Kid Takes a Beating on the Bus - Racial? UPDATE: Post #75

[OceanAnnie]

I haven't seen anybody here say that at all. The issue up for debate is whether this should be considered a racially motivated crime or not, and would it be treated the same way if the races were reversed.

I think it's a good question to ask. Incidents like this should be treated the same no matter what race the victim/perpetrator are. People ask questions like this to ensure the way we ALL are treated isn't swinging from one bad extreme to another.

Exactly.

 

[Skatermom23]

Oh please, this was so racially motivated, it isn't even funny. It just sickens me that if this had been a black kid being beaten up by a white kid the media would be all over it. As a parent, I would fight to make sure that the attacker got expelled permanently from public school and the kids standing around encouraging the fight deserve no less than an suspension. Apparently they didn't listen very well to someones speech the other day.

This is why my kids don't ride the HS school bus. This type of stuff is common...the fights, the overcrowding etc.

 

[Robinrs]

Just saw it on FOX hopefully it will be shown on other networks.

What a bunch of lowlife cowards.

One of them actually laughed and took a picture of the poor kids bloody face.

That poor kid.


Again where is Al and Jesse?



.

Why the heck should you look for Al and Jesse? It's like ME looking for Rush Limbaugh to come running to MY cause!!

 

[Ilike2Lurk]

Animals.

I am sure if that were "white on black", nobody would be saying "Well, we can't hear the audio". It would be racial. Period. Everyone knows it.

 

[Bella the Ball 360]

Wow, that was really brutal. If it was racially motivated, it will probably be downplayed. But who knows? Sad.

You know it will be downplayed because doesn't racial brutialty only extend to minorities? My son went to an a predominently miniority school and when he went to sit with his friends at lunch who were miniority , kids at another table (also miniorty) said " little white boy doesn't know his place get out of here". When I complained about it to the principal he just let it go. That set the tenor for three years of highschool. When he got to college he took many race, class and gender type courses and even went back to his high school to do a paper on the true nature of race relations in his school. NOT very pretty but covered up by the administration which IMHO is exactly what will happen in this case.

 

[BeachGirlFLA]

Why the heck should you look for Al and Jesse? It's like ME looking for Rush Limbaugh to come running to MY cause!!

You're right...we can't expect either Al or Jesse to be decent enough people to care about ALL racism.

 

[gonzo76]

Just saw it on FOX hopefully it will be shown on other networks.

What a bunch of lowlife cowards.

One of them actually laughed and took a picture of the poor kids bloody face.

That poor kid.


Again where is Al and Jesse?



.

Knock it off. You are just perpetuating it. Pot meet kettle.

 

[Sanchez]

You're right...we can't expect either Al or Jesse to be decent enough people to care about ALL racism.

All? Who says they care about any racism. They are profiteers and this scenario does not permit them the opportunity to capitalize on the fears of their audience.

None of us are in a position to determine that this crime was racially motivated and it is unfair to presume that it is or is not. The point is that if the racial roles had been reversed it is very likely the story would have received national attention. It is further proof of the double standard in the racism industry.

 

[BeachGirlFLA]

All? Who says they care about any racism. They are profiteers and this scenario does not permit them the opportunity to capitalize on the fears of their audience.

None of us are in a position to determine that this crime was racially motivated and it is unfair to presume that it is or is not. The point is that if the racial roles had been reversed it is very likely the story would have received national attention. It is further proof of the double standard in the racism industry.

I was giving them SOME benefit of the doubt.

 

[DancingBear]

Don't jump to conclusions.

While at first authorities suspected it was a racially motivated attack, police now seem more convinced it was spontaneous.

The superintendent said he spoke with the victim. The teen said there were no racially-charged words directed at him and that he never had any previous problems with the others involved.

http://www.ksdk.com/news/local/story.aspx?storyid=185067

A student on a Belleville West High School bus was beaten for his choice of seat, not because he was white, according to a witness and police....

