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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsMy heart broke today... I just don't understand.
We went to grocery shopping, and when we were leaving, my wife says why is that man beside himself. We go to him and ask if everything is okay, and we also noticed a white lady sobbing in the truck. He pointed at his truck, a newer truck at that.
Someone while they were shopping either used keys or wrench and keyed his truck, but it was not simple scratches, no it was words.
It said, White Power FU... The marks were big enough that you could see them from distance. We felt so bad for them. Just didn't know how to make it better. He told us before we left he was just happy his children weren't there to see it.
We live in Mesquite, TX a suburb of Dallas. About 140k in population, and a really quiet town. Growing up never heard of anything bad happening in Mesquite. Just makes me really sad.
Update: No we did not take pictures, but the couple sure did. Some other people may have, but many did not come up to the truck. Either they were scared or did not care to know what was happening.
Also it may not have been an isolated incident. We told some friends at a Bingo we frequent about what had happened, and they told us that this past weekend something similar happened to an older black man's truck in Balch Springs, a little city next to Mesquite.
I asked the cop that is placed at the bingo during the sessions if he knew of anything bad going in Balch Springs. Some of the other bingo people asked as well, but he knew nothing. He told us that most that suffer from things like this don't report it because of fear.
Also while I was at work my wife went back to the store, to see if anything had happened, but none of the workers knew anything.
AndyA
(16,993 posts)It's too bad someone didn't see who did it. Whoever it was is probably home now, abusing neighborhood animals, and/or their kids, and shining up their guns while listening to Ted Nugent records in the background and watching Faux News on TV.
DissidentVoice
(813 posts)Back in his late-70s heyday, I was a fan.
That's before I started hearing floods of Abject Bullshit every time he opened his pie hole.
Now I cannot stand to listen to him without thinking of the floods of Abject Bullshit that issue from him on a regular basis.
He said that back in the late '60s and the '70s he used to challenge guitarists to come up on stage and guitar-duel with him so he could blow them offstage.
I would really like to see him try that with Tony Iommi, Ritchie Blackmore, Brian May or Michael Schenker. Hell, I'd accept his "challenge" with my Ibanez ART 100 and Marshall Lead 15!
Dr Hobbitstein
(6,568 posts)But I ripped the guts out of a Lead 15 and built a clone of a '57 Tweed Champ in there for about $150.
My buddy that I built it for kept all the Marshall logos, so it looks like a Lead 15 head, but it sure don't sound like one.
DissidentVoice
(813 posts)Nice bit of restructuring!
I also have a Marshall Valvestate 15 and a Hiwatt Bulldog 20.
I had an all-tube Fender Princeton when I was a kid. It was my first good amp, and I have kicked myself for ever selling it.
Dr Hobbitstein
(6,568 posts)My current rig is a handbuilt clone of Page's 200w Superlead from The Song Remains The Same. Only with an 18w power section, and a footswitchable boost to go from stock to straight JCM800. I run that through a single Celestion G12H30, and it sings for days. There should be a link in my profile to my band's page. If not...
http://madmartigan321.com Somewhere on there is a link to the one demo we put up. We're currently in the studio recording our debut, but we did a rough demo of this song. Sort of shows off the amp...
bravenak
(34,648 posts)Fuccin punks always get away. Seriously.
RebelOne
(30,947 posts)or maybe his insurance will cover it if he made a police report.
Squinch
(50,993 posts)Whether the guy can afford the new paint job or not, it would be a nice gesture and message.
Isoldeblue
(1,135 posts)that truck repainted for them! Is there a way to make that happen?
Bravenak, your words weren't lost on me. In this case, it's seriously true.....
yardwork
(61,698 posts)I recently scratched the finish on my car - my own mistake - and I know how expensive this is to get fixed.
TheMadMonk
(6,187 posts)...(in it's latest iteration) you might deserve a punch in the face.
If you don't then perhaps some time with a clue by four.
Crass and offensive to the extreme.
