Sadly someone decided some racist and anti-gay graffiti would look really nice on the door of local pet supply store Metro Mutts. The vandal, who struck late Saturday, or early Sunday, scrawled two messages. The first included the word "cracker," and the second was along the lines of [gay slur] get out of our city. He/she/they also drew a large penis on the door. Stay classy people!
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UPDATE
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Here's exactly what it said (from a Metro Mutts Tweet):
"Arrived at the store today to find the following words spray painted on our door 'Cracker (large penis illustration) get out my city fag'."
92 comments:
Prison would be perfect for these useless "artists" -- where they can be raped repeatedly and tossed in a bloody heap afterwards.
That sounds like a proportional response. Repeated rape for doing a couple hundred dollars of damage to property. I can't wait until you run sentencing...
Sorry to Metro Mutts - Hope the artist is caught and has to do community beautification work to make up for the ugliness they put into the world.
Yup, keepin' it classy...
http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/hate+crime
Hope they get what's coming to them.
wooooooah! you think someone should be raped for racist and bigoted graffiti?????
thats way whacked.
I don't think you should be so squeamish, Inked. People should know what the vandals wrote on the main door of the building. The door is shared with British Ink which has the upstairs suite.
Just after 11 AM this morning, @MetroMutts tweeted: "Arrived at the store today to find the following words spray painted on our door 'Cracker (large penis illustration) get out my city fag' "
It's doubtful that the jerk who did this will read FT and see your admonition to "stay classy." Being classy is far from this low-life's problem.
Racism and homophobia are unacceptable on H Street, in our city, and in our world. Period.
The police are investigating.
I wasn't being squeamish. I just wasn't sure of the exact wording.
Aren't the MM people straight?
Yes. MM=not a gay owned business. But then the giant penis in the middle of the sentence was kind of a non sequiter too.
Sad, but all to common. I'm not sure MM was the real target. I'm not even sure the people who did it were bigots. The only thing that's clear is that someone vandalized a business, and that is unacceptable.
We need not be so quick to whip out our machetes. Maybe this was the work of a racist homophobic person, or maybe it was someone with a warped sense of humor, or someone that like the bait people.
It a nutshell it sucks for MM and really that's it.
I think the person proposing prison rape for the perpetrators is not part of our predominately liberal, Democrat, H Street community. The perpetrator may have had a troubled childhood. Perhaps counseling can redeem this person, culminating with a tearful hug with the MM owners. Who knows -- maybe a part-time job.
Unconditional love, not prison rape. That's doggy-style.
This is just another example of rampant racism in DC.
There's no place for discrimination and hate crimes like this.
Anon 7:23 as stated earlier, you don't know what the motivation was. We only know the result.
I am sorry the door was vandalized.
But we can not make a declaration of war.
Lets not be silly.
robby, you're right that we don't know what the motivation was; after all, we're not in the offender's head. But the same can be said of almost any crime no one witnesses, including crimes that none of us would hesitate to label as based on bigotry. To suggest that graffiti on their front door (!) calling them "cracker" and "fag" and telling them to "get out of my city" stems from bigotry has a tiny chance of being wrong, yes; but a much, much, much larger chance of being right.
white people continue to suffer from black racism
As a cracker business owner, who doesn't understand all the fuss over homosexuality, and spent most of my life in northeast, and pg county, i'm gonna skip this conversation. I'll just hurt someone's feelings.
tonyt
the pug
My sympathies to the Metro Mutts folks. They have been nothing but fantastic when I've brought my pooch into their store. They did a heck of a lot of work to restore that space and this is how they get repaid.
I will be going there this week to buy some more doggy items and let them know how appreciated they are in the neighborhood!
Don't let the jackasses get you down MM!
anon 10:56,
do you think its acceptable to vandalize a persons business with slurs and orders to leave?
To curmudgeon, tamper down, this could be a hate crime or a sick practical joke. And in all honestly we may never know. I can't predict, or set probability as neither can you, this is an unknown unknown. Beside the value of the words "cracker" "nigger" "fag" and "bitch" have kinda diminished. Blacks and Dr. Laura use the N word, Women use the B word and even some whites use the C word. Language is powerful, but those words have lost their currency.
Again this is about vandalism, if you see bias cool I see a property crime.
To Anon 10:56 I'm not sure this is a true statement, as racism must have a power imbalance. As I have mentioned. When bias is shown towards white people in this town it's as if it were the end of the world, where as bias against non whites in this city and beyond is the norm. That bias, from white to brown is called racism. The element of systemic (not individual -as not all white people are middle class or powerful) racism common. To those of you getting your, what I believe to be fair, taste of bias, welcome to the world of brown people. It isn't right what they did, who ever they were. But instead of intrenching and crying victim look inwards. Then buy lots of pet food from metro mutts.
