For The Color of His Skin: The Murder of Yusuf Hawkins and the Trial of Bensonhurst

by John Desantis

Book Overview

REVISED EDITION WATCH THE AWARD-WINNING HBO DOCUMENTARY "STORM OVER BROOKLYN" THEN READ THIS BOOK On Aug. 23 1989 a 16-year-old black youth and his two friends were pursued by a bat-wielding mob of 40 white youths. One of them had a gun and shot the teen, Yusuf Hawkins, through the heart. This did not occur in the deep south but the industrial north, in Brooklyn, NY. This book tells the story of the marches that followed on the streets and the drama that followed in the courtroom, and it provides lessons still valid today

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1493534858
• ISBN13: 9781493534852
• Release Date: October 2013
• Publisher: Createspace Independent Publishing Platform
• Length: 290 Pages
• Weight: 0.86 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.6" x 6.0" x 9.0"

Customer Reviews

Death in Bensonhurst.

This explains the reasons for racial tension in New York City. There have been many instances of police and gang brutality. Yusuf Hawkins was the type of kid many of us would want for a son/grandson, or neighbor. When gangs form and think only of revenge, innocent people get killed. Yusuf would have made a great transit worker, however his life was cut short. This is the short history of the 1989 conflict that fanned the flames of hatred in New York City. If people would have been able to contain their rage, this murder might not have happened. The subsequent trials destroyed more people than just the triggerman. The instigator of the rampage, got away. This is a great book about racial hatred. It shows the unreasonableness of this tendency. Many people paid for this tragedy. Hopefully, people will learn from this mistake, and form a equal society.