posted by Mike Jefferson
That’s a photo of Brian Milligan with his girlfriend, Nicola Fletcher. He’s white, she’s African American. Young and in love. Here’s the short version of the story:
On August 18, Milligan was beaten nearly to death on a Buffalo street by a group of black males because he was dating Fletcher. By all accounts, that’s factual. He’d been threatened many times by various black males for “being in the wrong place” and “being with the wrong girl.” But they were in love…until August 18th when the threats manifested into reality.
Though this story is still developing, it offers an useful opportunity to look at the subject of “hate crimes” in the context of hypocrisy, racism, and free speech/thought. Given Sam’s definition of racism as “believing that some person or group is superior or inferior than another person or group because of some identifiable physical characteristics that they can not change,” I think most everyone would agree that this particular crime, and true hate crimes in general, are amongst the most egregious forms of racism.
But what about the hypocrisy surrounding this event? In my experience, hypocrisy is a foolproof indicator of ignorance and intellectual dishonesty. And let there be no mistake, there is a great deal of hypocrisy in this incident of a white boyfriend being assaulted for dating his black girlfriend. I’ll admit that I may have missed some of the details of the case but to my knowledge Al Sharpton and Jesse Jackson (nor any other Civil Rights activist, for that matter) have not been to Buffalo to protest this hate crime. Sharpton doesn’t miss many opportunities to publicly demand justice in hate crime cases. And to be fair to Sharpton, I haven’t heard a peep out of any of the race baiters, black or white.
At this point, you probably think I advocate having the Feds roll into town and arrest everybody involved for violation of Federal Hate Crimes law. You’d be wrong. Make no mistake, I think the punks that ganged up like a pack of animals to beat one lone guy nearly to death need to be locked up. Or forced to face a 
real fighter mano-a-mano, but then we’d have to clean up the mess that would be left. And then they need to be locked up for what they DID (e.g., assault, attempted murder–take your pick) and not WHY they did it or WHAT they thought.
Our constitution actually demands that people be allowed to wallow in their ignorance. They just can’t act on their ignorance when it adversely affects others. Let me clarify that. With a few exceptions, you can say and believe and read and write most anything you want. And your thoughts and words can be really, really dumb–like rock dumb. But when your stupidity infringes on the safety of others, as it inevitably will do, like when you decide to blow up a tree stump in your back patio with five sticks of dynamite, then “the man” will come knocking on your door.
Hate crime laws cross the line by attempting an end around “double jeopardy” in criminal cases that are not properly prosecuted the first time. [Double jeopardy is prosecuting someone twice for the same crime.] They came about because of some missteps of justice in the past where crimes were committed against individuals but the guilty were not brought to justice. These miscarriages of justice were often attributed to racism. But instead of doing the hard work of fixing the corrupt judicial systems, the “powers-that-be” decided to exert more federal control over the populace and punish thought rather than deed.
The problem is, if you have an interest in freedom of speech, you might want to recognize that hate crime legislation is just one more step down the slippery slope of constraining this important right.
And so I cry “foul.”
On another note, if black and brown people want to be treated as equals, then why do so many cry “foul” when hate crime laws are applied to them? Is it only white people who hate? Is it only white people who victimize others because of their ancestry? In the case of Brian Milligan, it took nearly two weeks for some prominent members of the black community in Buffalo to stand behind this young man. This occured when a number or preachers excoriated their parishioners for not helping to find the culprits:
“The story [finally] touched a nerve with several members of Buffalo’s African-American community, including a local pastor who leads a predominantly black church in Buffalo. ‘At first, it didn’t affect me the way that it would have if I heard it was a black teen attacked,’ said the Rev. Darius Pridgen, who spent years fighting for civil rights for African-Americans. ‘But after I saw his father on TV pleading with the community to find the assailants, I decided I had to go after the people who beat this kid.’ Pridgen said he felt that the community has turned a collective blind eye to the beating. So he gave a fire-and-brimstone sermon at the True Baptist Church on a Sunday after the attack, appealing to his congregation to help find the culprits. ‘He didn’t deserve to be beaten this way,’ Pridgen recalled saying at the service. ‘If you believe this, put your hands together.’ If it was a black teen, Pridgen said, ‘We would have been protesting with flags and everything else.’” [CNN]
By the way, this is where the hypocrisy enters the story. You either walk for justice for everyone or you don’t walk at all. People know who these attackers are…and I want to ask them what they’d say to the white people whose silence protected white thugs who attacked a black or brown man.
This crime was not only heinous, but the actions that ensued are a typical example of what I see happening more often in cities around me. I come from a suburb of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania where crime often runs rampant. Many of those crimes are heavily covered by the media and the families cries are heard all around the area. So many times I’ve heard of the hate crimes of white people beating up or killing a minority and the families and friends call for their head. They begin to throw the race card all over the place, saying white people always do this, and always do that. Is it really always just white people though? I definitely think that all the people that are shown emotional on TV are very, very ethnocentric. They blind themselves and only hear what they want to hear, and see what they want to see.
Personally, I think it shouldn’t matter the color of people’s skin. I feel like everyone looks much too into race and ethnicity. Any crime should be equivalently important to any similar crime, no matter the race of the victim or the suspect. When a person is beaten or killed, the punishment should be no different if the crime is black on black, white on white, or a mix. People today are too ethnocentric and don’t know how to look outside of their mores and values to see what is actually happening around them.
As for the interracial couple, who cares! Really. They are two kids, young and in “love”. They have the same right as any other two people to be together. People in their community should be able to learn from their commitment to each other, and not try to ruin it by physical or emotional harassment. Once again race is being put in a place it does not belong. No person should ever be able to tell someone else who they can, or cannot, be with. This strings out much further than the interracial couples too. The same type of harassment is shown towards gay and lesbian couples. They are people, they pay taxes, they work for a living, they can date who they please. I’m not sure why people seem to think they have the authority to step in where they are not welcome. Let people live their own lives while you live yours.
So to all the people out there that think they are better than anyone else, or think that their race is superior, you are an idiot. I hope that one day someone will stick their nose into your business and try to destroy something that you have simply because they don’t think you should be with that person.
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Stories like this one about Brian Milligan are horrible and depressing to read. You would think by now that interracial couples would be acceptable, especially with the younger generation, but clearly this is not true in all cases. A group of black guys almost killed a white man for dating a black girl. Brian Milligan could probably be the least racist person that group of black guys would know, because he actually was happily dating a black girl. You think we would be much more likely to hear a story about a group of black guys ganging up on a white guy for making racist comments about a black person, not for dating one.
A white woman from my town recently went through a divorce and eventually began dating a black man. I’m from a small rural town, so it’s about 99% white people, and word spreads fast. I’ve heard people making comments like, “Rumor is she has a new boyfriend and he’s black,” and I’m just like who really cares? I feel like a lot of people in my town live such sheltered lives and won’t budge from the boxes they’re in, and it can really be annoying to me sometimes. I just want to scream that times are changing and they need to wake up and smell the roses!
I also used to baby-sit for an interracial couple (black and white) and I know two other girls personally that date outside of their race (white and Asian, white and black), but other than that it’s not something that I see often, at least with people I know. Even on campus I usually see white guys and girls together, Asian guys and girls together, etc. I’m sure there are a million interracial couples in the world, but overall it just doesn’t seem like something you see very often while out on the streets, or even in the movies for that matter.
