhere nearby large enough to have a hanging. Judge Bean was the "law west of the Pecos;" however, according to lore, he probably used other ways to take care of bad men.

Jimmy Moore
Gulfport, Ms.
jmm39507@bellsouth.net

* * *

Your Suggestion: they worked things out in a steel-fisted way within the next 30 minutes.

Now, Mr. Roy, I've known and respected you for a long time. I can see the possible benefit of rounding these youths up, hauling them down to a precinct, and contacting their parents. However, I don't see the benefit of advocating and encouraging CPD to use steel-fisted heavy handed solutions. Some already do that without much encouragement.

I'm sure you don't remember me. You most likely will remember my husband, Camp. You've always been the kind of guy anyone could trust to stand up for right and fight single handed even for others.

Back in 1997 when my husband's brother, a Korean War Vet passed away, Times Free Press only wanted to allow him the usual three days off to drive to Louisiana, settle family affairs, lock up the family home and hauled his behind back to work. You single handed and vehemently argued and told them no way! Could that man, a dedicated employee who had never taken a sick day and even turned down vacation time on many occasions, could possibly travel to Louisiana, bury his brother, settle family affairs and return to work before the week was out. You stood up for my husband and, to this day, he has never forgotten that.

Your late brother Kinch, or the "Kinchman" as Camp often called him, and Camp were almost like brothers themselves. When Kinch moved to Florida he and Camp stayed in touch on birthdays and other holidays; calling one another, cussing, telling lies and wishing one the other a happy birthday. I watched my husband as he mourned the passing of Kinch the same as he'd mourned his own brothers passing back in 1997.

Now, getting back to this gang problem. Mr. Roy, Chattanooga doesn't have a "gang" problem as much as it has a "youth" problem. I can agree that the problem needs to be addressed. But heavy handed policing isn't the answer. In fact, it's only added to the problem over the years. There's also an exaggeration of the problem by some who want Chattanooga to have a gang problem, for whatever reason. Perhaps, to twist arms. Whose arms, I'm not sure. But there appears to be a lot of manipulation going on these days in these here parts.

Furthermore, Mr. Roy, there also appear to have been an unhealthy intimate alliance with police that has formed between some of these neighborhood and community association, both on a group and individual level. Whereas, the police seem to have lost their perspective, objective and purpose. Instead of serving and protecting all Chattanoogans, they are being swayed, influenced and manipulated by the whims and fancies of these groups or individuals within these groups for personal gains and agendas.

Mr. Roy, this unhealthy and intimate alliance is what led to our son, United States Air Force, being verbally and physically assaulted by police over two years ago when he and his wife, U.S. Army, returned home on a short weekend leave to inform families that she, our daughter-in-law, would be deployed to Iraq for a year. She returned home in January 2006 after serving a year in Iraq. My son was merely a young black male walking through his neighborhood after dark when he was stopped and assaulted by at least one of two of the cops that stopped him. He was on his own street, not two doors from the home he was born and raised in. We've lived in the same neighborhood for almost 30 years and have had family who lived in the area since the 1940s. It's a very racially mixed neighborhood. However, due to some community members at these monthly meetings the police, even if inadvertently, decided to set their sites on the young and predominately black males in the area.

I think it all started when some in the community thought St. Elmo would have to absorb residents of Alton Park when that development was torn down. However, the vast majority of us had lived in St. Elmo long before the tearing down of Alton Park. Either the police didn't know that or just didn't care and were too eager to crack a few heads with only a little encouragement from others.

Now, some have accused me of being racist and a called me a host of other low downed and dirty names. That's their prerogative and it's a free country. I don't intend to argue with airheads over their freedom of speech, even when making personal insults against me. However, my argument is about the hypocrisy and double standards I see here. I don't care what shade it comes in. My grandfather, who was very, very Anglo according to America's standards of race and color, would argue the racist thingy on my behalf if he were alive today. So would my grandson's mother who is also very, very blond, green eyed and Anglo. Then there are a host of other friends and relatives who'd do the same. My family would look like an advertisement for what makes diversity work and the United Nation if we all came together in one location. But again, there's no purpose in arguing with air-headed arrogance and egos so why waste the breath and energy?

