Wadsworth, 1999. A comparative approach that
emphasizes racial groups in the United States and
includes a good chapter on Canada.
Swain, Carol.The New White Nationalism in America: Its
Challenge to Integration. New York: Cambridge Uni-
versity Press, 2002. Argues that contemporary
multiculturalism with its emphasis on racial pride
has the unintended consequence of promoting
virulent forms of white racism.
Thernstrom, Stephan, and Abigail Thernstrom.
America in Black and White: One Nation, Indivisible.
New York: Simon & Schuster, 1997. A scholarly
work that opposes affirmative action and argues
that the country has made significant progress to-
ward ending racial discrimination.
Thomas Tandy Lewis
See also African Americans; Asian Americans;
Byrd murder case; Cochran, Johnnie; Civil Rights
Act of 1991; Crown Heights riot; Demographics of
Canada; Demographics of the United States; Diallo
shooting; Hate crimes; Illegal immigration; King,
Rodney; Latinos; Los Angeles riots; Mount Pleasant
riot; Native Americans; Sharpton, Al; Simpson mur-
der case.
Ramsey murder case
The Event The murder of a six-year-old and its
investigation
Date December 26, 1996
Place Boulder, Colorado
JonBenét Ramsey’s murder generated sensational press cov-
erage, largely focused on JonBenét’s appearances in child
beauty pageants. This media attention reflected Americans’
rising interest in criminal investigation and the American
justice system.
Six-year-old JonBenét Ramsey, daughter of Patsy and
John Ramsey, was found dead in the basement of her
parents’ home in Boulder, Colorado, on the morn-
ing of December 26, 1996. A blow to the head had
fractured her skull; she had been strangled with a
cord tied around her neck and tightened with a
garrote.
Patsy Ramsey had called police early that morn-
ing to report JonBenét missing. Patsy had found a
ransom note demanding $118,000 and promising
that the kidnappers would contact the Ramseys be-
fore 10:00a.m.After several hours had passed with
no contact from the kidnappers, Boulder Police de-
tective Linda Arndt asked John Ramsey and his
friend Fleet White to search the house. Ramsey
found JonBenét’s body lying on the floor of a small
basement room. The first uniformed officer on the
scene had searched the house but had not opened
the latched door to that room; a friend had opened
the door in a later search but had not entered the
room and seen the body.
John Ramsey was president and chief executive
officer of Access Graphics, a wholesale computer
parts company owned by Lockheed Martin. Patsy
Ramsey was involved with community and charita-
ble activities, and the Ramseys regularly attended
Boulder’s St. John’s Episcopal Church. The couple
also maintained large homes in Atlanta, Georgia,
and Charlevoix, Michigan. Patsy was a former Miss
West Virginia and Miss America contestant, as was
her sister Pam. Along with Patsy’s mother, they had
begun entering JonBenét in child beauty pageants,
and she had already won several titles. Patsy spent
thousands of dollars on singing and dancing les-
sons for JonBenét, as well as custom-made cos-
tumes. News stories distributed photographs and
video showing six-year-old JonBenét posing and
performing wearing elegant, flamboyant showgirl
outfits, high heels, and makeup. Investigators won-
dered if a child molester or pornographer might
have found JonBenét’s pageant appearances sexu-
ally provocative, leading to a pursuit of the child re-
sulting in her death.Boulder Police and District Attorney Investigators
were divided as to whether John and Patsy Ramsey
should be considered suspects. Handwriting experts
eliminated more than seventy people as possible
writers of the ransom note, but could not definitely
say Patsy had not written it. The garrote used to
strangle JonBenét was made with the broken handle
of an artist’s paintbrush belonging to Patsy.
Boulder was an affluent, politically liberal com-
munity whose police had little experience with mur-
der cases. District attorney Alex Hunter preferred to
negotiate plea bargains rather than prosecute de-
fendants in court. The police failed to completely
search the Ramsey home, interview the Ramseys, or
secure the crime scene, and later rejected offers of
help from both the Federal and Colorado BureausThe Nineties in America Ramsey murder case 701