Tulia: Race, Cocaine, and Corruption
Tulia: Race, Cocaine, and Corruption in a Small Texas Town 1
Tulia: Race, Cocaine, and Corruption in a Small Texas Town
Shana Eberlin
Ethics in Criminal Justice
October 26, 2008
Tulia: Race, Cocaine, and Corruption in a Small Texas Town 2
Blakeslee, N. (2006). Tulia: Race, Cocaine, and Corruption in a Small Texas Town. New York: PublicAffairs.
Abstract:
One morning in 1999, in the little cow town of Tulia in the Texas panhandle, before the sun came up, police burst into homes, where about twenty percent of the adult black population found themselves arrested. They arrested forty seven men and women who had no way of anticipating what had hit them. All of whom were accused of selling cocaine to Tom Coleman, an undercover cop who would prove to be something other than what he seemed.
Tulia: Race, Cocaine, and Corruption in a Small Texas Town 3
One morning in 1999, in the little cow town of Tulia in the Texas panhandle, before the sun came up, police burst into homes, where about twenty percent of the adult black population found themselves arrested. They arrested forty seven men and women who had no way of anticipating what had hit them. All of whom were accused of selling cocaine to Tom Coleman, an undercover cop who would prove to be something other than what he seemed.
Methods
This nightmare began in the early morning of July 23, 1999. Forty seven men and women were arrested in the biggest drug bust in Swisher County’s history. They were rousted from their beds before dawn and taken to jail. Thirty nine of those arrested were black. The following eight were either Whites or Hispanics who had ties to this black community. From the beginning, the families of those apprehended believed that the drug bust was a racial thing. They just could not prove it, at least not yet. Tom Coleman was hired in January 1998 by Swisher County Sheriff Larry Stewart to conduct an undercover drug operation. In preparation for the sting, he assumed a new identity and went by the
Tulia: Race, Cocaine, and Corruption in a Small Texas Town
Shana Eberlin
Ethics in Criminal Justice
October 26, 2008
Tulia: Race, Cocaine, and Corruption in a Small Texas Town 2
Blakeslee, N. (2006). Tulia: Race, Cocaine, and Corruption in a Small Texas Town. New York: PublicAffairs.
Abstract:
One morning in 1999, in the little cow town of Tulia in the Texas panhandle, before the sun came up, police burst into homes, where about twenty percent of the adult black population found themselves arrested. They arrested forty seven men and women who had no way of anticipating what had hit them. All of whom were accused of selling cocaine to Tom Coleman, an undercover cop who would prove to be something other than what he seemed.
Tulia: Race, Cocaine, and Corruption in a Small Texas Town 3
One morning in 1999, in the little cow town of Tulia in the Texas panhandle, before the sun came up, police burst into homes, where about twenty percent of the adult black population found themselves arrested. They arrested forty seven men and women who had no way of anticipating what had hit them. All of whom were accused of selling cocaine to Tom Coleman, an undercover cop who would prove to be something other than what he seemed.
Methods
This nightmare began in the early morning of July 23, 1999. Forty seven men and women were arrested in the biggest drug bust in Swisher County’s history. They were rousted from their beds before dawn and taken to jail. Thirty nine of those arrested were black. The following eight were either Whites or Hispanics who had ties to this black community. From the beginning, the families of those apprehended believed that the drug bust was a racial thing. They just could not prove it, at least not yet. Tom Coleman was hired in January 1998 by Swisher County Sheriff Larry Stewart to conduct an undercover drug operation. In preparation for the sting, he assumed a new identity and went by the