"The incident appears now to be more about a couple of bullies on a bus dictating where people sit," said Belleville Police Capt. Don Sax, who originally said Monday's attack may have been racially motivated.

http://www.stltoday.com/stltoday/ne...60D37B6EC5FF4711862576320011605B?OpenDocument

 

[luvmy3]

Don't jump to conclusions.

http://www.ksdk.com/news/local/story.aspx?storyid=185067

http://www.stltoday.com/stltoday/ne...60D37B6EC5FF4711862576320011605B?OpenDocument

I'm not sure why the police first thought it was racially motivated, since there didn't appear to be any racial comments to the white kid. Would it be safe to assume its the PD's own racism that led them to believe that in the first place? Maybe Al and Jesse will show up afterall

 

[charlie,nj]

Why the heck should you look for Al and Jesse? It's like ME looking for Rush Limbaugh to come running to MY cause!!

Because the two good reverends are supposed to be fighting for ALL of us!

The Rev Al Sharpton and a group of political and human rights activist in New York founded the National Action Network (NAN) in early 1991. NAN fights to empower people by providing extensive voter education, services aiding the poor, supporting economically small community businesses, confronting racism and violation of civil and human rights


The Reverend Jesse Louis Jackson, Sr Welcome to the Rainbow PUSH Coalition, an International Human Rights Organization, committed to economic development, voter registration and participation, healthcare, jobs, peace, education and justice.



Don’t get me wrong I actually like Reverend Al I listen to his show on Air America it is great!

Just .. Keeping it REAL!!!

PS- If I was that poor kid’s parent I would press for attempted murder charges against that first low life. He was choking the kid with one hand and beating him in the face with the other. Just saw the piece again glad to see the poor kid actually fought back in the end and went after the second slug.


.

 

[Robinrs]

Because the two good reverends are supposed to be fighting for ALL of us!

Right, Charlie... let me wipe my face for the poor victimized people who need sooooo much help. Where is my tissue???? Oh deah.....

You have your policies and those YOU protect, and they have theirs. Everyone has their right to pick and choose, after all this IS America.

Don't expect me to come to fight for Clown Causes!

 

[KAMKIM]

My point is - who cares if it was racially motivated - other than self defense I cant think of one good reason to beat ANY one like that.

If it had been two black kids beating a black kid - it wouldn't have made the news. So obviously - someone in the media cares that the white kid got beat up.

Sharpton and Jackson are a joke - no one takes them seriously anyways. Expecting them to do anything without benefiting themselves is silly.

 

[KAMKIM]

I haven't seen anybody here say that at all. The issue up for debate is whether this should be considered a racially motivated crime or not, and would it be treated the same way if the races were reversed.

I think it's a good question to ask. Incidents like this should be treated the same no matter what race the victim/perpetrator are. People ask questions like this to ensure the way we ALL are treated isn't swinging from one bad extreme to another.

My question is why does it matter? Not everyone will always be treated fairly. Because we are human and some humans are just plain evil.

 

[KAMKIM]

Why the heck should you look for Al and Jesse? It's like ME looking for Rush Limbaugh to come running to MY cause!!

 

[C.Ann]

Being an ex school bus driver I know for a fact that the driver has a radio in his bus that he could of used to call his office to inform the dispatcher, and they could of had the police there in a few minutes. If it were me I would of pulled over until the police came. Shut down that bus stand up and yell my head off at the kids doing the beating.

I agree.. It makes me furious when I see this kind of stuff..

 

[Luv2Scrap]

I just forced myself to sit here and watch every second of the 13 minute unedited version.

I'd like everybody to do me a favor - I would like you all to do the same. Sit and watch the whole thing. It doesn't matter what race you are, I'd like you to close your eyes for a minute, and put yourself in this boy's shoes.

You're seventeen years old. You are probably not very popular, for whatever reason. You're quiet, passive... you just want to get through each day and get home. Every day, you have to get on a bus full of rowdy, aggressive kids. Every day, you try to find a place to sit, and every day, you are rejected over and over again.

Finally, you just make a decision that you're just going to sit someplace. We've seen what happens from here. Now if you've put yourself in this boy's shoes, you can identify what that boy might have felt. Fear, anger, shame, embarrassed, alone, betrayed (the bus driver - the one person who might have been able to help him - did nothing), powerless... I could go on and on.

