The Background...
Several years ago, after searching the Web in vain for
information about Rubin Carter, I decided I would take it upon myself to
put Mr. Carter's story up for all to see. I'm still working on this page,
but I've found some good resources so feel free to check out what I've
done so far, as well as some other links that will help you to get to know
a little more about Rubin
Carter's story.
The Story...
Rubin
"Hurricane" Carter was a professional boxer who had been a #1 contender
for the middleweight
boxing crown. In 1966, he and his friend John Artis were wrongfully
arrested for a triple murder which took place in a bar in New Jersey.
While some still maintain that it is not entirely clear who committed the
crime, it is very clear that Carter and Artis did not receive a fair trial.
Not only were Carter and Artis were the only black people in a courtroom
full of whites, but the jury was also made up of so-called "death-qualified"
jurors.
Carter wrote an autobiography (see below for a link on
amazon.com) while in jail, and many years after it had been published,
a boy from Brooklyn stumbled across the book and read it. He was
so moved that he wrote to Mr. Carter, asking if he could meet him. Carter
reluctantly began corresponding with the boy and his Canadian friends,
and they decided to take it upon themselves to free an innocent man.
At one point along the line, Carter's autobiography was sent to the legendary
songwriter Bob Dylan, who was deeply
moved by the story.
"The first time I saw him," recalls Dylan, "I left
knowing one thing...I realized that this man's philosophy and my philosophy
were running down the same road, and you don't meet too many people like
that." As a result, Dylan wrote a song (click
here for the lyrics--scroll all the way down the lyrics page for the
original, unpublished lyrics) in 1974 called "Hurricane," which told Rubin's
story. It ended up on Dylan's 1974 album "Desire"
(click the title to jump to the album for audio samples).
Click here
for a date-based outline of Rubin
Carter's story, beginning with the date of the crime in 1966 and including
his release from prison in 1985 and a second wrongful
arrest by Toronto police in 1996.
In 1975, Rubin Carter gave an interview
with Penthouse magazine. This interview
is among the most intriguing and informative primary sources I have found
about Carter to date. It explains what happened from the perspective
of Hurricane Carter (a sort of mini-autobiography for those who can't find
his long out-of-print book "The Sixteenth Round"), and helps readers understand
what was going on behind the facts and dates included in the Hurricane
story. If you don't get a chance to read Carter's book
(described below), this interview is tremendous in that it gives an inside
view of what transpired.
The Man...
Rubin Carter currently is a member of the Board of Directors
of the Southern Center
for Human Rights in Atlanta, the Association
in Defence of the Wrongfully Convicted in Toronto, and the Alliance
for Prison Justice in Boston. He also speaks regularly to high school and
university audiences, as well as at corporate meetings and conferences.
According to fans who have heard him, he speaks of one race: the human
race, accepting and forgiving. He also says that it isn't that he
is not bitter--sometimes he feels bitter--he simply no longer behaves
bitterly; he behaves caringly. Bitterness is there, but he cannot
be the person he wishes to be unless he keeps the bitterness out of his
behavior.
If you are intrigued by the story of Rubin Carter's life,
which was stolen from him for twenty-two years, and want to hear him speak
on your campus or at your business, an agency known as Speakers'
Spotlight organizes his speaking engagements. Click
here to access their web site if you want to find out how to hear
Mr. Carter speak at your organization.
The Media...
Universal Pictures has just recently released a film
about the life of Rubin Carter. The director is Norman
Jewison (And Justice For All 1979, Moonstruck 1987,
Other
People's Money 1991, Only You 1994), and the film is called
The
Hurricane. It stars Denzel
Washington as the title character. The film premiered at the Toronoto
Film Festival on September 17, and has been described by a visitor to this
site as being "captivating and devastating," leaving him and his wife "totally
overwhelmed."
Rubin Carter, who attended a sneak preview on the night
before the premier, received a standing ovation for coming through an experience
that revealed "the best and worst of humanity." I encourage you to
visit
this site for more information on the movie, which was filmed on location
at the original Lafayette Bar and Grill in Patterson, NJ. The film
follows the story of Rubin Carter and John Artis as they are arrested,
tried, and convicted for a crime they did not commit. Universal Pictures
also has a trailer up on their website (click
here to jump to Universal's "The Hurricane" trailer page), as well
as a number of behind-the-scenes pictures and background on the making
of the movie. You will need either RealPlayer
or Quicktime, but both of
these can be downloaded from their respective websites sites.
