White Girl Bleed a Lot (46 page)

If you find out, let me know.

Just a few days before the Good Samaritans saved the man in Florida, a mob of more than one hundred black people were fighting in the streets in Wilmington, Delaware. One person was shot. Police described the action as a “large fight” and no one seemed alarmed or thought it was anything out of the ordinary.
¹⁰

I was visiting my brother at the time. He lives seven blocks away. I heard the sirens.

A few days before that, in a suburb of Newark, New Jersey, police reported the latest in a series of violent robberies targeting Hispanic day laborers. NJ.com reported a man had “been robbed by a group of six African-American males.”
¹¹

In Chicago, one week before that, five hundred black people rampaged through the upscale shopping district known as the Magnificent Mile. They destroyed property, assaulted at least one police officer, and sent one other person to the hospital with injuries.

Local media referred to members of the violent mob as “mischievous teens.” And
Chicago Sun-Times
columnist Mary Mitchell suggested the rioters should lose their Facebook pages as punishment.

Chicago Alderman Emma Mitts told the
Chicago Sun-Times
that we are way past that. “They’re taking over the streets. They’re taking over the restaurants.” Mitts said it’s not only happening in downtown, but also in other Chicago neighborhoods. “They dance all over the street [and] in the restaurants, and they’re stopping traffic.”
¹²

Mitts and other aldermen want to make sure the parents get counseling.

In the Boston area, two weeks before the Magnificent Mile rampage, a group of fifteen to thirty black people surrounded a bus at 1:15 a.m. and attacked the driver. “It is unclear what prompted the assault,” dutifully reported Metro.us.
¹³

The night before that, in New York, demonstrations protesting a police shooting turned violent. Dozens of black people looted a Brooklyn drug store.
¹⁴

And did I mention the “large fights” in Louisiana, South Carolina, Ohio, and, again, New Jersey? All in the same month?

More and more local news sites are allowing fewer and fewer comments from readers about the racial violence. Some shut down the comments altogether when the topic is race. Others purge comments frequently.

But where the topic is discussed, it attracts a lot of people who want to know why the local media refuses to report it. In Philadelphia, Ron Bockman suggested a better headline for the CBS story: “Correct headline, Large Disturbance Of Black Teens Gathers In Center City Philadelphia.”
¹⁵

The comments were soon removed. The actions remain.

1
Meg Jones, “Police investigate Riverwest armed robberies,”
Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel
, July 5, 2011,
http://www.jsonline.com/news/crime/124983979.html
.

2
“‘Beat Whitey Night’: Racism suspected in Iowa State Fair attacks,”
The Des Moines Register
, August 24, 2010,
http://www.ksdk.com/news/local/story.aspx?storyid=213223
.

3
Matt Buedel, “Police, firefighters shot with fireworks at Taft Homes ‘riot’,”
Peoria Star Journal
, July 5, 2011,
http://www.pjstar.com/news/x1107265269/Police-briefly-close-Adams-while-dispersing-crowd
.

4
Meg Jones, “Flynn calls looting, beatings in Riverwest barbaric,”
Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel
, July 6, 2011,
http://www.jsonline.com/news/milwaukee/125027704.html
.

5
Terri Sanginiti, “Deliveryman beaten, robbed by group in Wilmington,”
Delaware News Journal
, August 17, 2011,
http://www.delawareonline.com/article/20110817/NEWS/110817022/1003/rss01?nclick_check=1
.

6
“Officials: Flash Mobs Already Plague South Side,” CBS News Chicago, June 7, 2011,
http://chicago.cbslocal.com/2011/06/07/officials-flash-mobs-already-plague-south-side
.

7
Ian Urbina, “Mobs Are Born as Word Grows by Text Message,”
The New York Times
, March 24, 2010,
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/25/us/25mobs.html
.

8
“Parents seek answers in assaults near Missouri State University Mothers suspect ‘knockout game’,” by Steve Pokin,
Springfield News-Leader
, November 19, 2012,
http://www.news-leader.com/article/20121119/NEWS12/311190020/Springfield-Missouri-State-University-assault-knock-out-game
.

9
John Cook, “Matt Drudge Launches Black Teen Crime News Service,” Gawker.com, May 31, 2011,
http://gawker.com/5806975/matt-drudge-launches-black-teen-crime-news-service
.

1
Mike Newall, “Teens in a mob assault and rob Center City patrons,”
Philadelphia Inquirer
, June 29, 2011,
http://articles.philly.com/2011-06-29/news/29717406_1_maria-teens-mob-assault
.

