He was walking down Saginaw street and had stopped at the Sunoco when three upstanding African-American citizens approached him. One of them threw a hook, which the employee ducked. He backed away from the trio and was greeted with a ceasefire--the initial attacker extended his arm and offered a warm "Nah man, we cool." There was, as he described, not time enough to glance back up after looking down at the attacker's outstretched hand before the second sucker-punch landed. The three victims of racist oppression then literally beat his teeth out.
We--meaning I--here at The 810 Diaries feel that three crucial mistakes were made by the employee that night:
I don't care that the police won't ever bother to go after the attackers. I don't care that this wouldn't be considered a hate crime. I don't even really care about the guy who got his teeth knocked out--that's what he gets for mistakes 1, 2, and 3. What really gets me is that there are people out there who would excuse this behavior--we all know that White racism is what really jumped the guy, who probably said something racist to provoke it anyway.
We--meaning I--here at The 810 Diaries feel that three crucial mistakes were made by the employee that night:
- Being on any part of Saginaw Street, at any time of night, on any day of the year, and in any weather. I can't stress enough that FLINT IS A DANGEROUS PLACE FILLED WITH DANGEROUS PEOPLE.
- Not owning a gun. Michigan is an open-carry state, meaning that someone as young as 18 can carry a legal gun in plain sight. Our guy is over 21, which means he should have already had one holstered under his coat when he made mistake number one.
- Sticking around. If you're ever in a rough part of town without a gun and you see three Black guys coming your way, you cross the fucking street. You might feel like a good little anti-racist for giving them the benefit of the doubt, but the alternative is losing some teeth--or worse. (Look it up yourself, if you don't like the source.)
I don't care that the police won't ever bother to go after the attackers. I don't care that this wouldn't be considered a hate crime. I don't even really care about the guy who got his teeth knocked out--that's what he gets for mistakes 1, 2, and 3. What really gets me is that there are people out there who would excuse this behavior--we all know that White racism is what really jumped the guy, who probably said something racist to provoke it anyway.