Reflections

I had to explain my mugging story to a group of acquaintances this past weekend. Almost every time I repeat my story, I very strategically leave out the fact that the two muggers were black. In the south, the assumption is already there, and I don't like to feed the stereotype. To be fair, I would say percentage wise, most of the semi-violent crimes in this area, in fact, committed by African Americans. That is a simple matter of statistics and can't really be disputed. What I have a problem with is that I feel many people believe that that demographic holds the majority of crimes because they are black. Even the most proudly tolerant individual will sometimes show this great depth of ignorance when it comes to racial matters. If asked, I'm sure they would say that they view all people as equal, not even recognizing that their belief in an inherent inclination towards crime is, by all means, prejudice and racist. In the South (elsewhere too, but especially here) the black neighborhoods are the poorest neighborhoods. This issue of class, of poor income distribution, is colored by race, and so in the eyes of onlookers removed intellectually and physically from these class problems, become one and the same. Go to southern Indiana, however, and these same crimes are being committed, just by poor white people.

There also seems to be a misunderstanding about the ramifications of having a black President. This misunderstanding is not limited to the South by any means, and I think has been exhibited by the media and citizenry alike. Having a black President does not mean that issues of racial inequity are now solved. This may sound like an obvious statement, but there have been numerous times that I have found people have a general attitude of "We have a black President now? Well *dusts off hands* that's that for race problems!" Ignoring, or perhaps just ignorant of, the systemic and systematic (not necessarily purposefully so as some would have you believe) stacking of odds against African Americans. Thomas Friedman even declared, one day after the 2008 elections, that "The Civil War is finally over." Implying, of course, that race problems in America are finished, and we can finally move on. I'm truly afraid that white people who have long been on the side of greater racial equality, yet may only have a tertiary commitment (I'm not judging them--I would largely include myself in this category) will adopt this view and perhaps believe their work is done.

This ignorance of the ramifications of Obama's presidency was made shockingly clear to me while I was telling my story at the cookout. One of my acquaintances there questioned me two or three times over the color of the muggers. Finally I told her that, yes, they were indeed black. Her response? "I just thought they would stop doing things like this now that Obama is President" [emphasis added]. This view on race was absolutely flabbergasting. To believe that crime among African Americans has rested solely on their political disenfranchisement; that every black person should now be compelled to live the straight and narrow; and to ignore the fact that 220 years of White presidents have not stopped white people from committing crimes. To do all of this in that one simple sentence blew my mind. Can people really be this ignorant? Can someone really have that clean cut view of the world, and to expect such easy fixes? If we have a latino president, will immigration issues stop? What about a lesbian president? Will they finally stop bothering us with all those requests for basic human rights?

What bothered me even more, is that this phrase was uttered by an extremely intelligent woman, on the verge of graduating from a well respect liberal arts institution. A person with a blessed upbringing. I've always believed that intelligence lies in one's ability to self-educate--to be able to intuit the complexity of a situation, to use past experiences and apply them to new, alien situations, and to have a natural thirst to learn more. If this woman, who is by all means incredibly intelligent, can hold such damn ignorant views, how are we to change the view of an entire people?

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Once I started thinking about the situation of my two muggers, I actually felt pity more than anything else for them. THat is not to say that I don't feel they got what they deserved--they were predators and I'm glad that they aren't on the streets. It's just that...they were both young, both with previous records. Keep in mind that your juvenile record is erased when you turn 18, so their record has been created in a very short time. Now I doubt they were perfect angels until the day they became a legal adult and suddenly turned to a life of crime. No, they most likely had a juvenile record as well, probably extending back quite far. One was from a foster home, and had a string of homes up and down the coast. Furthermore, their places of residence were listed in a very poor part of town. Both were unemployed.

These two would have a hard time finding employment anyway. The argument can be made that they have brought this upon themselves--that they chose to commit crimes after becoming adults, and to a large degree that is true. However, how employable is one person who has completed high school in juvenile detention, and one who never has been in one school more than a few months at a time? One pays for one's sins, but how just is it when those sins have roots stretching back to mere childhood?

As this economy worsens, as our society takes on more and more aspects of a true depression, how many more of these cases will we see? Everyone has to eat. If you think you are above stealing to satisfy that urge, you've never been truly hungry.

This afternoon, 3 houses across the street put up "For Sale" signs. Two were "For Sale By Owner." Even realtors won't touch the market anymore.

One interesting aspect of this recession/depression for this area. Poverty will no longer be limited to African Americans. Perhaps the next few years can change just a few attitudes.

We'll see.

No one fucks with my food stamps.

Ok, so many people want to know about my mugging experience. Yes, I did get mugged. No, I'm not hurt, except for a bruise and cut under my eye, and a few slightly loose teeth that I'm told will firm back up in a few days.

How it happened.

So there I was, knee deep. I had decided that since the weather was a beautiful 72 degrees, low humidity, I would go for an extended bike ride. There is a quite nice bike trail that runs for about 10 miles near the edge of Charleston. At about mile 7, 2 men stopped me to ask me a question. When I asked them to repeat their question, they started punching me while yelling "Give me your money." One of them, who I later found out was named Marcus, grabbed my back pack. The other--something with a "J" whom we'll call James, grabbed my wallet and took off.

Now you know how you're supposed to have a "flight-or-fight" response? I have neither. I have a "Stare blankly questioning if you are really getting mugged on a fucking bike trail?" response. Once I kind of woke up, I realized that they had my damn wallet and backpack! There was no way I wasn't getting them back. I took off after them. Not on my bike, mind you. No, that would've been intelligent. I took off on foot after them. It was good that I did decide to go after them, as about a quarter of a mile later there was a woman by herself coming up the trail. I believe if I hadn't been chasing after the two muggers, that woman probably would've been next.

After a little bit of running, the two assholes dropped my backpack and wallet. I looked inside and notice my cellphone was gone, as was everything in the cash pocket of my wallet, and one of my credit cards. Here's how poor of a choice these two made in mugging me. The cash in my wallet totaled $1. The credit card they grabbed? It was my food stamps card that: a. needed a passcode to use, and b. only had $6 on it. They really chose the wrong person to rob. However, they did have my cell phone (which I may add, didn't have a sim card, and hence also useless).

Back to the chase. Yeah they still have my cell phone, so I'm still running after them. Up ahead there are 3 men on bikes coming up the trail towards us. When the two muggers see this, they take off across the yards of a housing complex next to the trail. I stop the 3 bikers, and start explaining what happened. As soon as I said "mugged," one of the men I stopped took off after them on his bike. It turns out he was a retired cop. One of the other men is a district attorney. He called dispatch and got a squad car to come out pronto. Ten minutes later, both perps are sitting in the back of a squad car, and I'm writing down my statement.

One of the offenders, Marcus, had an outstanding warrant for armed robbery. So maybe it was a bad idea to chase after him. The other guy, James? He had gotten out of jail the day before.

Considering the warrant and probation status of both of them, it looks like they won't be getting a slap on the wrist, but a pretty harsh sentence. The bond hearing was this morning. It was set at $40,000 in cash, which neither will have.


And that's that! I never got my food stamps card back, and sometime during the chase my camera fell out of my backpack. That camera had all my inauguration pictures, so I'm a little sad about that. However, I'm safe, have my money and phone, and a good story. So all is well :).