Hatred knows no color barrier

~ The Brazosport Facts ~ Clute Texas ~ ^ | March 24, 2002 | Kelly Hawes ~ Managing Editor

[buffyt]

Last month, police in Charlottesville, Va., charged 10 teen-agers in a series of attacks on college students.

Police said the first attack, in September, was unplanned. The attackers didn’t know their victim. They just picked him out at random along the street.

After that first attack came five more.

In some cases, the attackers were in groups as large as eight. The victims were usually walking alone, but in a few cases, there were two or three. Almost always, they were far outnumbered by their assailants.

Some of the cases turned into robberies, but in others, the only apparent goal was to inflict pain.

One victim suffered a broken cheekbone. Another suffered a concussion.

The thugs pushed one victim into the path of a car.

Why did they do it?

Police say they know only one thing for sure. They say the teen-agers admitted selecting their victims based on race.

A typical hate crime? Not exactly.

This time the culprits were black. The victims were, or appeared to be, white. Some were actually Asians mistaken for white.

Not surprisingly, the story has generated a fair amount of controversy.

There have been meetings about how to im-prove communication between whites and blacks, and between the college and the community.

And there also has been the usual circus led by the folks who show up, it seems, just to pour gasoline on the fire.

Among the latter was David Duke, a former Ku Klux Klan leader who now directs an outfit called the European-American Unity and Rights Organization, or EURO for short. Duke showed up soon after the arrests to demand that the suspects be tried for hate crimes. The only reason they hadn’t been, he said, was that the victims were white. [David Duke is from Lake Jackson, where I live, love him or hate him. Keep in mind Sen. Robert was once big in the KKK, also.]

Duke’s organization says Virginia law is clear. It says assault and battery becomes a hate crime if the culprit intentionally selects his or her victim based on race, religion, color or national origin.

The teen-agers had already admitted selecting their victims based on race, Duke’s group said. What other evidence did authorities need?

The fact is that Duke’s group is right. Hate is hate, and if these kids set out to beat up white kids just for being white, they should be treated no differently than white kids who beat up black kids for being black.

That doesn’t mean that all of the community meetings are a waste of time. In fact, it’s possible that these discussions really will help to identify problems that can be addressed.

Certainly there are social causes that bring about such hatred, and certainly there are social ills in need of correcting. There is no doubt that any community can benefit by building bridges of communication and by helping the poor and dispossessed to regain hope.

But when hatred leads to violence, the target shouldn’t matter.

Hate is hate, and a hate crime is a hate crime. Racism is racism.

A broken bone is a broken bone.

Kelly Hawes is managing editor of The Facts. His e-mail address is click here to contact The Facts and his telephone number is (979) 265-7411, ext. 209.

[buffyt]

Hate IS hate. Crime IS crime.

[buffyt]

The link didn't work for contacting Mr. Hawes. If you want to contact him, go to www.thefacts.com and you will find a list of employees and their email addresses.

[RipSawyer]

Hate is hate, crime is crime. Amen, the mere fact that the term "hate crime" was ever coined indicates just how far down we have slid. Such a term would never be used by a clear thinking individual.

[tenderstone jr.]

I'd have to agree with David Duke on this one. I think hate crime laws are bogus, but if you're going to have them, you have to enforce them uniformly.

[buffyt]

I agree with you 100%.

[buffyt]

TRUE!

[Hugin]

A typical hate crime? Not exactly. This time the culprits were black. The victims were, or appeared to be, white. Some were actually Asians mistaken for white.

That is a typical hate crime. Every day white people are attacked by blacks based on their race. They just are not reported as such in the media, and are not treated as such by the police. But white attacks on blacks are so rare they are by definition news, and the assumption is they are hate crimes until proven otherwise.

[buffyt]

bump

[buffyt]

I just heard on Fox News that some group is suing an insurance company and a railroad company for reparations and all you would have to do to collect money, if they win, is to prove you have a black ancestor who was a slave. I have one! Rufus Hargrove, but I am a blue eyed, lilly white skin (darn it), blonde caucasion. That shows just how utterly ridiculous this is!

[gunnedah]

I doubt there are any laws on the books covering whites being victims of hate crimes.It most probably speaks of minorities.Your government sold you out on this issue a long time ago. Thank Clinton and the ABA!But when it finally settles in it may be hell to pay.Somewhere down the line a generation will awaken.

[gunnedah]

I doubt there are any laws on the books covering whites being victims of hate crimes.It most probably speaks of minorities.Your government sold you out on this issue a long time ago. Thank Clinton and the ABA!But when it finally settles in it may be hell to pay.Somewhere down the line a generation will awaken.

[buffyt]

bump

[Twodees]

Yep, black on white attacks, motivated by race are much more common in my experience.

[wardaddy]

Race Race Race Race Race....victim me...victim you.....blah blah blah....mulatto Halle Berry is black now and bloviates about it ad nauseum.....on and on and on....this CRAP is going to destroy all of us...I'm sick of it.

Whatever happened to just equal protection, the abolishment of Jim Crow, and access to voting rights? That's what my white forebears in MIssissippi thought they were helping to happen 40 years ago.

Now all we've done is create a Monster of spineless guilty soft as putty whites and masses of resentful "folks of color". This is all headed for a hard landing.

It's all emotive..truth and reasoning have no place in the discussion.

[Travis McGee]

Hear anyting about this from UVa? Did it get written up in the Cavalier Daily?

[scan58]

David Duke...Jesse Jackson for the white folks. OK, just kidding, but he might be taken more seriously by the media if his name wasn't "David Duke, a former Ku Klux Klan leader" and if they didn't consider him one of "the usual circus led by the folks who show up, it seems, just to pour gasoline on the fire." (I don't understand how they see it like that, anyway.)
Shame. I hope he has others on his side.

[buffyt]

....and it is so ridiculous, the whole discussion, when so many of us have black ancestors and are as white as snow. There is only one race, the human race. But everyone wants to be a victim these days! Everyone is so P.I.

[Bloody Sam Roberts]

"Now all we've done is create a Monster of spineless guilty soft as putty whites and masses of resentful "folks of color". This is all headed for a hard landing. "

A hard rain IS gonna fall.

[DoughtyOne]

Yep. That's the right comment on this one. Hate crimes legislation drives me crazy, but if it's going to be utilized, minorities are going to have to step up and face them just like the people they demand to be treated like.