With support from the University of Richmond

History News Network

History News Network puts current events into historical perspective. Subscribe to our newsletter for new perspectives on the ways history continues to resonate in the present. Explore our archive of thousands of original op-eds and curated stories from around the web. Join us to learn more about the past, now.

Family of Tawana Brawley wants to reopen rape case

Twenty years after her accusations of a racially charged rape became a national flash point and made the Rev. Al Sharpton a national figure, Tawana Brawley's mother and stepfather want to reopen the case, a newspaper reported yesterday.

Glenda Brawley and Ralph King want to press New York Gov. Eliot Spitzer and state Attorney General Andrew M. Cuomo to re-examine the reported November 1987 incident, which a state grand jury concluded was a hoax, according to the Daily News.

"New York state owes my daughter. They owe her the truth," said Mrs. Brawley. She reiterated her stance that her daughter was raped by a group of white men who smeared her with feces and scrawled racial epithets on her body.

Representatives for Mr. Spitzer and Mr. Cuomo did not respond to weekend telephone and e-mail messages.
Read entire article at AP