Back to the story, I agree the gang of guys who committed this hate crime need to be locked up simply for the reason that they attempted murder. It doesn’t matter who it is, what the reason was, or what thoughts were running through their heads. It’s the fact they almost killed a person who never even attempted to physically harm them. My best guess is this hate crime spurred from jealously. Maybe one of the black guys liked Nicola Fletcher and got his buddies in on the beating. But no matter what the reason, they all should be serving time behind bars, no questions asked.
Lastly, I couldn’t agree more with the statement that, “You either walk for justice for everyone or you don’t walk at all.” There’s not much more that really bugs me in this world than hypocrisy. If people are going to be against or for something, they need to speak up whether it’s a white, black, brown, or yellow person involved. You can’t shy away from something you strongly believe in just because the person on the other end that needs your help is a different color than you are. If we want to continue taking steps forward and becoming more united, people need to back each other up no matter what race is involved. If not, the favor will never be returned so we’ve got to start somewhere.
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This is completely hypocritical. If anything, we would expect a black man to be beaten by a group of white men for dating a white girl. That’s the usual scenario that we see. The fact of the matter is that we don’t think outside of the box. For example, we will call whites racist but not any other race. Whites are against everyone in our books, and any person of color or foreign descent could not possibly hate anyone else. Well, here’s your proof. I sympathize with the man because he obviously could not have been racist if he saw love before the color of his girlfriend’s skin. Obviously the other black men who beat him did not see this. They just assumed that he did not belong.
Brian was put in the place that most black men and other foreign people are put in today: the place of a foreign person or person of different color dating a white girl. He was the outcast in this scenario, and he was treated how most whites would treat a black who dated a white girl. It’s completely hypocritical, and I’m not saying it’s a good thing that he was put in this position. I hate the fact that this had to happen to someone who was in love. Love has no boundaries, but like you always say, Sam, strings are always going to be attached. Those black people who beat Brian up are always going to see him as the oddball who needs to stay with his kind.
This plays back into a discussion we had in our recitation. Do people stick with their kind? Why is that? In this case, the people who beat Brian stuck with their kind, and Brian did not stick with his. That’s how they saw him. They never saw him as a man who could have possibly been a great husband and father to Nicola and their children. He was automatically a white man. He never stood a chance. People of different color get to cry “foul” in scenarios like this. What does Brian get to call? Everything is always reversed in the US when it comes to white people. People only see colors as those who are oppressed and whites as the dominant citizens. All I can say is that when situations like these arise, eyes open, and people now know that people or color and foreign descent are not the only ones this can happen to.
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Huuuuuge Issue. The racist cloud follows white people wherever they go. Racists are white. Racists are brown, black, and aquamarine. You can’t likely find one shade of color that doesn’t provide a single racist to the world. So why do we still pick sides? Why don’t people push for an end to racism? not an end to racism… against black people, or asians, or aqua-people.
A white kid was beaten up by black kids for dating a black girl???? The single most productive contribution to ending racism (finding a partner of a different race) and members of the black community didn’t feel initially moved by the story…… realllllllyyy? Two innocent kids in love erasing boundaries and social constraints to show that we are all just human??? Nothin? …. how about a white kid writes a racial slur on the wall of an elementary school bathroom?
—OUTRAGE!!!
By choosing sides we’re fueling racism, not extinguishing it. By the very nature of only supporting the battles of people of your race… that’s racism. Maybe not violent, terrible racism… but racism and absolute hypocrisy.
Hate crimes should be an issue in the eyes of everyone in the community… no matter what races are involved, even if only motivated by selfish or even racist concerns… what if your race is the next to be victimized? End all racism.
… if we weren’t in this together, we would each be somewhere else
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Two months ago, a friend of mine and I decided to meet up after work for some drinks in the city of Philadelphia. We got drinks, walked around the city, and decided to meet up with some of his former, local friends. Within a second of meeting them, it was clear I was unwelcomed. As a white female, in a room full of largely black females, the situation quickly led to some varying threats and harsh words. In accompanying a black man, it was apparent that these individuals were neither open to meeting me and/or understanding my presence. Although ultimately nothing ever arose from the situation, it is the most unjust and unexpected moments of my life.
I feel like hate crimes, in nearly all cases, are an inexcusable portrayal of the ignorance that stills thrives in people today. I have run into some racist individuals, one time of which exposed themselves during a race relations discussion. This individual commented on his underlying disgust for black people; he claimed that calling houses, “hoods” and living in a suburban house in the “ghetto” was an indicator of “black stupidity.” He resented their speech, music, dress, and demeanor. To me, this all sounds identifiable of a culture, not a threat. And although it is obvious racism still exists in even the most unlikely Penn State students, I feel relieved to know that this isn’t the norm today.
Recent legislations was passed early this month in regards to federal hate crimes. The bill was titled the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd, Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act, and it removes some of the unnecessary obstacles that have prevented federal prosecution of being justice to many hate related crimes. Previously the Department of Justice was only has to investigate crimes motivated by religion, color, race, and national origin. This act authorizes investigation and prosecution on “bias-motivated crimes based on the victim’s actual or perceived sexual orientation, gender, gender identity, or disability.” Local and state offences of this nature are often not pursued because of inadequate resources. However, it is hoped that extension of the federal bill will ensure more justice of hate crimes is effectively served.
Although the author suggest that legislation will not fix the issue, which is correct, I do think it brings attention to the issue. I think added legislation, especially today, reminds people that the problem is still present and that individuals can be hurt in response. It is sad that because this was a white male, the issue did not receive as much press as it might have otherwise. Bringing justice to racism is also tied to being justice to people. Color should not contribute to the severity of any hate crime, but the crime itself should speak for the severity.
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It seems that hate crimes always work both ways. There is just racism against black and brown people. The problem is that that is not always the case. There is just as much prejudice towards white people. It is even shown in the case of Brian Milligan. There is prejudice towards many different people from for various reasons whether is is race, gender, sexuality, religion, etc. For this reason laws for hate crimes were created to protect all types of minorities, but these laws don’t seem to protect the majority groups. It is important to protect them as well. Perhaps those groups do not need as much support, but they do deserve the same equality when it comes to hate crimes.
No matter how much we try to prevent prejudice it will exist because no one thinks or looks the exact same way. It cannot be changed and should not be changed. People deserve to express their thoughts without any consequences for it. It is okay to have a different point of view, but knowing the other point of view is equally important because even if you don’t agree, you can at least understand and respect the other opinion. Many people do not like to practice this concept though. People tend to judge harshly and look down upon those who are different in some way. This is where hate stems from. It roots in lack of understanding and knowledge. Eventually, majority and minority groups form in race, religion, etc. Often the majority looks down upon the minority and uses some form of oppression.
This oppression can take form in hate crimes. Many times people have physically and mentally harmed someone who is a minority, and have gotten away with it or even been praised for it. It is nothing new. It has existed as long as human beings have existed, and sooner or later the minority rises up and forces the majority to take notice and become more understanding and knowledgeable. This can be seen in the civil rights movement for blacks. As a result, there are now laws regarding hate crimes against minorities. When this happened, people seemed to forget the majority.
For all the oppression minorities faced in the past, some developed a prejudice towards the majority. Crimes against the majority occurred, but some people of the minority thought the only reason the person who committed the crime went to jail because the person was of color while the victim was not. A double standard formed. This is just as unjust as whites slaving blacks. People of color wanted the rights of others to diminish, but that is not a valid idea. It results in digression. Exchanging one majority for another is just as bad. People need to take responsibility for their actions no matter skin color, religion, or sexuality. Do not put up a double standard. Don’t take the way the rights of someone else even though he/she may have done the same to you in the past.
