Oh, Florida (Updated)

Thoughts about the case of Michael Dunn murdering Jordan Davis. Dunn was found guilty of attempting 2^nd degree murder, but not of murdering Davis outright.

First, a summary of the facts, sourced from Wild About Trial and CNN.

A man stops at a gas station convenience store with his lady. The plan is to buy a bottle of wine before heading back to the hotel for the night. They are visiting family, having spent the day at a wedding.

A truck with four of teenagers approaches and parks next to the man, music blaring. They've come from the mall, Black Friday shopping. Holiday Season has officially begun.

While his lady is buying the wine, the man asks the teenagers to turn down their music. They refuse. The two parties argue.

The man takes a pistol from his glove compartment and fires roughly 10 shots into the teenagers' truck. When his lady returns with the wine, he speeds away to the hotel. Three of the shots strike one of the teenagers in the back seat, hitting his liver, lung, and aorta. At no point does the man call the police.

When the police question him, the man said one of the teens threatened him while brandishing a shot gun. No gun was found in the truck or on the person of any of the people in the truck.

<DEEP BREATH>

These were punk teenagers, with the inconsiderate blaring of their music. I've read that at one point the kids turned the music down…then turned it back up after the man got back into his car.

Punk Kids. Let's not pretend they were as angelic as when they were six months old.

No, I'm not talking about punk rockers with Mohawks. When I say "punk" I'm referring to the arrogant, selfish attitude that sometimes makes you want to strangle a kid. Most of us have the good sense to walk away when we get to that level of irritation.

Yes, the type of music is irrelevant. Except maybe if it's classical.

Why didn't the man trust the police? He could have called them, citing noise ordinance or public nuisance. When he saw the gun, he could taken down the truck's license plate and informed the police of a possible threat to the community.

Instead, his actions suggest a distrust of local law enforcement and their abilities. Jacksonville PD should be offended.

Trained police officers have mistaken wallets for firearms (see Amadou Diallo). Thus, it is highly likely an untrained civilian in a tense situation would make a similar mistake.

Indeed, I believe he did make a similar mistake, seeing a gun where there wasn't one. Sometimes adrenaline is not our friend.

Up to this point, I've attempted to avoid the issues of race, class, and music preference which make this case feel complicated. They are issues, but for now, I only have one related question

Would Dunn have done the same thing if it was a mixed-race group of kids blasting rap? If none of the races represented were black? If all of the kids where white?

I think Dunn would say yes, though I don't believe he truly knows the answer.

UPDATE: Glimpsed CNN, and there was talk of Mr. Dunn's feelings about black men, gleaned from letters he wrote from jail. It seems he sees all black men as thugs, some of whom should be exterminated to teach the rest to alter their behavior.

Thus

If the kids in the car blasting rap music were not black, he possibly would have reacted differently.

<deep breath>

So
if Mr. Dunn saw my brother
In the supermarket, shopping for groceries,
No earrings, no tattoos, no sagging pants,
Focused on the business at hand,
Mr. Dunn would see an insect to be exterminated.

<breathe>

Even if Dunn said, "No, of course not!", I'm not sure I would believe him.

<heart breaking a little bit more>

Some Cuss Words

Oh I'm writing them out in full. Warning.

I've not been a fan of the term motherfucker. It seems more insulting to the person's mother than to the person. Unless by motherfucker one means violent rapist. In which case, it makes sense.

I realize asshole is a pejorative simply because of what comes out of one's   ass   hole. But really. When ya gotta poop, ya gotta poop. The ability to push excrement out of our bodies is a good thing. We're releasing toxins! Of course, those of you for fart on purpose are simply nasty. The term asshole seems properly applicable to you.

Dumbass is, at the moment, my favorite. I just like the sound of it.

Bitches. Well, I think of this for both genders. Though I’m more inclined to use it when referring to men, or a mixed group. Rarely women only. I don't like calling women bitches. Yes, one could argue accuracy, but there's so much abuse behind it when used exclusively for females. A woman who has been the object of violence and violation has had it screamed and shouted at her. Not even the flooziest of floozies deserves the term.

However

Do you tailgate folks in the slow lane? Flash people to go faster, when the left lane if free & clear? Bitch.

Shit's just vulgar. Certainly not on the same plane as motherfucker. I try to sheist instead. It's shit in German. And I've probably spelled it wrong.

I often say, Oh, Hell no. I guess hell is a cuss word because it's where Satan lives and the Devil is evil, etc., etc. In ranking, it falls below shit for me. Not terribly cussy.

Granted, I still try not to say it around children. You may think it's cute to hear a 2-year old use it correctly. But really, shouldn't we wait until they're at least eleven or twelve before we start corrupting them?

If I call someone a nigger, they're usually not black. I think of it in terms of behavior, not ethnicity.

White Reality TV celebrity does something crazy? Nigga, please.

Sadly, when I substitute negro for nigger, I'm always referring to a black person. Given the meaning of the word, I can't use negro for ethnicities other than my own; it makes no sense. Pregnant black Reality TV star wants a push gift? Negro, please.

This doesn't make nigger any more or less complex than it already is. Many who abhor the term are reminded of violence and abuse – the same way I shudder when I hear a woman called a bitch. Others grew up with it. It's what you called your people, your friends. It's what your parents called you.

For many black communities, the tussle over the term will not be ending any time soon.

