The Story of Cotton and Thompson - Another Black and White Working Together

[GHook93]

This was a 60 minutes story. It was a tragic event that led to an unlikely friendship. A white woman, Jennifer Thompson was raped by a black man. Ronald Cotton was arrested and charged with the crime and Jennifer, while honestly believing he was the rapist, mistakeningly ID him. Cotton went to jail for over a decade. A DNA test exonerated him.

Jennifer felt so guilty she asked for his forgivenness. He gave it immediately. Now they crusade together. Read to his words. He was falsely put behind bars for a crime he didn't commit. His kindness and campassion are remarkable. If you were put behind bar for a crime you didn't commit, would you have the compassion and understanding that Cotton had? I doubt it. It's an amazing story that goes well beyond race!

Black Man Befriends White Woman Who Wrongfully Accused Him Of Rape | Jet | Find Articles
Ronald Cotton said that he was living in hell while serving 11 years in a North Carolina prison for a rape he did not commit. The only way he says he could put hell behind him when a DNA test exonerated him of the rape in 1995 was by learning to forgive. That he has done with his White accuser, Jennifer Thompson, whom he has since befriended.

"I don't see a need to hold a grudge. A mistake was made," Cotton, 38, tells JET. "Things do happen and I understand that. No one is perfect. I had to accept that and move on with my life instead of living my life in misery by thinking about getting her back. I was already living in hell. I didn't want to make it worse by taking that road."

Thompson, 38, explains their friendship to JET, "We really care very much about each other and what happens in each other's lives. That's an important issue to get across. We try to get across that there's nothing in life that you can't overcome. The only way to overcome things is to forgive. To not forgive keeps you detached from love and joy. That's something that he and I learned."

She still marvels at the manner in which Cotton forgave her. "When I asked him to forgive me and he very very graciously and quickly said, `Of course,' it happened immediately for me that we became friends. I can't speak for Ron but for me it did. He changed the way I look at a lot of things."

Cotton and Thompson were both forced to look at life in a dramatic new way in 1984...

Thompson, then a 22-year-old student at Elon College in North Carolina, was raped by a Black man as he held a knife to her throat. The straight-A student studied every detail about her attacker's face in an effort to ensure that he would be caught and punished. Two days after the crime, Thompson was called in to do a photographic lineup based on a sketch she helped police to create of the rapist. Immediately, she saw what she thought was the face of the man who broke into her Burlington, NC, apartment and violated her body that night. It was the face of a then 22-year-old Cotton.

Cotton, a young man who worked at a seafood restaurant who had encountered a couple of brushes with the law as a teen, got wind that the police were looking for him in connection with the burglary and rape. He didn't think twice about going to the police station in an attempt to clear his name. Cotton had no idea this would be his last day of freedom for more than a decade.

 

[Peach]

This was a 60 minutes story. It was a tragic event that led to an unlikely friendship. A white woman, Jennifer Thompson was raped by a black man. Ronald Cotton was arrested and charged with the crime and Jennifer, while honestly believing he was the rapist, mistakeningly ID him. Cotton went to jail for over a decade. A DNA test exonerated him.

Jennifer felt so guilty she asked for his forgivenness. He gave it immediately. Now they crusade together. Read to his words. He was falsely put behind bars for a crime he didn't commit. His kindness and campassion are remarkable. If you were put behind bar for a crime you didn't commit, would you have the compassion and understanding that Cotton had? I doubt it. It's an amazing story that goes well beyond race!

Black Man Befriends White Woman Who Wrongfully Accused Him Of Rape | Jet | Find Articles
Ronald Cotton said that he was living in hell while serving 11 years in a North Carolina prison for a rape he did not commit. The only way he says he could put hell behind him when a DNA test exonerated him of the rape in 1995 was by learning to forgive. That he has done with his White accuser, Jennifer Thompson, whom he has since befriended.