Perhaps moreso, because by reading between the lines, I get the impression that the couple involved is interracial, why else does Lobo specifically mention that the wife is white, when the sole other reference to race is in the offensive inscription itself.
In fact given the nature of the inscription. Some hate filled sack of pus saw "ABOMINATION" and they felt compelled to leave their commentary.
truth2power
(8,219 posts)I didn't see bravenak's statement as being offensive. Yes, I know it's one of the things George Zimmerman said.
I saw it as ironic commentary, the fuckers who get away being those who keyed the car. Why can't Zimmerman's racist words be used as a teachable moment?
It seems similar to not being able to use the words "Hitler" and "Nazism" because, well, what happened in Germany was surely the greatest horror in the 4.5 billion years of the earth's existence. But people learn in terms of analogies and seeing patterns, and the way to ensure that horrific events never happen again is to name them and learn from them.
just my opinion.
TexasTowelie
(112,369 posts)While I don't condone prejudice I also understand that it will probably never be eliminated. However, to be so blatant to damage the property of others crosses the border line.
panader0
(25,816 posts)Edit to add: Mesquite actually has a higher crime rate than most places.
http://www.neighborhoodscout.com/tx/mesquite/crime/
CrispyQ
(36,501 posts)& I wish I believed in a hell that they are going to. I can't even fathom such hatred.
Oakenshield
(614 posts)Where do such toxic impulses come from? Animals certainly don't seem to share them.
chervilant
(8,267 posts)on overpopulation might interest you. Our species is exhibiting some of the same behaviors he saw during his experiments.
Ohio Joe
(21,761 posts)Helped me get a hit-n-run once.
warrant46
(2,205 posts)SummerSnow
(12,608 posts)totodeinhere
(13,058 posts)good people in that state. It's just that they are outnumbered right now but that may soon change.
warrant46
(2,205 posts)Soon !!
elehhhhna
(32,076 posts)LordGlenconner
(1,348 posts)IN fact that poster's assertion is borderline ludicrous. It wasn't some dumb hayseed with a shotgun, rebel flag and mouthful of chaw that killed JFK, for Christ's sake, even if one believes the Warren Commission's lone gunman tale.
LostOne4Ever
(9,290 posts)Texas progressism is alive and well!
hrmjustin
(71,265 posts)Raine1967
(11,589 posts)This is wretched.
Skidmore
(37,364 posts)to use it as a campaign tool and it goes largely unchallenged because those who use it would not hesitate to shoot someone who would challenge them. We have ceded ground to bullies for far too long.
Bernardo de La Paz
(49,032 posts)You put your finger on it. It is "bullies", writ large, aided & abetted by hatemongers like Right Wing Hate Radio and Republicans who use over-the-top hate rhetoric.
It shows up in the bullying and abuse teenagers have to endure and doesn't end there.
TinkerTot55
(198 posts)Must be part of that authoritarian psyche.......it's what gave Dubya his swagger, I believe.
Cheney and his whole administration had that, "We're above the law; what're you gonna do about it?!!" attitude too....bullies all.
JustAnotherGen
(31,867 posts)Don't take racism seriously at all. They only court minorities at election time and ignore us the rest of the time. And now - with the strip down of the VRA - this shit is only going to get worse.
It's always been this way in the USA - always.
DrewFlorida
(1,096 posts)It's a shame that someone would act with such hatefulness.
Zorra
(27,670 posts)I suspect it is because I am LGBT.
Lobo27
(753 posts)I suspect what happened to them was because he was black and his wife was white.
Zorra
(27,670 posts)because he was black and his wife was white.
So very sad, dark, and ugly.
Makes you doubly grateful for all the kind people in the world, doesn't it?
xmas74
(29,675 posts)It's not that he's black and she's white, it's that they are a couple. Unfortunately, I've heard this on more than a few occasions.
