# Covington Catholic High (in case it hasn't been mentioned already) **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [January 20, 2019, 2:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/covington-catholic-high-in-case-it-hasnt-been-mentioned-already/828090 "2019-01-20T02:23:43Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 35
**Author:** ![SlackerInc](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slackerinc/32/275_2.png) [@SlackerInc](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SlackerInc)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2019, 4:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/covington-catholic-high-in-case-it-hasnt-been-mentioned-already/828090/681 "2019-01-25T16:24:46Z")
His drum hit the kid’s shoulder far more than twice. It’s not a mortal blow, but it crosses a line. I find it very strange that he did this and still don’t understand why. ---
**Author:** ![Hamlet](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hamlet/32/2818_2.png) [@Hamlet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hamlet)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2019, 4:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/covington-catholic-high-in-case-it-hasnt-been-mentioned-already/828090/682 "2019-01-25T16:38:21Z")
> [@SlackerInc](#): > > His drum hit the kid’s shoulder far more than twice. It’s not a mortal blow, but it crosses a line. I find it very strange that he did this and still don’t understand why. Not a mortal blow? Jesus, it was barely a graze. The kid didn’t seem to mind, and I could find nothing in his, sorry, his PR firms’, statements that indicate it was even an issue for him. And he had plenty of opportunity to avoid such a horrible, debilitating injury such as having his coat slightly dented for a millisecond. You’re trying so very, very hard to create something, anything, to draw attention away from the teens’ actions in openly, and racistly, mocking Mr. Phillips. And the best you can come up with is a tiny bit of contact that wasn’t an issue to anyone but you. ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2019, 4:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/covington-catholic-high-in-case-it-hasnt-been-mentioned-already/828090/683 "2019-01-25T16:38:42Z")
> [@Huey\_Freeman](#): > > I’ve been very careful to identify myself as a person of color and not as a specific race or ethnicity. 😕 Didn’t you post a picture of your hands holding a sign making fun of Guinastasia awhile ago? ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2019, 4:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/covington-catholic-high-in-case-it-hasnt-been-mentioned-already/828090/684 "2019-01-25T16:43:02Z")
For what it’s worth (and very little in this thread is worth much of anything), I could picture the kid’s reasonable response being to put his palm on the side of the drum and gently nudge it and the drummer back a few inches, while saying something like “Back off, buddy” or “Do you mind?” ---
**Author:** ![WillFarnaby](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/willfarnaby/32/514_2.png) [@WillFarnaby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WillFarnaby)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2019, 5:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/covington-catholic-high-in-case-it-hasnt-been-mentioned-already/828090/685 "2019-01-25T17:00:41Z")
> [@Huey\_Freeman](#): > > Grand Dragon Shodan, shut the fuck up. You have no evidence that proves that the Phillips was “hoping to provoke the kid into throwing the first punch”. You’re just making shit up (as you always do). But, even if this fiction was true, let me tell you something that you never learned in the real-world: You - and only\* you \*- are responsible for your own actions. I mean, really, do you beat the shit out of your wife and tell her afterwards “I only beat you because you provoked me?” or “I only beat you because of the Black Israelites made me angry”. That’s some white shit right here. Those unsupervised (which, I’m sure, you can related to) children had the choice to move away or to step aside. They also had the choice to remove their hat or to defuse the situation. They chose not to. As another poster said, we have a brain that is wired to read human faces, and that kid was smug, unremorseful, self-righteous, and arrogant. Look buddy. I don’t know where you’re from, but where I’m from, if you get up in a stranger’s face like that you are escalating the confrontation. Further, if you are in someone’s face and initiate even the slightest contact, it is wise to have your hands or your feet ready. See. These are things I thought were universal. I had no idea that in some parts of the world, when folks get so close to the face of someone with whom they are having a disagreement, it is not a provocation. I can tell you for sure that it is a provocation in DC. Haven’t spent much time in Kentucky though. Idk where this drum beater is from ---
**Author:** ![WillFarnaby](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/willfarnaby/32/514_2.png) [@WillFarnaby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WillFarnaby)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2019, 5:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/covington-catholic-high-in-case-it-hasnt-been-mentioned-already/828090/686 "2019-01-25T17:07:35Z")
> [@Bryan\_Ekers](#): > > For what it’s worth (and very little in this thread is worth much of anything), I could picture the kid’s reasonable response being to put his palm on the side of the drum and gently nudge it and the drummer back a few inches, while saying something like “Back off, buddy” or “Do you mind?” No that would have been an escalation where I’m from and in DC. Once someone gets into an intimate stare-off like that. Physical contact is often followed by an aggressive blow. Granted, the drum in between is something I haven’t witnessed up until this point. ---
**Author:** ![WillFarnaby](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/willfarnaby/32/514_2.png) [@WillFarnaby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WillFarnaby)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2019, 5:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/covington-catholic-high-in-case-it-hasnt-been-mentioned-already/828090/687 "2019-01-25T17:12:42Z")
To me there are only two potential opinions on the smirkers reaction. 1) he behaved in a near saint-like manner in the face of provocation after having been molested by radical racists for an hour and then subjected to provocation from the drum beater 2) he behaved cowardly and allowed someone to enter his personal space, beat a drum in his face, and make physical contact with his person. ---