2
“As Victim Speaks Out, City Explores Ways To Stop Violent Flash Mobs,” CBS News, August 3, 2011,
http://philadelphia.cbslocal.com/2011/08/03/as-victim-speaks-out-city-explores-ways-to-stop-violent-flash-mobs
.

3
“Officials Try to End Philly ‘Flash Mobs’,” Associated Press TV,
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N4WOYMWp29g&feature=youtu.be
.

4
Ian Urbina, “Mobs Are Born as Word Grows by Text Message,”
The New York Times
, March 24, 2010,
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/25/us/25mobs.html
.

5
John Tarrett, “Panic amid US flash mob attacks,” Al Jazeera English, August 14, 2011,
http://blogs.aljazeera.net/americas/2011/08/14/panic-amid-us-flash-mob-attacks
.

6
Ronnie Polaneczky, “A bystander was severely beaten by the ‘flash mob’,”
Philadelphia Daily News
, June 28, 2011,
http://www.philly.com/philly/columnists/ronnie_polaneczky/47751717.html?viewAll=y
.

7
“Center City Store Brawl Caught On Tape,” CBS News, March 24, 2011,
http://philadelphia.cbslocal.com/2011/03/24/teens-arrested-for-fighting-in-center-city-store
.

8
Sarah Bloomquist and David Henry, “‘Unruly crowd’ forms after 4th of July celebration Monday,” 6ABC.com, July 5, 2010,
http://abclocal.go.com/wpvi/story?section=news/local&id=7537449&hpt=T2
.

9
Monique Braxton, “Flash Mob Strikes in Philadelphia,” NBC10 Philadelphia, July 31, 2011,
http://www.nbcphiladelphia.com/news/local/Flash_Mob_Strikes_in_Philadelphia_Philadelphia-126468293.html
.

10
Darren Hunter, “LaSalle Student Stabbed in ‘Hate Crime’: Dog Saves Life,” Examiner.com, July 4, 2011,
http://www.examiner.com/article/lasalle-student-stabbed-hate-crime-dog-saves-life
.

11
“As Victim Speaks Out, City Explores Ways To Stop Violent Flash Mobs,” CBS Philly, August 3, 2011,
http://philadelphia.cbslocal.com/2011/08/03/as-victim-speaks-out-city-explores-ways-to-stop-violent-flash-mobs
.

12
Erik Uliasz, “Flash Mobs in Philadelphia: Sorry PC America, They are a Racial Thing,” Philly2Philly.com, August 13, 2011,
http://www.philly2philly.com/politics_community/politics_community_articles/2011/8/13/47591/flash_mobs_philadelphia_sorry_pc_amer
.

13
Ron Allen, “Philly mayor: flash mobbers ‘damaging their race’,” The Grio, August 12, 2011,
http://thegrio.com/2011/08/12/is-michael-nutter-right
.

14
Stu Byko, “Nutter did well to move quickly against mayhem mobs,” Philly.com, August 18, 2011,
http://articles.philly.com/2011-08-18/news/29900904_1_curfew-enforcement-mobs-trash-cans
.

15
Elizabeth Fiedler, “Officials In Phila. Plan Curfews To Curb Teen Violence,” NPR.org, August 11, 2011,
http://www.npr.org/2011/08/11/139507252/officials-in-phila-plan-curfews-to-curb-teen-violence
.

16
“Teen Arrested For Stabbing At Erie Lanes Bowling Alley,” CBS Philly, August 14, 2011,
http://philadelphia.cbslocal.com/2011/08/14/teen-arrested-for-stabbing-incident-following-event-at-erie-lanes-bowling-alley-in-philadelphia
.

17
Dann Cuellar, “‘Flash mob’ assault suspects surrender Thursday,” 6ABC News, August 11, 2011,
http://abclocal.go.com/wpvi/story?section=news/crime&id=8299420
.

18
Julie Shaw, “Chased home: Mob attacks man in his house,”
Philadelphia Inquirer
, September 27, 2011,
http://articles.philly.com/2011-09-27/news/30208589_1_white-teens-attackers-angry-mob
.

19
Alfred Lubrano, “Flash mob victim’s untold story,”
Philadelphia Inquirer
, April 14, 2010,
http://articles.philly.com/2010-04-14/news/25213326_1_flash-mob-attacker-anna-taylor
.

20
“Caught on Camera,” NBC10 Philadelphia, July 7, 2011,
http://www.nbcphiladelphia.com/news/local/Caught-on-Camera-4th-of-July-Boardwalk-Shooting-Atlantic-City-125177899.html
.