"I don't see a need to hold a grudge. A mistake was made," Cotton, 38, tells JET. "Things do happen and I understand that. No one is perfect. I had to accept that and move on with my life instead of living my life in misery by thinking about getting her back. I was already living in hell. I didn't want to make it worse by taking that road."

Thompson, 38, explains their friendship to JET, "We really care very much about each other and what happens in each other's lives. That's an important issue to get across. We try to get across that there's nothing in life that you can't overcome. The only way to overcome things is to forgive. To not forgive keeps you detached from love and joy. That's something that he and I learned."

She still marvels at the manner in which Cotton forgave her. "When I asked him to forgive me and he very very graciously and quickly said, `Of course,' it happened immediately for me that we became friends. I can't speak for Ron but for me it did. He changed the way I look at a lot of things."

Cotton and Thompson were both forced to look at life in a dramatic new way in 1984...

Thompson, then a 22-year-old student at Elon College in North Carolina, was raped by a Black man as he held a knife to her throat. The straight-A student studied every detail about her attacker's face in an effort to ensure that he would be caught and punished. Two days after the crime, Thompson was called in to do a photographic lineup based on a sketch she helped police to create of the rapist. Immediately, she saw what she thought was the face of the man who broke into her Burlington, NC, apartment and violated her body that night. It was the face of a then 22-year-old Cotton.

Cotton, a young man who worked at a seafood restaurant who had encountered a couple of brushes with the law as a teen, got wind that the police were looking for him in connection with the burglary and rape. He didn't think twice about going to the police station in an attempt to clear his name. Cotton had no idea this would be his last day of freedom for more than a decade.

Not as interesting as the 'race hate' stories to many. A good man, and an honest woman.

 

[Flopper]

A moving story, that few could duplicate. I know if I went to jail for a crime I didn't commit, I would be filled with bitterness and contempt for society. I've seen estimates of 1% of those in prison are innocent, much too high, particularly if you are among that 1%.

 

[Peach]

A moving story, that few could duplicate. I know if I went to jail for a crime I didn't commit, I would be filled with bitterness and contempt for society. I've seen estimates of 1% of those in prison are innocent, much too high, particularly if you are among that 1%.

Maybe more, but this man's forgiveness is remarkable.

 

[GHook93]

This was a 60 minutes story. It was a tragic event that led to an unlikely friendship. A white woman, Jennifer Thompson was raped by a black man. Ronald Cotton was arrested and charged with the crime and Jennifer, while honestly believing he was the rapist, mistakeningly ID him. Cotton went to jail for over a decade. A DNA test exonerated him.

Jennifer felt so guilty she asked for his forgivenness. He gave it immediately. Now they crusade together. Read to his words. He was falsely put behind bars for a crime he didn't commit. His kindness and campassion are remarkable. If you were put behind bar for a crime you didn't commit, would you have the compassion and understanding that Cotton had? I doubt it. It's an amazing story that goes well beyond race!

Black Man Befriends White Woman Who Wrongfully Accused Him Of Rape | Jet | Find Articles
Ronald Cotton said that he was living in hell while serving 11 years in a North Carolina prison for a rape he did not commit. The only way he says he could put hell behind him when a DNA test exonerated him of the rape in 1995 was by learning to forgive. That he has done with his White accuser, Jennifer Thompson, whom he has since befriended.

"I don't see a need to hold a grudge. A mistake was made," Cotton, 38, tells JET. "Things do happen and I understand that. No one is perfect. I had to accept that and move on with my life instead of living my life in misery by thinking about getting her back. I was already living in hell. I didn't want to make it worse by taking that road."

Thompson, 38, explains their friendship to JET, "We really care very much about each other and what happens in each other's lives. That's an important issue to get across. We try to get across that there's nothing in life that you can't overcome. The only way to overcome things is to forgive. To not forgive keeps you detached from love and joy. That's something that he and I learned."

She still marvels at the manner in which Cotton forgave her. "When I asked him to forgive me and he very very graciously and quickly said, `Of course,' it happened immediately for me that we became friends. I can't speak for Ron but for me it did. He changed the way I look at a lot of things."

