About This Blog
The Times Observer gives an editorial view of the events and issues that shape our world.
To find out more about The Times Observer, please go to the About page.
Anthony Leone is the publisher and editor of this blog. You can contact him through the About page.
Tuesday, September 08, 2009
Racial-Hate Beating Gets
Limited Attention
Here’s a sad truth: If a black male teen was beaten up by a group of white men because he was dating a white girl, it would make major headlines and the Al Sharptons of the country would explode onto the scene.
However, when the colors are reversed, no one on the civil rights stage, either the majority of the media or the Al Sharptons, can be found.
Brian Milligan Jr., a white 18 year old from Buffalo, N.Y., was severely beaten last month by black men because he was dating his black girlfriend, Nicola Fletcher, police and his father, Brian Milligan Sr., said.
Milligan Jr.’s attackers left him with a 3-inch gash on the back of his head and a broken jaw. He and his 18-year-old girlfriend both have said that they have been tormented by a group of black men before the vicious attack. Sadly, Milligan Jr.’s injuries were so severe that he cannot remember it, leaving police with little to go on.
(Update: According to a CNN broadcast, a witness told the Milligan Family that she saw 10 black teens attack Milligan Jr. and the police are looking into it.)
While the Rev. Al Sharpton or the Rev. Jesse Jackson cannot be found by Milligan Jr.’s bedside, thankfully there is one black reverend that realizes that civil rights are not just for those with one type of skin color, but for all.
Rev. Darius Pridgen has been urging his congregation of the True Bethel Baptist Church to report anything they know of the beating.
Rev. Pridgen is doing the right thing and fighting on Milligan Jr.’s behalf. Why isn’t the national media reporting on this 24/7 like they did with the Jena 6 case? Why isn’t Sharpton or Jackson having a million man march over this injustice?
Maybe Rev. Pridgen said it best: “At first, it didn’t affect me the way that it would have if I heard it was a black teen attacked.” … “We would have been protesting with flags and everything else (if Milligan Jr. was black).”
And it’s true, sadly. Brian Milligan Jr. has the wrong skin color and that’s why there is not a big show of support for him or major media attention. Yes, CNN did a small story on this but it’s not the big national coverage that they would give if Milligan Jr. was black and his attackers were white.
This country became color-blinded and united behind Barack Obama when he was seeking the White House seat. Sadly, that blindness and unity are nowhere to be found when a racial attack and discrimination happened to a white boy whose only “crime” was dating a black girl.
Hate crime against any race by any race is unacceptable. And our civil rights leaders and the media cannot pick and choose which ones are more deserving than others simply because some victims have the wrong skin color.
