Guy sees 30 - 40 gang members fighting... what's his first thought?

[brandonb]

It's pretty normal in the MPLS area that if you are white walking down the street and you are walking down the same sidewalk in the direction of a group of blacks, that you will be jumped.

When I lived there 25 years ago (before I moved away from the cities) I was in Jr. High school, and walked home from school, and it was a weekly occurrence that I had to run away from a group of blacks and ditch them. One of my friends got caught and beat up once but it wasn't too serious. Just a black eye and a fat lip. But I was lucky enough to avoid them every time.

I can totally see this happening. They did it all the time back then. But its not racism. It's poverty.

 

[highland145]

It's pretty normal in the MPLS area that if you are white walking down the street and you are walking down the same sidewalk in the direction of a group of blacks, that you will be jumped.

When I lived there 25 years ago (before I moved away from the cities) I was in Jr. High school, and walked home from school, and it was a weekly occurrence that I had to run away from a group of blacks and ditch them. One of my friends got caught and beat up once but it wasn't too serious. Just a black eye and a fat lip. But I was lucky enough to avoid them every time.

I can totally see this happening. They did it all the time back then. But its not racism. It's poverty.

Need a little bernhard goetz action, imo.

 

[Genx87]

i had thought about taking a job in st paul

really really glad i didnt

St. Paul is actually a really beautiful city. But every large city has crappy areas. And East Side is pretty craptastic.

I saw this yesterday on the news. I suspect these groups were on the street but necessarily fighting at the time. He walked down the street and was jumped by the group. It could happen to anybody in a major city. There was video from a similar fight 6 years ago on the same street.

 

[child of wonder]

Honestly you really have no idea whatsoever of what he saw, when he saw it, how close it was to him, how he reacted, how THEY reacted to him (did he walk right in the middle of a bunch of people fighting and get accidentally punched? Doesn't sound that way, they went after him. Did they see him 30 feet from them on the sidewalk and break off from their brawl to go attack a soft, tempting white target? We don't know)

Did he understand that he was looking at a big brawl or did he think it was just a party or not appreciate just how many people were involved until it was too late?

Did the brawl erupt when he was already super close to it? Did it spill out from an alley or other street? Was it entirely contained on the other side of a large, wide street and did he think he could just pass by on the opposite sidewalk unnoticed, but was spotted and deemed a good target for attack?

We just don't know.

Agreed. Many are quick to condemn the victim when we don't know what he saw. It was 11:30 at night. To him it could have looked like a bunch of people just acting stupid rather than a 40 person brawl like we might imagine. Maybe he saw fighting at the center of the crowd but thought it was safe to walk through an area of the periphery.

In any event, whatever the victim did doesn't excuse the behavior of the criminals who attempted to murder him by punching him then stomping on his head when he was down.

On a side note, as I read some of the things people are getting infractions and vacations for in this thread, it's really dismaying how the moderators are free to publicly call anyone they please a racist for statements that are in no way racist. That's not moderation; that's applying your own personal agenda and bias.





And its dismaying that you don't know how the rules work here after being here for 7 years.

If you have an issue with the moderation, create an MD thread.

Do not, publicly call out the moderators as you have no idea of the posters previous transgressions on this forum.


esquared
Anandtech Forum Director

 

[AstroManLuca]

St. Paul is actually a really beautiful city. But every large city has crappy areas. And East Side is pretty craptastic.

I saw this yesterday on the news. I suspect these groups were on the street but necessarily fighting at the time. He walked down the street and was jumped by the group. It could happen to anybody in a major city. There was video from a similar fight 6 years ago on the same street.

I live in St. Paul. In a nice part, the Mac-Groveland area. Pretty much everything north of highway 94 is a shithole though.

 

[Genx87]

I live in St. Paul. In a nice part, the Mac-Groveland area. Pretty much everything north of highway 94 is a shithole though.

I have only limited knowledge of the areas of the city. But I really liked the highland park area and the area around St. Thomas. Fiancee and I would like to move there at some point. Prob after her kid graduates from highschool. We are currently in my excellent compatriot Rapids. Growing up in Wayzata that is a different world for me lol

 

[PowerYoga]

in ST Paul there's like one street dividing the "nice" part of the neighborhood from the shit side. Forgot where it is though, haven't been there in ages.

 

[BladeVenom]

Because you have no history of racist posts here, you get off with only an infraction.

Perknose
Forum Director

What I wrote, is what Obama said about Trayvon Martin? http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-250_162-57594581/obama-trayvon-martin-could-have-been-me-35-years-ago/

Is quoting Obama racist?




Again, you've been here long enough too, to know how to complain about the moderation.

I'll give you a hint. It's not in the thread.


esquared
Anandtech Forum Director

 

[moonbogg]

But its not racism. It's poverty.

Us vs them mentality. Tribalism. Violent primate behavior. This won't change for a very, very long time. Sometimes I envy the justice system of "lesser" nations as they often times have zero tolerance for this kind of crap. If you do something like this, you will wish to god that you hadn't.
Here, in America, you get a gentle pat on the head so you don't bump it as you get into the officer's car. You are then safely escorted to a nice, safe, warm housing center where you are fed nice hot meals, given health care, education and other opportunities for success in your own life! You are given the chance to improve your life while your victim is eating through a straw for the rest of his life.
Don't know about anyone else here, but I want justice. I want cold, hard justice. I vent by saying I would just kill them, but I wouldn't be able to do that. Lock them up and throw away the key. Do it as a punishment, not as a corrective action. Poor conditions are called for. After a crime like this, they should suffer for 25 years to life. Not the short term, get out when your 40 kind of "life" sentences this country hands out. But real life sentences. 85 years old in a dirty, cold cell, shitting your pants with no one to clean you up kind of life sentence is what I want for these guys.

 

[twinrider1]