It's just sad. Who really cares about gender or skin color? I don't understand it.
calimary
(81,440 posts)stickers, and a "bush KNEW" sticker in my back window. On the inside. Where none of them could be torn off. So instead of vandalizing my stickers, the fuckwad vandalized the side of my car.
Isoldeblue
(1,135 posts)I can't dare put anything left leaning on my car, on my lawn, etc. I even worry about the mailman seeing all the stuff that comes from the democrat party and Warren and Sen. Nelson. And we're a white retired couple....
Yup, I'm in the armpit of the south; Florida panhandle, within a few short miles of Alabamy, where bible verses of gloom and doom and rampant sin is on many pick-up trucks and front lawns...... I don't even want to think what actually does go in the homes of those signs and the gazillion churches here. I already know first hand what happens to kids in church, when a youth pastor took a liking to me, when I was 14. And that was in the Philly, PA. area. So that crap is everywhere.
I am really sorry that happened to you, calimary. I bet they were p.o'ed that they couldn't remove the stickers, if that is any consolation...?
Chaco Dundee
(334 posts)With the stickers you had,which where pretty much the same I had,my truck came up missing alltogether.the only thing left were the keys in my hand.
mstinamotorcity2
(1,451 posts)but the inference was that this was a man of color. When you showed true concern it was evident that the whole town isn't like that. Prejudice. Teaching your family to carry themselves in a better manner is how you really help make the situation better. That way you won't assimilate with those who carry themselves in that manner. Sometimes good people must do good and speak out against bad. And sometimes not giving bad any attention is good.
Baitball Blogger
(46,756 posts)This sounds like it would qualify as a hate crime, wouldn't it?
mstinamotorcity2
(1,451 posts)won't come from me. The words White power said it all. Is it a hate crime?? Looks like Vandalism. And it always matters if a person commits a crime against a person because of their ethnic background.
TinkerTot55
(198 posts)Not sure I'd trust the local police. I think if I were that couple, I might call the Southern Poverty Law Center, and at least talk to someone about the crime. See what my options were. Almost all malls and stores have security cameras these days; something must've been recorded.
Baitball Blogger
(46,756 posts)woo me with science
(32,139 posts)SummerSnow
(12,608 posts)Egalitarian Thug
(12,448 posts)TV and religion...
Oh yeah, Turn It Up LOUD!
corkhead
(6,119 posts)thanks for jogging my memory.
Egalitarian Thug
(12,448 posts)And you're more than welcome.
xmas74
(29,675 posts)I really used to love this song.
DeSwiss
(27,137 posts)woo me with science
(32,139 posts)THANK YOU.
radhika
(1,008 posts)Cooley Hurd
(26,877 posts)Anyone that effed in the head to do such a thing REALLY needs to be caught before they pull a stunt similar to what happened to James Byrd.
Dustlawyer
(10,497 posts)everywhere we went except in Europe. Walking together we could hear some comments being made such as N****r Lover etc. I quickly learned how often racism came into our lives in some form or fashion. I have a better understanding of where black people are coming from having walked miles, while not in the shoes of a black person, next to the shoes of a black person. To hear the stories told to me by my wife's Auntee, Uncle and Father of the days under Jim Crow were a shock to me. If you ask me, those are the folks who would have a good excuse to be racist. Blacks in the South have all grown up hearing of these stories, whites not so much! So when you hear a black person play the race card, whether you believe they were justified in playing it or not, understand that you have no real understanding why they feel so strongly about it!
To give you an idea of where we are, James Byrd was dragged to death behind a truck in Jasper, Texas a few years ago and that is about an hours drive from here. I am 15 minutes from an oak tree where they have hung blacks for over 200 years from its branches, the last ones done secretly back in the 1950's. That town was all white until the Federal government stepped in and tried to place blacks on Section 8 Housing waiting list from my town to the neighboring all white town about 10 years ago. In the end it didn't work out, they could not keep them safe. The hanging pictures from the early 1900's can still be seen in the library. I have always wondered about all of the kids present, what parent thought that would be a good idea?