21
Pearl Stewart, “Temple University’s Medical School Leads a Crime-Fighting Team,” October 27, 2011,
http://www.readperiodicals.com/201110/2501835451.html%23b#ixzz2ONjpVYcp
.

22
Robert Moran, “
Philadelphia Magazine
editor faces critics on race article,” March 20, 2013,
http://articles.philly.com/2013-03-20/news/37846909_1_philadelphia-magazine-robert-huber-racial-insensitivity
.

1
Todd C. Frankel, “‘Knockout game’ case shocked St. Louis, then fell apart,”
St. Louis Dispatch
, March 4, 2011,
http://www.stltoday.com/news/local/metro/knockout-game-case-shocked-st-louis-then-fell-apart/article_cdf5032a-b65e-51e0-a84e-de0f0ce0c5f8.html
.

2
Ibid.

3
“Police Will Investigate Possible Witness Tampering in Knockout Game Attack,” CBS St. Louis KMOX, January 13, 2012,
http://stlouis.cbslocal.com/2012/01/13/police-will-investigate-possible-witness-tampering-in-knockout-game-attack
/.

4
Dave Keiser, “Demetrius Murphy identified as Gravois Park shooting victim,” 5KSDK.com, February 15, 2013,
http://www.ksdk.com/news/local/story.aspx?storyid=363261
.

5
“Updates on other ‘knockout game’ cases,”
St. Louis Dispatch
, January 11, 2012,
http://www.stltoday.com/news/local/metro/updates-on-other-knockout-game-cases/article_3ae2a002-2bb4-5056-8a28-db5c5fa795b6.html
.

6
Patrick M. O’Connell, “St. Louis teen charged in Central West End ‘knockout’ attack,” May 8, 2012
http://www.stltoday.com/news/local/metro/st-louis-teen-charged-in-central-west-end-knockout-attack/article_c28f22c8-985b-11e1-a168-0019bb30f31a.html
.

7
Umar Lee, “St. Louis Knockout King Game: More Victims and the Cover-up By City Hall and Police,” YouTube Video, April 30, 2012,
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JfVnUBEv3iI&list=UUn0D5epLsNAnpQfAgMzvSSw&index=3&feature=plcp
.

8
John H. Tucker, “Knockout King: Kids call it a game. Academics call it a bogus trend. Cops call it murder.” June 9, 2011,
http://www.riverfronttimes.com/2011-06-09/news/knockout-king-elex-murphy-hoang-nguyen-dutchtown-murder/full
.

9
Chris Woodard, “Badgers Running Back Montee Ball Attacked; Search For More Suspects,” WMTV Madison, October 11, 2012,
http://www.nbc15.com/news/crimetracker/headlines/Badgers-Running-Back-Montee-Ball-Attacked.html
.

10
“RB Ball starting to roll again for Badgers,” Associated Press, October 6, 2012,
http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/wire?section=ncf&id=8510975
.

11
Chris Huston, “Montee Ball’s Heisman campaign on life support after Wisconsin’s loss to Oregon State,” CBS Sports, September 9, 2012,
http://www.cbssports.com/collegefootball/blog/eye-on-college-football/19702432/montee-ball-attacked-on-wisconsin-campus-star-back-sustains-concussion
.

12
Amy McConnell Schaarsmith, “Police try to fill in gaps before fatal Washington & Jefferson College beating,”
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
, October 6, 2012,
http://www.post-gazette.com/stories/local/washington/police-try-to-fill-in-gaps-before-fatal-washington-amp-jefferson-college-beating-656419/%23ixzz291b5715t
.

13
Ken Kolker, “3 held without bond in Veto sex assault,” WOOD TV Grand Rapids, Holland, Kalamazoo, June 8, 2012,
http://www.woodtv.com/dpp/news/local/grand_rapids/veto-sex-assault-break-in-arraignment-060812
.

14
Tayleigh Davis, “Brothers plead no contest in VCU mob attack,” October 12, 2012,
http://www.nbc12.com/story/19804634/brothers-plead-no-contest-in-vcu-mob-attack
.

15
Alix Bryan, “Sunday assault near VCU campus the latest of several,” WTVR, September 23, 2012,
http://wtvr.com/2012/09/23/sunday-assault-near-vcu-campus-the-latest-of-several
.

16
Michelle David, “Men assault University student at 161 Rugby Road,”
Cavalier Daily
. September 9, 2012
http://www.cavalierdaily.com/article/2012/09/individuals-assault-student-at-161-rugby
.