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I think that this is one of the most ridiculous issues that Americans talk about. The United States as a whole is ignorant to this issue. Everyone has prejudices and feelings in the world towards a different race for reasons that are unknown. It could be a part of a person’s upbringing, in which they are raised to have hatred for a specific ethnic group, or plain ignorance. I would want immediate justice if this happened in my family. If some drove by and threw rocks at my house because they didn’t like the color of my skin, I would have police searching the city for all possible members of the act 24 hrs a day. Racism happens daily and the country needs to stop being ignorant to it. Right off the bat, I have to say, black people want to be treated as equals yet when there is a black women dating a white guy, all of these black guys get upset and beat the crap out of the white guy. If I wanted to be treated equal with another group, the last thing I would want to do is get into stupid little fights like what happen in Buffalo with that couple. This is such a sad story and I hate to hear things like this happening, but reality is that things like this happen all of the time. According to Sam’s definition “believing that some person or group is superior or inferior than another person or group because of some identifiable physical characteristics that they cannot change,” is such a good example of exactly what happened in this case. And it is true that these types of hate crimes are amongst the most egregious forms of racism. When talking about hate crimes I think that the laws for them should apply to everyone and no one should have any concern because people want to be treated as equals. I believe that this issue is much more than just black and white. The same thing can be applied to homosexuals. This is a topic that proves my point about treating everyone equal. Personally I don’t think that being homosexual is right, I don’t think that they should be able to get married, because in my opinion, being gay is your choice and since you were not born gay you shouldn’t have any extra privileges. Just because I don’t believe in rights for homosexuals, that doesn’t mean I don’t like them as people. That also doesn’t mean that I want to fight them just because of their sexuality. Something needs to change in the world, because what is going on is not acceptable. The laws that are in place now, obviously aren’t working, so whatever they need to change needs to needs to come sooner rather than later because more and more people keep on getting hurt.
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I firmly believe that hypocrisy is one of the most frustrating things that we as humans can experience during our lifetime. We live in a world where standards and rules seem to be the only thing that keeps us from killing off everybody. When things don’t line up, like when people won’t stand up for this white guy who was clearly the victim of a hate crime, we grow farther apart from each other. We lose part of our ability to bridge the gaps in our society.
Are white people the only one’s who hate? I thought that that was an awesome point that was brought up in the posting. Most everyone will admit that they hate something. It’s not a very flattering emotion but the fact is that almost every person has hate for one or more things. The definition of hate is not something that is standard but in this story the hate that was felt for this white guy was strong enough that it was manifested into what was almost a murder. From the rudimentary facts presented in the posting it is made apparent that this is a crime committed out of hate. As ignorant as it is, there were clearly motives behind the action and they directly were related to the races between the two parties.
I didn’t start asking myself the hard questions until I read the part about how no civil rights activists were involved. For someone like Jesse Jackson or Al Sharpton to not get involved in this matter and exert their influence is truly unfortunate and undermines their status as a civil rights activist. It makes them look more like ‘black civil rights activists which at first glance looks like an oxymoron. If you were to call yourself a “black civil rights activist” what does that say about your definition of civil rights in the first place? It’s whole other thing though to only have opinions on the civil rights of one group of people. They’re called civil rights for a reason; they belong to everyone. Reading that neither of these two icons in this field had anything meaningful to say about this matter really hurts the system and does nothing good for our country and the betterment of humanity.
Even reading the quote by the black minister about his reaction to the white father’s plea to find who nearly murdered his son, it didn’t feel like the same reaction he would have had had it been a black guy and his black father calling out for justice. Maybe I’m assuming too much. But it just came off that this was uncharted territory for him and there wasn’t as much of a ‘call to arms’ for him.
Hypocrisy is the kind of thing that makes you cringe and will eat at you until you can vent your disgust with other people. It’s a tough pill to swallow.
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The events of this story, are truly a shame and definitely runs along a very thin line of being very hypocritical. From the moment I read this blog I never thought “oh, he is white, it is OK” but I immediately thought that it was wrong from the very beginning, regardless if African American men were the culprits of the crime. At the end of the day, wrong is wrong, and someone should not be treated less than fairly or less harsh because they are a minority group.
The fact that the African American group of men decided to take matters into their own hands, and attack a man who only wanted to spend time with his girlfriend is ignorant and quite sad. Although, all the facts of the story are not out I don’t feel as if there is any justification that can be made as to why they would attack an innocent man, regardless of race, religion, or creed.
I must say that it also frightens me that people can be so shallow and not choose to help a man who was attacked just because he was a white American. At the end of the day, he was the victim and no one paid him any mind until one person decided to make a stand. However, had it been one of our own a “black” man that had been attacked, people would have been rallying to support him the minute the incident occurred. Nonetheless, although people finally did come out and support the young man the big names such as Al Sharpton and Jesse Jackson were not there and that is quite ironic, due to the fact that they are civil rights leaders, not black leaders. Their jobs are to advocate for everyone who have been mistreated due to their differences, and we can clearly recognize that the young man who was attacked was attacked due to his skin color which is different from his assailants.
In a day and age when we think we may be progressing into a nation that can finally love one another as equals situations like these bring us steps away from equality and freedom, and only leads us into another detour. As Americans, there is no reason why we should not be able to be friends with, date, or interact with others from different racial groups and backgrounds. I cannot help but think how ironic it truly is that years ago the same men who beat up the young white man would have been killed if they even so much as winked at a white woman. However, it seems as though even though we protested, desegregated our schools and made many strides we still have not been able to break away from those setbacks and ignorant ideas of the past.
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The article “Hate Crimes, Free Speech, and Hypocrisy” is disturbing but unfortunately it is reality. This is just one example of the several hate crimes that occur everyday in society. These crimes can range from smaller things such as “dirty looks”, to threatening words, to much more severe things such as physical damage to another human being. Although some of these things are obviously worse than others, they are all crimes and forms of hatred from one person to another person. So why do these “bullies” inflict this mental and physical anguish on others? Why do they think it is necessary or morally acceptable to do things like this? And why they think that they can get away with these unforgiveable acts? There is no correct way to answer these questions and there is NO acceptable reason or excuse for any of these crimes. Everyone is their own individual person and thinks on their own. These personal thoughts or experiences are the things that encourage someone to do something so carelessly. Every one has their own motives behind their actions.
While some people may simply have been born into a family that promotes this type of behavior, others have motives that may come from past behavior. Certain people hold grudges that they will never release. If they see something occur, or go through an experience, this changes their perspective on a certain aspect in life forever. So how do they release their anger? Through these hate crimes. They feel that inflicting pain upon others is acceptable and necessary. But in reality, they are degrading someone to make themselves feel better. Simply put, these people are insecure. These acts of hatred NEED to come to an end. While some people are being punished because of their actions, not everyone is. Some people are not caught and others do not undergo the amount of time they should for their actions. They will not learn, especially when others around them are promoting this.
