Right Wing Hatred by Carl Pridemore
In 1987, it was reported a 15 year old girl was attacked by a group of white men, one of them, a police officer. Not only was she beaten, her clothes were ripped and burned, racial slurs were written on her body, she was raped and feces was smeared on her face. She was left tied up in a plastic garbage bag in an alley. The nation was outraged. The foremost expert on race relations our country has ever had, Al Sharpton trumpeted her cause. Dr. William Henry "Bill" Cosby Jr. pledged his support and began a legal trust fund for the abused girl. There was a march through the streets of Newburgh, New York of over 1,000 people.
Anyone remember Morton Downey Jr.? In 1989, he claimed, and the media reported, he was attacked by skinheads in a bathroom at the the San Francisco International airport. The alleged beating not only left him with cuts and bruises, the thugs had also painted a swastika on his face. There was a huge outpouring of sympathy for Morton and contempt for the perpetrators. The year is 2006. The location, a house in Durham, North Carolina. There was a party. A hired stripper claims to have been brutally raped by a group of privileged white males. Pandemonium ensued. Professors resigned, there were calls for castration of the men, there were protests at the home where the crime occurred, mug shots of all the players were pasted across the campus. Once again, Al Sharpton took the lead. Jesse Jackson also received plenty of face time on the major news channels. There was a promise of burn baby burn if there was not a conviction. Do you know these three stories and their ending? On the morning of Saturday, May 1, I opened my Facebook page. I am sure, by now, you have read the "Now you get mad" statement. I had seen it before. Did not pay it much attention. This time, however, it was being posted by a childhood friend.