Desegregation did help to some extent. The youth of today know several kids from other races from school. They learn of the cultural differences, and of the similarities they share. Before desegregation it was easier to demonize another race because you did not know or understand them because you did not talk to them much. The racists of today are usually isolated by their own choice, never a good decision.
oh and one last thing I learned being married to a black woman, NEVER, EVER GET THEIR HAIR WET!!! LOL
RebelOne
(30,947 posts)I remember the separate bathrooms, drinking fountains, and no blacks allowed into any white establishments. I was married at a very young age, and my husband and I moved to New Jersey for a short time. I was shocked to see black and white couples, as that was taboo in the South. And I was even more shocked to see blacks in the restaurants and movie theaters.
But I got over all the prejudices of those years and have had many black friends of both sexes. I now live in North Georgia. In fact, I have two nieces who are married to black guys and have mixed children. Even here in Georgia, it seems to be accepted.
Berlin Expat
(950 posts)I lived in and around the Portland, OR area.
In the mid-1990s, I was in a relationship - and living - with a black woman for three years. In that three years, I got all kinds of looks, heard the ubiquitous "N***er-lover!" and assorted malicious things.
And this was in Portland; what many would consider a fairly left-of-center metropolitan area. There are many bigots, especially of the white variety, everywhere, and seeing an interracial couple drives them crazy.
They are a dying breed. This era is their last.....from here on out, they will continue to decline in numbers, and as they do, they will isolate themselves in enclaves.
Good riddance to bad rubbish.
loudsue
(14,087 posts)kids, all the way from high school to 30-somethings, are picking up on their dads' and their dad's friends egomaniacal hate. The GOP has made sociopathy all the rage. It's tough, masculine, and oh so cool to spew the racist bullshit.
For many years I had hoped that the days of racism would die with the generations that didn't grow up with integration. That hope, along with many other liberal hopes I once had, have died. This new world of corporate authoritarian sociopathic rule, different sets of law enforcement for the different classes, media and press putting out 24/7 propaganda, and complete disregard for the constitution has really gotten me beaten down in the "hope" department.
President Obama PROPOSING chained CPI had the effect of finally pushing me over the edge. I realized then...THERE IS NO HOPE.
Dustlawyer
(10,497 posts)I have seen racism all over this country, up North, East, & West they are more discrete, usually, but still believe what many Southerners, black, white, or brown believe! Human nature seems to drive us to distinguish ourselves as better than those around us, either by race, religion, geographical location, whatever. We may be culturally different, but I have found that we all have pretty much the same needs, wants, and desires. The only way to melt the melting pot is to stir it up. Desegregation helped in my town.
Owl
(3,643 posts)Bumper-stickers supporting President Obama and other Democratic politicians must've been too much for somebody I guess.
sakabatou
(42,170 posts)dembotoz
(16,826 posts)Ilsa
(61,697 posts)Hate crimes charges are brought against the perps.
Faygo Kid
(21,478 posts)Any state that elects Rick Perry as governor is off my list. Right-wing zealots rule there, and yes, I remember Dallas 1963.
nadinbrzezinski
(154,021 posts)by a very small minority... of very scared whites, who know they are going to be a minority soon.
The rest of us are fine with it, and will become minorities, or think majorities, but these people... are OUR COMMON ENEMY.
I hope they called the FBI, that is a hate crime. And I hate to say it, but I don't trust my big city cops with it... let alone small town cops.
Half-Century Man
(5,279 posts),,,They have to home school or their children will be lost to the herd of hate. Or is it that a collection of skinheads is call a "murder" of skinheads, like a collection of crows is called a murder.
Just thought of something, how large a part of the voucher/privatized/revamp of schools is to dance around multiculturalism? Considering that the John Birch Society (Tea Baggers) is behind it, I guess a huge part.
Isoldeblue
(1,135 posts)Half-Century Man
(5,279 posts)...I want to push back (and yeah, I know it just makes things worse. This is just meant as an escapist fantasy).
