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Who is Rubin "Hurricane" Carter? Well, until Denzel
Washington did a movie
about him I had no idea, although by his name I would have guessed
a boxer.
Rubin Carter's story is so much different than what I would
have assumed. He was an incredible boxer whose career was ruined
by racism. |
Denzel Washington as
Rubin "Hurricane" Carter |
Carter was born on May 6, 1937 in Clifton, New Jersey. When
he was 12 he was arrested and sent to the Jamesburg State Home
for Boys because he attacked a man with a Boy Scout's knife.
Carter said that the man was a pedophile that was attempting
to molest one of his friends. He escaped for the home before
his six-year sentence was up and in 1954 he joined the Army,
where he began training as a boxer.
Before Carter returned to New Jersey in 1956, he had won two
European light-welterweight championships. In 1957, he was arrested
for purse snatching, and he spent four years in Trenton State
Prison. When he was released he spent all of his time training
as a boxer, and in 1961 he turned pro. Because of Carter's lighting
fast fists he earned the nickname "Hurricane".
On June 17, 1966 Carter and his friend John Artis were arrested
for a triple murder because they fit the description of "two
Negroes in a white car". Both Carter and Artis were cleared
by a grand jury when the only eyewitness couldn't identify either
men. But the state prosecutor produced two other eyewitnesses,
who made positive identifications.
During the trial the prosecution produced little evidence
linking Carter and Artis to the murders, and the only eyewitnesses
were criminals who received money and a reduced sentence for
their testimony. But even for this, the all-white jury convicted
Carter and Artis on June 29, 1967. Artis was a model prisoner
and was released in 1981.
While Carter was at Trenton State and Rahway State prisons
he wrote his book "The 16th Round: From Number 1 Contender
to Number 45472". This book sparked an interest in teenager,
Lesra Martin, who started writing to Carter. Martin lived with
a group of Canadians who had taken on the responsibility for
his education.
Martin's benefactors soon also developed a relationship with
Carter and began their efforts to free him. In 1983, they began
working with Carter's defence team, and on November 7, 1985 United
States District Court Judge H. Lee Sarokin ruled that Carter
was innocent.
After Carter was released, he moved to Toronto and into the
home of the group that worked for his release. In 1993 the World
Boxing Council gave him an honorary championship title belt,
and he is now the director of the Association in Defense of Wrongfully
Convicted. |