To JJ, Agreed, I will make a point to go there, I think the cat needs a studded collar to match the doggies Will see if they have Halloween costumes for the doggies too.
im confused. was the vandal against crackers, gays or penises? I don't think Metro Mutts sells any of those items.
Maybe they are against happy Saltines in the shape of penises. Personally, I see nothing wrong with white people gays penises. In the words of Martha S.: white gay penis is a good thing.
"To Anon 10:56 I'm not sure this is a true statement, as racism must have a power imbalance. As I have mentioned. When bias is shown towards white people in this town it's as if it were the end of the world, where as bias against non whites in this city and beyond is the norm. That bias, from white to brown is called racism."
Could you explain? You seem to be saying that it's not racist if it's behavior from blacks toward whites.
Could you explain the 'power imbalance' theory?
"Beside the value of the words "cracker" "nigger" "fag" and "bitch" have kinda diminished. "
I'd argue that some in the gay community have 'reclaimed' the word queer.
But fag is not used the same way in the gay community.
And I'd argue that all those words still have very negative meaning, depending on how and by whom they are used.
We are all smart enough to realize a rapper calling out to his 'niggers' is different from a nonblack person using the term in hate at a little black schoolgirl or in the middle of a racist beating.
Suggesting that these words don't have much meaning any more isn't really accurate.
I can sure as heck tell you that when three black men held a gun to my genitals a few years back and told me that I wouldn't be having any more 'cracker babies' I felt that the term cracker was certainly part of the equation, and the color of my skin was most certainly the reason why a standard mugging turned into a pistol whipping and a threat to end my family line at me.
Hillman, ?
Lordy. Some one robbing you isn't the same as someone using language. Jesus do you actually equate the two. Really?
To your first comment, yes. Exactly what I'm saying.
And to be fair, I am sure those that robbed you didn't have an underlying hatred of the white race (What ever that means since human beings seem to all come from Africa), they were thieves, like those that robbed me at gun point or broke in to my house.
Don't conflate the two. If you were robbed by a white man and he called you WPT would you feel entitled to walk around with a giant V on your chest for victim.
To quote Dr. Phil " Get over it. If you need therapy, get it. If you need to do something, I don't care if it's suck on a rock and stare at the moon. If that works for you, do it. But do something and get back in charge of your life."
Then patronize Metro Mutts.
I wonder if this would have made the news if the target were different. Ah well, it'll be a slow holiday monday so i'll be giving out shots of whisky to any one who tells me rasicsm sucks for everybody. I'll be giving out saltines as chasers.
Tonyt
Robby:
Where to start.
First, I've never had any white dudes point a gun at my crotch and tell me that I'd have no more cracker babies.
The robbery was likely not motivated by race, but the attempted pistol-whipping was definitely fueled by racism.
As for 'getting over it', I'm not an eternal victim. I was a victim of racism. It didn't kill me. But folks like yourself saying that racism toward whites is impossible is something I feel I should correct when possible.
'Getting over it' isn't the same as being willing to say it didn't happen, and can't happen again.
As for words vs actions, they can both be born of racism. I don't think the guys that robbed me robbed me because I was white, but I'm damn sure they attempted to pistol whip my crotch because I was white.
Just like the times I've been called cracker in an unfriendly manner by blacks in DC.
Both were born of racism, pure and simple.
As for these folks not having power over me so therefore they can't be racist, that's pretty much bullshit.
A person holding a gun at your crotch has power. Period.
And how is it that you figure that blacks in DC automatically have no power over nonblacks?
And even if they didn't, wouldn't any race hatred on their part still be race hatred, albeit impotent?
Blacks have held the reins of power in DC for forty years. I'd argue that they definitely have power over white people, both in terms of setting government policy generally and in terms of individual actions both from government employees and individuals.
Frankly I find the 'blacks in DC are powerless so they can't be racist' to be one of the stupidest ideas amongst an army of stupid ideas vying for my attention in DC.
I hear your theory a lot - that blacks can't be racist because of some perceived 'power structure imbalance'. The theory seems to ignore a whole lot of actual history in DC for the past 40 years.
hillman, you got an answer for everything,
don't be so uppity.
tonyt
the pug
Tonyt good question.
Hillman: It's more of the same blather from you. Whine, bitch and moan. I'm not saying they should have shot you, but maybe your narcism and neurosis is genetic in part and should not be passed down (yes that was harsh but done so to prove a point). I can be an asshole, and I'm black, but that's not racially biased just because I'm black.
