I was already under the impression that HBO’s The Wire was the best and most honest television program in American history. But my mind was totally blown tonight when I realized that “Little” Melvin Williams was cast as the deacon on that program. I learned this from watching an hour-long program on Little Melvin that aired on the Biography Channel. I was already familiar with his history, which you can learn about here. He’s basically responsible for the destruction of the black community in Baltimore. You couldn’t create enough life sentences to equal out the damage he’s done. And he was cast as one of the good guys on the show. Amazing.
I don’t know whether to be offended or to applaud the genius of their casting. It appears that he’s still hustling. They said on the biography program that he has an IQ of 161. He’s also a good actor. But he indicts himself with his own words.
“You know why I became a drug dealer?” he asks. “Because that cop put 16 pills of heroin in my pocket [in 1967]. Like Rambo said, they drew first blood. And all I wanted to do after that is sell kilos and kilos, and I know a lot of people died from it, but if they didn’t want a drug dealer, then they shouldn’t have fucked with me.”
That doesn’t sound like a man who has taken responsibility for his actions. It’s a great injustice to see him walk around the ruined and formerly vibrant areas of black Baltimore reminiscing about the good old days. He destroyed it all by bringing heroin and then cocaine into the community. Maybe someone else would have done it if he hadn’t been there, but he’s still responsible.