**Author:** ![WillFarnaby](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/willfarnaby/32/514_2.png) [@WillFarnaby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WillFarnaby)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2019, 5:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/covington-catholic-high-in-case-it-hasnt-been-mentioned-already/828090/688 "2019-01-25T17:17:55Z")
> [@Hamlet](#): > > Not a mortal blow? Jesus, it was barely a graze. The kid didn’t seem to mind, and I could find nothing in his, sorry, his PR firms’, statements that indicate it was even an issue for him. And he had plenty of opportunity to avoid such a horrible, debilitating injury such as having his coat slightly dented for a millisecond. You’re trying so very, very hard to create something, anything, to draw attention away from the teens’ actions in openly, and racistly, mocking Mr. Phillips. And the best you can come up with is a tiny bit of contact that wasn’t an issue to anyone but you. The Black Israelites has been mocking the youngsters for quite a while. What would be your reaction be if one of the youngsters approached the personal space of one of the Black Israelites and initiated a millisecond of physical contact? What would have been the reaction of the Black Israelites? I have anecdotal experience that things would have ended quite differently. ---
**Author:** ![Hamlet](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hamlet/32/2818_2.png) [@Hamlet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hamlet)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2019, 5:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/covington-catholic-high-in-case-it-hasnt-been-mentioned-already/828090/689 "2019-01-25T17:25:04Z")
> [@WillFarnaby](#): > > Look buddy. I don’t know where you’re from, but where I’m from, if you get up in a stranger’s face like that you are escalating the confrontation. How about if you’re drumming and chanting at an indigenous people’s march, and a bunch of white, privileged, teens who are proudly wearing MAGA gear start openly mocking you, doing racist chantings, idiotic dancing, and tomahawk chopping? Is that “confrontational”? Wouldn’t that kinda make you a bit upset, to have your actions, hell your culture, openly mocked by a large group of idiots who are, as my grandfather would say “Acting the fool?” ---
**Author:** ![Hamlet](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hamlet/32/2818_2.png) [@Hamlet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hamlet)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2019, 5:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/covington-catholic-high-in-case-it-hasnt-been-mentioned-already/828090/690 "2019-01-25T17:26:09Z")
> [@WillFarnaby](#): > > The Black Israelites has been mocking the youngsters for quite a while. What would be your reaction be if one of the youngsters approached the personal space of one of the Black Israelites and initiated a millisecond of physical contact? What would have been the reaction of the Black Israelites? I have anecdotal experience that things would have ended quite differently. OK. We have a point of agreement. The Black Israelites are bad. Glad we could meet on common ground. ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2019, 5:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/covington-catholic-high-in-case-it-hasnt-been-mentioned-already/828090/691 "2019-01-25T17:28:47Z")
> [@WillFarnaby](#): > > No that would have been an escalation where I’m from and in DC. Once someone gets into an intimate stare-off like that. Physical contact is often followed by an aggressive blow. Granted, the drum in between is something I haven’t witnessed up until this point. I thought physical contact had already been made, twice, on the kid’s coat. Isn’t there even a consensus on who or what touched who or what, and when? ---
**Author:** ![Tee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/73ab20/32.png) [@Tee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tee)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2019, 5:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/covington-catholic-high-in-case-it-hasnt-been-mentioned-already/828090/692 "2019-01-25T17:53:46Z")
> [@WillFarnaby](#): > > To me there are only two potential opinions on the smirkers reaction. 1) he behaved in a near saint-like manner in the face of provocation after having been molested by radical racists for an hour and then subjected to provocation from the drum beater 2) he behaved cowardly and allowed someone to enter his personal space, beat a drum in his face, and make physical contact with his person. I saw a lot of “WTF is this?” in the kid’s expression and I would give him a few points for being quiet and restrained. But the hat and the protesting and fifty friends make him part of something roughly analogous to a bunch of black people hurling insults. I don’t know much about Kentucky either, maybe the kids would blend right in at any bowling banquet, but in other places a mob of red hats is a sign of something really bad. It would be like me driving through Georgia in a caravan of cars with Union flags. My actions are legal and perfectly innocent, it’s not my fault if someone gets in my face because they can’t handle being losers, and they can’t touch me. But add my shocked face and wounded demeanor and wondering what on earth could have provoked such incivility? That’s theater. ---
**Author:** ![octopus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/octopus/32/3716_2.png) [@octopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/octopus)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2019, 6:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/covington-catholic-high-in-case-it-hasnt-been-mentioned-already/828090/693 "2019-01-25T18:19:37Z")
> [@Tee](#): > > I saw a lot of “WTF is this?” in the kid’s expression and I would give him a few points for being quiet and restrained. But the hat and the protesting and fifty friends make him part of something roughly analogous to a bunch of black people hurling insults. I don’t know much about Kentucky either, maybe the kids would blend right in at any bowling banquet, but in other places a mob of red hats is a sign of something really bad. > > It would be like me driving through Georgia in a caravan of cars with Union flags. My actions are legal and perfectly innocent, it’s not my fault if someone gets in my face because they can’t handle being losers, and they can’t touch me. But add my shocked face and wounded demeanor and wondering what on earth could have provoked such incivility? That’s theater. You must have never been in Dixie if you think the American flag is problematic. And do you honestly think that the random hatcriminals and facecriminals are real criminals? ---