The only honest statement you made was "The robbery was likely not motivated by race." Everything else was your justification for not getting over being a victim.
The words have diminished, but "cracker" never had the same weight as "nigger." So they are not equally offensive insults. Why? The power structure. If you think there isn't real systemic racism then you really are an ostrich. If you think the governance of DC since 1974 has anything to do with you getting robbed, or your ball being blown off, your just damn crazy, intellectually lazy, and someone who is a closet bigot trying to justify his own bullshit cuz some knuckleheads robbed you.
You're about as screwy as the white people who say, they have a president now, what's their problem? The fact that blacks are "they" is the problem. I don't think when we get organ transplants we really give a damn about what that person's skin looked like.
Do I need to quote the good Doctor again, or maybe you're so delusional you need Dr. Who.
robby,
if i've been referred to as you people, how should i take it then. my reactions vary, but i'm curious .
tonyt
the pug
robby -- what does "tamper down" mean, and why do I need to do it? TIA.
"The words have diminished, but "cracker" never had the same weight as "nigger." So they are not equally offensive insults. Why? The power structure. If you think there isn't real systemic racism then you really are an ostrich."
I absolutely believe there is systemic racism.
It's just that in DC at the local level it's been blacks that have controlled that system, and have, on occasion, used that power to single out others for treatment, both good and bad, based on their race.
And you seem to ignore the original point - you don't have to have some mystical 'system' behind you to be a racist. Does it help enable your racism and magnify it? Yes, if you use that system (the clear example would be whites during Jim Crow using local police resources or zoning laws to harass nonwhites).
But there are many, many ways to treat people like crap without the full force of government or big business or any other 'power structure' behind you.
An individual of any color can treat others like crap because of the color of their skin.
It's no less offensive if the hater is black.
That's the part that you don't seem to grasp.
So, to ask again, do you really believe that blacks are incapable of being racist?
To give it a local flavor, if we can assume the person that wrote on MM's door was really being serious, do you think that was racist and should be condemned as such?
"I'm not saying they should have shot you, but maybe your narcism and neurosis is genetic in part and should not be passed down (yes that was harsh but done so to prove a point). "
Really?
It's sortof sad that my mere mention of a black on white racism event evokes such fervent denial, belittling, and justification from you.
Is this your standard response to victims of violent crime where race is a factor?
i think tamper down is like git er done from the cracker comedy tour.
tonyt
"hillman, you got an answer for everything,
don't be so uppity."
I blame my Mom, or my 'genetics' as Robby would say.
Turns out she raised me to call bullshit out when I see it.
see what i mean, uppity.
Okay back from getting bandage for my broken toe.
I'll take these in order.
tonyt: I have no idea, I've been called that too, I thought they meant people who don't like baseball.
curmudgeon: It was a polite way to saying you're overreacting. You may wish to reconsider your position since you don't have the facts. In particular since they are really unknown. I mean you can continue the sanctimony. It doesn't change the facts, that we don't know what was in their minds.
Hillman: Again I've address you before. Again, I am sorry you feel a drop of oppression, really. It sucks to be a white man. I mean it was once on the cover of Newsweek, and the basis of the movie Falling Down.
I've addressed your question above, and again no.
If we assume they meant those words we would also have to assume they were black. And if they were and they meant them then they are racially biased, anti-gay, and like to draw penises. So maybe subconsciously, they are really closet cases and like white penises but hate pet stores.
You brought up your robbery in the light of race not me. Don't be a total douche. Here's the deal you get to play poor white man, but I can't call you out on your bullshit. There is no justification for you being robbed at gun point just as there wasn't for me. Where do you get this stuff from?
You need a mean boogie man to conquer so you can again feel justified in your bigotry. The text is detailed here. Time and again I've said your robbery was terrible on this thread and others. But you bring it out like last years fruitcake whenever racial crime is discussed here, be it 12 or anything. It's your token experience of how you were victimized by black people. It gets old, and stale.
I'll bet nobody here (on FT), thinks crime is good. No matter what their genetic make up.
As a black person it's really screwed up to read these threads. White people being put out by the word Cracker. It almost makes my eyes roll. I want to say welcome to the club. Jesus H Christ, instead of saying wow is this what they feel, no you but your armor on or you scarlet V.
"It's just that in DC at the local level it's been blacks that have controlled that system, and have, on occasion, used that power to single out others for treatment, both good and bad, based on their race."
Have you not read about the history of Liberia, or read Animal Farm.
That you consider this out of place is amazing and telling. If it were the reverse you'd have no problem because that's what's normal.
And thats bullshit.
Okay back from getting bandage for my broken toe.
