Originally Posted By Darkbeer <a href="http://www.orlandosentinel.com/business/orl-mdizfollow2707jun27" target="_blank">http://www.orlandosentinel.com /business/orl-mdizfollow2707jun27</a>,0,3081478.story >>Walt Disney World ejected four of Florida State University's top football prospects from Downtown Disney last weekend under its anti-gang, no-loitering policy. The four, including the son of a Disney manager and the son of a Philadelphia civil-rights lawyer, were banned for life from Disney World property late Friday. A Disney spokeswoman said the youths were expelled because they had been loitering for an extended period and refused to leave when Disney security told them to. Parents of the youths wonder whether there's another reason: They're black. "I keep thinking to myself, 'This is crazy,' " said Mark Nugent, stepfather of Vincent Williams, football star at Ridge Community High School in Polk County. "Once they realized they weren't gangbangers, why didn't they let them go? They took their pictures. They fingerprinted them. And treated them like common criminals." Because of concerns about a rise in ganglike activity at Downtown Disney lately, loitering or "any other inappropriate behavior" by groups of youths is not going to be tolerated, spokeswoman Jacquee Polak said Tuesday. "This group was seen loitering for an extended period of time," she said. "When asked, sometime after 11:30, they produced a movie ticket for a film that had already started sometime earlier. Security asked them to go to the movie or leave, and they failed to cooperate." Philadelphia attorney Adrian J. Moody, father of one of the players, said he thinks his son was a victim of racial profiling. "Why else would they follow them for an hour and a half to two hours?" said Moody, whose son, Nickolas Moody, listed on the police report as Nickolas Cannon, plays safety for Roman Catholic High School in Philadelphia. "And how can you trespass someone in Downtown Disney for walking around? I've been there before, and that's why it's there."<< Much more at the link
Originally Posted By Labuda What a joke. If the kids were loitering, THAT is why they were looked at, NOT because of their skin color. Anyhow, anyone else ever notice the only time we see Darkbeer post here in the WDW area is when he's found a negative article somewhere about Disney World?
Originally Posted By RoadTrip <<What a joke. If the kids were loitering, THAT is why they were looked at, NOT because of their skin color.>> That, and the fact that they refused to cooperate with security. That one will nail you every time.
Originally Posted By juicer Exactly - If they did'nt cooperate with security - security is going to do what they are hired to do - Its really hard to believe that there was racial profiling going on - I could be wrong
Originally Posted By Inspector 57 I don't have a hard time believing that there may be racial profiling. I don't have a hard time believing that a bunch of "chosen" football players were acting inappropriately. I reserve judgement. Except against The Orlando Sentinel, for sensationalizing the issue without providing more substantive reporting.
Originally Posted By GMouse Why does football or Catholic School have anything to do with this issue? It certainly doesn't imply that they are less likely to be gang-bangers or loitering.
Originally Posted By MPierce The race card, it works sometimes when you are guilty of something, and just want a way to justify your behavior.
Originally Posted By Darkbeer Interesting comment over at The Disney Blog... <a href="http://thedisneyblog.typepad.com/" target="_blank">http://thedisneyblog.typepad.c om/</a> First, a quote from the Orlando Sentinel Article.. >>According to sheriff's Cmdr. Larry Krantz, who supervised the off-duty deputies working at Downtown Disney last weekend, Disney security officers said they spoke to the football players several times during the evening. At one point, the teens tried to enter the Pleasure Island complex of nightclubs after 11 p.m. when entry switches to those 21 and older. They declined to go to the movies as suggested and said they were at Downtown Disney to pick up girls, Krantz said he was told. From his own observations, he said, the athletes were not aggressive or rude, but he understood that at least one made "kind of smart remarks" to Disney security.<< And now John Frost's comments >>It's hard to know which story to believe but refusing to go see a movie or leave hardly seems like a reason to ban guests from Walt Disney World property forever. Unless there was some specific threatening action by the guests, I don't see justification for a trespass warning. Just hanging out is what people do at Downtown Disney. That's how the food vendors make their money. <<
Originally Posted By DVC_dad Just a question... Does anyone know how the Hispanic population, (both legal and illegal) rate as a per cent of total USA population compared to African American? I don't know, but it really has a huge impact on this sort of thing.
