CE Week #2: “A minority’s bigotry is just as loathsome” Sept. 14th
“Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.”
– Martin Luther King, Jr.
Your blues, author BeBe Moore Campbell famously wrote, ain’t like mine.
I’ve occasionally borrowed that phrase to explain how bigotry as experienced by majority and minority is not the same: The one has access to levers of power enabling it to express its hatred in public policy; the other has access only to fists and words. But there are times that observation is simultaneously true, and irrelevant. This is one of them.
There is, after all, a certain egalitarian outrageousness in what happened to 18-year-old Brian Milligan. Getting hit in the back of the head with a chunk of concrete is getting hit in the back of the head with a chunk of concrete, whether you are Jew or Muslim, gay or straight, black or white.
That’s reportedly what happened to Milligan the night of Aug. 18, after he walked his girlfriend to her home in their gritty Buffalo, N.Y., neighborhood. Milligan had headphones on, so he didn’t even hear it coming. A mob of 10 to 12 black males then stomped and kicked him and hit him with more concrete – all in the head and face, says his father, Brian Sr., 41.
As they struck him, they taunted him. “You white (expletive), we told you stay away from here. These are ‘our’ streets. We told you stay away from our women.”
Brian, you see, is white. His girlfriend, Nicola Fletcher, 18, is African-American. That difference in melanin has, they say, been a source of daily friction with a gang of black men in their neighborhood for months. She’s been shot with paintballs; they’ve both been repeatedly cursed and taunted. “They would hit on her right in front of me,” says Milligan. “They would call her baby and all that.”
Now there’s this. Brian Sr. says when he got to the hospital, he didn’t even recognize his son. “I seen a mess. I seen somebody laying there dead.”
Not quite, but close. Brian Jr. had a gash on his head that required seven staples to close. He had bleeding and swelling in his brain. His jaw and one tooth were broken. His sense of smell is gone. He has no memory of the beating.
According to media reports, blacks in the neighborhood have been conspicuous in their refusal to cooperate with investigators. While a black anti-crime group has been trying to help bring the criminals to justice, Brian Sr. says other blacks have chosen silence. “I don’t know if it’s that they’re scared or they don’t care. That’s a coin I just don’t want to toss up in the air.”
Nor do I. So let me just say this: Assuming the facts are as we have been told, this demands prosecution as a hate crime. What happened to Brian Milligan is an offense against civil society. We should “all” be outraged.
I loathe bigotry in all its forms, but I have a special problem with bigotry as practiced by those who, by dint of their own history, should know better. When Jews hate Muslims for their religion, when gays scorn straights for their sexual orientation, when blacks beat a white teenager for the color of his skin, it suggests people too dense to understand the moral of their own story, the meaning of their own passages. The minority is no more righteous in its hate than the majority is.
Brian Sr., an unemployed construction worker facing a mountain of medical bills, is asking for help. A special savings account has been set up for Brian.
And yes, Brian and Nicola are still together. He credits her with nudging him to get his GED. “She loves me. And I love her. That’s more than anything. That sums it all up.”
Somebody thought they had a right to tell this kid where he could go and who he could see. They kicked his head in because of who he is.
And that’s a sadly familiar song. It is a blues we’ve heard too many times before.
Leonard Pitts Jr. is a columnist for the Miami Herald. His e-mail address is lpitts@miamiherald.com.
A. What did you learn by reading this post?
I really didn’t learn much from this article that wasn’t already basic knowledge. Minorities can have prejudices? No way!
B. What do you think about this particular topic or issue?
I am sorry for Brian Milligan, his family, and his girlfriend. What happened to him is tragic and unfortunate, but I do not agree with Leonard Pitts’ demand that the case be treated as a hate crime. Harassment is harassment; assault is assault; murder is murder, so hate crime laws are completely pointless. All they do is shove a “politically correct” mentality down our throats. The message I gather from hate crime laws is, “If you are going to beat up someone, make sure that he isn’t different than you.”
C. What do you want to know more about related to this topic?
I would like to know what hate crime laws we have in Washington, if any.
A: I learned that racism exists on both sides of the spectrum. I mean, obviously, most people get that different racial groups find things to hate in one another, it is part of our country and for some of us, our daily lives, but this article really twists the usual story. When I first began reading it I thought, classic racism story, black kid gets beat up and white kids are to blame. But Pitts turns the “norm” on its side and shows the reader that discrimination is a worldwide, race-wide, problem and one that we need to fix.