I'll take these in order.
tonyt: I have no idea, I've been called that too, I thought they meant people who don't like baseball.
curmudgeon: It was a polite way to saying you're overreacting. You may wish to reconsider your position since you don't have the facts. In particular since they are really unknown. I mean you can continue the sanctimony. It doesn't change the facts, that we don't know what was in their minds.
Hillman: Again I've address you before. Again, I am sorry you feel a drop of oppression, really. It sucks to be a white man. I mean it was once on the cover of Newsweek, and the basis of the movie Falling Down.
I've addressed your question above, and again no.
If we assume they meant those words we would also have to assume they were black. And if they were and they meant them then they are racially biased, anti-gay, and like to draw penises. So maybe subconsciously, they are really closet cases and like white penises but hate pet stores.
You brought up your robbery in the light of race not me. Don't be a total douche. Here's the deal you get to play poor white man, but I can't call you out on your bullshit. There is no justification for you being robbed at gun point just as there wasn't for me. Where do you get this stuff from?
You need a mean boogie man to conquer so you can again feel justified in your bigotry. The text is detailed here. Time and again I've said your robbery was terrible on this thread and others. But you bring it out like last years fruitcake whenever racial crime is discussed here, be it 12 or anything. It's your token experience of how you were victimized by black people. It gets old, and stale.
I'll bet nobody here (on FT), thinks crime is good. No matter what their genetic make up.
As a black person it's really screwed up to read these threads. White people being put out by the word Cracker. It almost makes my eyes roll. I want to say welcome to the club. Jesus H Christ, instead of saying wow is this what they feel, no you but your armor on or you scarlet V.
"It's just that in DC at the local level it's been blacks that have controlled that system, and have, on occasion, used that power to single out others for treatment, both good and bad, based on their race."
Have you not read about the history of Liberia, or read Animal Farm.
That you consider this out of place is amazing and telling. If it were the reverse you'd have no problem because that's what's normal.
And thats bullshit.
Hillman: Again I've address you before. Again, I am sorry you feel a drop of oppression, really. It sucks to be a white man. I mean it was once on the cover of Newsweek, and the basis of the movie Falling Down.
I've addressed your question above, and again no.
If we assume they meant those words we would also have to assume they were black. And if they were and they meant them then they are racially biased, anti-gay, and like to draw penises. So maybe subconsciously, they are really closet cases and like white penises but hate pet stores.
You brought up your robbery in the light of race not me. Don't be a total douche. Here's the deal you get to play poor white man, but I can't call you out on your bullshit. There is no justification for you being robbed at gun point just as there wasn't for me. Where do you get this stuff from?
You need a mean boogie man to conquer so you can again feel justified in your bigotry. The text is detailed here. Time and again I've said your robbery was terrible on this thread and others. But you bring it out like last years fruitcake whenever racial crime is discussed here, be it 12 or anything. It's your token experience of how you were victimized by black people. It gets old, and stale.
I'll bet nobody here (on FT), thinks crime is good. No matter what their genetic make up.
I think Blacks should have sex with whites, Asians should have sex with whites, Whites should have sex with all colors from the Rainbow, after a few decades we will all be a shade of beige, then we will find another "ism" in the form of those who rather drown a shot of whiskey vs those who prefer a shot of worm enthused tequila.
So, Robby, your reading list suggestions aside, can black people be racist or not, and was the graffiti left on MM racist (assuming it wasn't a 'joke' as you suggest)?
And are you sticking by your earlier claim that the term 'fag' is not really all that offensive anymore?
it was probably someone in the black church
Shade: Amen
Anon 5:33 diminished not vacant.
Anon 5:35 or maybe they were main line protestants. (here we go).
if your gonna spray paint "cracker" and "fag" atleast hit the right storefront...
signed,
a Gay White Business owner on H Street
I must apologize, http://bit.ly/9ZteQl.
nite nite
robby: right, just as we don't know what was in the minds of the people who spray paint epithets on synagogues, or set alight crosses in people's front yards. But I think it's fair to say that a reasonable inference can be drawn in all the cases in question.
I'm not sure how I'm "overreacting" -- I think I've been pretty moderate in my tone -- but whatever makes you happy, man.
Robby: also, it's interesting that you point out the apparent outcry here over this incident -- "as a black person it's really screwed up to read these threads" -- because in my opinion, there hasn't really *been* an outcry here over this incident. The strong reaction in this thread hasn't been directly about what happened to MM, but rather about your opinions on what can and cannot be called racism, and others' opinions on your opinions. Surely this is a conversation we can have, right?
curmudgeon: See my earlier post. I am sorry, really, I'd forgotten my place. I know I deserve your sarcasm. I shouldn't have seconded guess your mental telepathy. Its a gift my people just don't have.
curmudgeon: I am again sorry to think my education and that of my former professors at a poor state school in up state new york could be a match for your superior intellect. I wont mention that the construct I so inappropriately brought up is even discussed on Wiki. I am sorry to link racism to power. I am sorry for understanding that everyone can discriminate based on race, but racism requires a infrastructure.