**Author:** ![Shodan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9f8e36/32.png) [@Shodan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shodan)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2019, 6:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/covington-catholic-high-in-case-it-hasnt-been-mentioned-already/828090/694 "2019-01-25T18:22:59Z")
> [@Bryan\_Ekers](#): > > For what it’s worth (and very little in this thread is worth much of anything), I could picture the kid’s reasonable response being to put his palm on the side of the drum and gently nudge it and the drummer back a few inches, while saying something like “Back off, buddy” or “Do you mind?” So you are saying the kid ran up to the drummer, and tried to slap the sacred emblem of his tribe out of his hand while screaming racist insults in his face? Regards, Shodan ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2019, 6:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/covington-catholic-high-in-case-it-hasnt-been-mentioned-already/828090/695 "2019-01-25T18:32:41Z")
> [@Shodan](#): > > So you are saying the kid ran up to the drummer, and tried to slap the sacred emblem of his tribe out of his hand while screaming racist insults in his face? > > Regards, > Shodan No. Are you admitting you’re on drugs or something? 😕 ---
**Author:** ![Tee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/73ab20/32.png) [@Tee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tee)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2019, 6:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/covington-catholic-high-in-case-it-hasnt-been-mentioned-already/828090/696 "2019-01-25T18:38:26Z")
> [@octopus](#): > > You must have never been in Dixie if you think the American flag is problematic. > > And do you honestly think that the random hatcriminals and facecriminals are real criminals? You’re right. They wouldn’t notice. What’s this about criminals? ---
**Author:** ![Hamlet](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hamlet/32/2818_2.png) [@Hamlet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hamlet)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2019, 6:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/covington-catholic-high-in-case-it-hasnt-been-mentioned-already/828090/697 "2019-01-25T18:42:44Z")
I forgot how … interesting … **Shodan** is. He excuses racist actions[sub]1[/sub], makes up facts[sub]2[/sub] , makes shit up about what other posters say[sub]3[/sub], and when called on his bullshit, ignores it and instead swaps insults and ad hominems. I suppose it’s good to be reminded of what an enormous piece of fetid shit **Shodan** is. [sub] 1 Mocking the Indigenous people by chanting, dancing, and tomahawk chops wasn’t wrong and was completely justified.[/sub] [sub]2 The “drummer” was hoping to provoke the poor, brave kid into committing an assault.[/sub] [sub]3 When you have to start your post with “So you are saying”, you’re likely full of shit.[/sub] ---
**Author:** ![doorhinge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a5b964/32.png) [@doorhinge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/doorhinge)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2019, 7:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/covington-catholic-high-in-case-it-hasnt-been-mentioned-already/828090/698 "2019-01-25T19:10:25Z")
> [@Hamlet](#): > > It’s not a comparison about what the kids did. It’s a comparison about the reaction of the right (and SlackerInc) to the whole event. Stuff like a murder, broken bones, pepper spray, etc don’t merit one one-hundredth of the response a white, privieged, Trump supporting, smirking kid having someone drum near him gets. Just like the over-reaction without actual facts or reality of the migrant caravan, Benghazi, and “her emails” doesn’t get mentioned, but the slight rush to judgment about a tense meeting of upset indigenous people and white conservatives turns into this. In other words, you have decided that you are the arbiter of what can, and can not, be discussed. :rolleyes: Besides being ineffective, your thread shitting doesn’t change the fact that an old man, and his entourage, tried to bully a teenager. Nor does it change the issue of racists jumping at the chance use the edited, biased twit by Guamanian Kaya Taitano to target, attack, threaten, and slander white people. You have the option of starting any number of threads in which you can discuss/rant about anything you wish. ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2019, 7:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/covington-catholic-high-in-case-it-hasnt-been-mentioned-already/828090/699 "2019-01-25T19:15:34Z")
> [@Hamlet](#): > > [sub]3 When you have to start your post with “So you are saying”, you’re likely full of shit.[/sub] This is a pretty strong rule for posts on this messageboard. > [@doorhinge](#): > > In other words, you have decided that you are the arbiter of what can, and can not, be discussed. QED ---
**Author:** ![Evil\_Economist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/c89c15/32.png) [@Evil\_Economist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Evil_Economist)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2019, 7:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/covington-catholic-high-in-case-it-hasnt-been-mentioned-already/828090/700 "2019-01-25T19:16:36Z")
> [@doorhinge](#): > > the fact that an old man, and his entourage, tried to bully a teenager. I think it’s great that you can make shit up and call it a “fact”. I was going to say the equivalent would be stating it as a fact that you are a fucking moron, but realized it’s not equivalent as I wouldn’t have to make anything up. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/covington-catholic-high-in-case-it-hasnt-been-mentioned-already/828090.md?page=34) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/covington-catholic-high-in-case-it-hasnt-been-mentioned-already/828090.md?page=36)