B. Of course I think it’s wrong, and in this situation especially. I find it strange that African Americans (no matter what their background is, I’m not trying to generalize here) would ever express racism in such a blatant and undeserved way. It just shows how far American youth has come from its own history and how uneducated and flat out stupid some people can be, despite their race or their history. It doesn’t really surprise me though, considering Americans can be dumb when it comes to so many other issues, why isn’t racism automatically considered under that category as well?
C. The part of the article that confuses me doesn’t really pertain to the concept in general but to the case specifically. My question is why can’t they find and prosecute the people who assaulted Milligan? From what I gathered from the article this group of young men is well known in the neighborhood and Milligan himself said that he has interacted with them before. Where did they go? I think Pitts has failed to include a very important part of Milligan’s story and that is, he is afraid to bring the “hate crimers” to justice just like the rest of the African American neighborhood mentioned in the article.
A. From reading this piece, I learned that a teenage boy named Brian Milligan was beaten in the head because he is dating an African-American girl. I also gained a better understanding of bigotry by reading this article. I had heard of the word before but didn’t really think about its meaning. Reading this passage about racial intolerance helped me understand.
B. I think it is unfortunate that after the racial struggles our country has overcome, this type of racial prejudice is still going on. It is apparent that even though we have made great strides, we still have a long way to go. Milligan has every right to be with the girl that he loves, even though he is white and she is black. Everyone else should mind their own business and leave these two teenagers alone. The decisions that people make in their personal lives should not concern anyone else. And even if you are mad or offended, how does beating them make your situation any better? It might make you feel better for a little while but does that violence really pay off in the end? No it does not.
C. I was curious to know about other hate crimes that have reached the national news. Are there any other big stories like this that people know of?
A. The main thing that I learned while reading this article is the incredible level of brutality that one human can inflict on another. The idea that anyone would do something that violent because of skin color simply boggles my mind. It also seems strange and foreign to me that other people would remain silent on this issue. The other blacks in the neighborhood, for whatever reason, are being silent. I couldn’t imagine such a level of calousness. No group, wether black or white, should be subjected to the fear that they may face this sort of treatment, and I was shocked to learn that this may not be prosecuted as a hate crime.
B. I agree with Mr. Pitts. Racism on any side of the board is a horrible loathsome thing. I don’t think that there should be any boundaries or barriers between black and white. We are all men, so why harm eachother for no good reason. These men who attacked Brian are cowards for attacking a man with no provocation, without warning, and in significantly larger numbers. This wasn’t an attack, it was an attempted massacre.
C. I would like to know alot more about the judgement system for hate crimes. It seems like there are several crimes, including r a p e, that I think should be classified as hate crimes yet are not. Any information concerning laws, basis, or criteria for deeming something a “hate crime” would be much appreciated.
Part A:
I have heard about hate crimes, but nothing like this before. It baffles me that this could ever happen to any person regardless of race, gender or sexual orientation. I had never in my life heard of a white person being attacked by a group of African Americans for dating another African American person. It blew my mind. I was surprised that a group of people who have undergone suffering because of their race, would want to torment another because of his. I think the thing that I learned from this is that no matter what; majority or minority, there will always be tension between others. I really liked the quote that Pitts used by Martin Luther King, Jr., I had never heard it before and it really set the tone for the piece.
Part B:
I think that this issue is really frightening. The fact that hate crimes still occur really scares me. Pitts said when hate crimes like this occur “it suggests people too dense to understand the moral of their own story, the meaning of their own passages.” I thought that was totally true. I think using violence to scare someone out of dating another is a horrible thing to do.
Part C:
I guess my question is why would a group of people who have gone through horrible acts of racism inflict this on another person?
A. This article was quite disturbing to read. It spoke of reverse bigotry, whether it is racist, sexist, homophobic, or any other type of group that is alienated. Pitts specifically referred to a group of blacks who displayed racism against whites with his example of Brian Milligan. As the article relates, a gang attacked a white man whose only crime was dating a black girl from the same neighborhood the gang lived. Of course, there is an investigation pending (though the gang will not cooperate) and the issue has been brought to court. What I have learned is that this crime is labeled as a “hate crime.” Though I understand that a “hate crime” is a crime motivated by prejudice, I did not know that something can be formally labeled as such in court. When I read that this case is demanding prosecution as a hate crime because it was an “offense against civil society,” I was surprised that it could be formally called so. The actual phrase just seems too informal and unceremonious to be used in a formal court setting.