I mean to say we can have the conversation, but really there would be no point as we would be conversing about semantics.
But dial me up if you wish, or come by I'll be on the porch with my water mellon.
Yes this was over the top. Lordy.
Ya'll need to learn to stop letting people push your buttons. Reading these comments is like watching a bunch of catnip-crazed kittens swiping at an evil string that Robby is tormenting you with. Really, why are you arguing with such a weak premise as my friend Robby puts forth? Ignore him.
"I mean to say we can have the conversation, but really there would be no point as we would be conversing about semantics.
But dial me up if you wish, or come by I'll be on the porch with my water mellon. "
So I guess that means you give up and have to go with unoriginal sarcasm instead of substantive argument?
I've had this conversation numerous times with people in DC, and as of yet not a single one has been able to defend the position that you so clearly hold but are unwilling to defend. So I seriously doubted you'd be the first.
But I must say you are the first to take such apparent delight in denigrating and belittling and 'it wasn't all that'ing the violent experience of someone relating a race-based pistol-whipping story to you.
I'd suggest you may think differently if, God forbid, you ever find yourself in the unrequested company of several white dudes with guns threatening to blow your nuts off after calling very specific attention to your race.
But, then, your experience would be blatant racism, but mine wasn't because I was white, not black, right?
I won't pretend to know what's in your mind, but this sort of argument you've made today was a classic defense mechanism whites often used in justifying racism - that the victim should just 'get over it', that it's really no big deal, that it's possible it wasn't really racism, etc. That since it wasn't say, for instance, technically a government decree enforced by law it wasn't 'real racism' or race-based intimidation - just a few isolated 'sick joke' types.
It's quite literally the classic argument race supremacists have used since pretty much forever.
D: Not all false. There is substance there, but the rest is sport. I've talked to some other people and we take turns laughing at the ideas put forth here.
We then discuss the magic that is DC. It truly is bizzaro world for those that have lived in segregated places. It's actually refreshing to hear the dominate culture get a taste of what brown people go through. Really, it is refreshing. No matter what I do, how much I succeed...and it wont change and it is at times crushing. But like other successful brown people you suck it up and slog forward.
H: I've defended myself and my argument. You keep moving the target, I've been saying the same thing all day. You keep moving your target. U drag out that same fruit cake. You act pompous, but in the end your just some bigoted white man who can stand you live some where w/o total white control. God bless DC, well until 2020. You'll feel better then it will be whiter, and in your mind safer. Again sorry you feel the need to act out. Remember Dr. Phil's quote above. It's a good thing.
C didn't stop by, so I couldn't share the water mellon. Perhaps, a copy of a social stratification text book was read.
Remember, buy lots of stuff from MM. Also give Hillman a hug. Maybe even a cup.
I was not at all surprised when I saw 50+ comments attached to this post...anyone wants a good laugh, listen to Mike Birbiglia's routine about crackers.
Robby: Wow. I mean, just wow. I have no idea whatsoever where that came from.
I don't agree with some of what you've said. I was interested in finding out why we disagree. But I guess I'm now being told that disagreeing with you isn't allowed -- not without insinuation of wanting to "put you in your place." For the first time in I can't remember how long, you have me at a complete and utter loss for words. Wow. OK. I guess that's that, then.
C: The last line "Yes this was over the top. Lordy." People disagree all the time. Now a blog is a terrible place to have a meaningful conversation. I was being silly in my post to you.It wasn't mean to be taken seriously.
Classically racism has been tide to power or agency. So in a technical and narrow sense blacks can not be racist. Now in a broader sense, anyone can be. It's like when you get down to it a peanut isn't a nut... but for most people it is.
Besides, the truth is racist, sexist, homophobic or not what was done was messed up. I don't know about being raped, but they should have to do community service cleaning up H for about two years.
I do find it humorous that Robby spends half of his time telling Hillman to get over being a victim and the other half of the thread wallowing in Schadenfreude because a white person finally got to feel what it was like to be on the bad end of a group of racists idiots. "Finally, those white folks who repressed me for so long are getting what is coming to them." Sounds like Robby enjoys playing the victim just as much as anyone.
Robby, as a white guy who has been called more than a couple of names because of my skin color while living in this neighborhood, I can tell you that it happens with too much frequency in DC. And it is often met with tacit acceptance from people like you. So, I hope that news brings an even bigger smile to your face.
