Good journalism is a lot like good police work. It takes a lot of digging and talking and research to learn all sides of a story on your way to the truth. Sometimes it turns out both sides in a battle are kind of slimy. Much less often you wrap up your investigation with a clear cut view of good and evil, right and wrong.
This is what brings me to write again about the movie “American Gangster.” I’m sorry, I just can’t let go.
At the end of the film there is a legend card proclaiming that because notorious Harlem based heroin dealer Frank Lucas flipped and cooperated with authorities his testimony, “Led to the convictions of three quarters of New York City’s Drug Enforcement Agency.” That is a lie – a dishonorable lie. Not one officer was ever charged with, let alone convicted, of any crime in connection with the lengthy Lucas investigation. [click to continue...]
