Real World Event Discussions

"Racism is dead in America." Bullshit

POSTED BY: Niki2
UPDATED: Sunday, August 30, 2026 19:02
VIEWED: 28755
PAGE 2 of 27

KWICKO

Sunday, March 18, 2012 1:02 AM

I'm not convinced that this was purely a racial thing, but I'm not convinced either that race played no part. It does indeed sound like this guy was wound too tight and just looking for someone to give him a reason, ANY reason, and now an innocent kid is dead for no good goddam reason.

OPPYH

Sunday, March 18, 2012 2:27 AM

Quote:
Originally posted by Niki2:
Wow...well, that IS redneck country to a degree. If you ignore all the yuppies taking root, that is!

Rednecks, and yuppies?

Typical white people.

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70's TV FOREVER

OONJERAH

Sunday, March 18, 2012 4:55 AM

I wonder if the people of Sanford, FL, will be able to maintain calm.

"More than 314,125 people have signed one petition on the Change.org website. Some
say the handling of the case comes on the heels of a string of racially charged incidents
that have further strained relations between the black community and the police."

Petition: http://www.change.org/petitions/prosecute-the-killer-of-17-year-old-tr
ayvon-martin

FREMDFIRMA

Sunday, March 18, 2012 4:57 AM

You know, one thing I like about this township is just how determinedly NON-racist it is in spite of so many transplanted hillbillies that you can actually get moonshine and live chickens in the neighborhood...

We got all kinds here, and for the most part NOBODY CARES, race, sexuality, nobody gives a damn - save a few serious wackjobs (the ones that showed up to support Herman Cain cause hate-radio told em to and couldn't wrap their brain around him being black) out in the backwoods...
And while there's not quite that much religious tolerance, after what I did to them freakin Baptists after Wendy put one in the trauma ward, there's at least a certain detente and turf-respect.

But for the most part around here, there's so little intolerance you'd hardly ever even notice it unless you were really lookin hard to find some.

-Frem

I do not serve the Blind God.

NIKI2

Sunday, March 18, 2012 7:41 PM

I agree KPO, the police non-action pisses me off, too. Hell, if a 911 call goes out for spousal abuse, the guy pretty much gets arrested whether there's proof or not if the woman wants to press charges! He should at the very least have been arrested for discharging a firearm, until they could figure out what happened.

Frem, interestingly enough we don't have much, if any, racism here either. There's a tunnel you have to go through just North of the Golden Gate, and the joke used to be that it was a "Caucasian-test" tunnel, because Marin was so white-white. But now we've got every color/race imaginable and you don't hear shit about prejudice. I'm sure some resent the Hispanic guys who stand/sit along certain roads hoping to find work, but you don't hear about it. Most of the nannies are Hispanic, but they're not treated like the "servants" you see blacks and others treated in the movies and TV...in fact quite the opposite. Which in some cases is reverse-racism, of course.

There was an old movie we used to get a kick out of, "Serial"--it got little play but became a cult favorite for those of us who remember the '70s, and I love it. It's satire, of course, but not THAT far off the mark. A maid is encouraged to become part of the party, for example, and asked her views on everything. Martin Mull, Tuesday Weld, Bill Macy and even Tommy Smothers. "You-ness. Me-ness. Us-ness. We-ness", cults, lentil loaves, EST, a wedding on the mountain joining two people into "oneness", healing crystals, hot tubs, a boss who turns out to be part of a gay biker gang, it doesn't miss any of the stereotypes! AND some reality--I caught in a review "Who wouldn't want to ride their bike to the Ferry to get to work daily?" Ooops...that's what my husband does! Yup, the epitome of Crazy California...but at least we avoid racism in its uglier forms!

OONJERAH

Sunday, March 18, 2012 9:48 PM

Niki, I sent you a PM. This would arrive by eMail, yes?
If your eMail is too full to find everything, send me one, too.
I will see it.

AURAPTOR

Sunday, March 18, 2012 10:29 PM

“This is what you deserve. You get what you deserve, white boy.”

So spewed the attackers of Melissa Coon’s 13-year-old son, as they doused him with gasoline and set him alight.

Police, they say, are “investigating” whether this is a hate crime.

Yes, and I’m investigating whether the media is biased and if hate-crime law is applied equally. I’ll get back to you on that — in about two paragraphs.

The attack on the boy took place on the east side of Kansas City, Missouri. Fox 4 Kansas City provides some (sanitized) details, writing, “The victim is a student at East High School and regularly walks home after class. When he reached his porch, two older teens grabbed him, pinned his arms behind his back and then poured gas from a gas can on the boy. They then set the boy on fire.”

Thankfully, the teen victim had the presence of mind to pull his shirt up over his head and snuff out the flames. He was treated at Children’s Mercy hospital, having suffered first-degree burns to his face and head. And police said they were concerned about possible damage to his eyes and lungs.