In the end, to live in a civilized society, we have to tolerate each other and call out hate when we see it and say it is not acceptable in our community. Whether that be displayed against black, white, gay, etc, by anyone of any color. Any outward display of racism should not be tolerated. Semantics about power structures aside.
D
D If I enjoyed being a victim I wouldn't be as successful as I am. Nice try.
Stating the fact of life, isn't being a victim, it's simply being honest about the situation. The wonder is brown people rise above it.
I don't bring out the same story year after year. No fruit here.
"You keep moving your target. U drag out that same fruit cake. You act pompous, but in the end your just some bigoted white man who can stand you live some where w/o total white control. God bless DC, well until 2020. You'll feel better then it will be whiter, and in your mind safer."
So I disagree with you and I'm a racist because I disagree with you?
Sadly (and ironically), that's also a fairly typical response for someone with your views on race.
If I had any problem with living somewhere where whites were not 'in control' why on earth would I have chosen to move to DC fifteen years ago? I could have just as easily lived in a majority-white suburb.
"It's actually refreshing to hear the dominate culture get a taste of what brown people go through."
I still find it disturbing that you take pleasure in my violent assault. It's just weird.
And I'm wondering when I've been a part of the dominant culture.
Was it when I was dirt poor and living in a trailer in Appalachia, looked down on because of our economic status?
Was it when my parents went on food stamps after my father lost his job as a preacher for trying to integrate his church and trying to preach racial harmony instead of tacit segregation? Even you should appreciate the irony in that one.
Was it when I was gay in an overwhelmingly anti-gay society, in an atmosphere where anyone knowing I was gay would result in me being fired, evicted, and even beaten severely?
Was it when I saw friends beaten and fired for being gay?
Was that part of my domination?
Or was it for the past fifteen years, when I've lived in a city where I was a minority?
quit whining and move to arlington you overpaid marshmallows
its amazing that the act of a couple of stupid little punks has erupted into this debate...whats next?? an outcry from the ethipoians cause it happens to be their house that gets tp'd for halloween. let the hunt begin...
but to Anon 9:56 HAHAHAHA...thats funny. just might re-post that on fb funny.
Stand your ground, Hillman.
There's right and there's wrong. You know the difference. Society gets into trouble when someone says, "you gotta understand..." and tries to inject "nuance" that you can't explain to your kids.
Rest assured that the race card is the last resort of those who have no argument based on history, logic, or fact. Not to mention ethics or justice.
Treating anyone differently because you have categorized them based on judgments about a group is wrong, whether it helps or hurts them.
Thanks Anon 11:39.
The shame of it is that there is a great deal of real racism in the world. In the US a whole bunch of it is directed toward nonwhites. I'm willing to bet that in many parts of the US Robby would be treated pretty poorly because of his race. Which of course makes it all the more silly that he can't even admit that the reverse may be true in areas where blacks are the majority.
But simplistic arguments like 'all white people evil and powerful, all black people good and powerless and black people can't be racist' slows down any real efforts we make at the races respecting and helping each other.
Hillman stop putting words in my mouth, you are simply being an ass. what I wrote is there, and you've not refuted any of it. I've said multiple times you assualt was bad.
But you seem to want to back me in to a corner, and I simply wont let you.
Listen you loudmouth snook, you're nothing more than an interloping crybaby. If you can't stand DC then leave. But quit your bitching. These vandals attached a business not you.
It is fair to state that DC is good for white people. It makes you all begin to understand what it's like for brown people.
It's true, and if it wasn't you wouldn't be bitching right now.
Sit down shut up and color, you're like a spoiled brat.
I've made points you want to contort them cool. But to be fair, you've done nothing but complain about how some kids almost killed you. Boo Hoo, It happen to me and it's happened to a lot of people.
Cut the shit, your survived and not move the hell on with your life.
In the general interest of yet another one of Hillman's blacks in DC hate whites tyraids, lets simply agree to end this. If you all live near H and want to continue this then we can meet over a beer, but to be strait forward, rehashing the same bull shit over again is silly.
Hillman was robbed by black people, in his mind all black people are those theives. When he hears about a crime it's black people and it brings back the truma.
I'm sorry this happend to him, I'm sorry I was robbed at gun point. I've had this happen to neighbors and friends.
But vice lashing out, Hillman needs to get help. This isn't and shouldn't be taken as an insult, but really he needs help.
I'm not slinging mud, but this has come up multiple times, and it's well sad.
Was it when I was dirt poor and living in a trailer in Appalachia, looked down on because of our economic status?
If you were living in a trailer in Appalachia, it was not by choice and not a consequence of your upbringing or financial ruin. How do know this? Because nobody in/from Appalachia calls it Appalachia.