A way to try to end this is to educate people more, although everyone should already know what is morally wrong and right. People need to realize that the same laws are applied to everyone in society no matter what race. As an example, just because an individual black person was degraded by a white person once in their life does not mean they can come back and conflict pain on that person or any other person for that matter. Hypocrisy with this topic needs to come to an end. In the post, it was said that a young, white male, Brian Milligan, was bet up by black males because he had a black girlfriend. They physically hurt him so bad that he was in the hospital. So why did the black members in his community still not support or want to help Brian? Is it because he was white? This actually may be the case in many of the black males’ opinions. Hypocrisy with race makes situations so much worse than they need to be. If people come together and this hypocrisy dies down, so will the crimes and discrimination in society.
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I have to say that I find this article, about a hate crime being committed against a white man for being in an interracial relationship, very interesting. So many times we are bombarded with images in the media, of acts of hate and violence against many different groups, including African Americans, Middle Easterners, Hispanic Americans, and gays. It’s intriguing to see a hate crime being committed against a white person, since they do not appear to happen as often.
That being said, I strongly believe that hate crimes no matter who is being targeted, are very wrong. People try to justify there anger for another group by lashing out at a member of that group causing them great harm. No matter if you are black, white, brown, or purple every person deserves to be treated as a human being. Seeing this young man brutally attacked simply because he happens to be in love with a woman from a different race, saddens me. I mean what has this guy really done wrong? If you were to consider it, the only thing that he did do wrong was fall in love with a woman. In that case I think every man has done something wrong, including me. You would think that in the year two-thousand and nine, in one of the most diverse nations on the planet that people could be able to see past color lines. Instead we continue to have instances of complete and utter hate against each other. I can not believe that people could not have just left these two alone. The two of them dating, has no effect whatsoever on anybody else’s life outside of there families, so why should anyone else care? Some people just need to get over there very racist beliefs. If they would have simply looked at this couple as human beings, then maybe they would have realized that these are two people who love each other, regardless of anything else. We should not let something as small as skin color dictate who we can and cannot love. As Sam has said in his lectures, we are all 99.99 percent alike. It’s only that small 00.01 percent that determines the outward differences that we see when we look at each other. Maybe if the people who attacked him had realized this, then maybe they would have thought twice about assaulting him. It was just as wrong for these young men to attack him as it was for so many whites who used to and still do attack other minorities. These attackers should be brought to justice for what they have done. We cannot move forward if we keep acting like we did in the past.
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I don’t want to say this doesn’t surprise me, but, it doesn’t really surprise me. Hate crimes happen every day even if we don’t realize it. I’ve never been the victim of a hate crime and I’ve never committed one but I’ve seen and read enough stories. For example, I don’t think hate crimes are always about “race.” My brother hated my cousin’s boyfriend, who was white (we’re all white also). But we’re Irish and he was Polish, so of course he had to start with Polish hate comments, I guess to explain why he didn’t like him? I don’t know what his intentions were, or why he didn’t really like him but the hate, for whatever reason, turned from an emotion to an action. He completely trashed his car – broken windshield, scratched the paint job, you name it – he did it. So there’s hate within whites and colored people as well. But this story didn’t surprise me that much because a lot of black people do seem to turn their head when “reverse racism” is committed. The church leaders even admitted to not really paying attention to what had happened or even looking for the culprits until the parents of the victim pleaded with them. But if it were the opposite? If a black guy was dating a white girl, from a predominately white neighborhood, and a group of white people attacked him to that point, or even just a few exchanged words, there would be a huge problem. That’s what makes me so mad. I feel like in this specific story, these people were more focused on the races of the people involved rather than the well-being and the harm that was done. Things like this are what sticks in people’s heads too. For white people who already have racist feelings or hate for other races or backgrounds, this will only fuel their fire and prove their point. They’re not going to focus on a story where the black boy helped the old white woman cross the street, or picked up a little white girl who fell. They’re going to remember this the same way if it were reversed – if this was a black guy with a white girl – that the black or colored community would remember and cry foul. I don’t understand how some people can be so hypocritical – especially church leaders! At least they have the courage to admit that they were wrong in not giving it the attention it deserved but I don’t think it should’ve taken as long as it did. People are people and one a person is maliciously hurt – race shouldn’t matter, help the victim and punish the person in the wrong. Period.
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This story is so upsetting to me in so many ways. The fact that any person could beat someone to death in the first place, is just scary, but because he was white, dating a black girl is just wrong. I do not see anything wrong with dating someone of another race, and to think that someone could be so passionately against it, to the point that they want to kill another person, makes me sad. If they cannot accept interracial relationships, they should just try their best to ignore it. They have absolutely no right to involve themselves in a stranger’s life. Did they honestly think that by beating Brian up, they would be making a difference in the world and people would stop interracially dating? I would like to know if they were connected in any way, or if they were just complete strangers. Because if they were complete strangers, do these individuals go around and beat up every white person they see with a black girl? Perhaps this is an issue of the black people thinking Brian was stealing one of their girls away from them. Even so, that is a ridiculous excuse. Everyone has the freedom to date whomever they want, and they should not be scared for their lives every time they leave their home. I firmly believe that people love each other for who they are as a person, not because of their skin color.
I am also bothered by the fact that no one immediately tried to help his family find the people who were responsible. If people such as Al Sharpton and Jesse Jackson who consider themselves to be human rights activists, can’t stand up for Brian, then who will? I find it pathetic that leaders cannot set the correct example, and will continue to discriminate hate crimes based on skin color or race. It is so messed up that they did not protest this hate crime, when they have done so for instances of the opposite situation. This just sends out the wrong message to everyone. In addition, I cannot believe that Reverend Darius Pridgen admitted to not being affected by the story because the victim was not black. It rubs me the wrong way that he only started to feel bad when he saw the victim’s father’s pain. I cannot fathom that anyone would not be saddened by this story.
Yes, the immediate thought that comes to my mind when I think about hate crimes, is that a white man probably beat a black man, and not vise versa. However, now after reading this story, I hope I will not be quick to make that assumption. Hate crimes truly go either way, and no hate crime should be tolerated.
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Its really sad that were still in a world where people act like barbarians because of racism.This is a simple case of people from one racial group going after another racial or different group.And I think they made there point clear.They were not happy with a white man dating a black women.So what do they do? They gang up and physically hurt him in many ways. Hopefully the kid that got hurt is ok.But,really to gang up on a kid because he was dating someone out of his own race. Personally,I just think its time for some people to grow up a litt;e bit.I mean this for all races,It should matter anymore weither your black white brown orange or green.Going back to this story, at what point would these black criminals think that it’s enough? What good comes out of beating up Milligan? I think that it all roots from jealousy. I don’t think that it’s just that they’re against interracial relationships, because if a black male and a white female were dating I don’t think they would have the same reaction. It’s almost as if they feel like their options are being taken from someone they don’t feel is good enough. However, that is hypocritical in itself. This proves that Milligan is better than these black criminals, because while he is following what he feels is right, they’re acting out violently and they should be brought to justice.
So I see it both ways. I read the article about the white man who got attacked by a black man, and experienced my white sister get attacked by a white man – all because of peoples’ inabilities to accept their interracial relationship. The way I see it – since I’ve seen both races commit hate crimes – is that if either one of them were to speak out against the other race committing them, it’d be hypocrisy. I believe hypocrisy is the one thing that holds us back from making changes in our country and our culture. Pointing out one race’s hatred for your race means nothing if you’ve shown your hatred for their race. We have to acknowledge the problem and work towards a more united country of different races. As of now, there seems to be an underlying pull that says people should only date within their race. I disagree with this. I’m dating outside my race, and my Indian boyfriend couldn’t be more perfect for me. It has nothing to do with his skin color or place of origin. The way he treats me and his personality are all that matters.But I guess that’s how I think because I was brought up in a non racist family, but some people who grow up have racist parents and then that’s how they act because that’s how their parents acted. But still do this day I think America is generally racist and that’s about it.