Finally, Mr. Roy, that's why I say the things I say even in the face of all the attacks and bashing. Because people like me get to see the darker, scheming and more sinister side to what's going on and the devastating affects they have on us all, be we touched by them personally or not.

Again, this is nothing personal. So don't take it that way. I've always admired you as a fair and even handed man and I always will.

With Much Respect,
Brenda Manghane~Washington
manghane_washington@yahoo.com

* * *

Roy Exum believes that Judge Roy Bean is a good example to the youth and judges of today, especially with respect to our "gang problems" in Chattanooga.

I would like to take this opportunity to express my agreement with Mr. Exum, for the following reasons:

1. Roy Bean (later known as "The Hanging Judge" was a fine example to the youths of his day as well as our own. For example, he ran away from home at age 15, looking for "adventure." If that's not a good reason for running away from problems, I don't know what is. Likely his parents or the Mason County, Kentucky society he grew up in had "rules" of some fashion that he didn't like, so he ran from them.

2. Bean ran to Chihuahua, Mexico, where he killed a local citizen. I agree with Mr. Exum that this is a good example for our youth -- when you have a disagreement with someone, kill them.

3. Roy then ran from the Mexican authorities, hiding out in San Diego, California, where he got a job as a bartender. This is another good example of an honorable occupation for runaways, murderers, and fugitives, since everyone knows that a town's best citizens frequent the saloons.

4. It wasn't long before Bean wounded a man named Collins in a duel (likely a saloon customer who couldn't shoot straight due to the amount of booze Bean sold him). Of course, he skipped again, this time to New Mexico. (Is the pattern of bad conduct and then flight to avoid prosecution clear yet? What a wonderful example this Roy Bean is.)

5. Roy, of course, got another job as a bartender in New Mexico, where he also got into gunrunning. This is another good trade for gang members to learn, according to Mr. Exum.

6. Bean later moved to San Antonio, Texas, where he supported his family selling stolen firewood and watered down milk. Another wonderful example for our youth. Who would have ever thought the milkman or firewood guy would be a crook? San Antonio became known as "Beanville" due to Roy's notorious and deceptive business practices. I suspect Mr. Exum would nominate him to serve on the Better Business Bureau if he were alive today.

7. Tiring of supporting his wife and five children, Bean fled to Vinegaroon, Texas, a small tent city, where he again engaged in selling whiskey to railroad workers. Runnin' Roy, by now, had developed a pattern, apparently admired by Mr. Exum.

8. Bean then moved to a small tent city named Langtry, where he opened another saloon, and later was appointed by the Pecos County commissioners as a Justice of the Peace. Mr. Exum apparently desires that Chattanooga have the same type "justice" as is necessary for railroad "tent cities".

9. Roy dispensed his brand of heavy-handed justice from his saloon beneath the "Ice Cold Beer" sign. Perhaps Mr. Exum would like our local judges to hang such signs in their courtrooms to teach the kind of lessons dispensed by Mr. Bean.

10. Bean's tools of his trade were a whiskey bottle, a revolver, a law book, and a pet bear. Despite his ignorance of the law, he flaunted the law book while he dispensed his brand of "justice", which included exoneration for those accused of killing Chinese railroad workers, on the grounds that he could find no law in his law book prohibiting the killing of Chinamen. Maybe double-standards is what Mr. Exum finds so attractive about Judge Bean.

11. With his reputation as a hanging judge, the lawmen of the day, U.S. Marshalls, began bringing fugitives to him so they wouldn't have to endure the long trek back to regular courtrooms, sure that he would dispense quick "justice" in the form of a conviction followed by immediate execution, thus saving much time and trouble. Perhaps this is the real lesson Mr. Exum desires for Chattanooga.

Let us not confuse the Judge Roy Bean of television and movie fame with the REAL Judge Roy Bean of the old west. The real Bean was a thievin' conivin' smugglin' low-life fugitive murderer who now is being held up as a fine example for youth and judges of our day by the like of Mr. Roy Exum.

