Last night the Fox broadcast network aired the NAACP Image Awards program. We happened to catch a few minutes while channel surfing, while they were running an "In Memoriam" montage of photos of people who had passed away in the last year. Under the picture of each person was a short description, two or three words - "actor", "comedian", "civil rights activist", "musician", etc.

Among those honored were Rosa Parks, Coretta Scott King, Richard Pryor, Lou Rawls . . . . and Stanley "Tookie" Williams, who was executed in December 2005 for murdering four people. The description under his picture read only "anti-gang activist."

The choice to honor a man who was executed for brutally murdering four people shows a deep moral confusion. Who a group chooses to honor tells us something important about who they are and what they believe in. It was also disturbing to note that many people in the audience clapped and cheered when Williams' picture appeared on the screen. Is this really the image black Americans wish to project to the world? One can oppose the death penalty (we support it) without choosing to honor someone who committed terrible evil. The NAACP, and anyone in the audience who cheered, ought to be ashamed.