I want to get in touch with "Hurricane" Carter. Do you have an email address for him?
This website is dedicated to the proposition that Carter is not a hero, not an inspiration, and certainly not a role model. This site is most definitely not a Carter fan site. If you are looking for African American heroes for a school project, there are so many inspirational choices: try this link for a list to get you started. (Also see list at bottom right)
 

I am in prison and I was wrongfully convicted. (Or, my son/brother/loved one was wrongfully convicted.)
I'm sorry. There are a few resources that might be able to help you. Try The Innocence Project
 

Are you a racist or what?
No, I'm not. Here is the definition of racism: "a belief in the innate superiority of a particular race; antagonism towards members of a different race based on this belief." If you find any racist ideas or statements in this website, please draw them to my attention.

Yeah well, this is just your opinion.
This website is loaded with facts, quotes and links to actual court documents. Any opinions expressed herein are backed up with thorough research and facts. Please visit the site index for a full listing of all the pages in the site. If you find any errors in this website, please provide details.

Don't you know that black men suffered and continue to suffer from an unfair justice system?
Yes. Carter counts on receiving the sympathy and indignation of all decent people who are appalled at racism and injustice. But he gets that sympathy by telling falsehoods.

Why do you spend so much time on this? It all happened a long time ago.
A lot of things that happened a long time ago still matter a great deal. I feel that the public has been deceived about Carter's case, a case which is used to shape people's feelings about American justice and race relations. The "Hurricane" movie is used as a teaching tool in our public schools. It's important for people to know that there is no evidence that Carter was framed.

I take exception to director Norman Jewison's claim that the The Hurricane is about "the celebration of the human spirit and the triumph of love over hate." The movie is a chance for some people to engage in what Thomas Sowell calls "moral preening." Jewison and the movie makers get to pat themselves on the back for being against racism, while flinging mud at a lot of people who don't deserve to be vilified.

Why are you wasting time on this?
Or, I could cruise the internet, like you do, and tell other people they are wasting their time -- that sounds like a good contribution to humanity.

Why don't you do something really worthwhile, like helping people who've been wrongfully convicted?
Glad you asked. I invite you to visit my other website and donate to the defense funds of the wrongfully convicted people whose stories I tell. They were convicted of "Imaginary Crimes."

So where the heck is the e-mail address?

Here. cartermyths AT shaw DOT ca

Copyright 2000-2009 Lona Manning

Note to Educators

Rubin Carter is not a role model for black youth or any youth.

• He had to be shamed by publicity and a court case into supporting his family, after he struck it rich.

• While his wife struggled to raise his children alone, he was getting into fights with prison officials over petty things like standing up for an inmate count (see his biography, for example).
  
• He was a womanizer (see his biography).
  
• He's ignored his children-- do we need black role models like that?
  [Read why fatherlessness is a crisis in the black community].

• He frequently says things that are untrue and casts blame on others for his shortcomings.
  
• He's been accused of viciously beating a woman and a retarded man.
   
• He doesn't deserve anyone's admiration, and probably doesn't deserve their pity, either.
  

If you are studying wrongful convictions of black men, wouldn't it make sense to study genuine cases?

Scottsboro Boys

Joseph Lee Allen

Timothy Howard

Frank Lee Smith

George Whitmore

If you are studying civil rights heroes, wouldn't it make sense to study genuine heroes?

Dr. Ossian Sweet

Harry T. Moore

Rev. James Lawson and the Nashville lunch counter sit-in students

Congressman John Lewis

Fannie Lou Hamer

Rev. Fred Shuttlesworth

Robert and Mabel Williams

The Freedom Riders

Daisy Bates and the Little Rock Nine

Martin Luther King and the SCLC

Malcolm X

Audley "Queen Mother" Moore

Gloria Richardson

Civil Rights Memorial to 40 martyrs