I like Mr. Exum, and believe he is a fine man, but submit that the rare air at 1400 ft. above sea level may have interfered with the clarity of his thinking by depriving him of the necessary oxygen. I respectfully submit that he ask his physician for a prescription for oxygen.

Mark Regan
markregan.kd4csm@gmail.com

* * *

Mr. Exum:

I agree totally with you. We should not tolerate gangs. The members of gangs should be punished to the full extend of the law.

When does President Bush, the leader of the Bloods, the Republicans, get fitted for his hot pink jumpsuit? I hope you got enough push mowers for his entire administration, the real OG’s, and the rest of his hardcore members, The Supreme Court Justices, Senate, Congress, governors, all the federal, state and local officials who are a part of his posse. By the way, you need to round up Mr. Murdoch of FOX News, O’Reilly, Hannity and don’t forget Rush.

You can find them gangbanging the American people everyday, robbing and stealing in Iraq, Afghanistan, soon in Iran and all over the planet.

Oh! While you’re at it, Mr. Exum, you may as well round up Nancy, the leader of the Crips, the Democrats, and fit her for her hot pink jumpsuit as well. You gonna need a lot of push mowers. She’s got her hardcore members too. They are fighting right now to reclaim the turf the Bloods took from them after their illustrious leader, President Clinton left office. You remember when they stole the election from Al and John and robbed the American people of their vote.

We could modernize your favorite episode for you. We could round up these bad hombres and convict them for raping the American treasures and stealing the tax payers’ hard earned money, murdering innocent people for oil and poppy seeds, and sit back and listen to Judge Roy Bean. I can hear him now:

“President Bush, leader of the Bloods and posse, House Majority Leader Pelosi, leader of the Crips, and posse, in a few short weeks it will be spring. The snows of winter will flow away, the ice will vanish, the air will become soft and balmy. The annual miracle of the years will awaken and come to pass.

“But you will not be there.

“The rivulet will run its soaring course to the sea. The timid desert flowers will put forth their tender shoots. The glorious valleys in the imperial domain will blossom as the rose.

“Still, you will not be there.

“From every treetop, some wildwood songster will carol his mating song. Butterflies will sport in the sunshine. The gentle breezes will tease tassels of the wild grasses and all nature will be glad.

“But you will not be there to enjoy it.

“Because I command the military of this great Nation to lead you away to a remote spot, swing you by the neck from a knotting bough of some sturdy oak and let you hang until dead.

“And then, President Bush, leader of the Bloods and posse, House Majority Leader Pelosi, leader of the Crips, and posse, I further command that such officers retire quickly from your dangling corpses, so that vultures may descend from the heavens upon your filthy bodies until nothing is left but the bare, bleached bones of a cold-blooded, blood-thirsty, throat-cutting murdering -------s."

Round’em all up, Mr. Exum! Give’em some of dat good ole justice you talkin’ bout. If one of them sass you, just hit’em in the mouth!

Kevin Muhammad
brotherkevin@comcast.net

* * *

It's interesting that so many attack a statement that we shouldn't accept gang and youth violence any longer by denigrating the example used. In this case, Judge Roy Bean.

Tennessee law allows civil claims to be filed against the parents of juveniles who decide they aren't going to abide by the rules of society.

According to the Tennessee Code Annotated, 2006, sections 37-10-101 through 103 inclusive (recovery for injury or damage by juvenile, etc.), those persons who have been harmed, either in their persons or their property, by a juvenile have a bit of recourse against the parents of same.

Perhaps if some of those parents were held to account for the actions of their children, those children wouldn't be such problems to the rest of us.

Penalize the juvenile, then hold his parents liable for his actions...we wouldn't need a "hangin' tree" but I'll bet some would wish they'd been tarred and feathered then run out of town on a rail. I'll also bet some of those juveniles would wish they could sit on a rail to be run out of town after they learn about the fine old art of choosing a hickory switch.

It's unfortunate that kids today don't grow up learning things like the Lone Ranger's Creed.

Royce E. Burrage, Jr.
RBurrage@bellsouth.net

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