A case of tacit collective amnesia. In Seattle, don't look back:
James Paroline, The Traffic Circle Gardener of Rainier Beach, killed 2008. His killer was charged with assault--a sucker punch to the head--by homicide.*
Edward McMichael, aka"Tuba Man," beaten to death by a crowd of African-American teen-agers in 2008 by the Seattle Center.
Danny Vega, kicked and beaten to death on Rainier Valley Avenue South in 2011.
Kris Kime, stomped to death in Pioneer Square in 2001, by a group of young blacks.
If only President Obama had come out and commented on the murders above.
If only President Obama had come out and commented on the murders above.
* * * * *
From The Stranger's usually salacious, tasteless, and jocular Last Days this week (July 24-30, 2013):
FRIDAY, JULY 19 The week continues in Washington, DC, where today President Obama delivered a surprise address on the Trayvon Martin verdict and his experience as a black man in America, which we will now excerpt at length: "You know, when Trayvon Martin was first shot, I said that this could have been my son. Another way of saying that is Trayvon Martin could have been me 35 years ago... There are very few African American men in this country who have not had the experience of being followed when they are shopping in a department store. That includes me. There are probably very few African American men who have not had the experience of walking across the street and hearing the locks click on the doors of cars. That happens to me—at least before I was a senator... Now, this isn't to say that the African American community is naive about the fact that African American young men are disproportionately involved in the criminal justice system, that they're disproportionately both victims and perpetrators of violence. It's not to make excuses for that fact—although black folks do interpret the reasons for that in a historical context. They understand that some of the violence that takes place in poor black neighborhoods around the country is born out of a very violent past in this country, and that the poverty and dysfunction that we see in those communities can be traced to a very difficult history... And for those who resist that idea that we should think about something like these 'stand your ground' laws, I'd just ask people to consider, if Trayvon Martin was of age and armed, could he have stood his ground on that sidewalk? And do we actually think that he would have been justified in shooting Mr. Zimmerman who had followed him in a car because he felt threatened? And if the answer to that question is at least ambiguous, then it seems to me that we might want to examine those kinds of laws."
I am surprised that President Obama believes that he can speak for the more than 30 million African-Americans, know their shopping experiences from Washington State to mostly white Iowa to mostly black Detroit and D.C. to Maine and state that the majority have been followed in a department store.
Maybe he knows that even black taxi-drivers often won't pick up black pedestrians in New York City.
If whites, Hispanics, East Asians, South Asians, African immigrants, many African-Americans themselves, Muslims, etc. are indeed afraid (and, hence, "racist," by the logic of The Stranger), it might have to do with the fact that young black men are 7-10+ times as likely to commit violent crimes than members of other groups, leading to a vastly disproportionate number in prison. (This is not to say, however, that all who commit violent crimes are ever brought to justice. There are many running around who never get caught).
President Obama's logic is faulty.
"And do we actually think that he would have been justified in shooting Mr. Zimmerman who had followed him in a car because he felt threatened?"
The man we elected president in 2008 and re-elected four years later knows very well that Mr. Zimmerman's situation was vastly different from Travyon Martin's. Zimmerman's following Travyon Martin was not a threat to the latter's safety until a fight, and probably a pretty terrible one, broke out between the two.
It's unlikely Zimmerman shot Travyon Martin because the young man called him a "bean burrito" or loudly refused to leave the compound (unless the person examining the case and passing judgment is a Jen Graves, Charles Mudede, etc.).
By Obama's logic, then, Hispanics, whites, and others would be shooting up young black men by the thousands whenever they encounter the latter wearing hoodies in their neighborhoods.
No one in their right mind pulls out a gun and shoots someone else--of any skin color--because of a disagreement or argument.
I don't know what study President Obama can point to that establishes a direct cause-and-effect relationship between American slavery and the condition of poor blacks. Blaming other groups (whites, Hispanics, Jews, Asians...) for their own failure to work hard to make positive changes, including inculcating strong moral values and a sterling work ethic, will not ameliorate their situation.
Cycles of hate, blame, and resentment breed only more hate and resentment, and too many African-Americans have been taught an ideology of hate, anger, blame, and resentment and not much else.
As it is, George Zimmerman's life is and will be in ruins, and he will never feel safe. Some people have made sure of that.
Condemning him through the court of popular opinion makes no sense.
None of us was there that night.
I don't think we should try to pretend that we know what really went on. We don't. But the whole affair smacks of little or no concern for fairness or objectivity, especially on the part of those who have condemned Mr. Zimmerman's actions without actually knowing with any certainty what he did that fateful night.
* * * * *
I wonder why Obama was forever clueless as to why his own (white) grandmother had a visceral fear of black men beyond "prejudice," crime statistics apart. I think even animals have a built-in sense of danger.
Suspects Wanted For Spree of 10 Robberies In Less Than A Week
Seattle, WA
SPD robbery detectives are searching for a group of men suspected in a series of increasingly brazen armed robberies over the last week in each of Seattle’s five precincts.
The string of 10 cases began just after 9 AM on July 31st, when a group of six male suspects cornered a teen in an alley behind the Beacon Hill library. One of the suspects lifted up his shirt, implying he had a gun, and stole the teen’s backpack, phone and bankcards.
Early the next morning, at 1:40 AM on August 1st, a car full of men a drove up to a woman near 56th and Latona and demanded her purse. When the victims refused and kept walking, the suspects got out of the car, pulled a gun on the victim and stole her purse before fleeing.
That night, around 11 pm, the suspects pulled a knife on a delivery driver in Holly Park and stolefour pizzas. A half hour later, the suspects struck again in West Seattle, where they surrounded a man in the 5500 block of 16th Avenue SW, shoved him to the ground, rifled through his pockets and stole his iPhone at gunpoint.
Again, around 3:30 AM on August 2nd, the same suspects grabbed a 28-year-old man near Harvard Avenue and E. Thomas Street, put him in a headlock and stole the man’s iPhone and wallet.
Almost exactly twenty-four hours later, two suspects—accompanied by a lookout— approached two men near 11th Avenue and E Pine Street, across the street from Cal Anderson Park. The suspects pulled a gun on the men, demanded their wallets and phones and then ordered them to walk away.
Half an hour later, around 4 AM, two of the suspects climbed into a victim’s car outside a Central District hookah bar, drew guns, and forced the victim to drive to Renton, where they pistol-whipped the man and stole his wallet before fleeing.
Detectives believe members of the same group snatched a woman’s purse at near Seneca and Broadway at about 3:45 AM on August 4th, and jumped into a waiting getaway car.
The same day, just after noon, one of the suspects ran up to a 13-year-old girl and stole an iPhone out of her hands near 60th Ave SW and Alki Ave SW.
Finally, detectives believe several of the suspects followed two women down the street near 52ndand 15th Ave NE around 1:45 AM on August 5th, demanded their purses at gunpoint and fled.
The suspects in all 10 of the cases are black males between 18 and 25 years old. Following several of the recent incidents, detectives received information that the men may be East African or Somali. In one of the incidents, the suspects were seen fleeing in a green Toyota Camry.
If you have any information about these incidents or any other details that might help detectives track down these suspects, please contact SPD’s robbery unit at (206) 684-5535.
This news will probably not appear in The Stranger's "Last Days" and if does the race of the victims and that of the attackers will be expunged.
* Some Seattleites claimed James Paroline had "only been asking for it."
http://www.seattlepi.com/local/article/Two-men-killed-by-fists-but-2-different-1295331.php#photo-708632
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