A Beating in Detroit

The New York Times ^ | April 25,2014 | CHARLIE LeDUFF

[Hojczyk]

But leaders nationally and in Detroit stayed curiously silent. A medical fund was established for Mr. Utash, but it took more than a week to convene a vigil for him as he lay in a coma. Until that vigil not even Mike Duggan — the first elected white mayor of Detroit in 40 years — made a public appearance about it. (Though he did put out a press release and a tweet.) Nor did any City Council person that I’m aware of. And nothing from President Obama. Rage and hopelessness are no excuses here. All Detroit, whether black or white, noticed the silence.

The fact is, it’s often hard to be white in America, too, especially in a struggling city like Detroit. Just ask the Utash family.

Three black men I spoke with at the gas station a few days after the beating acknowledged this two-way street. They called Mr. Utash an honorable man for stopping to help when too many people in this city don’t. They mocked the silence of civic leaders. They wanted to know why the mayor had not come to their neighborhood. They knew the score. They’re Americans. And they also know that we can’t expect those leaders to solve this riddle of ours called race.

If you’re looking for any hope in this story, go back to the corner of Morang and Balfour on the east side of the city of Detroit, where two very good people named Steve Utash and Deborah Hughes met one very bad day.

[cripplecreek]

Charlie LeDuff is one of the few good journalists left in America.



Michigan legislative action thread

[wintertime]

this riddle of ours called race.
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

It isn’t a riddle. Blacks have been taught to hate whites.

[I want the USA back]

I hope you people get it. 0bama didn’t condemn it because he thinks that Whitey deserves it!

Notice how he ALWAYS opens his mouth to comment when a normal person attacks someone in his very best buddy groups, but NEVER says anything when a normal person is murdered by one of his bosom buddies.

[Cicero]

I’m not very skilled at watching videos, but someone else on another thread suggested that the kid was not run over, but that he ran out and hit the side of the truck, and then fell back down.

Possibly, this was one of those knock-out games from the start, or an attempt to get “hit” by a truck and then bring a lawsuit. If so, it wouldn’t be surprising. And the Detroit police, media, and politicians will hardly venture to suggest that’s what happened.

[Flintlock]

He’s white.

So, who cares??

[Verginius Rufus]

I'm surprised that The New York Times would print this, but it is Saturday (the day when its readership is lowest) and the author reveals that his grandfather was "mulatto" (part-black).

The reference to the white man killing a black woman who was "wandering around the neighborhood" apparently is about that mysterious incident when the homeowner thought someone was trying to break into his home. I'm not sure what the current status of that case is.

[WilliamofCarmichael]

In my lifetime I remember two out-of-work white autoworkers in 1982 beating a Chinese-American man to death because they thought he was Japanese. In the early 1990s, white cops went to prison for beating a black motorist to death. Last year, a white man shot a black woman to death after her car broke down and she was wandering the neighborhood, presumably looking for help. Now this. So the circle spins on. Black mob. White fear. More guns.

"So the circle spins on." Circle?

In my lifetime everyday time there's Knockout Game beatings and other black-on-white violence occurring. Yes it's primarily because of the hate largely stirred by the Civil Rights Industry, Victims' Industry, MSM, government, universities, et al. Why can't they be sued using the doctrine of vicarious liability?

[Hot Tabasco]

Possibly, this was one of those knock-out games from the start, or an attempt to get “hit” by a truck and then bring a lawsuit

It's called "dodge car" and he got hit........

[driftless2]

It’s called the “ghetto lottery.” Always trying to screw the taxpayer.

[palmer]

There was a recent accident near me. Six year old black kid was killed, decapitated in fact. Interestingly the family seems to have lied about the kid's whereabouts saying he got separated from them in the grocery store. That's the official story in the newspaper. But the story I heard is he was unsupervised and wandered to the store by himself across a busy street.

Following the accident there was some sort of shouting going on in the McDonalds nearby, but no fight or arrests AFAIK. The white driver was not charged. Instead of Detroit style crap, the town held fundraisers. I just sent a couple bucks myself.

[T Ruth]

You can't believe anything you read in the NYT.

[cripplecreek]

Yup, I see the same in Jackson.

Its not about money, its about lack of adult supervision.