Every Saturday morning I meet my favorite work-out buddy at the YMCA at 7:00 a.m. and we walk on the treadmill and then go to our "Abs Attack!" class. It is a real sacrifice on my part because I really, really, really like sleeping. Plus, I barely have enough time for a cup of coffee before I leave, and it is such a drag to have to wake Tony up so early on a Saturday morning to make a whole pot of coffee so I can have some before I go. Yes, I know I could make it myself, but Tony really enjoys getting me my first cup of coffee in the morning, even if it is at 6:30 on a Saturday morning. (I'm being totally sarcastic here...but the funny thing is, even if he doesn't enjoy making my coffee every morning, he ALWAYS does it and hand delivers it to me in bed. Is that love, or what??) Anyway, after my morning workout I come home and sit on the couch and drink more coffee (Yes, Tony makes a fresh pot right before I come home. The man is my own personal Starbucks.) and read the paper.
Last Saturday I was reading the paper and I came across an article that I just can't stop thinking about. It just makes me so mad, I can't believe it. The article had a picture of a black man standing outdoors looking at something in the distance and underneath his picture were the mugshots of 4 white guys. The black man was obviously mentally impaired and was really small and skinny. The four white guys had big fat necks as wide as their heads and defiant scowls on their faces. The story was about how these 4 white guys beat the crap out of this black guy and left him to die next to a dumpster in 2003. The black man was mentally retarded to begin with, but as a result of the beating he is now permanently brain damaged and barely able to walk or speak. Yet, the guys that did this to him were only convicted of misdemeanors and spent less than 60 days in jail. Billy Ray (the black man) is now confined to a nursing home.
What these red-necked bigoted morons did was pick up this man off the street and take him to a "party" in a cow pasture where they made him dance, screamed racial insults at him, then beat him unconscious and took him to a remote dump to die. After this they went and washed their pick-up to get Billy Ray's blood and vomit off. Did I mention that Billy Ray was 46 years old at the time and couldn't function above a 12 year old's level? And the pieces of crap white boys that did this to him were all in their early 20's.
Okay, so the Tribune did a story about this case and as a result the Southern Poverty Law Center brought a civil case against the 4 idiots that beat him up and now they have to pay him $9 million in damages. There is some justice in that, except these idiots probably work at Burger King. In any case, did I happen to mention that this all took place in TEXAS? If you don't know how I feel about Texas, refer to my earlier posts. The article insinuated that the people in the idiot's hometown thought of them as "good ol' boys" who didn't really do anything wrong. Anyway, so now they are supposed to come up with nine million dollars...and they probably only make $30,000 a year half of which is spent on beer and the rest on gun racks for their pick-up trucks. (I am being generous when I assume they make $30,000 a year.) Just to illustrate how stupid these guys are...one of them acted as his own attorney. His name is James Cory Hicks and he is 28 years old. According to the paper he showed no remorse throughout the latest trial. What a shock considering the kind of household he grew up in.
Now, I can presume to know what kind of household he grew up in from this quote attributed to Hicks' mother, "These boys' names are ruined for life. And Johnson (the black man) is better off today than he's ever been in his life. He roamed the streets, the family never knew where he was. Now in the nursing home he's got someone to take care of him." I mean, this woman was pissed! Her precious thug of a son was having his name besmirched! Wahhh! She should get the mother of the year award for sticking up for her son who apparently thought it was great fun to beat the shit out of mentally retarded people. I bet she met this kid's father at a lynching. As mad as I was at the 4 pea-brained morons that did this, I was even madder at this woman! Imagine, insinuating that her son had done this man a favor! It just made me want to find her and tell her off. But, you can't argue with stupid. She honestly believes what she said.
Doesn't that make you mad?
12 comments:
This story reminds me of
the classic joke-"what's the last thing a Redneck says before he dies? 'hey y'all, watch this'"
Okay, so it's only slightly connected to the blog entry but hey, give a white man his props. It is about rednecks. Thank you.
Now Carolyn, you've touched on why I have stopped reading anything in the newspaper except the comics, sports, and entertainment news (Run Paris, run!). I can't take hearing about all of the shit that happens in this world; day in day out.
So, back to Pearls Before Swine...
Yes, it does make me mad! They should have locked up those guys and thrown away the key. However, they probably would have been pardoned by the biggest dumb-assed Texan of all times - the leader of the free world!
- Bubbles (I can never remember by password)
Hey Bubblicious - settle down
That reminds me of a play my sister did recently called The Laramie Project. It was so profound. I can not understand why someone would EVER want to treat someone without respect because of his ethnic backround, mental capabilities, being a woman, being an athlete, not being athlete etc. People are very narrow minded in their views. It doesn't matter if you live in Texas or in a very wealthy neighborhood....Stupid people are everywhere and they only live for themselves and the hell with everyone else...it's sad....Can't we just get along(I know but I just had to say it)I will never be that person, I for one will not let these narrow minded people bring me down. I am going to be positive and defend people's rights whenever possible. Nobody should ever feel like they are too good for anyone else. PERIOD
It honestly frightens me that there are such mean and clueless people in the world.
This reminds me of the movie "Parenthood" when someone says something like "you need a license to drive but any idiot (too mild a term for this mother) can become a parent". It angers me and frightens me to think of what some people are teaching (or not teaching) their children and how those children grow up and live in the world. It is complete insanity.
P.S. Tony brings you coffee every morning???? Hello!!!
Does it make me mad, hell yes. Does it surprise me, not as much as I wish it did. Racism is alive and well in the U.S.
Like 'Shrooms On Shit, The Klan Grows On Hate...As Do Some Of My Neighbors
Makes me furious!!! But then this mother's comments seem to be common in Texas. If you don't believe me you can refer to Barbara Bush's comments about the Katrina victims. It must be something in the water down there.
Hey vicki w! The exact quote from parenthood is, "You know, Mrs. Buckman, you need a license to buy a dog, to drive a car - hell, you even need a license to catch a fish. But they'll let any butt-reaming asshole be a father."
Love that movie. It was Keanu Reeves finest moment.
It was a great movie and thank you for the exact quote - it sounds much better!
Now I want to know what Barbara Bush said about the Katrina victims.
P.S. Can Tony talk to Dave about the coffee service?
South of the Mason Dixon Line- need I say more?
I think this invigorates my argument for the death penalty once more. Death to Child Molesters and other types of Pedophiles, as well as abhorations(sp)to the greater gene pool. I am not even mad or disgusted with these people, they are to stupid to know better. The Justice System, now thats a different story.
I can't remember my sign in so I will leave this anonymously - which may be wise anyway since you may not like what I am going to say. I grew up in the South and moved to the Northwest suburbs in highschool. Back then my reaction to people's so-called open minded-ness up here was that it seemed pretty damn easy to talk about not being a racist when there wasn't a person of any color other than white for miles and miles. Even today we sit here in our lily white bubbles and judge. In no way do I mean to defend the despicable behavior of those men or the mother. I just wonder about my own glass house and what have I really done to make anything better.
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