The Atlanta Youth Murders and the Politics of Race

Rating:
Summary: The Atlanta Youth Murders and the Politics of Mr. Headley
Review: I was so excited when I read the title of this book, however upon reading it, I am infuriated. Headley starts off strong, carefully illustrating the history of Atlanta and the backdrop upon which the murders took place. Headley ommitted several important facts and added many trivial comments in place of simple truth. Headley for some reason has convinced himself that Wayne Williams is guilty of the murders in spite of glaring inconsities with that theory. It is hard to believe and even more it is scary to think Headley is a criminologist. Headly ignores details that any untrained civilian could perceive as information contrary to the belief that Wayne Williams is guilty or more importantly got a fair trial. Headley often accuses anyone involved in trying to disprove the lone nut theory against Wayne Williams as a person with their own agenda or possibly a vendetta against the Task Force, FBI, GBI, and the various police departments who at the time were mishandling these cases. If you are a person well versed on this case however, at some point you will be compelled to ask, " What exactly is Bernard Headley's agenda?" It is hard to believe that someone who calls themselves a criminologist and attended Williams' trial could overlook the terrible investigation and the ultimate unfair trial that took place. In my opinion, Headley is the kind of conspirator that kept the lies that have dogged this case going strong for over 25 years now. He tries to come off so sympathetic when it comes to the victims and their loved ones but he has done a great disservice to them by writing this propoganda he tries to pass off as a book. He got his information from the FBI's freedon of information act files and they themselves are so redacted that it serves for the excuse of why his book and his assertions are so full of holes. The only saving grace of this book is its accounts of the victims, their ages, the last time they were seen alive and how and when they (if it was even them the investigation was handled so sloppily that many mothers never believed it was their sons who had been found) were found dead. I could go on and on on Headley's flawed account of a serious tragedy that has never been properly addressed, but I won't. I'll just end this with, Don't buy this book. For a more in depth and truthful look at this tragedy buy The List buy Chet Dettlinger or Those Bones Are Not My Child by Toni Cade Bambara. In addition there are recent documentaries as well as the movie Echo of Murder that further cast doubt on Williams' conviction and more plausible explanations of what happened to the murdered youth of Atlanta. I have written this review because the Atlanta Youth Murders have become very important to me and I hate the way Mr. Headley for some unapparent reason chose to write a book and ignore the glaring evidence that justice wasn't done. Here's a suggestion Mr. Headley, take a closer look at this case and try to see it without prejudice then write a new book and you can call it, The Atlanta Youth Murders and the Politics That Blinded Me.