What if people kept a selection of bumper stickers on hand for counter-activism via car butt?
For NRA cars, "I like big guns cause of my tiny penis"
For expensive cars, "I don't care you're hungry. I got a cool car"
For Tea Bagger cars, "I'm too scared to hear my white hood outside."
Ace Rothstein
(3,183 posts)Hopefully they catch the pricks.
marble falls
(57,157 posts)hfojvt
(37,573 posts)You never heard of anything bad happening in a city of 140,000?
That makes no sense.
I live in a city of 35,000. There have been about ten homicides in the ten years I have lived here.
My home town was only 15,000 people. There was plenty of bad things going on in that city. Not that it would make the news, but there was plenty of mean-ness, violence, threats, cruelty, etc. Homicides were pretty rare, but not unheard of.
Looks to me like there were 28 homicides in the last 6 years in Mequite.
and 61 rapes, 1,102 robberies and 1,787 assaults. http://www.city-data.com/crime/crime-Mesquite-Texas.html
Compared to those, this vandalism is really kinda minor.
It sucks, but it is not a sign of the end of civilization. Not really unprecedented in the USA.
awoke_in_2003
(34,582 posts)since Obama took office
Cleita
(75,480 posts)passing through. I hope he reports this to the right authorities and that he has insurance. They might try to track the perpetrators down.
Peaceplace80
(38 posts)We have 4 children. There have been many times we have received filthy looks, racist remarks yelled at us and ignored when shopping or at a restaraunt. We took our children sledding 3 years ago and someone wrote, I hate N in the snow. It broke my heart when my sons had to be subjected to that. We have taught our children since they were toddlers to be kind, respect others and never judge because of race, religion, sexual orientation. It is truly sad that this happened to this couple and my heart goes out to them and all people who have been subjected to this hateful, racist behavior.
Dash87
(3,220 posts)Snake Plissken
(4,103 posts)Brigid
(17,621 posts)At least that way he can file an insurance claim and won't have to drive around with that on his truck until he can save enough money to have the damage repaired himself.
leveymg
(36,418 posts)Isoldeblue
(1,135 posts)and blatant racism, since the Zimmerman, "not guilty" verdict. It's as if that verdict validated all the hate and racism of whites, towards blacks that they kept hidden or at least, thinly veiled, till then.
I can no longer go on HuffPo, because of the escalation there in open racism. I am so sickened every time I read such ugly posts there about Trayvon Martin and his family. Even against his own mother, the vile posts get through. I was a fairly regular poster there in all of the Martin/Zimmerman article threads, within a week of it happening til the end of the trial. They are still fighting over it there, but not with me anymore. Beside, more than half of my posts never got posted, lately. Guess there are plenty GOP sympathizers there among the mods.
Life is too short to fill one minute of it with reading the worst human nature has to offer. Anyway, there is a huge difference since the verdict, IMO.
I'm afraid we are going to see more and more of these sort of hateful acts, now that they feel they have permission to not give a crap about a black boy being killed and/or wanting to believe he deserved it. I actually read a post that said, Trayvon thought gz was gay and that's why he beat him up. That TM was nothing more than a gay basher and deserved being killed by gz, who really isn't gay...... OMG
I got chills when I read your story, Lobo and a lump in my throat. How I ache for that couple. It's a terrible thing to know that there are people, that can be that hateful.
Look at what they did at the MO state fair with Obama's face on a rodeo clown. playing the fool, this past weekend. That is blatant disrespect for the office of the presidency. But, yet these very same people call themselves, "god-fearing" and "godly", going to church every Sunday and putting their children, regularly in SS. What the hell are they taught there?? Certainly not that God is love for everyone and that He created everyone in HIS OWN IMAGE............... As I read a DU poster here, say last night, "They believe that Jesus is a white man...." It makes me ill.
I call it redneck evangelicalism. And I don't mean that in a flattering way.....