If you would like further information on Rubin "Hurricane"
Carter, there are several books that tell his story. Perhaps the
most famous is the one Carter wrote himself while in jail, entitled The
Sixteenth Round: From Number 1 Contender to #45472. It has
been out of print since the mid-70s, but was originally published by Viking
Press and can be found in libraries everywhere or through online used book
dealers.
I have had many people write me trying to locate Carter's
autobiography. Fortunately, since the release of the movie, the Canadian
press Penguin Books has republished the book. You can look on any Canadian
online bookstore, but the American bookstores (Amazon.com and BarnesandNoble.com,
for example) don't have any record if it existing. Click
on this link to jump to one of the Canadian sites . The book costs
about $16.50 US last time I checked, including shipping and depending on
the exchange rate and if the book is still on sale. There's another book
out on the story of Rubin Carter (see below for descriptions of others).
This one is an authorized biography, called Hurricane:
The Miraculous Journey of Rubin Carter, by James Hirsch. It's about
the best alternative you'll find to Rubin Carter's autobiography if you
don't want to mess with international shipping and credit card exchange
rates to Canada.
Another good book is Lazarus
and the Hurricane: The Untold Story of the Freeing of Rubin 'Hurricane'
Carter, by Sam Chaiton. This is the story from the point
of view of the Canadian family who heard Carter's story, corresponded with
him while he was in prison, and made every attempt to try to reopen the
case, and it serves as the basis for the upcoming movie from Universal
Pictures. It has been reprinted since the release of the movie, and cost
$12.00 US from Amazon.com last time I checked.
The Newest Stuff (as
of my last update)...
One
of the most amazing untold stories is that of the New Jersey police
officer who was working to free his friend Rubin Carter for years before
Lesra and the Canadians ever knew who he was. Carter's former sparring
partner and close friend, boxing referee Ron
Lipton (whom you may have seen officiating Evander
Holyfield, Oscar de la Hoya, and others on HBO), appeared with Carter
in a National Telecast on 3/25/97 on the Chet Coppock NewSport Talk show.
On the 1 1/2 hour telecast, Carter told the audience that Lipton was the
one who went and got Muhammad
Ali involved in the case, and who had then gone public in January 1974
in the New York Daily News with inside information that revealed
that Carter had been framed...at the risk of Lipton's own job as a detective
in the Hudson County (NJ) prosecutor's office. Lipton ultimately did lose
his job...as well as his family and his home, and he suffers
harassment to this very day as a result of his involvement in the case.
This story represents four decades of behind the scenes struggles with
police and members of hate groups. "What we saw and what we went through
they can't run in the movie," said Lipton. But now his story can be told.
The Links...
Here are some additional links that I have compiled to
aid you in your search for information on the story of the Hurricane:
(1) The
first site (click here) is a well-written overview of the Hurricane
story, authored by Salon.com contributor Frank Houston. It gives a bit
more background information on Carter's life up until he was arrested,
and some insights into the movie and the story that is its inspiration.
(2) USAToday ran an article on December
29, 1999. I thought it was pretty good, so I decided to include
a link here. It deals with a couple of issues that the movie either
left unclear or that Norman Jewison and the writers took artistic liberty
with. It's a great article with some extra information.
(3) Cal Deal was a writer for The Herald-News
in Passaic, N.J., and he originally met Carter in the Trenton State Prison
in 1975. Deal originally felt that Carter was innocent, but now feels that
a guilty man has been set free. Cal
Deal's site on Graphicwitness.com is a very well-documented (albeit
opinionated) review of firsthand information Deal gathered from interviews
with Carter, the prosecution, and key witnesses. The site is full of photos
and news clippings about the Carter case, and is a pleasure to navigate
and view.
I was internally torn as to whether or not to include
a link to Mr. Deal's site, and I ultimately decided that he has quite a
bit of firsthand information that you will doubtless find fascinating.
A word of warning, however: read Mr. Deal's site (as you should read all
seemingly objective reports in this Internet age, including my own) with
an open and questioning mind. Much of the information Deal includes can
be interpreted in more than one way, although he makes only his own interpretations
clear. I also caught myself believing that some of his facts were true...until
I noticed a disclaimer saying that they were based on a police reconstruction.