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I am biracial. My mother is White and my father is Asian. All my life I’ve attended international schools overseas and so a larger portion of my friends were also biracial. My school was home to students from a large spread of different countries. “Where are you from?” was probably our least favorite question. While some of us were mutts, some of us held citizenships completely different from our parents, and some grew up fluently speaking languages completely different from their nationality, we all had a common factor of being severely confused and stumped when it came to such simple questions like this one. The sister questions of “Where are you from,” “Where is home?” “What nationality are you?” were similarly welcomed with silent groans. It seemed we were unable to answer any of these questions without three, if not four, sentences. At my school, mixes were considered to be a “cool” thing, something many were envious of if they were only one race. Dating someone from a different race was almost the norm, and it would never have crossed anybody at my school’s mind that it could be wrong or taboo in any way. If did raise any eyebrows, it was most definitely in a positive way. This is the world I grew up in. So when I read about Brian Milligan’s struggle and suffering, simply because he was dating a black girl, I was not only outraged, but I was more perplexed than anything else. It just makes no sense to me.
To imagine my mother and father’s union being denied and disapproved of pains me. Although perhaps this concept is not as farfetched as I think it may be. When my mother told my grandmother about marrying my Asian father, I would like to believe he was welcomed with open arms. While my grandmother, a rather eccentric and modern woman, was thrilled and accepting of my father, even she could not go without warning my mother about Asian men and how they must expect their women to be “subservient” and “obedient.” She indirectly stated her worriment over the possibility of my mother losing her “independence,” a quality American women proudly wear around their necks. This does not nearly compare to Milligan’s brutal beating, but on a very small scale, a slightly similar prejudice, precaution, and uneasiness was experienced in my parent’s case.
I would like to believe, because of my background as I mentioned earlier, I am accepting of all unions, regardless of race. However, I am ashamed to say this isn’t true. I grew up in Asia all my life, and I am very familiar with a phenomenon that has happened for centuries, that still clearly continues today: Western men in search of Asian women – yellow fever. I am surrounded by it. Typically, I see unattractive, old, White men walking the streets with their small, pretty, sort of trashy, Asian girlfriend draped around their arms. Immediately, I assume a few things, 1. The girl wants his money 2. The girl wants this superior Western man to give her more than she ever thought she would have 3. The Western man has yellow fever, knows he can get an Asian girl because he is White and rich. This is a very outdated way of thinking, I have to admit. I am far from proud to be admitting to be thinking any of this and it is unfair of me to dub all relationships involving a Western man and an Asian woman to be of this type of nature. But we all have our prejudices, ranging in extents, depending on our backgrounds. Like in Brian Milligan’s case, these outdated stereotypes and feelings toward mixed race dating, lead to incidents like the violence Milligan was subjected to. Hopefully, all it takes is a few more decades, maybe a century or two, and slowly but surely we will lose these problematic mind sets about interracial dating.
[Reply]
[...] post is from here. Visit the link to read more.In fact, this case was brought to the attention of the black community [...]
[...] post is from here. Visit the link to read more.In fact, this case was brought to the attention of the black community [...]
[...] post is from here. Visit the link to read more.In fact, this case was brought to the attention of the black community [...]
[...] post is from here. Visit the link to read more.In fact, this case was brought to the attention of the black community [...]
[...] post is from here. Visit the link to read more.In fact, this case was brought to the attention of the black community [...]
[...] post is from here. Visit the link to read more.In fact, this case was brought to the attention of the black community [...]
[...] post is from here. Visit the link to read more.In fact, this case was brought to the attention of the black community [...]
[...] post is from here. Visit the link to read more.In fact, this case was brought to the attention of the black community [...]
Reading this blog makes me realize how ridiculous people can still act today just because two different races want to date. These black men that beat the shit out of Brian Milligan are ridiculous since they only did it because he is a white man dating a black woman. These groups of black men probably take Milligan dating Nicola Fletcher as ‘taking one of their women away from them.’ I know when I look at my boyfriend I never think about his race or anything physical about him; I only think about how much I care about him because of how he treats me and how well our personalities mesh. I feel as if this couple feels the exact same way, it does not truly matter what a person looks like in order to care about them and all that really matters is how that person makes you feel. Due to the fact that these black groups would threaten Milligan for dating an African American woman is racist to me. What is wrong with a man and a woman of different races dating? The ignorance that is portrayed by these types of ‘hate crimes’ is unrealistic to me since I thought that America has flourished over the past few decades when it comes to racism. For what reason did this group of black men truly need to beat up a white man just because he is dating a white woman? Being threatened by various black men for “being in the wrong place” and “being with the wrong girl” shows how vulnerable they must truly feel that white men are going to start dating black women. Racism can be defined as “believing that some person or group is superior or inferior to another person or group because of some identifiable physical characteristics that they cannot change,” which shows why these black men felt susceptible to a white man being able to take over what is through of as being “theirs.” I feel as if there are many more instances where black men date white women rather than white men dating black women, and I feel as if white men do not normally feel as if they are being dominated by black men and feel as if these black men are “with the wrong girl.” Also, just thinking about how this group of men ganged up on one man is ludicrous due to the fact that how is one man going to be able to put up a fight when he is being backed into a corner by a gang of men. It is obvious that he would not be able to fend for himself. It just shows that these black men may have had a strong opinion that races should only date their own race (or at least only blacks should date blacks because they probably do not truly care about other races) but that is not their choice. We all have the ability to choose who we want to date and what we want to do with our lives, and we should not be punished for these innocent actions.
[Reply]
[...] post is from here. Visit the link to read more.In fact, this case was brought to the attention of the black community [...]
I was so stunned to read about a man was almost beaten to death because of who he was dating. It seems so unbelievable for this day in age because these are acts that are so shamed upon. The idea of two people from different cultures can be “talked about” or looked down on but, the beating seems so 1950’s. I guess that doesn’t seem like that long ago but for me it does.
I agree with Sam’s post about the attackers having to not only pay for their crime but also understand why it happened and WHAT WERE THEY THINKING?? This man who seriously hurt and seems like a lot of hate came from these people. All of this hate needed to come from a deeper place than just two people dating. There is definitely something else that was brewing in these men that made them almost kill a stranger.
This makes me think if we all have this deep hatred that could arise out of us at anytime. So I could actually be a big hypocrical and say that I am not one of these people. But honestly who really knows just because I do not feel it now doesn’t mean I won’t eventually?
Another good point that Sam brings up is the fact that white and black both commit hate crimes but, how do we deal with it when it’s the other side? The white guilt could be linked to this problem (it doesn’t mean it is right ) but makes the situation a bit awkward.
I took a Martin Luther King class last semester and I must say that I got a good glimpse into what was occurring in the 50’s and 60’s. There was a great amount of white guilt that came over me (which was not the intent of teacher) but seems inevitable. Even though it was not me, I felt like it was me who did it. Maybe the black community feels like this guilt over themselves for the event. Do they then become biased for siding with one side or another? Condemning their own people for this crime or stick with their own people.
There is no easy answer for today especially with the election of President Obama. Race issues and hate were suppose to just disappear it seemed like from the media. It is not so. I think there is a lot of hate in the US that will continue to brew. Even if it’s not black vs. white.