Santa Claus is Santa Claus

So there was an article in Slate (a web magazine) about the need for Santa Claus to not be white all the time,

Which prompted a segment on Fox News where the show's host declared it a fact that Santa Claus is white,

Which prompted a day or two of media flurry.

Look.

Santa Claus is recognized by the red suit, white beard, and white hair. When I was a kid, the Santa Claus in the shopping center by my grandparents' house was black. Because my grandparents lived in a predominately black neighborhood. Different neighborhoods have Santas of different ethnicities.

It's kind of like Elvis.

Wait, what?

Yes, Elvis was undeniably white. But did you know Bruno Mars was an Elvis impersonator as a tyke?

Bruno Mars is not white. But with the hair and the costume and the attitude – he became Elvis. Despite being what? Three years old?

Because

With a fierce pompadour, an appropriate number of sequins, bell bottoms and a good amount of swagger,

You'll see Elvis. Regardless of skin color.

Just like Santa Claus.

The Jesus Sign

The man holding the sign was standing on the corner, in earnest, but not unpleasant, conversation with another man. It was a busy thoroughfare, a four lane intersection not far from a freeway entrance.

He was to my left. I could barely stop staring.

Trust Jesus. Forgiveness is Wonderful.

Wow.

No condemning the world to hell. Instead, an expression of a loving truth. It was like a rare bird.

The most Christ-like Jesus sign I had ever seen.

On Paula Deen. Again. (Sigh)

I know. Egypt. Zimmerman. DOMA. And all I can talk about is Paula Deen. Again.

Warning: I spell out the N-word.

I had no idea Paula Deen had so many endorsement deals. I still haven't seen the video, so I hope these folks aren't dumping her for something she said 20 years ago. Because it was 20 years ago.

However

Paula.

Did you really say nigger, when discussing a 19th century plantation-themed wedding?

Were you . . ?

Perhaps. . .?

Maybe you had finished reading a portion of Huckleberry Finn, and Nigger Jim just slipped out?

But what's getting my goat is this new bit of legal maneuvering. Might not be your intention, but now it looks like you have a problem with a white person standing up for non-white people.

That's no bueno, Paula. No Bueno.

I am reminded of third party sexual harassment claims. What am I talking about? You don't have to be a victim of sexual harassment to make a claim to the EEOC. You can be a witness, a bystander in the room.

EEOC. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. Enforcers of anti-discrimination laws.

I'm obviously not a lawyer, and have only read at most 4 articles about your case,

An un-informed non-expert. Where else would you find me but on the internet?

but why couldn't that third-party sexual harassment logic apply here?

The next car on this train of thought is about how violently arguing parents affect the kids who see their fights, but this post is too long already.

On Paula Deen

This is based on the first article I read about Paula Deen (I've since read two others). I haven't seen any of the YouTube videos. Mine is arguably a rather uninformed perspective.

Paula. Honey. You do you realize some of your fans are/were Black? Others may have not been fans, but they respected you. There were those who were inspired by you. You, as a single mom, did all of that? Well, then, maybe so could I. Nobody talks when eating my cooking.

Did you really want black employees to dress as slaves when catering a wedding? Was it an antebellum theme? Gone with the Wind and you needed Mammy, Prissy, Pork, and Big Sam? Mistake indeed.

Now. Those comments were made as part of an explanation of the present work environment at one of your restaurants. The concern, of course, is whether those distant past comments reflect a current state of heart.

Please don't go on Oprah to prove you're not a closet racist.

The way you address the situation at the restaurant is the proof most people are looking for.

Baffling Behavior

WARNING! A bit of coarse language here. And a trigger-y subject for some.

In 2009, a student at Richmond High was gang raped after a school dance, on school premises. The total number of assailants is unknown – they ran like roaches when the police arrived – but two have pled guilty and are testifying at the joint trial of two others.

According to one person's testimony, the victim was unconscious when one of the group tried to put his penis in her mouth for copulation. Naturally, he was unsuccessful. So he started beating her head.

Ooo, look, she's unconscious. She has no control over her muscles. I think she should give me a blow job.

Ah, man. That's not working. Maybe if I beat her she'll re-gain consciousness so I can get what I want.

Yeah. I couldn't find a logical explanation either.

No, "They were drunk," is not an explanation. Please.

You know drunkenness is not an excuse. You know that racist rant was not a new thought birthed from a hefeweizen froth. You know it was in the back recesses of the mind all along. And that friend of the ethnicity in question? They're the exceptions to the rules in the rant.

In other words

Somewhere in their minds, the idea of tearing the clothes off of someone who could barely sit upright is palatable.

Why is that?

* * * * *

When the story of the Richmond High gang rape first broke, it really shook me.

That first week, as I read the newspaper and glimpsed the TV news, it got worse. Maybe I missed something, but I only heard one male voice denounce the incident. He was one of the responding officers, and had tears in his eyes when he spoke.

Why weren't more men saying anything? Why was there silence in the face of such atrocity? The apparent lack of male response made me feel unsafe.

The next week there was a report of a group of men meeting in a park to pray and stand in solidarity with the victim. I felt a little better.

A few weeks later, the newspaper had a story about a preacher who referenced the incident in a sermon. He focused on the alcohol use.

I sighed. The pastor missed the point. Yes, alcohol was a factor – the will to fight our impulses diminishes when drunk. But it does not explain the impulse itself. And the problem is the impulse. What other species rapes for the sake of raping?