Finally, I was a little bit disappointed that some of the interviews he
included were cut off short, not allowing the reader to see a possible
response to Deal's argument. Do not read this as saying that anything on
the site is made up; only remember that the site is very one-sided. Overall,
I do recommend his web page, as it is an intriguing look at the other side
of the Hurricane story, which Deal feels contrasts sharply with the Hollywood
version.
The End...
Summary
of Links Click here to see a summary of all
the links listed on this page, as well as some additional links that didn't
fit into paragraph form. (under construction)
If you want to do another search for info on Rubin Carter,
Google is my favorite search engine. You can check it out by doing another
search on Rubin Carter right here:
"I'm not in jail for committing murder. I'm in
jail partly because I'm a black man in America, where the powers that be
will only allow a black man to be an entertainer or a criminal." --Rubin Carter, in his 1975
interview with Penthouse I no longer maintain this page, and thus will no
longer make my e-mail address available.
Please note that I, myself, have no contact with Mr.
Carter, and this web site is completely unauthorized. I've received
several e-mails asking me for his autograph, his address, or pictures or
from people wanting to speak with him. Regretfully, I cannot help
you. I do not know Mr. Carter, I do not have his
address, and I am not able to contact him. I'm just a college student
who became interested in Rubin Carter's story after listening to a Bob
Dylan song. However, if you know Mr. Carter or if you have any pictures
that you think I'd enjoy, feel free to send them to me (but please don't
pull them off other people's websites...I've seen all those). I will consider
all pictures copyrighted, with all rights reserved by the sender, unless
I am told otherwise.
You are visitor number
to this website!
To do another search on Rubin "Hurricane" Carter, use
any of the engines below:
I would like to extend a special thanks to Pedram M. For
his suggestions and to the original posters of the Penthouse interview
at http://www.geocities.com/SunsetStrip/Studio/4909/hurricane.html.
My apologies for using their hard work, but I wanted to make sure everyone
could read Rubin Carter's own words, and web pages come and go so quickly
in this day and age that I felt it couldn't hurt to spread the word and
to make sure it stayed posted (as long as I credited those who did the
work). I want to thank Ryu for letting me know that Universal had put the
trailer up on their page (he likes Star Wars, too!). Thanks to Matt B.
for setting me straight on Rubin's boxing stats. Thanks also to Brian and
Kevin for suggestions and comments regarding the unpublished lyrics. I
am extremely appreciative to Mike, who is one of a select few who
can truly call Mr. Carter his friend, for giving me the first review of
Norman Jewison's new film. Thanks to Rick G. for writing to me about one
of Mr. Carter's speeches. Thanks to Christina for updated links,
and to Jason, who told me about the Canadian reprinting of The Sixteenth
Round. I would like to send my appreciation out to Cal Deal for his
input about the Carter case; though we may not agree, his hard work has
shown that the story is not as clean-cut as Hollywood would have us believe.
I also want to say Thank You to everyone out there who has written with
comments and suggestions about my page. And finally, a very
special thanks to Bob Dylan for writing such a powerful song and for being
such an amazing and influential musician.
One
of the most amazing untold stories is that of the New Jersey police
officer who was working to free his friend Rubin Carter for years before
Lesra and the Canadians ever knew who he was. Carter's former sparring
partner and close friend, boxing referee Ron
Lipton (whom you may have seen officiating Evander
Holyfield, Oscar de la Hoya, and others on HBO), appeared with Carter
in a National Telecast on 3/25/97 on the Chet Coppock NewSport Talk show.
On the 1 1/2 hour telecast, Carter told the audience that Lipton was the
one who went and got Muhammad
Ali involved in the case, and who had then gone public in January 1974
in the New York Daily News with inside information that revealed
that Carter had been framed...at the risk of Lipton's own job as a detective
in the Hudson County (NJ) prosecutor's office. Lipton ultimately did lose
his job...as well as his family and his home, and he suffers
harassment to this very day as a result of his involvement in the case.
This story represents four decades of behind the scenes struggles with
police and members of hate groups. "What we saw and what we went through
they can't run in the movie," said Lipton. But now his story can be told.