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Hate Crimes, Free Speech, and Hypocrisy
The story about Brian Milligan is truly disturbing. He did nothing wrong, and yet he is getting abused for it. It is scary that is the world we live in today. In a supposedly “free” country, a man is getting beaten and abused for loving a girl of color. You would think we would have moved past that by now. Apparently not. Obviously there are always extremists, but it is pathetic for a man to get beaten up because he likes a woman of color. Its absurd. I don’t want anyone to think I am shocked by this, I’m really not, but I just don’t understand why and how people could still have a problem with this. Not to mention the fact that this was in Buffalo, NY, and not somewhere in the south.
Something needs to be done to curb this behavior. This shouldn’t be going on in the year 2009. I think we have learned enough over the years to realize that whites and people of color are just that, people. You hear too many stories of kids getting made fun of because they are children of mixed racial parents. Why? What’s the big deal? To some, it is a big deal for some reason. Clearly these people are uneducated and ignorant, but that still doesn’t make all of the hate acceptable.
As Sam pointed out, it is odd that there is a lack of attention and outrage. You have heard very little, if anything at all on this incident, and there has been virtually no activists singling out this incident. When a Massachusetts man was improperly arrested in his own house, there was national outrage. President Obama stated his disappointment and feelings on the matter. This instance got no national attention. In a case where it should have been arguably given more attention, it got virtually none. Why couldn’t activists use this case as an example? In my opinion, this is probably worse than the incident in Massachusetts. Someone was getting physically abused for dating a girl. Someone was getting hurt, physically and needed severe medical treatment, and yet no coverage or outrage. There is something fishy about this story.
If all of these activists are all for equality, why not make an example on this story. This is an example of people actually ACTING on their hate and being open about it. Something obviously needs to be done. As Sam stated, the constitution says that no matter how dumb or ignorant someone may be, they are free to speak their minds. But when someone acts on these thoughts, that is where the line needs to be drawn. In this case, it certainly wasn’t. An example needs to be made and something needs to be done to help shape these extremists’ thinking.
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Why are we still having a problem with interracial dating in 2009? Why can’t someone genuinely love someone of another race and it be accepted? Love is LOVE and that’s the business of those directly involved! The story in which the young white male was nearly beaten to death really upsets me because he obviously did nothing wrong. I understand that we all have the freedom of speech and to think whatever the hell we like, however, when you use those thoughts to do physical damage to others it’s a serious problem! It is unfortunate that black prominent figures like Rev. Al Sharpton and Jesse Jackson have not stepped up to defend the young male involved in this hate crime. The fact of the matter is this man was the victim and it shouldn’t matter the color of his skin. I also agree that if we are going to preach justice we should preach it for all. Unfortunately, the world doesn’t work like that and I feel like it’s going to be some time before we see those actions come to pass, which is sad. When will people learn that violence does not solve any problem, it only makes it worse. I feel like even speaking negative thoughts about someone else’s relationship when it comes to race is pure ignorance. I agree that racism does not only exist in the white community, it exists in the African American community as well. I also believe these guys who did the deed need to be held accountable for their actions whether it is through jail or some other form of punishment. I have a little cousin who is 16 and she is dating a white boy. I would hate for them to encounter a situation like this. Yes, there will be stupid remarks made but this world is crazy and people are taking action in a negative way and I’m afraid for them. I’m just tired of these hate crimes or any crime for that matter. Too many people are dying over stupid and petty situations. There are many races on this earth and that’s not going to change. I just wish we could live with that and get along as human beings. At the end of the day we are all human and we are entitled to our feelings. You cannot help who you love and you should not be punished for it. People need to grow up and just get over it. Here is what I have to say to people who have a problem with interracial dating, “If you don’t like it, go to hell!”
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Imagine a world with no hate crimes, no harsh words, and no hypocrisy.
Keep on imagine, because it is not our world. We are living a world where it is so polluted with countless number of issues and tribulations. We seek for equal rights to all people, but none of us is willing to back down. We often ask “How could this happen?” but we are never humble enough to realize that we could be the sources of the problems. In other words, when we seek for a better world, we must begin with ourselves, we must become better people. I believe that everyone makes mistakes, so I do believe in forgiveness. However, I also believe in the importance of the realization of wrongdoings. For the better of a community, the leaders need to stand up and do the right things by loudly denouncing the wrongful acts. When people seek for equal treatment from other people, they must also strive to treat everyone with respect. When they want other people to break the walls of hatreds, they cannot build walls of their own. It is very unfortunate and shameful for me to admit being a part of a country that claim to have the motto of “all men have equal rights to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.” Is this statement really true about our country? I’m not asking this question because I’m on the brown people’s team because we can clearly see what had happened in this story. White people are not free from discrimination, prejudice, or racism either. In this case, no one is really at faults by himself or herself but everyone is at faults. It takes everyone to make this mess and it will take everyone to clean it up. However, the problem that we have is that some are blinded from the situation and they are just pointing the fingers at others. Why do we expect other people to change the way that they are if we ourselves are not willing to do it. It is always so easy to talk about the problem and to critically think about what happened and how it happened. The harder part is to recognize that we are a part of the problem and what can we do to make things better. Today, a white man is being persecuted for being in love with a girl of a different race. Isn’t this same incident happened about three decades ago except with black males and white girls? If we often look back and regrets certain parts of history and wish that it had never happened in the first place, then why are we repeating it? There are no differences in my eyes of what happened during the slavery period compared to now. Isn’t this a shame? A shame to all beings who proudly proclaim themselves as being a American.
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The topic of racial hypocrisy discussed in this article jumped out at me this week while I was looking through race relations project. The story of the white man getting jumped and beaten nearly to death because he was dating a black woman is of course a tragedy but the repercussions shed light on the problem with reverse racial inequality in this country. If the roles were switched in this case and it was a black man beaten to near death for dating a white woman there would be outrage on the streets; Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton would be all over the TV “preaching” about the racial inequalities in our county and being the voice for the collective “black man.” Where were they in this case? Why was there no special on 60 minutes explaining the case to the public? Is it ok that this man got beaten in an obvious racial attack because he is white? Sure, throughout our countries history there have been many cases of racial violence towards blacks. But we can’t make the mistake of looking at situations like this as “payback” of some kind. Our countries history has been tarnished by the racism of ignorant white men who were too afraid of blacks to let them be equal. If we ever want to truly get over the racial tensions that separate us all it needs to be known that attacks like this are just as unacceptable as if the roles were switched. I can see that this is what needs to be done, but my voice doesn’t ring loud enough to actually make a difference in cases like this. It should be the responsibility of people with an influence in the black community such as Al Sharpton and Jesse Jackson to come out publicly and shame the people that carried out this attack. Let these cowards know that they are not your brothers, speak to them directly and tell them that they shame the black race and all the work done by pioneers such as Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcom X during the Civil Rights movement. The problem is that this would never happen. Al Sharpton is not Martin Luther King; he is a racist bigot whose goal is to bring down the white race. Not to say if it were a battle of races that whites wouldn’t deserve it given the history. But in this day and age we shouldn’t be trying to battle amongst ourselves, we should be trying to live peacefully together. We now identify the problems with racism that has existed throughout history and if we don’t try and make thing truly equal among people of different races we haven’t learned anything really.
