Old South racism alive and well in Texas

I always though Bumfuck Texas was fictional but apparently it really exists.

Here’s what the esteemed mayor of Bumfuck had to say:

“The black boy was somewhere he shouldn’t have been?” What the fuck? A mentally retarded man with the mental age of a 12 year old is brought to this place by the criminals and the mayor thinks it’s his own fault for being there? No wonder he’s the mayor.

It seems this town has had other incidents before:

No hate crime charges were pressed in the current case because the authorities decided (despite the testimony of witnesses that the victim was subjected to racial taunts and references to the KKK) that he was victimized because of his mental disability instead of his race:

So I guess hate crimes are ok if you do it to retarded people.

The most maddening quote for me came from tehs tupid bitch mother of one of the perps:

I don’t want to generalize anything into a sweeping judgement of the south or of Texas but fucking Christ on a stick what else can you say about this one town and how many other nasty little small town pockets like this one still fester in the armpits of Dixie?

Well, when I am God Emperor of the World, I know just where to resume nuclear testing. That place is a waste of space.

Christ can you guys over generalize a little more. This is how racism starts. You take the actions of a few individuals and generalize to the whole town. Good going fucknuts…

As a black man who has heavily travelled these United States, I can attest that just off the beaten path, you’ll find towns like this just about anywhere.

P.S. I thought Bumfuck was in Idaho.

Except, of course, that the whole town seems to accept it. Note that the jury, the conscience of the community, acquitted on the serious charges (I assume some sort of felony assault and battery), convicted on minor or lesser included charges and recommended no jail time. I suspect that it is fair to conclude that this community regards the life of a Black Man to be of no value. I also suspect, given the way the Texas trial and appeals judges are selected, that the whole community would not have accepted any more severe a punishment.

This is not the way racism starts, it is the way racism is preserved.

That there may be many communities with this mind set is no reason to think that this particular instance should not be roundly condemned.

What do you suppose are the chances of a federal civil rights violation prosecution.

A few individuals, please give me a F****** break. We’re talking about the group of youth’s who committed the crime, at least some of their relatives, the Mayor, the people on the jury (another 12), and other residents discussed in the OP out of a town of 2,220 people (2000 Census)

Add to that the previous murders and the resulting justice and I’d say you have a pretty strong case that the town fits the OP’s “generalization” and I’ve certainly been to more than my fair share of similar towns that fit the description (and they are not limited to either Texas or the South).

I think the situation as described is dispicable and that the racist bastards should be hung. What I take exception to is painting the whole town with the racist brush. The jury is not the conscience of the community it is merely twelve fucktards. One poster advocated nuclear testing in the whole town. not on the racist bastards but the whole fucking town. Tell me how thats different than bumfuck racist saying all niggers are X.

I’m tempted to contact my Texas state representatives and inquire about the feasability of adding the mentally and physically disabled to the protected classes under hate crimes bills. I’ve given up hope of sexual orientation being added, but surely even Texas state reps can get behind stricter punishment for bastards who target the mentally retarded.

Well, it’s OK to advocate that if it’s Texas.

Jesus Christ, that’s just bizzare. They should have been convicted of aggravated assault, 2-20, they should have gotten prison time, and if it’d happened here, they undoubtably would have. Ordinarily, you just don’t go beating mentally retarded people into comas and throwing them in anthills and skate with probation, even in Texas.

Well, there are pockets of humanity dispersed throughout the state so tactical nulear weapons would be okay to target the fuckheads.

I lived in Cass County from the time I was six until I graduated at 18. I don’t know if I’ve ever been in Linden except to pass through it, but not all of us from small east Texas towns are like that.

I know silenus was just being facetious (I mean, really; God Emperor of the World? I find that a little hard to believe. Where’s the megamaniacal laugh?), but talking about annihilation of an entire area means blaming everyone for the actions of some.

I hope the NAACP is successful in getting more charges against those guys, and I hope they go to prison for a long time.

And what happens when a hate crime charge goes before the same morally retarded jury?

Those people might be beyond hope.

The sad thing is, they probably were charged with injury to a disabled individual, a third degree felony with a range of 2-10 years if it causes “injury” rather than “serious bodily injury.” They just didn’t get convicted, or didn’t get enough time.

Maybe you’re thinking of Assboink, Idaho.

What happened in that community was horribly cruel. The four young people involved should have been tried as adults if they had not arrived at majority. The decision of the jury was shameful. The mayor’s words are inexcusable.

I remember what it was like to live in a segregated Southern town of 2,000 and to know the extremes of opinions on the issues of race. To paint this entire white community as being of one mind is ignorant. It is just as ignorant as those who portray all Americans as war-mongers.

Why is racism always relegated to the “Old South” when it occurs in the South, but when it happens on Long Island or in Massachusetts, it is never “Old New England” racism or “Old New York” racism?

Nothing can excuse the brutality of racism wherever it has existed or still exists. Slavery existed in NYC for over two hundred years. How long did it last in the South? Which state released its slaves first – Delaware or Tennessee? The South was on the wrong side when it supported slavery during the Civil War. But the Union states had also supported slavery only a generation or two before. How morally superior does that make them and their descendants?

Bigotry is ugly in all of its forms, DtC. That includes bigotry against Southerns. What have you done in your life personally to atone for the evils of racism and the perpetuation of stereotypes? When push comes to shove, isn’t that what makes the real difference?

Ok, who in that town spoke out against that racist and ignorant Mayor, those racist goons that did the attacks, or condemned the Jury for a too lenient verdict? I mean- if you can show me an editorial, a proets, a recall movement, or something similar- I’ll cut the town some slack, and agree it wasn’t representative of the town. But if only a few did the bad thing, but a few more supported them- and no one spoke out against it- then that condemns them all- as moral cowards at the very least.

That’s “protest”. :smack:

Just because our society is touchy about bigotry doesn’t mean it’s the only evil there is, or the worst. These good ole boys brutally assaulted someone weaker than themselves, giving him permanent brain damage, because they thought it was funny. I find that a repulsive act of bullying, and I don’t care if Mr. Johnson was black or a direct descendent of Myles fucking Standish.