B. I agree with Pitts on the absurdity and injustice of a minority’s bigotry. For example, gay and lesbian couples exercise their rights to be involved by having “public displays of affection” in areas where even heterosexual couples would not be allowed to do so. However, when accosted or merely spared a quizzical glance, they would openly declare they are being estranged or harassed. This case, which is similar to Pitts’ example of how the black gang was able to be racist against whites, is an instance of minority bigotry. Though the majority does not have an issue with the minority, the minority takes it upon themselves to alienate their own group. Though the majority is willing to except the minority, it is in actuality the minority that makes it impossible to obtain the equality that they desire. Without the cooperation of both groups, it is impossible to achieve a truly equal society.
C. What I want to know is the actual degree of bigotry that occurs in professional places, whether it be majority or minority bigotry. Though the US strives for all degrees of equality, there is an unavoidable amount of intolerance. How often do people of gender, race, income, religion, etc get denied or permitted jobs purely based on those features? Where is the line drawn between purely harmless classifications (like scholarships for colored people) and dangerous estrangement?
A. Bigotry is found in both minority groups and majority groups, not just majority groups as it is often misconceived. In this article, a young white male was harassed and beaten by a group of African-Americans for having an African-American girlfriend. He was brutally beaten with concrete and sent to the hospital badly injured. His unemployed father is now trying to pay the medical bills and having trouble. The author believes that given these young men’s history that they’d be more understanding of Brian’s, the victim, situation. Yet they chose to attack this young men because of who he is. The author also states that this should be an issue which concerns everyone because it is a hate crime, yet most of the black community remains silent.
B. Many people have the notion bigotry is found mainly in majority groups, such as the white population. There are stereotypes that if you’re not exactly like them they will ignore you and discriminate against you. These stipulations come from our history. We enslaved other human beings because of their skin color and since it has been hard to live that down in the eyes of some minorities. However, that isn’t always true. Not all whites act that way anymore and I’m sure the majority of the white population don’t. I’m not saying majority groups aren’t discriminatory and there isn’t bigotry, but there is bigotry in minority groups and they aren’t anymore justified than the majority regardless of their peoples past.
C. I feel it’s important to see faults on both sides of every case and hear stories from both. I’d like to hear stories of bigotry from a majority group. It helps to make an educated opinion, I like to back what I believe with some sort of reason. Bigotry is found also found in religions around the world. I’d like to learn more about how these discriminations lead to religious clashes and how this affects world politics, if there is any affect at all.
A. Although I have heard so much about racism to blacks by whites and whites by blacks, I have never actually heard of a case that horrible, in the middle of a neighborhood no less, for quite some time. The most important thing I learned from this was actually just a refresher on how brutal racism still is in the U.S., and how ironic it can be that those whose ancestors fought to set them free are turning around and reversing it the other direction. This also showed how violent people are for petty reasons such as a girlfriend of a different color.
This article also wakes me up to the realization of how these people can act like they do. The “gang of black men” in Brian’s neighborhood have repeatedly done verbal and physical harm to both Brian and his girlfriend, yet they have not been punished! Now they almost kill an innocent man, and investigators trying to bring them to justice. What does that even mean?! Justice, as in they will be made to change their ways or else consequences will pursue, or they’ll talk about it and then they’ll be punished and sent on their way. My spectrum has been widened on account of hearing this tragic hate crime. These people need to be brought to justice.
B. My thoughts are mostly rather annoyed seeing how this country fought to end racism and hatred for something as stupid as the color of ones skin. I’m hoping I don’t begin to rant, but racism is one of the most immature and ridiculous acts of mankind I’ve ever seen in my life. I felt horrible for the couple that can’t be together without gangs after them in a free country.