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This is an incredibly interesting story. I agree with the comment that when someone hears the word “racist” generally people think one is referring to a white person. This is not the case often, but I know that when I hear someone say a person is racist, I generally do think that they are referring to a white person. This story is very sad, but to be honest, it does not surprise me. Our society today is more accepting of interracial relationships, but there are a lot of people that strongly oppose of these relationships. Obviously this story exemplifies that. It’s a sad truth that some people believe it to be wrong that two people of different races can fall in love. Race should never have to be an issue, especially for falling in love.
I do agree with the statement about hypocrisy as well. I think it is interesting that when a white man is beaten for loving a black woman, no one is quick to shout that it is a hate crime. Instead, people turn a blind eye to it and it becomes just another victim of a violent act. If a white person had beaten a person of color because they loved a white woman, the news would be frantic over it and call it a hate crime immediately. I have never heard of a hate crime in which a white person was the victim before. I just find it interesting. I also found it to be very fascinating that Rev. Darius Pridgen did mention this to a congregation. I think that a lot of people never really think about the fact that sometimes racism and hate crimes do actually happen to white people. Hate crimes and racist actions are not caused by only white. People of all races commit hate crimes and racism. It is just often many people associate these with only white people committing them. This is a view that needs to be corrected.
It is sad when our society claims that it is making great strides towards racial equality and then something like this happens. It just shows how ignorant and racist people can be. I have a Latino brother-in-law and the thought that he was Latino has never entered my mind. To me, he is part of my family now. To see such blatant racism over a white guy dating a black woman is sad and troubling. No one should ever have to go through the pains or worries that this couple went through. The fact that he was hospitalized strengthens the notion that society is not getting better, it is only getting worse. I realize that this is just one instance, but even one instance is one too many. Injustices like this need to be stopped and people need to learn that race should not be an issue.
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After I read this article I was very thoughtful of my own actions and the people around me and I would think that those kinds of discriminatory acts would not happen as often because of the diverse place we live in. What happen to Brian Milligan and his girlfriend Nicola Fletcher is an extreme case of discrimination and hypocrisy. We are not in the time where races could not get mixed because of society’s view, now it is normal to fall in love with someone who is completely or even close to have the same culture and ethnicity as you. Different features are always more attractive to those who are used to see a similarity between those of their own race. I believe it is a very immature response to solve what it seems to be a problem for those black guys that attacked Brian Milligan and almost killed him. I do not think that the rule of being in the wrong place and with the wrong people applies to this specific case. They had gotten some signs that the people in the neighborhood did not like their relationship because of the different colors they have in their skin, consequently they believed they could change something by their own hands. I understand that like any other race we are attached to those roots and we will always do anything to protect those who are considered part of “ours.” Lately we cannot call only those of similar color part of our family because if they want to be black and they are white they can certainly be black. Like we learn in one of the past lectures, we can change those invisible strengths and become of any culture we would like. Going back to the case of the assault to Brian Milligan and the hypocrisy of people denying that the attempts were part of a racial discrimination act when there is more than speculations about it. Trying to cover it as any other common crime of a gang will not resolve any conflict that needs to be addressed about racial discrimination. That only makes it seemed like something like that would never happen when in reality, regardless of the time and events that had happen until now to eliminate any kind of discrimination. I think this is the perfect example of what the outcome of what society prejudice and ignorance can do. In today’s world there should not be any more racial discrimination because it has been proven that no one has a superior race and that we can’t classify races. As for black people they should be judged either by one person acting like this, and this is all the result of an impulse of someone that had the wrong idea of what is race.
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I can’t believe a group of people just beat one person so brutally just because of their hateful mind towards a certain ethnic group. I think this action is not acceptable at all; furthermore, I think those who used that brutal violence deserve severe punishment. Their use of unreasonable violence should be penalized because there is nothing wrong with a white guy dating with a black girl friend. It might trigger some uncomfortable feelings inside of African-American guys if the white guy abuses his black girl friend or makes some disrespectful comments or actions regarding her race. But the article says they were in love before the violence happened. This indicates that the white guy was nice to his black girl friend and I don’t see why the unprotected white guy had to be beaten by black males. In Korea, there was a quite similar, but different event between Korean guys and Japanese guys. A Japanese guy teased a Korean girl in the local bus. Watching how that Japanese guy teased the Korean girl with some insulting statements, angry Korean guys committed a very similar violence to that Japanese guy. At that time, Japanese were dominant ethnic group because the Japanese people invaded Korea and practice imperialism in Korea. That was a huge issue of the history and I believe the Japanese guy deserved the violence from Korean guys not because I’m Korean but that Japanese guy did the wrong thing to Korean girl who is weak minority at that time. But in this case, I don’t see anything wrong, especially the White male and Black female were in love. Back to what happened between Japanese guy and Korean guys, Korean guys certainly had extremely negative attitude towards any Japanese people and observing a Japanese guy teasing a Korean girl can be justifiable hate violence because it was the Japanese guy who began the wrong action. However, the Korean guys were severely punished for beating up the Japanese guy no matter what the beginning reason was because the Japanese people had a total control over police and judicial system. In this way, I was able to make a connection to what happened in my country in the past when suppressed minority people met an opportunity to release their anger towards dominant group of people. But, again, a white guy dating out with a minority girl can never be an acceptable reason for expressing anger. African-American guys may have had cumulative emotional hatred towards White people, but one White man should not be victimized by those Black guys. The African-American guys said the white guy was in a “wrong” place with a “wrong” girl. This is not true. There is no “wrong” place to be, and no “wrong” person to be with.
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I know that the article “Hate Crimes, Free Speech, and Hypocrisy” is a little outdated and may be old to write a journal too but I believe I have missed it when I was browsing through the topics. Another reason why it was interesting was because we were talking about this in our group discussion meeting on Tuesday. First of all no one should be beaten up almost to death because they are dating a person from a difference race or culture. It’s the same as two gay guys or two lesbians dating and normal people would beat them because it goes against their view. If the couple loves each other they should enjoy their lives together and not have to worry about third party views. It’s a free country as every American says. Whenever you ask a person what it means for them to be American, a lot of the times they reply freedom. What kind of freedom is there when a white guy gets beat up because he is dating an African American woman. That’s not any freedom from my side. Also groups of friends shouldn’t believe that they can go above the law and think that they will set the whole world straight because they won’t be able to. I’d like to ask the black males that beat this poor white guy up one question. That question would be: what would you do, or how would you feel about this beating if you fell in love with a person from another race? Simply backing themselves up they would reply that they would never even lay their eyes on a person from a different race, but you never know. There is a lot of lies in today’s world.
The second point I’d like to bring up on this topic is from our discussion group. We came down to a conversation that was about interracial relationships and how our parents would react if we brought someone else home of a different race. We went around in a circle and everyone replied. I was really surprised on how many people said that if someone of a different background was brought to their home, their parents would not approve in the beginning and things would be very awkward. Adding to that which surprised me was that when students said that they don’t care what their parents have to say. They said the relationship is in for them and no one else. That is very true and I’d be pretty positive that almost everyone would agree with me on that. But on the other side there were people who said they wouldn’t even bring a person from a different background home because their parents wouldn’t approve. I would fall into that category. I simply believe that they are old fashioned and need to change because everything around them is changing.
[Reply]
[...] post is from here. Visit the link to read more.In fact, this case was brought to the attention of the black community [...]
[...] post is from here. Visit the link to read more.In fact, this case was brought to the attention of the black community [...]
