ben chavis, member of the wilmington 10, former assistant to dr.rtin luther king, jr., former executive director of the naacp. when we last spoke on "democracy now!" it was in december when he and others for making a last- ditch push for the north carolina governor bev perdue to pardon him and nine others known as the wilmington 10. it was 1971, the city of clinton was in the midst of a civil rights struggle. after what and restored a black neighborhood was firebombed, police officers and firefighters arrived to extinguish the flames but came under gunfire. an african-american teen was killed by police that night, a white man was shot and killed the next day. the national guard moved in. nine black men and one white woman were rounded up, hustled off to jail for their alleged involvement. the young defendants, the majority just high school age, were collectively sentenced to a total of more than 280 years in prison. rev. ben chavis served more than five years in prison. shortly after he appeared on "democracy now!" last month, governor perdue issue

the black high school in that city was shut down, there were boycotts, protests, and ben chavis, a reverenderend, called in to quell some violence. one night of rioting a white-owned supermarket was firebombed. chavis, eight other black males and a white female seeing on the screen now were convicted of arson and conspiracy and sentenced to a combined 282 years. no one was killed in the fire but convicted. and a few years later, one of the witnesses recanted his story from the trial and said that he was coerced and bribed, others did the same. their convictions were overturned and they were released after about eight years. just yesterday, north carolina governor bev perdue pardoned them and gave them a pardon of innocence. here's part of what she said. convic c convictions represent an ugly stain on north carolina's justice system that cannot be allowed to stand any longer. again, four of the wilmington ten have since died before they saw that statement from north carolina's governor. >> why did it take so long? >> it happened because, after probably 25, 30 years some notes were found and

there were boycotts, there were protests, and ben chavis, later to become the executive director of the was sent in to quell some of the violence. one night of rioting, the white home supermarket was fire bombed. these ten people, chavis, eight other black men and one white woman, the wilmington ten, they were framed. they were charged and convicted and sentenced to 282 years combined for this crime. now, a few years later one witness in this case recanted his testimony, said he was coerced, bribed, and then the convictions were overturned but already served eight years in prison. let me take you to just yesterday when north carolina governor bev perdue, pardoned them and gave them a pardon of innocence. here is part of her statement. these convicts were tainted by naked racism and represent an ugly stain on north carolina's criminal justice system that cannot be allowed to stand any longer. that came yesterday. but four of the wilmington ten have already passed away. they didn't live to get that pardon of innocence. >> they didn't know that they had been pardoned, clearly. they died co

michelle rhee and ben chavis should be the two people in charge of the education system in this countryinstead we have unions and the secretary of education doing nothing. all the unions care about is money. we have a teacher now who molested children and this man will get $85,000 a year for 13 years and he's being protected by the union. i am quite sure that none of these union people would want their children being taught by this man, to be in the classroom with him. host: have you thought about public school closures and if the closures and everywhere from west virginia to cities like philadelphia and chicago are something that affects kids and families? caller: no. as far as closing schools, michelle rhee, when she marched into washington, she started closing schools. things were getting better, but they did not want that, so they got rid of her. a person who was doing exactly what you are talking about. what bothers me is i am african- american and we need more than any other race of people on this planet, but educators. but the bottom line is money. it is not going to get any bett