Other than that, this article will also hopefully get money to the family to pay for medical costs. Also, I think having this piece out to the public will help show what horrible acts of hate happen, and hopefully help people understand a little more that minuscule things like race should not stand in the way of relationships of any kind, nor cause harm to fall upon anybody. Now this kid won’t be able to comfortably walk through his neighborhood again without thinking of what happened. As mentioned in section A, I also think, like the writer, that it is so ironic for blacks to turn around and assault whites, gays to straight, Jews to Muslim, et cetera. I know that either way it is wrong, and I in no way support any type of racial bashing, but it’s just more so ironic for blacks after their ancestors set them free from that type of junk.
C. I would like to know the percent of injuries that result from racial hate. Also, I’d like to know the number of marriages and relationships that are mixed races.
-By the way Kautzman, sorry for it being so long in the first 2 sections. They are both over 200 words each instead of together. My bad!- Response – 200 words is the minimum, there is no maximum on word count = no worries. Katuzman
Hate crimes such as this do not surprise me, they’ve been around or thousands of years. To the prosecution of the Jews to the 1960 civil rights movement.
There is only so much a government can do to prevent such crimes before totally taking away a person’s natural rights.
There have been great leaps in universal equality, but we’re still far from all getting alone with each other.
And hate crimes will continue to go on until either heavily restricting laws are put into place that take away rights, or when everyone respects each other rights.
Maybe in a few hundred more years.
NO CREDIT: Word Count 103
A. When reading “A Minority’s Bigotry is just as Loathsome,” I learned that there have been incidences of hate crimes against whites from a group of black men in Buffalo, New York. The reversal of roles from blacks being mistreated and beat-up, to whites is avoidable. The group of black men should think about their history and how they disapproved of being maltreated and realized they should not judge a person because of the color of his skin. And the treatment of Brian Milligan is just as cruel as all the treatment that was fought by Blacks in order to obtain freedom whether from slavery or for the ability to ride in the front of a bus.
B. After reading the article I have come to realize that the world is a very cruel and strange place. A nation that once had problems with a black person not having the ability to walk down the street without being taunted and tortured has changed to a nation where the white person is the one being abused. The change in roles is not an approvable action; at this time in our nation people should be able to unite together no matter what color your skin, what religion, or what sexual orientation. A hate crime is a hate crime and all people are capable, whether you used to be the one discriminated against or the one being discriminated against now.
C. I would like to know if hate crimes such as this are happening all over the country or if this is just a concentrated occurrence?
A. I never really knew what the term “bigotry” meant, but after reading this article I have a better idea. Bigotry is complete intolerance of any creed, belief, or opinion that differs from one’s own. I’ve heard of bigotry describing majority views against a certain minority. But this article revealed to me that minority bigotry is becoming more prevalent. The story of Brian Milligan and “hate crime” upset me. How could anyone do that to another human being? I find myself agreeing with the author when he says, “ The minority is no more righteous in its hate than the majority.”
B. To me, it’s all bad, minority or majority bigotry. I especially don’t think the gang in New York had a good reason for beating up Milligan. So he’s dating an African-American? They could easily date a white girl. I think the whole racial/belief/prejudice issue will always be around. I think there will always be people with strong opinions on these issues. It’s just one big happy cycle and it won’t fully go away until one side turns the other cheek.
C. My question after reading this is: How can someone have such strong opinions on something as to inflict pain on someone, especially when it comes to the gang in New York? Also, is there news of other types of minority bigotry going on today?
A. This article focuses in on a modern clash of races, yet again the age-old struggle of black verses white. Only this time the White male was the one oppressed and beaten. This puts an interesting spin on our traditional views of racism. There are countless examples present throughout the history of the United States, especially against African Americans. The author expresses his opinion that bigotry and discrimination in any form and by anyone is unacceptable. Discrimination begins when somebody decides that it is their responsibility to determine the personal rights of another person and act accordingly when they face noncompliance.
B. I liked the quote that the author began with by Martin Luther King Jr. That quote is so fitting for the article right down to the person who wrote it. MLK made such a tremendous impact during the civil rights movement and the teenagers in the story are basically throwing away everything that he and so many others worked for. It is as far away from “the dream” of whites and blacks living together in peace and unity as you can get. They are disrespecting their ancestors by doing to Brian Jr. exactly what they fought against, exactly what was done to them. The contempt and discrimination that the African Americans experienced and in some cases are still experiencing was wrong and I don’t diminish that. However, this demonstration of hate takes all of the progress that has been made and just disregards it. I loved the way the author stated that “getting hit in the back of the head is getting hit in the back of the head, whether you are Jew or Muslim, gay or straight, black or white.” It is not right for anyone to persecute another individual in that way, whether by a majority or a minority. I think it is sad that we are still dealing with such violence over what color someone’s skin is, if it’s different from our own. Why don’t people understand that the reason we have the freedoms we do is that someone, at some point in time sacrificed something? The least we can do is respect those people and avoid a repeat of those kinds of situations.