Aren't the MM people straight?
I think there is the presumption by many blacks that the influx of whites into Near Northeast is being catalyzed by the gay population. When I moved in, my older black neighbors had no shame in asking (before even asking my name) if my girlfriend was moving in.
We need not be so quick to whip out our machetes. Maybe this was the work of a racist homophobic person, or maybe it was someone with a warped sense of humor, or someone that like the bait people.
Precisely. If Near Northeast was Dupont Circle or Logan Circle, I would be convinced that it was motivated by deep-seated hatred.
I think this is the work of a hoodrat using incendiary language because he/she knows it will piss off the community.
hillman is waiting for marion barry to apologize on behalf of black DC cuz he got a gun stuck in his nuts (which only happens to whites)
...to suggest that graffiti on their front door calling them "cracker" and "fag" and telling them to "get out of my city" stems from bigotry has a tiny chance of being wrong but a much, much, much larger chance of being right..."
There is a massive difference between being ignorant and being a bigot.
I can sure as heck tell you that when three black men held a gun to my genitals a few years back and told me that I wouldn't be having any more 'cracker babies'...
I call bullshit. And I am sure the large majority of FroTro bloggers will do the same.
Hillman was robbed by black people, in his mind all black people are those theives. When he hears about a crime it's black people and it brings back the truma.
What Hillman is stating is pure fiction, incendiary drivel used to fuel unhealthy debate on what is traditionally a healthy blog.
A group of black guys held a gun to his genitals, engaged in racist dialog, and pistol whipped him? Please...I hear aliens are landing their UFOs on Abbey Place NE and doing anal probing on alternating Thursdays.
Just another lovely day in the neighborHOOD!
parker, is that this thursday or next?
Whoa what the hell is in the water folks?! All the FT posters that (I thought) I knew through their postings to be thoughtful, rational beings have turned into monsters because of some little punk's passing distraction. Lighten up folks! Hillman still has both of his balls, Robby can rest easy now that Whites can now see what we go through all the time and most importantly, No one was physically harmed by this stunt.
Not on Parker:
Please don't call me a liar. It's not helpful.
"Precisely. If Near Northeast was Dupont Circle or Logan Circle, I would be convinced that it was motivated by deep-seated hatred. "
So there can't be hate against gays outside of Dupont Circle or Logan or other predominately gay areas?
You might want to let the parents of Matthew Shepard know that. To my knowledge Laramie Wyoming isn't exactly a gay ghetto.
Please don't call me a liar. It's not helpful.
Like I stated: people that have lived in a trailer in Appalachia don't call it Appalachia.
"A group of black guys held a gun to his genitals, engaged in racist dialog, and pistol whipped him?"
Actually, it was three guys. As I've repeatedly stated.
It was in SE, one block off of what we now call Barracks Row, in mid-winter, about twelve years ago. As I walked home from the metro after work, dressed in full business drag (suit, tie, etc.).
And the racial threat was made (actually, several versions of it, one from the guy holding the gun, and another from one of the other guys.... the gun holder seemed to not be the one in control.... another guy seemed to be calling the shots), right after I surrended my cheap watch and my wallet, but one of them got scared or wised up or something, and he ran. When he ran, so did the others.
The cops caught them in the alleyway, in large part because there was some sort of drug sting that happened to be going on about a block away at the same time I was being accosted.
Turns out they were all under 18, and all residents of a nearby public housing facility.
I was asked to identify them, but I couldn't, as I wasn't able to see their faces clearly enough to do a positive ID.
I got my wallet back, minus the $10 that was inside. Fortunately, they hadn't had the foresight to snatch my credit cards before dumping the wallet.
As I've said before, I don't have any reason to believe the original mugging was because I'm white.
But I was there. I damn sure know the threat to shoot me in the groin was racially motivated. It was a totally unnecessary escalation of a mugging after I'd already given up everything they asked for, and it was most definitely accompanied by racial taunts.
Any other details you'd like, or are you just going to call me a liar no matter what?
Sorry, Hillman, but it's impossible to have an intelligent discussion with racists. Walk away.
As stated earlier, when history, logic, and facts fail them, they throw the race card. Little straw men.
If that doesn't work, they sink to insults in an attempt to marginalize their opponent. Another form of racism.
Their insecurity doesn't make your feelings or opinions less valid.
There is something deeply wrong with those who lack the empathy to understand that others can experience pain and humiliation similar to their own.
Even worse when they ridicule it.
"Like I stated: people that have lived in a trailer in Appalachia don't call it Appalachia."
Tell that to my Mom the English teacher. She lived in that trailer with the rest of us.
