On July 16, 1978, in the small lumber town of Yreka, California, a long weekend of partying led to the arrest and conviction of five friends. Patrick "Hooty" Croy, along with a few friends, decided to stop at a Sports and Spirits liquor store after partying to pick up beer before going hunting deer. After an altercation between Croy and the clerk and "looting" by his friends, the police were called. They fled and a police chase ensued, during the police chase, Croy and friends shot at police. At that point Croy shot and killed a police officer and only surrendered after being shot in the back. A trial was held, Croy was given a death sentence, while his friends received lesser sentences. The case caught the attention of lawyer Tony Serra.
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He argues that no matter who the person is, they are racist. Beginning in the 19th century, there have been certain thoughts and prejudices toward other cultures. In the 20th century, they were further elaborated. Hochstadt explains how every person is racist, it is due to the constant repetition of racist propaganda. He examines this in an observation he makes about himself, "I know that phrases from my past, images that I remember from long ago, and beliefs which I was taught still rattle around in my head. I try to keep them inside, out of my speech and away from my behavior. But they haven 't disappeared, for me or anyone else who had them implanted in our minds" (Hochstadt 13). These thoughts and attitudes are taught and seen everywhere. Usually in the media, television, radio, books, and newspapers. Even if a person doesn 't agree with them, they still affect them. Say the people of Yreka were not prejudice toward Native Americans, but the history they learned in textbooks and what they heard about them in town was in their mind everywhere they went. They probably heard opinions regarding their Native friends, neighbors, or classmates that they knew weren 't true. They didn’t necessarily agree with those opinions, their culture was just different from theirs. So say they heard that those fellow friends or classmates looted a store, were in a car chase, and killed a local white cop, all those opinions they heard of Natives suddenly came to mind. Those opinions they once heard begin to whisper to them, now they don’t know the entire story, they only know what they were told and how they feel. At that moment all the unpleasant opinions they heard or learned about them seem more
He argues that no matter who the person is, they are racist. Beginning in the 19th century, there have been certain thoughts and prejudices toward other cultures. In the 20th century, they were further elaborated. Hochstadt explains how every person is racist, it is due to the constant repetition of racist propaganda. He examines this in an observation he makes about himself, "I know that phrases from my past, images that I remember from long ago, and beliefs which I was taught still rattle around in my head. I try to keep them inside, out of my speech and away from my behavior. But they haven 't disappeared, for me or anyone else who had them implanted in our minds" (Hochstadt 13). These thoughts and attitudes are taught and seen everywhere. Usually in the media, television, radio, books, and newspapers. Even if a person doesn 't agree with them, they still affect them. Say the people of Yreka were not prejudice toward Native Americans, but the history they learned in textbooks and what they heard about them in town was in their mind everywhere they went. They probably heard opinions regarding their Native friends, neighbors, or classmates that they knew weren 't true. They didn’t necessarily agree with those opinions, their culture was just different from theirs. So say they heard that those fellow friends or classmates looted a store, were in a car chase, and killed a local white cop, all those opinions they heard of Natives suddenly came to mind. Those opinions they once heard begin to whisper to them, now they don’t know the entire story, they only know what they were told and how they feel. At that moment all the unpleasant opinions they heard or learned about them seem more