C. How often does this kind of situation occur? And what happened to the boys who beat up Brian Jr.? Were they ever arrested and tried? Because clearly what they did was wrong.
A. In this article I learned of one of the stories in detail about minority bigotry. Often you hear people talk about racism coming from a minority but it was interesting analyzing a specific occurrence.
B. It was interesting realizing how real minority bigotry is. Pitts made an interesting point of how the minority should be even more ashamed because of their heritage and how they should feel even less righteous. I thought it was especially remarkable because of the unwillingness of the locals to apprehend these criminals. Whether or not they are scared they should tell the police and fix this problem because getting all this publicity will just show the minority how much attention they’ve grabbed and will likely continue, in search of more limelight. I think that to discontinue minority bigotry the punishments need to be harsh, much like Pitts stated, in order to show that such ignorance will not be tolerated. Although it doesn’t entirely surprise me that minority’s would discriminate and commit hate crimes because they feel like they need vengeance or retribution for the terrible things in their ancestors past, it does surprise me that they would not realize that by continuing to hate the vicious cycle won’t end and they will gain nothing.
C. It would be interesting to know exactly how many cases there are like this, and if the criminals are ever caught or if the story is similar to Milligan’s.
A) I already knew about this issue, as it is pretty widespread. However, I had never heard the story about Brian Milligan in particular, even though there are many cases like this happening every day. Being such a widespread issue, I have seen it portrayed in movies, Gran Torino coming to mind in particular.
B) I share the same opinion as the author; racism is wrong no matter who the bigot is or who the target of the racial bigotry is. As the author Leonard Pitts Jr. stated, “The minority is no more righteous in its hate than the majority is.” Racism is not justified no matter what. Even though the African American people were in slavery one hundred years ago, it does not give these men the right to beat Brian Milligan almost to death. I guess where I stand is that racism against minorities is wrong, but “justified” racism against majorities is even worse. Even though racism itself is terrible, trying to justify it by citing past deeds is unforgivable. “I have a special problem with bigotry as practiced by those who, by dint of their own history, should know better.”
C) All I really want to know is how the penalties for cases like this compare to penalties for cases of racial bigotry by majorities towards minorities.
A. I didn’t realize violence in minority groups was so common. That’s a little frightening. Although it makes sense when they are often treated poorly by the majority.
B. Honestly this article was a little frightening. In the Constitution is says that all men are created equal. It seems strange to me that these black guys would be so overprotective and of a black girl and that it would bother them having her date a white guy. Also, if they are so angry about her dating him why do they treat her with such disrespect? She’s being treated much more fairly by Milligan than this black mob. Its sad to me that in a place where many people are trying to make ends meet, more violence has to be stirred up that costs money, especially for Brian Milligan Sr. in medical bills. But, I can’t relate to any minority groups so I guess they believe violence is the way to get their feelings across. I do like that even though Brian and Nicola aren’t ‘acceptable’ according to the world’s standards, they’re still together and they’re willing to work through their trials because they love each other.
C. What is the punishment for hate crimes? Up to how many years can you serve?
A: There was not a lot of things in this article I could say I “learned” as for facts I did not already know, but what I took away from the article was a much better understanding of the pure brutality that is occurring in our own country, frankly this disappoints me, I had hoped people were above this sort of thing.
B. As I mentioned earlier, the fact that something like this can happen disappoints me. In reference to the case itself I will simply say that there needs to be a crack down on crimes like this. There should be absolutely no way a crime as heinous as this should go without suspects or punishment simply because no one in the area is going to talk to the cops. But I am going to have to disagree with the author when he says it is worse than a normal hate crime. I do agree that it is a hate crime, but to say it is a worse hate crime than if a group of white kids beat up a black kid is to diminish the case against the white kids. A hate crime is a hate crime, no matter who it is from and who it is directed towards, they are equally ignorant and equally terrible.