And she knew words like Appalachia.
Or are you suggesting that people in trailers in poor rural areas are by definition so stupid that they can't possibly know what different geographic regions are called, particularly one that they actually live in?
I'm willing to bet I'm a little more familiar with Appalachian culture than most are, particularly if they've never lived there. What with me and my family having lived there and all. And having family that still live there.
My younger brother still lives there. Very well-read guy. The last time he emailed he he titled the the email "Greetings from Bucolic Appalachia - God's Little Forgotten Meth Garden".
Do I need to somehow prove to you that my brother is literate as well? Or can you just assume he's illiterate because of where he's from?
"Lighten up folks! Hillman still has both of his balls,"
The irony is, what we me being gay and all the chance of me actually popping out any 'cracker babies' was slim to none anyway.
"Sorry, Hillman, but it's impossible to have an intelligent discussion with racists. Walk away."
It does sometimes seem like a waste of time that could be better spent, say, drinking alone in the dark....
But I truly do think that if we are ever going to make progress on race relations and sexual orientation-based hate in DC then we need to be honest about all facets and forms of hatred.
And the first step is to end the denial.
My gut feeling is that most blacks in DC absolutely realize that everyone can be racist, and they do all they can to treat everyone with respect and dignity.
But there is a surprisingly sizeable acceptance of the 'blacks can't be racist and even if they are it's sortof ok' school of thought in DC.
And it ties in a lot to the fear of gentrification that grips so much of our city.
Which in turn is related to some degree to a lot of misinformation and fear/disdain/hate aimed at gays and lesbians. Ironically (and sadly) black gays and lesbians bear a whole bunch of this. Probably more in DC than I ever will.
And as long as that's out there and is an impediment to improving relations all around, it's worth trying to be patient, even in the face of being called a racist and a liar.
Plus, I get paid by the word for posting on FT.
What? No?
"Listen you loudmouth snook, you're nothing more than an interloping crybaby."
I am a loudmouth, I'll grant you that.
But as for the interloper part.... I've been here 15 years. Exactly what criteria do I not possess that makes you label me an interloper?
You are aware that terms like 'interloper' have long been used as code for people that don't 'belong' somewhere because of their race, right?
"Hillman was robbed by black people, in his mind all black people are those theives."
Simply not true. I celebrate the fact that we've made decent strides in race relations in the US in recent generations (although clearly there is room for improvement), and I'm about as inclusive a guy as you will find. Hence my conscious decision to live in DC.
If I was really the racist you claim wouldn't I live in a white burb, or at least Georgetown?
true victims of racism: rich whites
I've been called cracker, I've been told to get out of "my neighborhood," I've been shoved on H Street and told to get off "my street," I've been to community meetings where blacks openly bemoaned the "newcomers" in the neighborhood. I used to get upset that people like parker and robby don't seem too concerned when it happend to me but would scream bloody murder if the races in the scenario were reversed. I can't be bothered anymore though. Sad fact is that Hillman and I share the same skin color as some rascist people and some people who did some terrible things - things that happened well before my people took a steerage pass to the US with the the clothes on their backs. Regardless of the fact that I have nothing more in common with those people than my risk of sun burn, I am doomed to pay for their sins. It is what it is. Blacks can feel outrage. Whites cannot. The government can chose contractors based on the color of their skin - but only if the skin color isn't white. Colleges and employers can openly provide racial preferences to certain skin colors - as long as they are not white. It is what it is. I see no need to beat my head against the wall about it. If you bitch about it, you get called a bigot and a liar.
Exactly right annon 6:04.
what is a snook?
"Hillman was robbed by black people, in his mind all black people are those theives. When he hears about a crime it's black people and it brings back the truma."
"And to be fair, I am sure those that robbed you didn't have an underlying hatred of the white race"
"Hillman stop putting words in my mouth, you are simply being an ass. "
So Robby is against racism but is glad white folks are finally getting a taste of their own medicine when people make racists comments to them here in DC. Robby also can't stand that some one is putting words in his mouth but gladly does the same for others.
Lets all agree when race is an issue, we see things from a very non-objective prism. Its sad that a third party can cause neighbors to call neighbors liars and racists.
D
I think the point it that Robby is not against racism. He's just looking out for his own. And I'm totally cool with that. The way he contorts himself to justify "some" rascism is a bit dishonest though.
From the most recent post about the the graffiti:
britishink said...This issue is not about race, it's about tattoos.
It was my door, it was someone who was turned away while looking for employment because the quality of their work was extremely poor. It was retaliation.
End of subject.
Cool. I had no idea Cracker was coming to town. Do you think they'll play any Camper Van Beethoven numbers?
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