Army reservist beaten in front of daughter

Originally Posted By skinnerbox

This story explains why I questioned the ethnicity of the toddler who was slapped by the angry old white guy at the Wal-Mart just outside Atlanta earlier this month:

<a href="http://www.cnn.com/2009/CRIME/09/16/cracker.barrel.beating/index.html" target="_blank">http://www.cnn.com/2009/CRIME/...dex.html</a>

Oh, yeah. This incident also took place just outside Atlanta.

The old white nutjobs are losing it. I'll bet these guys listen to Rush and Beck every single day, getting their racial anger jacked up more and more, until it finally boils over into violence against a person of color.

As long as the right wing media machine keeps slamming Obama, this crap is only going to get worse.

 

Originally Posted By TomSawyer

It seems like the restaurant was appropriately named.

 

Originally Posted By DVC_dad

This crime is completely deplorable.

I think you are kidding yourself if you are trying to say that Atlanta is more "racist" than any other urban area. I won't waste my time google'ing and posting examples of hate crimes, not only white on black, but black on white, all around the country. It's been going on for several decades now skinner, and regardless of the color of the skin of either the perp or the victim, it's unacceptable.

You hate Fox News. I get that. But you are the only poster I know that is blaming Fox News for making racially motivated crime around Atlanta increase.

I'm pretty sure this guy would have done this if there were no Fox News...Of course I could be wrong.



But the bottom line is that this guy's actions are completely wrong and the case will get it's proper day in court, as well it should.

 

Originally Posted By mawnck

>>But you are the only poster I know that is blaming Fox News for making racially motivated crime around Atlanta increase. <<

I am also. Anybody else?

 

Originally Posted By skinnerbox

I have a dear friend who lives right outside Atlanta. She lived in the Bay Area for decades, but took a job in Atlanta over six years ago because the offer was worth the move.

She's African-American, holds a Masters degree, and works in Corporate America by day, teaches adult ed classes at the local community college by night.

To say that my friend has been a victim of racism is an understatement. She's called every racial slur in the book several times a week. She's also been a victim of death threats and was physically attacked by a student in her classroom, right in front of the other students during class. (Fortunately, one student quickly pulled out his cellphone and called the police once the confrontation started.)

And before you even think it, I'll stop your kneejerk reaction in its tracks. Not all of this outrageous behavior was perpetrated by white males. Some of these individuals were minority females, including the student who physically attacked her. Yeah, that even shocked me.

But the overwhelming majority of the racial crap has come from white males, including her own bosses at the daytime corporate job. And yes, I stated the plural deliberately.

More than any other group, the upwardly mobile business executives in her daytime job have been the worst offenders for the racial slurs, mostly because they can get away with it. And my friend says that these managers spout the Fox News BS every single day during their 'water cooler talk.'

So yeah... I do believe Georgia and suburban Atlanta is as bad as President Carter and my friend have described, for racism. It's there, whether or not you choose to acknowledge it.

 

Originally Posted By hopemax

I am too.

This doesn't mean I think that FOX News is purposefully trying to instigate racially motivated violence.

I think FOX News has learned that when they talk up certain themes, and when they use certain phrases their ratings go up, everyone makes more money. And that is their goal.

But I think by doing so they are giving cover and credibility to the people who are motivated by race. And this is emboldening those people to act out, because they are feeling that they are not in a minority, because a major news outlet like FOX News is "on their side."

I am curious to know, in the privacy of some office somewhere or home at bed, who is actually happy about the direction things have taken over the last year, and who are privately a little sick about it. But I suspect, even those that are feeling uneasy about the whole deal, feel like they can't walk it back now without doing damage to their personal portfolio. These are the cards they have chosen to play and they will play them all the way to the end.

 

Originally Posted By skinnerbox

<<This doesn't mean I think that FOX News is purposefully trying to instigate racially motivated violence.

I think FOX News has learned that when they talk up certain themes, and when they use certain phrases their ratings go up, everyone makes more money. And that is their goal.>>

Of course their main goal is boosting ratings to boost ad earnings. I get that.

But... after Dr. Tiller was murdered at his church in Kansas, Fox News should have backed down the vitriol and histrionics, given O'Reilly and Hannity continuously calling him "Tiller the Baby Killer" on air over and over, ad nauseum, for years. That should have been their wake up call, regarding hate speech and how their viewing public was fueling their own hate with that speech.

Since the bigoted rhetoric on Fox has not toned down but actually worsened since Tiller's murder, especially against President Obama, then I have HUGE doubts about their ulterior motives regarding said speech.

Fox News could back down on the hate speech and still garner desired ratings. This behavior goes much deeper than simply a desire for increased ad revenue.