C. What I would like to know more of on this subject is statistics, I would like to see the rate of black-to-white hate crimes compared to the rate of white-to-black hate crimes. Thank you and have a good night.
Ype Kingma
A) I had not heard of this case prior to reading this article. So I learned about this particular incident.
B) The entire incident is truly tragic. I do believe that this was a hate crime. A hate crime is not limited to the majority attacking the minority. The fact that the community surrounding the criminals is afraid to talk and bring them to justice for their crimes is quite sickening and brings up real questions on the social circumstances and how oppression of the minority has allowed these gang-like communities to flourish. That, however, is an entirely different topic. I found it very interesting when Pitts spoke of how he finds it even more frustrating when bigotry is practiced by those whom, based off their own history, should “know better”. Overall I would agree with this assertion, but just thinking about it frustrates me. It just goes to show how sick the cycle of bigotry and oppression are in terms of human nature. However, I am not going to justify such a vicious and hateful beating with a regrettable history.
C) I do not know if I have a desire to learn more about these instances. I think it is important to hear such cases and understand that bigotry is still very much alive on both sides of the spectrum. I think that programs should be set up to suppress these cases.
In response to Alyson Nicol!
I read online that the number of hate crimes in Washington state are actually increasing. According to the FBI there were 195 reported in the state in 2007, and only 177 the year before. Of the ones reported, the most common hate crimes are racially motivated. In 2007 in Washington state, 104 people who reported hate crimes were targeted because of their race; 17 because of their religion; 39 because of their ethniciy; and one because of a disability. There is one story about a Federal Way man who was charged with punching a Pakistani clerk. He was calling him names and harassing him. That happened this month. There was also another incident that happened in February when gays were getting attacked. The Gay City Health Project and Capitol Hill Chamber of Commerce put up posters that urged gays to travel in groups and call 911 if they encountered bullying or harassment. I hope this information answered your question. I found it off this website!
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2008319581_hatecrimes28m.html
In Response to Sarah Fullmer:
I did some research on hate crime and the punishment for hate crime and this is what I learned.
According to the1999 National Crime Survey, hate crime is defined as a criminal offense. In the US, federal prosecution is possible for hate crimes committed on the basis of a person’s race, color, religion, or nation origin. All but five states have rules against these specified biases, but only 32 states have laws that protect people who are victimized because of their sexuality of gender.
Any type of crime can guarantee some form of punishment. Because the range of possible crimes committed is very broad, so is the range of punishment. Such punishments include fines, short prison stays, or long term imprisonments. Once it has been determined that a suspect committed an offense, it must be proven that it was motivated by a particular bias towards a specific characteristic in order to be considered a hate crime. If it is determined a hate crime, the severity of the crime will automatically increase.
In response to Alyson:
After a quick news search, it sounds like the words “hate crime” have appeared a lot lately- even in our area. On a mass news website I found an article by MSHS alumni Derrick Skaug. It talked about a Hispanic named Sucuzhañay (from NY) who was beaten with a baseball bat and died two days later from the incident. Apparently he was also beaten because his attackers believed he was also homosexual since he was linked arm in arm with his brother as he was walking down the street. I guess it was “double the hate” then.
http://www.dailyevergreen.com/story/29395
@Ype Kingma
You said that you wanted to know the rate of white on black versus black on white hate crimes.
Well, according the the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Hate Crime Statistics, in 2006, there were 403 Black on White hate crimes, and 1,680 White on Black hate crimes. According to the 2006 census, there are 74% Whites and 13.4% Blacks living in America. So, Blacks perform more hate crimes against Whites than Whites do against Blacks, by percentage.
http://www.fbi.gov/ucr/hc2006/table5.html
@Brooke Batterton
You said: “this demonstration of hate takes all of the progress that has been made and just disregards it,” referring to the hate crime and the progress of whites and blacks living together in peace.