This was most likely the longest 13 minutes of this boy's life. Imagine having to sit there.

Trying to shut it all out; trying not to cry.

Waiting for the next attack.

He must have been terrified! He had no way of knowing how bad it might get... how many times he was going to be attacked. All he knew was there was a mob mentality on that bus, and he didn't stand a chance.

Now, if you have children, I'd like you to think about them in this position.

I wonder what would have happened if he would have done more to try to defend himself. Would the attackers have backed off, or would the attack have gotten worse? Knowing what we know about mob mentality, would more people have gotten involved with the attack itself? There's a good chance of it.

I guess for me, I don't even care anymore if it was driven by race or not. I cannot imagine my child ever riding that bus or attending that school. The fact that this is allowed to happen in schools (and on busses) in our country AT ALL just makes me really sad.

If I were that kid, there's no possible way I would make it to graduation in that school. It's very sad that kids have to face things like this in order to get an education.

I guess I must really live a sheltered life, as I just didn't even realize that this kind of thing was going on. It seems clear to me that this wasn't an isolated incident. The other kids on the bus hardly even seemed affected by it. They have no respect for others. No empathy. If these are the children of our future, I am very afraid.

 

[Luv2Scrap]

My point is - who cares if it was racially motivated - other than self defense I cant think of one good reason to beat ANY one like that.

If it had been two black kids beating a black kid - it wouldn't have made the news. So obviously - someone in the media cares that the white kid got beat up.

Sharpton and Jackson are a joke - no one takes them seriously anyways. Expecting them to do anything without benefiting themselves is silly.

Point taken. You are absolutely right. It doesn't matter what the motivation was. The fact that it happened at all is terrible!

 

[BeachGirlFLA]

I just forced myself to sit here and watch every second of the 13 minute unedited version.

I'd like everybody to do me a favor - I would like you all to do the same. Sit and watch the whole thing. It doesn't matter what race you are, I'd like you to close your eyes for a minute, and put yourself in this boy's shoes.

You're seventeen years old. You are probably not very popular, for whatever reason. You're quiet, passive... you just want to get through each day and get home. Every day, you have to get on a bus full of rowdy, aggressive kids. Every day, you try to find a place to sit, and every day, you are rejected over and over again.

Finally, you just make a decision that you're just going to sit someplace. We've seen what happens from here. Now if you've put yourself in this boy's shoes, you can identify what that boy might have felt. Fear, anger, shame, embarrassed, alone, betrayed (the bus driver - the one person who might have been able to help him - did nothing), powerless... I could go on and on.

This was most likely the longest 13 minutes of this boy's life. Imagine having to sit there.

Trying to shut it all out; trying not to cry.

Waiting for the next attack.

He must have been terrified! He had no way of knowing how bad it might get... how many times he was going to be attacked. All he knew was there was a mob mentality on that bus, and he didn't stand a chance.

Now, if you have children, I'd like you to think about them in this position.

I wonder what would have happened if he would have done more to try to defend himself. Would the attackers have backed off, or would the attack have gotten worse? Knowing what we know about mob mentality, would more people have gotten involved with the attack itself? There's a good chance of it.

I guess for me, I don't even care anymore if it was driven by race or not. I cannot imagine my child ever riding that bus or attending that school. The fact that this is allowed to happen in schools (and on busses) in our country AT ALL just makes me really sad.

If I were that kid, there's no possible way I would make it to graduation in that school. It's very sad that kids have to face things like this in order to get an education.

I guess I must really live a sheltered life, as I just didn't even realize that this kind of thing was going on. It seems clear to me that this wasn't an isolated incident. The other kids on the bus hardly even seemed affected by it. They have no respect for others. No empathy. If these are the children of our future, I am very afraid.

That's one of the major reasons my parents sent me to private school. That kind of thing just didn't happen there...and I think you're right. It doesn't matter in the end whether this was racially motivated or not. The kids that beat him were worthless either way and the act was just as disgusting either way.