And they call us the "elitist"....?????
jasond54231
(51 posts)Some people possess so much hate it's unbelievable. I hope the police catch the lowlife who was responsible for vandalizing that man's truck.
Spitfire of ATJ
(32,723 posts)Curmudgeoness
(18,219 posts)and bought a roll of duct tape to cover it with until it could be fixed. At least they would not have had to drive around with that showing. What a horrible thing to do to anyone! I would never consider destroying another person's property, no matter what I think of them.
TheMadMonk
(6,187 posts)Of the inscription being made would be nice, but just the entries and exits is probably enough.
Shouldn't be to hard to make a fairly accurate guess at the culprit if the car park has cameras at the exits: They almost certainly left within a very few minutes of your couple arriving, and may well have followed your couple into the car park in the first place.
Stonepounder
(4,033 posts)it should be covered. Doesn't make what happened any easier to take, but maybe he won't suffer financially as well as emotionally.
kimbutgar
(21,177 posts)All the right wing wants is to divide and conquer us. All so the GOP can win electorically. Disgusting and vile. Those weak minded and ignorant don't realize they are pawns being used by big business to further their agenda of destroying the new deal and the middle class making us wage slaves beholden to the 1%. The sad thing is we can't get though to those so far gone in right wing world . .The people they support will ultimately destroy them. How many families are now even divided.
SleeplessinSoCal
(9,135 posts)I appreciate that you shared it here. Sunlight should help.
Chaco Dundee
(334 posts)I have seen a lot of not so good things happen to people and sometimes to myself.it does not get better as you go,but such is life and we know that.how anybody can even concieve of doing that to another human fellow being escapes my imagination.
Enthusiast
(50,983 posts)Puzzledtraveller
(5,937 posts)lastlib
(23,271 posts). . . . . . . . . . . .
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MissDeeds
(7,499 posts)by the cruelty and viciousness of others, but I am. Just heartbreaking.
The Craycray in Texas is legend.
Beacool
(30,250 posts)looking at their parking lot. Hopefully they do and the culprits can be on video. I would then call a local TV station and tell them the story, maybe someone saw something. He should also report the crime to the police.
They were probably young thugs. I don't think an older person would do something like that (by older I mean 30 plus).
I'm sorry for the couple, incidents like that one are soul crushing.
DissidentVoice
(813 posts)Not to mention COWARDLY.
Grammy23
(5,810 posts)we live in dangerous times. As someone else noted there is a steady drum beat of hate spewed forth on Fox and by people like Rush Limbaugh and others on talk radio. They are whipping people into a frenzy of hate and the result is that they are emboldened to do these outrageous acts against people they disagree with.
The nasty stunt pulled at the MO State Fair last weekend is a good example of how far they are willing to go. They thought they could do this and that it would pass as "entertainment". It never entered anyone's head that some people attending the rodeo just might be offended by the insulting and disrespectful attitude toward President Obama. And I would be willing to bet that there are plenty of people who do not see the harm in what was done.
As long there are no consequences for open racism, it will continue. And Rush and all the others will have to answer for what they have done to incite the dangerous attitudes and outrageous behavior like what happened to the man and woman in Texas.
To quote one of my father's favorite philosophers....Pogo...."We have met the enemy and he is us." As long as we let those Yahoos at Fox speak so loud that they drown out the rest of us, we are probably doomed.
Dreamer Tatum
(10,926 posts)This was a crime. A HATE crime. You couldn't document any of it?
Socal31
(2,484 posts)This could easily be elevated to a federal probe. Taking pictures would have been a good idea...sometimes victims are just sad, they aren't thinking about how to properly pursue a criminal at the time.
Also, some insurance companies would want to see a police report.
Quantess
(27,630 posts)Hey, someone had to say it.
AverageJoe90
(10,745 posts)And we never had to deal with this problem too much from what I can recall.....sorry you guys had to deal with punks like that, though.