Trump voters, You built this!
It is somewhat heartening to see a bunch of my fellow white folks gathered to protest this attack, which is one of the more disgusting of the many ugly things that have happened since Trump started gaining traction during the campaign. I know such things have been going on for a lot longer than that, and many of them have been even worse than this one–often much worse, in fact, at least in terms of outcome–but something about the young age of the boy and the apparently spontaneous and cavalier nature of this attack strikes me as particularly sickening. Maybe it was the graphic picture of the boy’s neck and the fact that it harks back to the days of lynchings by the KKK. “Strange fruit” nearly hanging from a tree in New Hampshire. Looking at the picture reminded me of the old black-and-white photos of lynchings that ended in death–often the same casual inhumanity seems to be shown there in the faces of the white people (when they are visible). Viewing such pictures I feel a deep revulsion and a sense of shame in simply being white even though I had nothing to do with the events. May the boy and his family find the healing and support they need and deserve. May we white people stand with our fellow humans of all varieties on the side of love and justice against this onslaught of hate.
That the police chief said that the thugs who did this needed to be protected because they were just children says a lot about the attitude of the police. If the victim had been pure white and the offenders had been mixed, there is no doubt that the cops would be a lot more into it than they are now. And you can bet that the rhetoric would be entirely different.
I don’t disagree that, had the perpetrators been, shall we say slightly darker, their names would have been exposed by now. By someone, even if not officially by the police.
However, and this counts in every case, leaking or announcing those names makes trial much more difficult.
People know who they are, though.
When I read that I was furious. It sure does demonstrate the attitude the cops have. Sickening.
I think you paint with too broad a brush. Racism is systemic in the justice system - but it isn’t universal. These horrible incidents need to be judged individually - and in this case, the argument that they’re attempting to protect young offenders makes sense. These are very young, obviously very sick kids. They need help, not jail time. Punishment here simply helps bandage our anger - it doesn’t fix anything.
Would black children be given the same benefit of the doubt? I doubt it very much. But you can’t get justice by doling out unfair punishments in exchange for unfair punishments. An eye for an eye makes the whole world blind. The only way to bring about a positive resolution here is to resolve the cancer in their community that corrupted these sick kids.
Outside of a couple of small urban areas, NH is essentially West Virginia. Always has been.
Trump was elected because our country still has a major problem with accepting people who differ in some way from the rest of us. I suspect that is rooted in our deep seated feelings of inferiority, thus our need for scapegoats. As much as we would like to believe we are all inherently good people, both this and the election of Trump demonstrate otherwise.
He is a Minority President with falling approvals so no We didn’t do anything but elect Hillary Clinton.
If the perpetrators had any trace of melanin in their skin they would have been already riddled by bullets regardless of age.
Further digging reveals this- those same four assailants threw rocks at the 8 year old and taunted him with racial slurs.
My guess all along is that one or more of the perpetrators might be connected by family bonds to law enforcement officials. That would explain a lot about the non-response.
I have no interest in punishment, but I do think we need to protect others from these so-called children. I do not know their ages, but they should be under close supervision by someone other than just their parents for a considerable period of time.
I was watching Katie Tur tonight on the Rachel Maddow show. She was talking about the Trump voter in a way that made me think she was inclined to agree with them that “we” or elites had gone too far with political correctness and that the Trump voters just felt they couldn’t be themselves. This was a bit disconcerting to watch. Trump’s election has allowed his supporters to let out their inner racist, and mysoginist and and whole bunch of other things. It is sad and frightening that 8 yr olds are mimicking this deplorable behavior.