SATURDAY LETTERS / TV RIOT COVERAGE : Sensational TV Gets Blame for Violence

I agree with Spike Lee (“Spike Lee Questions Bush Stance on Riots,” May 9) regarding which administrative policies have really contributed to the tensions leading to the recent violence. And I believe that we in the United States should look hard at our own human rights record while pointing the finger at other countries.

But I found the rest of Lee’s comments about human rights confusing and quite misguided. Lee compared the Rodney G. King verdict to one in South Africa the same week, which sentenced a white cop to hang for the murder of blacks (I believe there were 11 people tragically murdered). Lee was quoted as saying: “I never thought I’d see the day when South Africa was ahead of the U.S. as far as human rights were concerned.”

Human rights activists know that everyone’s rights must be protected. We also know that one of the greatest rights violations is the death penalty. Under De Klerk, South Africa had suspended executions. While most will agree that convicting a white cop for killing blacks was an enormous step forward for South Africa, sentencing the cop to hang was an enormous step backward for human rights.

KATHRYN FORD

Fallbrook