 

Originally Posted By Kar2oonMan

>>This behavior goes much deeper than simply a desire for increased ad revenue.<<

As a white male, on occasion I'll come across other white people that somehow think that I would be someone they can talk to in a frank way about race. And these individuals make some pretty disgusting racial jokes and commentary. That's here, in the liberal San Francisco Bay Area. And when you get to talking with them, you find out that, yes, they are regular listeners of right wing talk, Fox News and all the rest.

 

Originally Posted By BlueDevilSF

^^^
Well, Michael Savage does live in the Bay Area, too...

 

Originally Posted By Kar2oonMan

Yeah, but he got dumped by his home base station this week. : )

 

Originally Posted By Mr X

Speaker Pelosi had something to say on this issue today. I find myself in complete agreement with her.

<a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/09/17/pelosi-warns-of-violence_n_289999.html" target="_blank">http://www.huffingtonpost.com/...999.html</a>

**"I wish that we all again would curb our enthusiasm in some of the statements that are made, with the understanding that some of the ears this is falling on are not as balanced as the person making the statement might assume," Pelosi said.**

**She stressed again that people are free to speak out. "But I also think they have to take responsibility for any incitement they may cause," she said.**

Rush Limbaugh also spoke out, calling for a return to segregation.

<a href="http://www.salon.com/politics/war_room/2009/09/17/bus_rush" target="_blank">http://www.salon.com/politics/...bus_rush</a>

**Referring to an incident in which a white student was beaten by black students on a bus, Limbaugh said: “I think the guy’s wrong. I think not only it was racism, it was justifiable racism. I mean, that’s the lesson we’re being taught here today. Kid shouldn’t have been on the bus anyway. We need segregated buses — it was invading space and stuff. This is Obama’s America.”...**

 

Originally Posted By mele

Can bloated, egostistical radio talk show hosts be shot to death in Obama's America?

 

Originally Posted By DVC_dad

I'll do some research. Give me a week or two. I only have maybe 10 or 15 minutes a day to devote to this, but it's important to me. I'll be back to this thread, and if I find that I'm wrong, I'll freely admit it.

Just to be clear: The argument is...
Fox News is making "white people" in Atlanta commit more hate crimes than a) before Obama took office, and b) more than anywhere else in America.

Have I got it straight?

 

Originally Posted By Mr X

It's not just Fox News, they're just the "TV arm" of the noise machine...

By the way, what do you think of Limbaugh calling for re-segregation?

You've gotta actually listen to the clip too, he mocks black peoples voices and everything.

What do you think of that, DVC?

 

Originally Posted By Kar2oonMan

I'm going to step in to say that in the quote above, Limbaugh wasn't calling for segregation -- he was mocking what in his putrid imagination is "how the other side must think."

Now, I'm not defending what he said in any way -- it's ridiculous -- but he didn't actually make a call for segregation.

What he was playing to is the concept of the poor ol' white guy, who everybody picks on, and why can't black people just get over stuff, boo hoo. That crap plays well with his ignorant audience. And yes, it is racism.

 

Originally Posted By Kar2oonMan

Limbaugh seems to believe that he is immune from being called a racist because he does things like "Barack the Magic Negro" and so forth. In his sour mind, I'm sure he sees this as "treating everyone equal". He probably imagines himself brave. But really, it's the same old racist crap from a lying addict.

 

Originally Posted By Inspector 57

***The Cracker Barrel's manager told police he stepped between West and Hill to stop the alleged assault.

Cracker Barrel spokeswoman Julie Davis said Wednesday that the restaurant was cooperating fully in the police investigation.

"It's just terrible when something like this happens anywhere, let alone in one of our stores," Davis said. "It's worth noting that Cracker Barrel employees did their best to assist Hill as soon as they became aware of the situation."***

It's surprising and lovely to read something that implies Cracker Barrel supports racial harmony.

Cracker Barrel has gone on record in the recent past indicating that it will begrudgingly tolerate gay patrons and employees only to the extent that the law requires it.

 

Originally Posted By HRM

#13
waiting for the results of your research.

 

Originally Posted By barboy

Why do you signify "Army reservist" in your heading, skinnerbox when clearly it serves as an irrelevancy to the story?

 

Originally Posted By skinnerbox

Here's why:

<a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/09/16/troy-dale-west-man-beats_n_289136.html" target="_blank">http://www.huffingtonpost.com/...136.html</a>

"On Tuesday evening police arrested Troy Dale West for beating an African-American army reservist in front of her daughter outside a Cracker Barrel restaurant in Morrow, Georgia."


I was originally going to link to the Huffington Post article, which is where I first discovered the story.

However... there are many LP posters who absolutely detest and despise HuffPost for anything, and refuse to accept the legitimacy of any story they report, because of their 'liberal leanings.'

So I changed my link to CNN's story, and didn't change the title of my post. I took the title from the first paragraph of HuffPost's article.

That's why the "Army reservist" reference is actually relevant.