Alleged Hate Crime at Santa Monica High School : Hate Crime, Bad Prank, or Hazing?

Sometimes racism chasing can be tricky. Sometimes when I read stories such as the following, I develop an instand screw face, and I'm left wondering was this racism? A professional racism chaser has to be careful throwing out race cards in this post-racial society. I mean, since things are different in America now, nobody wants to throw down a race card egregiously. These days those things are expensive, and then there's that whole credibility thing, and please believe we don't need a Tawana Brawley on our record,

So with that said, lemme know if this was racism, or just a bad prank:

SANTA MONICA, Calif. (KABC) -- Several students at Santa Monica High School may face assault and hate crime charges stemming from accusations made by an African-American classmate.

A black member of the school wrestling team claims he found a brown practice dummy with a noose around its neck when he reported for practice last month.

The student also said he was bear hugged by a couple of teammates, chained to his locker and had racially-charged remarks directed at him.

Santa Monica police said they were informed by the teen and his mother of what allegedly happened in the gymnasium last Wednesday.

Detectives said they have interviewed peopled they believe to have been involved and are continuing their investigation to determine whether it is a hate crime and if assault charges should be filed.

In an email to parents, the school principal said the students allegedly involved in the hazing were suspended and that the entire wrestling team went through sensitivity training.

Santa Monica-Malibu Unified School District board member Oscar de la Torre, a Santa Monica High graduate, questioned why school administrators didn't report the incident to police.

"They should've followed our policy which called for the involvement of the Santa Monica Police Department," de la Torre said. "The other thing that should've been done, they should've notified the parent. I think that was a lapse in judgement on their part."

Students at the high school said everyone usually gets along well.

"It's just sad that kids from our school would do that to a black person," said student Afrikara Washington. "We have black people all around." (source)

I dunno y'all; I'm really conflicted on this one. Was this really a hate crime?

When "Turning the other cheek" is not the answer......

by Joanna

When I was younger, I was constantly bullied by the kids I went to school with. For the longest time, I just impotently screamed and yelled back at my torturers, because I had no idea how else to combat them. I tried to conceal things from my parents, but after one too many times coming home and heading straight to my bedroom to cry, my mother figured out what was going on. She really did not know what to do either.... she had been convinced for many years that fighting was not the answer, and that the best way to deal with a bully was with words, or by walking away and being "the better person". Of course, being "the better person" often caused anxiety and depression, because it left me feeling impotent when it came to protecting myself.

Drink the Piss, Son: A Bully's Golden Comeuppance

¡Hola! I've been very busy with work lately and my back is acting up again, making writing painful -- hence my absence and sparse writing. On the professional front, the good news is that I've been able to save my project (in the short term). The following from one of my contacts (h/t Joe.My.God.) is too rich not to share:

From today's Ask Reddit, which queries the Reddit community on legal issues.

Question: A relative of a close friend helped a school bully drink piss, and now the family is suing. Is he liable?

Background: Relative of a close friend (we'll call him Todd) carried Mountain Dew in his backpack to school every day. For a few weeks, this bully ("Brian") would go in his bag, say fuck you, and drink the Mountain Dew. Fed up with this and being a cunning lad, last Tuesday Todd drinks the Mountain Dew before class, and pisses in the bottle. Brian drank the piss, shat brix, and Todd emerged the victor that day. Now, Brian's family is threatening to sue, claiming Todd endangered Brian's health. Todd's family is apparently shitting and scrambling to collect character references for Todd from teachers, letters from doctors saying urine isn't harmful, and generally thinking their son is a psycho. I applaud Todd and think that he should walk into court holding a bottle of piss, it's freedom of expression, some people like piss filled bottles, but IANAL.

Edit: The school became aware of the incident when it happened. I believe Todd was suspended for a short period of time. The principal is actually instructing Brian's parents to press charges because the school doesn't want to get further involved.

