More on Matthew Owens beating - He did pull a knife on kids playing basketball.

[BronxBoy]

123. The Truly Awful Thing About This Story......

is that is exposes how our increasing polarization is preventing this country from really looking below the superficial bullshit and addressing some real concerns that affect us all. I must admit that when I first read about this story, my immediate impact was racial in nature. My immediate feeling was not that the story was bullshit but, as a Black man, I hoped that it wasn't true at all. Most Black folk in this country have learned early on that one verified story like this buries and makes moot a hundred Trayvon Martin incidents. And in doing so, it further deepens the frustration and cycle of mistrust between groups that is spiraling out of control today.

I couldn't sleep last night so I spent a lot of time of DU and read a lot of the threads which updated details about this story as they became available. As I read the threads, it became apparent to me that this story, at it's heart. is most likely not about Black or White. As Hannibal Lecter would say "That is incidental"

I really believe that at its core this story is about how this country has failed miserably in addressing the needs of our mentally ill. The picture that jumps out at me about Mr. Owens is that he is a man who has some serious mental health issues. He's apparently been abusive including physical abuse to people in that neighborhood, both Black and White. In fact, one of the quotes in one of the stories posted came from a White gentleman, who while not condoning the savagery visited upon Mr. Owens, said he was not surprised given the guys behavior. I think I read in one thread a story about how he had beaten up someone and broken someone's nose. So I think it's safe to say that he had some issues. He didn't deserve to get beaten within an inch of his life. But within this story, a deeper tale lay.

So I started thinking about what would cause thirty people, some of whom were described as dressed in their Sunday best to do such a thing. And given what had been posted while I was reading, I had no answers. Then someone posted a a clip of a young Black woman who was really venting behind this news crew that had gone to the community to do a story on the incident. And then I think, it became clear to me.

As I listened to that woman rage, I felt that there was a lot of pent up frustration of having to deal with this guy. She mentioned bi-polar and I'd bet a dollar to a donut that the residents of that community have probably complained about this guy to no avail and are simply frustrated. So then the story probably morphs from a Black-White issue to one where persons with mental health problems are ignored by government because of budgetary issues or simple out right hostility and a community unable to deal with the social problems of having an untreated patient in their midst. I wouldn't be surprised if residents have complained about this guy to authorities only to be told there is nothing they could do.

I have no idea that what I believe about this story is true. I am curious about what he supposedly was apologizing for. I really think he's a troubled man and I think he may know it too. But I guess my speculation is as good as anyone else's. But if it is and I suspect it might be, it just goes to illustrate how our country is increasingly becoming so polarized that we cannot peer under the covers to get at the real issues that affect us and would rather retreat to the safe confines of the "savage niggers" and the "crazy cracker down the street" to explain away incidents like this.

Under the facts as they presently stand, there is simply no justification for the beating of Mr. Owens. But I also know that given this country's abysmal attitude to mental health treatment and the ignorance is bliss attitudes that too often accompany perceptions of mental illness that incidents like these will continue to stress local communities to the point that they may unfortunately happen again.

Just my two cents