The concern, however, isn’t translating into national media coverage — or honest coverage anywhere.

Of course, if you scrutinize the few local outlets reporting the story and cut and paste, you can piece the picture together. The Fox article I excerpted above provides only the vaguest hint of the attack’s racial nature by quoting Mrs. Coon as saying that her family was told “it’s a hate crime.” KCTV 5 did a bit better, reporting that the victim was white and the assailants black; however, while they quoted the attackers as stating “This is what you get,” for some reason they omitted the “white boy” part. Then there was KMBC.com, which presented the latter but neglected to explicitly identify the race of the criminals, leaving the reader to wonder if the attackers were self-hating Norwegian immigrants. But I’ve played the game and figured out that Colonel Mustard did it in the library with the candlestick.

But we’ve seen this bias before. It’s much as when Muslims rioted in France a couple of years ago and burned thousands of cars, and the media reported the rioters as “youths.” Yes, just teen angst, I suppose.

Some may say that the media are reluctant to stir up racial unrest, but this never seems to stop them when the races of the victim and attackers are reversed. Could you imagine the hue and cry if two older white teenagers had set an innocent black child alight while saying, “You get what you deserve, black boy”? The headlines coast to coast would be cast in neon, and the media would love it — it would give them another chance to agitate for more hate-crime legislation.

http://www.thenewamerican.com/opinion/selwyn-duke/11046-teen-set-on-fi
re-in-racial-attack-media-silent

"The world is a dangerous place. Not because of the people who are evil; but because of the people who don't do anything about it." - Albert Einstein

You cannot strengthen the weak by weakening the strong. You cannot help the wage earner by pulling down the wage payer. You cannot help the poor by destroying the rich. You cannot help men permanently by doing for them what they could and should do for themselves. - Someone.

NIKI2

Sunday, March 18, 2012 10:43 PM

Oonj, hasn't arrived yet. Sometimes they take time...and yes, it comes via email.

OONJERAH

Sunday, March 18, 2012 11:49 PM

"Teens set kid on fire for being 'white boy'"
Feb 28 - Mar 2, 6 articles listed on Google News.
Mar 4 - Mar 5, 10 more articles.

No, it was not a media storm.

My Opinion: Hate crimes are common. Hate crimes against Jews, Muslims, Latinos AND Blacks usually
get only a small burst of local coverage, even if they result in the victim's death.

It's good that such horrors occasionally make bigger news.

ETA: I don't see Trayvon Martin's killing as a typical hate crime. More of a sick wannabe-cop's ego gone mad.
Zimmerman may see himself as a hero: He saved the neighborhood from a suspicious looking lad, up to no good.

CAVETROLL

Monday, March 19, 2012 4:00 PM

From ABC's article, emphasis mine;

http://abcnews.go.com/US/neighborhood-watchman-allegedly-shot-trayvon-
martin-wanted-cop/story?id=15949879

Quote:

...Sanford, Fla., Police Chief Billy Lee said Zimmerman asserts he shot Martin out of self-defense.

"Until we can establish probable cause to dispute that, we don't have the grounds to arrest him," Lee said last Tuesday.

Martin had been staying at his father's girlfriend's house and stepped out. On his way back into the gated suburban Orlando community, Martin was spotted by Zimmerman.

Zimmerman described Martin as suspicious because he was wearing a hooded sweatshirt and walking slowly in the rain, police later told residents at a town hall.

A dispatcher told him to wait for a police cruiser, and not leave his vehicle.

But about a minute later, Zimmerman left his car wearing a red sweatshirt and pursued Martin on foot between two rows of townhouses, about 70 yards from where the teen was going.

Zimmerman's pursuit of Martin did not of itself constitute a crime, Lee said.

Witnesses told ABC News a fistfight broke out and, at one point, Zimmerman, who outweighed Martin by more than 100 pounds, was on the ground and that Martin was on top.

Florida Teen Shot: Why Isn't Shooter in Jail? Watch Video

Trayvon Martin's Family Calls for Justice Watch Video

Trayvon Martin Neighborhood Watch Shooting Watch Video
Austin Brown, 13, was walking his dog during the time of the altercation and saw both men on the ground but separated.

Brown, along with several other residents, heard someone cry for help, just before hearing a gunshot. Police arrived 60 seconds later and the teen was quickly pronounced dead.

According to the police report, Zimmerman, who was armed with a handgun, was found bleeding from the nose and the back of the head, standing over Martin, who was unresponsive after being shot.

An officer at the scene overheard Zimmerman saying, "I was yelling for someone to help me but no one would help me," the report said.

Zimmerman's documented actions did not break the law. The fact that he was bleeding after a witness described them fighting gives legitimacy to Zimmerman's decision to use deadly force under Florida's Castle doctrine. Nothing about this indicates it was racially motivated.

Martin on the left and Zimmerman on the right.