I disagree with your point of view. The ideas below are just another angle from which to see this problem. If the USA kept its promise to blacks, and gave them all “40 acres and a mule,” most blacks today would be in a good financial situation. If you were born in a family that is educated and has resources to provide you with everything you need, then you’re not going to join a gang. The guys who attacked the white guy were probably from a gang. The neighborhood they lived in was most likely pretty poor. Most people in a pretty poor neighborhood have pretty poor education. So, if you have bad education, thoughts of your actions ruining Martin Luther King, Jr.’s ideals don’t cross your mind that often, if ever. The society created such situations. For example: “the projects.” It’s no excuse for the black guys’ actions, but it’s just another way to look at it. How could they almost kill a man for no good reason? It’s simple: they don’t think about any high principles, or the consequences of their actions, and they’re used to violence. All because they live in a poor neighborhood/household. What do you think about this?
Comment on Kyle Hicks Post:
The hate crimes we have in Washington are pretty simple. If any person destroys property or harms someone because of racial, sexual, religious, or physical/mental handicap or simply threatens to it is considered a hate crime. The words are actually maliciously and intentionally when referring to the crime. This is a class C felony. Charges can be up to ten thousand dollars to the victim for damages, not to mention attorney fees. Basically its not worth it to commit a hate crime unless you have a bunch of money hanging around in your pocket. Not that I think you would anyway.
http://www.co.snohomish.wa.us/Documents/Departments/Prosecuting_Attorney/Statute.pdf
In Response to Kesslan Hall…
In the United States, a hate crime is liable for federal prosecution if based on a person’s race, color, religion or nation origin. As of right now, gender, gender identity, sexual orientation and disability are under discussion to be added to the list. Also, violent crimes against the homeless are steadily increasing. (75% of perpetrators of these crimes are younger than 25). In a survey conducted in 2006, hates crimes have increased nationwide by 8%. 5,449 crimes were against persons, 46 % being intimidation and 32 % as simple assaults. Out of 17,000 murders and 90,000 rapes, 9 murders and 2 rapes were deemed hate crimes.
On June 13, 1967, a Virginia statue was overturned in the Supreme Court blocking whites from marrying nonwhites. 7 % of the 59 million marriages are interracial, an increase of 5 % since 1970. About interracial relationships in regards to dating, these statistics are not as clear. But I think it is pretty evident that interracial dating and relationships are very commonplace and now a lot more accepted.
In Response to the subject…
Bigotry is something we do not hear about often. Pertaining to the riots after the beating of Rodney King, has anyone ever heard of Reginald Denny? He was a construction worker beaten by a group of four people because of his race. In 2008 a boy in eight grade publicly said he was gay, endured harassment by his peers for weeks, and was shot by one of his classmates.
Whatever would posses someone to act violently and believe they have justification is sick. But what if someone had to defend themselves against an attacker of a different race and they shot him/her in self defense, would this be deemed racially motivated? I think that by defining crimes as hate crimes can blur the lines of racism and deem people who aren’t racist, as racist. Murder is murder, violence is violence and there should be no place for any crime like these in society.
In Response to Jessica Levy:
From what I read, hate crimes have become widespread across the country over the past few decades. In 1990, Congress enacted the Hate Crime Statistics Act to collect data for the FBI to review. The Uniform Crime Reporting Program is now responsible for collecting this data. Hate crimes include not only prejudice against race, but also religion, sexual orientation and mental/physical disabilities. Thus, hate crimes are occurring all over the country. In 2007, there were 9,535 victims of hate crimes in the United States.
In Response to Kyle Hicks:
How is this not a hate crime? A group of black men came up to a white man and beat him to the point that it was an attempt at murder in my mind. The quote ‘ it suggests people too dense to understand the moral of their own story, the meaning of their own passages’ sums up everything in my mind. Today African-Americans still soak in the pity of their ancestors. At this point I feel like they do not know what true racism is. This world is a different world. For them to take it out on a white man for dating a woman of their race is ridiculous. They complain about being racial discriminated and then they don’t welcome the change. This does not just got for racism though. Other differences such as sexual orientation and religion are not getting better either though.
In Response to Kyle Hicks (answering a question):
Our federal hate crime laws include: the Hate Crimes Statistics Act of 1990 (this mandates the collection of information regarding crimes motivated by bias against race, religion, sexual orientation and/or ethnicity/ national origin), this law was revised in 1994 to include bias against disabilities too, and the FBI has a Uniform Crime reporting group specifically used to gather and interpret hate crime statistics.