Now, setting aside the fact that Brian is a fuckin thief and his parents should be liable for raising an asshole, I have to ask how Todd should be liable? I mean, shouldn't the fact that Brian had to violate someone's private property before he drank the piss play into this issue somehow? For example, what if I'm on way to the doctor's with a urine sample and bully reaches into my bag and drinks the urine sample? I'm not a lawyer, so perhaps my point is moot, technically speaking, but still.. Go Todd! LOL

Tyler Clementi and Carl Joseph Walker-Hoover: A Year Later and Nothing's Changed

By Seattle Slim

In April of 2009, Carl Joseph Walker-Hoover (click here for more) committed suicide after being taunted and tortured for allegedly being "gay" in Massachusetts.  He was only 11 years old.  There was some attention, and the world seemed to be intrigued, but it was mostly gay publications that picked up the story and really followed up with it, aside from my blog.

 I knew in my heart of hearts, that a black, male child who had committed suicide for kids teasing him for supposedly being gay would eventually fizzle out, but hoped that it would spurn people to make a few changes.   I hoped that it would get the attention required to maybe bring this new type of bullying to the forefront, but that didn't work because last month, several teens committed suicide due to bullying, especially that of the homophobic kind.

There has been some awareness raised by Carl's death, but we obviously didn't seem to do what we were supposed to do because we've come to a head with the death of several teens, one of which is Tyler Clementi.  My heart is broken for Tyler.  As a victim of bullying, I can empathize with all of the teens, but I can't imagine being bullied for being gay AND living a lower socioeconomic status.

Matter of fact, being bullied for being gay is more vitriolic because one cannot change who they love, but they can change their money situation more often than not.  Why are these kids ending their lives?  Can you imagine the loneliness and desperation someone must have felt to actually go through with that?

I'm mad because had we mobilized with Carl's death, perhaps these other young lives could've been saved.  This country's total disregard for people of color, particularly children of color, is alarming and the repercussions are evident in the case of Tyler Clementi and the other teens. 

Okay, now we've come full circle.  A student with enough capital to attend Rutgers committed suicide after being bullied or victimized for being gay.  Is the message loud enough now?

James Jones: Confronting Bully on School Bus; Good or Bad Move?

by Joanna (JuJuBe)

James Jones is the father of a daughter with cerebral palsy. She had just started middle school, and reported to her father that she was being tormented on the bus by other students. They had hit her, pinched her, taunted her, and thrown condoms at her. So, her father decided that he was not going to allow the bullies to get away with torturing his daughter.

He boarded her school bus one morning, telling his daughter to show him which children were the perpetrators. He then cursed at the students on the bus, and threatened them with bodily harm if the bullying continued. Police were called, Mr. Jones was arrested and charged with disorderly conduct and disturbing a school function. Originally, charges of assault and false imprisonment were considered, but not pursued. He has since been released on bond, but his daughter was reportedly hospitalized and was on suicide watch due to the bullying, which continued EVEN AFTER the confrontation.

And, in an interview, the boy who was bullying her was smirking. He claimed to have been traumatized by the incident, but he had a grin on his face. And his mother did not hold him the SLIGHTEST BIT responsible. He is a 13 year old boy. He is old enough to know this is NOT how you treat another human being. But, apparently, he never learned that. As in so many cases, the parent had NO PROBLEM with the fact that her child was a bully. She excused his actions and instead portrayed him as an innocent victim.

Religious Group: Anti-bullying efforts "promote homosexuality in kids"

Remember Carl Joseph Hoover-Walker, right? Kid who committed suicide after his school ignored complaints from his mother about being bullied constantly for being effeminate? Oh yeah, remember that now Well, speaking against the Safe Schools Improvement Act, this is what Focus On The Family says:


So what do you think about the debate? Share your thoughts, will you? I say this is yet another example of just how the religious-right misses the mark when it comes protecting the rights of citizens. These same "religious folk" protested the passage of an extension to the federal hate crimes bill; an extension that covered crimes committed against members of the LGBT community.

According to them, such a bill erodes their right to free speech because it prevents them from preaching against homosexuality from the pulpit. I suppose the solution to the bullying of openly gay kids would be an exorcism of the gay demons that run rampant. Only an idiot would support this view, and I hope you're not one of them. Yeah, let's not protect the kids; instead lettuce all pray.

WTF?!