Shaquanda Cotton - The Controversy

The Controversy

The controversy over Cotton's imprisonment first garnered attention when Howard Witt of the Chicago Tribune featured it in a column on March 12, 2007. According to Witt's article:

And then there is the case that most troubles Cherry and leaders of the Texas NAACP, involving a 14-year-old black freshman, Shaquanda Cotton, who shoved a hall monitor at Paris High School in a dispute over entering the building before the school day had officially begun. The youth had no prior arrest record, and the hall monitor—a 58-year-old teacher's aide—was not seriously injured. But Shaquanda was tried in March 2006 in the town's juvenile court, convicted of "assault on a public servant" and sentenced by Lamar County Judge Chuck Superville to prison for up to 7 years, until she turns 21. Just three months earlier, Superville sentenced a 14-year-old white girl, convicted of arson for burning down her family's house, to probation. "All Shaquanda did was grab somebody and she will be in jail for 5 or 6 years?" said Gary Bledsoe, an Austin attorney who is president of the state NAACP branch. "It's like they are sending a signal to black folks in Paris that you stay in your place in this community, in the shadows, intimidated." Creola Cotton did not dispute that her daughter can behave impulsively and was sometimes guilty of tardiness or speaking out of turn at school—behaviors that she said were manifestations of Shaquanda's attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, for which the teen was taking prescription medication. Nor does Shaquanda herself deny that she pushed the teacher after being pushed first and injured, although Shaquanda's mother maintains that she was supposed to have been allowed to visit the school nurse to take her medication. Brenda Cherry, a local activist, alleges that Shaquanda's frequent disciplinary write-ups, and the insistence of school officials at her trial that she deserved prison rather than probation for the shoving incident, fits in a larger pattern of systemic discrimination against black students in the district.

Cherry became the family spokesperson of Creola and Shaquanda Cotton during the controversy. District Attorney Young claims that Cherry belongs to a radical organization that expresses "anti-white" sentiments and is aligned with the New Black Panthers and the Nation of Islam. Both the New Black Panthers and Nation of Islam are considered "hate groups" by the Southern Poverty Law Center. Concerned Citizens For Racial Equality is not listed as a hate group. All protests have been peaceful and no racist statements have been identified as coming from Cherry or the civil rights organization, Concerned Citizens For Racial Equality.

On March 20, 2007 Cherry led a protest attended by hundreds of Nation of Islam and New Black Panther activists in front of the Paris School District Building. The protesters demanded the resignation of Superintendent Paul Trull and Assistant Superintendent Robert High. Protesters called High, who is African-American, a "sell-out Negro." The march was organized by Cherry, the Dallas Black Panthers and the Tarrant County Local Organizing Committee. The marcher's slogan was "Free Baby Cotton!"

Witt's reporting of the case was disputed by the Paris School District. Assistant Superintindent of Human Resources Robert High accused Witt of skewing his facts in favor of Cotton and stated "It's unfortunate that Mr. Witt would come to such a broad conclusion based upon limited information." However, Witt attempted to obtain information from the district prior to the article, but, due to privacy laws, was refused. Local newspaper columnist Philip Hamilton accused Witt of engaging in a "journalistic lynching" of Paris by painting an emotionally charged picture of the case "lashed with false statements, omitted facts and inaccurate information." According to Hamilton, Witt presented a fictional portrait of Paris as a "starkly segregated" community where racial violence is common. Witt's original column intermixed references to 19th century lynchings of black residents on the Paris town fairgrounds with his commentary on Cotton's currently pending case. Hamilton also charged Witt with intentionally omitting the fact that two black teachers and administrators testified against Cotton at her trial.