Lorelei Russo
“Hate Crimes”
This story was extremely disturbing! The fact that two people cant date without having to worry about what other people think is ridiculous. Then on top of that have to worry about getting the crap beat out of them. Its just absurd the way our world is today. The fact that Brian Milligan, was seen as taking the “black mans woman”. Did it ever occur to anyone that maybe she dated Brian because not only was she attracted to him and loved him but also the fact that maybe she was not satisfied dating her own race. The violence that occurred not only probably reassured her the way certain men can be, but hopefully didn’t scare her enough to change her ways. When I was fifteen I myself too fell in love with someone of another race. Of course being fifteen this was just a simple infatuation or crush as you would have called it years ago. But no one approved of my liking the young black boy. My uncle who is a straight up Italian right off of the boat gave me the most trouble about my simple crush. Being the rambunxious and rebellious fifteen year old that I was, I could care less what everyone else had to say. It was not until I realized for myself that he was not for me, that I stopped seeing him. Of course my example is different then Nicole’s but at the same time without the violence there was pure hate and racism apparent.
People need to realize that we are in a day and age where anything goes is what the world revolves around. We are in a country where “free will, and freedom of speech” is constituted. Then why do we still have all these terrible hate crimes and racist acts going on. If each of us just took sometime to try and do something a day to try and lessen the amount of racism, maybe it would not fix it, but in a sense it would definitely be helping out the people who are faced with these dreadful acts everyday. Not everyone will ever agree with interracial couples, but everyone should at least have the respect to let someone be happy, and if it is with someone of a different race then it shouldn’t cause so much controversy. Happiness is the key to life.
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Interracial Marriage
On first glance its very tempting and easy to be outraged by the journal topic. White judge in the south denies two people the right to get married, and one of these people being people of color, this just sounds like another story of ridiculous racism. As we think we have made progress we can easily see that is not the case. Okay, so this Judge states his ethics for making the decision was protecting the children of offspring, who would have a tough road to go through.
Now Sam brings up the fact that an overwhelming majority of people in class said if they had to they would not adopt a child outside of their personally race and color. Do parallels exist between what was discussed in class and the judge’s decision? I personally believe the only similarity between the two is the fact that both agreed that being the children of interracial parents is a tougher road for a child. However, that is where I personally think the similarities end. When people in class say they would prefer not to adopt outside their race, that is a PERSONAL decision that they have every right in the world to make. In no way did anyone in class state that and mean that they would insist on the fact that all people should not adopt outside their race. In addition, that was a decision of personal preference. None of us are licensed judges who are confirming marriages.
I would be astounded if this Judge in some way shape or form does not lose his job. The decision he made demonstrates an ideology of a state, considering he is an elected official put in that position because people believed he could make the best decisions for society. So he is completely abusing his power. Marriage outside of race has been a legal right that belongs to the individual for years in this country. I just don’t understand how this Judge cannot put his personal bias’s and bigotries outside and perform his duty the way he was elected to do so. This guy must have realized the repercussions that would come with making a decision like this. Did he not believe that anyone would take note of something like this? We live in America, and in America unconstitutionally violating someones rights is a big deal. Especially when it comes with racist implications.
People like this Judge who are in elected positions yet still cannot fulfill their duties like professionals are holding the white race back. We as a race want to make progress with race, but all it takes is typing cnn into your web browser and reality sets back in. People like this judge will not allow us to make progress. The McKay couple deserves and has every right to be outraged with what they experienced. And to be all honest, it was such a disgusting move by the judge that I personally would like to see the McKays find a way to sue the hell out of him and make themselves some money. Yes that’s off the topic, but I just find this move that disgusting.
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Crimes, Free Speech, and Hypocrisy — Race Relations Project? Seriously? I was searching Google for horizon hills jb golf course and found this… will have to think about it.
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I was totally in shock that these forms of racism still exist in American today. I find it absolute crazy that people cannot accept the fact that are going to be interracial couples. The fact that they are so young and people would be taking their relationship, so seriously that they would threaten to beat someone up, or kill them shows a lot about what is going on in society. People need to teach their kids that blacks will be dating whites, and the world is just going to be filled with more people of mixed race. The part that really caught me off guard was the fact that it was black males that were upset at the white male. I really do not see why black males would be that upset that they would threaten a next guy life. Most interracial couples the males are the one that is dating someone outside of their race. Most educated and successful black males are dating or married to white women, so I do not see why a black man would have a problem when a black woman is dating a white male.
The fact that not one black activist came out to speak about this horrible hate crime is outrageous. If it was, someone who was black that was beaten up almost to death they would have been speaking out hours after the event occurred. The black activist should show that there are about human rights not just civil rights. Al Sharpton not standing up for this case makes him look like a hypocrite because this is obviously a hate crime. I think that if it were white guys that beaten up the black girl Al Sharpton would have caused uproar and had every television channel covering this story.
I personally think that as black people we have to start thinking that racism can go both ways. Some black people feel that they have every right to be racist to white people because of all the things that white people did with them in slavery. The thought of that is ridiculous because racism is wrong both ways. I also think some black people are trying to be superior to whites, so they will do anything to prove that they are better than whites are.
This article also points out a next fact is how young these kids are that are beating kids over a girl. There is something wrong with our society that a young eighteen year old will be willing to be in a relationship with a girl after his life was threaten. I am not saying that this excuse the behavior of the boys it was wrong to beat up a boy.
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If we are supposed to believe in freedom, then why couldn't this couple be together? Why can't people just stop with the hate crimes when they have no right to do them in the first place. Love is something that is deep and it doesn't matter what skin color they have! It's about what's on the inside, not the outside. But most people in this world don't see that. Brian Milligan and Nicola Fletcher had their sense of freedom by recognizing that it doesn't matter what color you are. I think it's outrageous for a group of black males to beat the shit out him for their not so logical reasons. I understand that we see these types of things happen on the news, but what I don't understand is why people who commit these crimes don't mind their own business. It may just be this stereotype of aggressive people who take their own problems out on someone else. But still, that's wrong! From what I understand, this group of males who nearly caused him death only bet him up for him dating someone of their color. That's not a legit reason. Did these guys want to be with Nicola or just didn't approve of her boyfriend? Either way, it's not their business and that doesn't give them the right to do what they did and it's a shame to see these sorts of crimes happen. How could they live their life knowing that they put someone through hell just because of the way he looked and knowing that they can get into serious trouble for doing so? I guess they have no lives and like involving themselves in ridiculous situations to be known. People do these things thinking they can get away with it when in reality, the police, FBI, etc., is after them. Don't they know this? Do they realize that their little hobby of hate crimes can put them in jail? Do they do this because they want to go to jail? Clearly, they don't think at all. Maybe they want to go to jail because they think so much of themselves as a higher power and want people to be scared of them. I believe that the people who commit these crimes are the people who don't have an education and a brain. They should try making the most of their life and learn about things we learn in soc class because then, maybe, they might have a better sense of reality and these scenarios wouldn't happen if they could just realize who they really are. If this were the opposite and a group of white males beat a black guy, how would that turn out? I'm sure there would be a massive fight between two groups of races when really, what are they fighting for? So what if a white male and a black female are dating. It's not like it's the first time it has happen, and why should it matter? It's skin color, that's it. It's no one's fault nor a fault as to who you are. It's something that one should be proud of, we're all different. If every single person on the world was one skin color and looked exactly the same would this kind of stuff still happen? It shouldn't happen now. And it scares me sometimes because it's a crazy world out there and you never know what might actually happen. Some need a tighter grip on reality.
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