Cotton and Thompson were both forced to look at life in a dramatic new way in 1984...

Thompson, then a 22-year-old student at Elon College in North Carolina, was raped by a Black man as he held a knife to her throat. The straight-A student studied every detail about her attacker's face in an effort to ensure that he would be caught and punished. Two days after the crime, Thompson was called in to do a photographic lineup based on a sketch she helped police to create of the rapist. Immediately, she saw what she thought was the face of the man who broke into her Burlington, NC, apartment and violated her body that night. It was the face of a then 22-year-old Cotton.

Cotton, a young man who worked at a seafood restaurant who had encountered a couple of brushes with the law as a teen, got wind that the police were looking for him in connection with the burglary and rape. He didn't think twice about going to the police station in an attempt to clear his name. Cotton had no idea this would be his last day of freedom for more than a decade.

Not as interesting as the 'race hate' stories to many. A good man, and an honest woman.

Very true. All the media wants to report on is racial hatred and racial divide. The schools aren't much better. What they teach our children (what they taught us) is that the white man enslaved the black man and abused him. That the founding fathers were slave owners. Then after the Civil War the White man did whatever to keep the black man down!Yet they leave only some of the founding fathers were slave owners. That some where abolishists. The civil war was primarily fought by whites against whites. It was fought and won by white people who were against slavery! After the civil war during reconstruction the KKK formed to destroy WHITE REPUBLICANS! White Republicans were their main target and who they were trying to suppress. After the civil war the KKK was taken down by White people fighting them in the 1870s! Yep they terrorized Blacks, but there main reason for forming was to take on and terrorize White Republicans. The KKK was revived in the 1920s. None of this history is EVER taught! All we are taught is how bad white america has been to black america!

Then the media hypes up every cross-race crime, esp when the victim is black! They rarely do light hearted stories of the races working together. A story like this would never be reported on, except by the best news broadcast in the world - 60 minutes!

We need to show whites, blacks and hispanics working together. Our schools need to teach the good with the bad! End the perception that we can't get along, because it's bullshit!

 

[Peach]

This was a 60 minutes story. It was a tragic event that led to an unlikely friendship. A white woman, Jennifer Thompson was raped by a black man. Ronald Cotton was arrested and charged with the crime and Jennifer, while honestly believing he was the rapist, mistakeningly ID him. Cotton went to jail for over a decade. A DNA test exonerated him.

Jennifer felt so guilty she asked for his forgivenness. He gave it immediately. Now they crusade together. Read to his words. He was falsely put behind bars for a crime he didn't commit. His kindness and campassion are remarkable. If you were put behind bar for a crime you didn't commit, would you have the compassion and understanding that Cotton had? I doubt it. It's an amazing story that goes well beyond race!

Not as interesting as the 'race hate' stories to many. A good man, and an honest woman.

Very true. All the media wants to report on is racial hatred and racial divide. The schools aren't much better. What they teach our children (what they taught us) is that the white man enslaved the black man and abused him. That the founding fathers were slave owners. Then after the Civil War the White man did whatever to keep the black man down!Yet they leave only some of the founding fathers were slave owners. That some where abolishists. The civil war was primarily fought by whites against whites. It was fought and won by white people who were against slavery! After the civil war during reconstruction the KKK formed to destroy WHITE REPUBLICANS! White Republicans were their main target and who they were trying to suppress. After the civil war the KKK was taken down by White people fighting them in the 1870s! Yep they terrorized Blacks, but there main reason for forming was to take on and terrorize White Republicans. The KKK was revived in the 1920s. None of this history is EVER taught! All we are taught is how bad white america has been to black america!

Then the media hypes up every cross-race crime, esp when the victim is black! They rarely do light hearted stories of the races working together. A story like this would never be reported on, except by the best news broadcast in the world - 60 minutes!

We need to show whites, blacks and hispanics working together. Our schools need to teach the good with the bad! End the perception that we can't get along, because it's bullshit!

Likewise the three men who helped the child from an alleged abduction.