Is there any possibility that many people are committed to this worldview because it’s correct?
In this case, everyone except the police is saying this is probably a hate crime. It seems so open-and-shut a hate crime that the police’s reticence is surprising. Are you absolutely convinced that it’s a hate crime, or are you also hesitant to declare your opinion better-informed and more accurate than the police’s?
The victim in this instance reportedly knew one of his attackers from school, who used that association to lure him into being held hostage and tortured for two days. That speaks of something else entirely. As the linked AP report says: “Investigators will have to determine whether the racial remarks were ‘sincere or just stupid ranting and raving’ when considering a potential hate crime charge.”
Didn’t seem too hesitant to me. It was in the news, on all media, and was posted to this website early enough that this is where I heard of it first.
Now, I will admit to feeling disappointed that those who are nominally “on my side” would engage in such behavior, and I would like to know more about the situation before either condemning or defending their actions (though at this point, with what I know, it is unlikely that I would be defending them, if the alleged incident took place in anything like the story as described, I feel comfortable condemning in no uncertain terms, my only terms right now is that I would like to hear more of the circumstances first.)
Now, if you look at some of the other threads, like controversial encounters, or stupid rep idea of the day, for instance, whenever an incident is posted, there are many who flock to defend the police or republican, without actually having all the facts yet.
The reason this story seems quiet is because there is no one defending their actions.
It is hard to get all that much traffic out of, “Those guys are fucked up!”…“Yes. Yes they are.”
Things are not always so simple. Sometimes things have some truth to them but can be greatly exaggerated.
Same applies here. It’s not uncommon for people to do things for a variety of reasons. It’s very possible that the perpetrators had other motives as well, e.g. extortion or they may have just been sadists. But if they were shouting anti-white/Trump statements, then it’s likely that there was some element of racism involved as well.
So it’s most likely that what’s happening is that the police are not inclined to declare the crime racially motivated unless racism was the primary or sole motivator, rather than having some reason to believe that there was no racial angle at all. But I don’t think that’s a standard they would apply to white-on-black crime.
Could be wrong, and I’m certainly willing to keep an open mind and hear what they have to say. But at this time my best guess - based on this and many other such instances - is that their reticence is based on the above or something similar.
Thanks. I was surprised at their reticence, but it sounds like they wanted to be sure, and I’m glad they did due diligence first.
The claim that they wouldn’t have done due diligence if races were reversed is some weak sauce, looking-for-an-argument kind of argumentation in my opinion.