Originally Posted By DVC_dad <<<Florida State University's top football prospects >>> What does THAT mean? "Oh no, they won't go to FSU now! Disney you have ruined our football program!" WHATEVER!
Originally Posted By Liberty Belle >>That, and the fact that they refused to cooperate with security. That one will nail you every time<< Exactly - if security told me to do leave because I wasn't supposed to be loitering somewhere, I'd do it. I wonder if they were trying to prove some kind of a point?
Originally Posted By vbdad55 < Does anyone know how the Hispanic population, (both legal and illegal) rate as a per cent of total USA population compared to African American? I don't know, but it really has a huge impact on this sort of thing< I had just helped my youngest with a project from school a few months ago so I remembered the Hispanic population was now larger than African- American but could remember exactly the numbers. ( I do not believe this includes anyone here illegally in any category ) <a href="http://www.infoplease.com/ipa/A0762156.html" target="_blank">http://www.infoplease.com/ipa/ A0762156.html</a> NOTE: Percentages do not add up to 100% due to rounding and because Hispanics may be of any race and are therefore counted under more than one category. Hispanic 14.4% and African-American 12.8% but I am not sure where you are headed with this ?
Originally Posted By vbdad55 to me evenmore likely than racial profiling was that you had the son of a Disney manager, a son of an attorney - and since the smart alec comments were mentioned, let's forget race and go with the more likely, just teenagers who feel empowered because they felt they were above reproach because of who they were....
Originally Posted By BlueOhanaTerror I don't know what the figure is currently, but in 1995, roughly half of all shoplifting done in retail stores was committed by American black females, between the ages of 16 and 25. That was for large retailers like K-mart, Target, etc. At the Disney Stores and other specialty retailers, that component jumped to something like 65% of all shoplifting. Now if they're profiling black MALES at WDW, there's a different thing they're concerned about, a different kind of crime. Violent crime, gang-related crime. Except for the rednecks, I doubt there's anywhere near as much danger of violence breaking out among white teens, as among hispanics or black teenagers. They know their demographics, and they know the risk to their public image in taking a hard stance. If they're doing this, the measures are probably a last resort. Just my opinion.
Originally Posted By BlueOhanaTerror >>>I don't have a hard time believing that there may be racial profiling. I don't have a hard time believing that a bunch of "chosen" football players were acting inappropriately. I reserve judgement. Except against The Orlando Sentinel, for sensationalizing the issue without providing more substantive reporting.<<< Agreed 100%
Originally Posted By DAR Here's a rule I learned in college. If the football team shows up, you may want to think about packing things up since trouble is likely to follow.
Originally Posted By unwinded I’m glad they kicked them out. You just don’t sit down and ‘chill’ there. Go into a restaurant if you want to do that. And go some place else when you’re asked to leave. They were troublemakers, they got what they deserved. West Side has always had shady people loitering about and staring at the women dressed up to go to PI. Now that you can just walk through PI, the loitering has extended there where there is music playing and bars in the streets. It is the same as people going to mall and just hanging out, but in all honesty it is the main reason I now hate PI and rarely venture to the West Side. I’m sure they’re all locals, most of them are dressed like ‘thugs’, and it just so happens that many of them are Puerto Rican and black because the majority of the local Orlando population is Puerto Rican and black. This isn’t racial profiling. These are loitering punks giving security and guests a hard time, dressing like gangsters, and having no intention of buying anything. Get them out of there. As for the emotional sob story posted in the Orlando Sentinel, football players are some of the biggest jerks in college. These guys have big and intimidating physiques, they were loitering, and they gave security a hard time. Good riddance. Maybe I can finally go back to PI.
Originally Posted By trekkeruss ^^Just a note: these weren't college kids, they were high school punks.