Our state crime laws include: Every law enforcement agency within Washington has to report hate bias offenses to the Washington Association of Sheriffs and Police Chiefs (WASPC), disability and gender were added for our state to comply with the WA Anti-Harassment Act, disability and gender statistics are not forwarded to the FBI but all local law enforcement agencies have to report monthly any crimes of bigotry or bias to the association.
Besides the technical laws having to do with hate crimes there are some basic laws within Washington to ensure minority (or in the case of this article, majority) safety: A person is guilty of malicious harassment if he or she: “maliciously and intentionally commits one of the following acts because of his or her perception of the victim’s race, color, religion, ancestry, national origin, gender, sexual orientation or mental, physical or sensory handicap:”
• “Causes physical injury to the victim or another person; or
• Causes physical damage to or destruction of the property of the victim or another person; or
• Threatens a specific person or group of people and places that person or members of the specific group of persons in reasonable fear of harm to person or property.”
Sources: http://www.co.snohomish.wa.us/Documents/Departments/…/Statute.pdf
http://www.aclu-wa.org/detail.cfm?id=89
Commenting on Sarah Fulmer:
On her question about the punishments for hate crimes and maximum jail sentence for hate crimes. The punishment can range from a “slap on the wrist” or community service to a 20 year jail sentence. According to http://www.courts.wa.gov/ the average sentence is 10 years spent in jail. Although a sentence was given exceeding the maximum sentence for hate crimes placing a sentence of 28 to 30 years on the defendant, due to the murder of the victim.
In response to Kesslan Hall
“I also think, like the writer, that it is so ironic for blacks to turn around and assault whites, gays to straight, Jews to Muslim, et cetera.”
Maybe I’m taking this the wrong way but why is flipping the card around ironic? There is still racism going on today, and I think there always will, but when a white person is racist against a black person, that person is looked upon as ignorant and stupid. Yet when a black person is racist against a white person, people freak out and think “how dare you”. Racism on both sides is horrible, I agree, but I don’t see why it’s ironic that an African American could be?
In response to Katie Preston:
“I guess my question is why would a group of people who have gone through horrible acts of racism inflict this on another person?”
These teenagers have a lot of resentment towards white people who they obviously have a problem with (the gang beating of a white teenager) for no reason. The article said it was a “gritty neighborhood”, so these kids probably resorted to gang behavior because of their surroundings. Anger fuels very stupid behavior.
In response to Ype Kingma:
Forty-one percent of the 59 victims were foreign born. They were almost equally divided by sex which was 54 percent male and 46 percent female and ranged in age from 16 to 67 years. The median age was 39 years. Sixty-three percent of the participants were married.
In response to Katie Preston’s question of “why would a group of people who have gone through horrible acts of racism inflict this on another person”
I understand where you may be coming from, thinking about slavery and the civil rights movement and what not, but the thing is that not every minority has gone through such dramatic racism.
Yes, they’ve probably faced a form of racism but what it comes down to is how those kids where raised that influenced their actions.
In response to Katie Preston’s question:
“I guess my question is why would a group of people who have gone through horrible acts of racism inflict this on another person?”
In my opinion, human nature. Because the African American people were oppressed for so long in our country (and this was not changed until quite recently in the grand scheme of things), tensions still exist and hatred has been instilled in certain groups. You can still see the effects of the oppression today with the formation of gangs and hate crimes such as this one. The bottom line is, if you had witnessed brutality and inhumanity as a slave and were suddenly released, you would not be thinking: “Oh, okay, we are all on the same page now!” Because that is simply not the case. It is an unfortunate situation but one that should be addressed and will hopefully in time heal itself.
In response to Katie Preston:
I understand where Katie is coming from; I too was surprised that these kinds of attacks still occur. I think even here in Spokane, anyone could see a biracial couple and most think nothing of it, yet there are all sorts of people that scorn the idea of it. It goes to show that there is still not acceptance of various races and cultures.
NO CREDIT: LATE
In response to Daniel’s comment:
I like your take on it from an entirely different angle. I hadn’t really thought about it that way. However, regardless of their background, education and opportunities what they did is still wrong and you can’t blame your past for the choices you make regardless of how it has affected you. I do agree that the state of things in terms of racism would be better off if America had indeed kept their “40 acres and a mule promise.” By disregarding it they are just giving African Americans one more thing to hold a grudge about and act out violently. I don’t think that the fault lies with one single person or even group, rather a combination.