So today for the umpteenth time we saw another news story, designed to cause mass hysteria with solemn sounding anchors telling us to be on ‘high alert’ for roving gangs of Black youth participating in this nationwide trend called ‘The Knock Out Game‘..
As anchors launch into their tales of terror showing us the same grainy stock footage which includes a teacher being knocked out in New Jersey from two years ago and a woman being knocked out in London, a ticker tape runs across the bottom of our screens telling us police are on the look out for these ‘young thugs’ and have ordered extra patrols…
The story depending on what city you see it reported, will then tell you about two bike riders in St Louis being knocked out or Black kids in Brooklyn looking for Jews to knock out.. There’s a report of some kid knocking a woman out in San Diego..All the reports show the same video footage of some young teens in Jersey bragging about how they knock folks out.. By then our blood is either boiling or we are scared to death.
The anchors voices then get shrill as they pull out a map detailing what parts of the country the attacks have happened. In the past month there have been 7 knock outs and according to the anchors the videos are being posted all over YouTube by the hundreds.
All the news stories then launch into a field reporter interviewing someone who knows of a friend who knows a friend who got knocked out and went to the hospital because of the knock out game..
These news stories from coast to coast end with the reporters telling us two people have been killed by what police think MAY have been a version of the knock out game..We are left concluding that we no longer need to fear terrorists organizations like Al Qaeda, but instead be wary of marauding Black Youth. The message is when you see them run. Why? Because they are gonna knock you out.
These reports have understandably led to some harsh reactions with many publishing blogs and posting YouTube vlogs promising to shoot if someone dares to try to knock them out. In fact if you go on-line, you are likely to find scores of threatening responses to the Knock Out Game then you are the same 3 or 4 videos all of from years past repeatedly being shown on news stations around the country reporting this ‘new‘ ‘disturbing trend‘.
It’s important that folks not get caught up in the hype of the Knock Out Game without putting it in historical, social and political context. First let’s be clear in understanding what this is.. the Knock Out game is ASSAULT.. and when a group of people are ‘targeting people at random’ to assault them, that is basically another form of BULLYING.
Are assaults and bullying acceptable? Absolutely not. Should we be concerned? Of course but let’s be honest when reporting on this type of anti social behavior. Yes there are crimes that occur. Yes there are innocent folks who get attacked robbed etc. But this is not whats being reported. many in the media are making it appear as if this is some sort of game spreading like wild fire from coast to coast. Its simply not true. The fact that they are taking any crime and calling it as part of knock out game trend is akin to when the police label every crime in certain communities ‘gang related’.
If we look at this honestly, every generation and every inner city has had some sort of ‘knock out game‘ or unsavory group action that was attributed to Black youth that the media brought to the forefront. These actions were never as big and widespread as reported but it made for good TV and gave politicians a chance to talk tough and push for new harsh laws. What’s being report is now is the repackaging and rewording an age-old propaganda designed to stoke fears, increase ratings and justify demonizing and criminalizing entire groups of people.
For those who don’t know, the knock out game was called ‘wylding‘ or ‘rat packing‘ when I was coming up in New York. In Oakland it was called ‘mobbing‘ In other parts of the country it was called clocking, chin checking, and just plain old jumping. Under those names the image of vicious, out of control black teens were attached to them, but such activities should not be separated from those suburban teens who would head to the gay parts of town and jump folks in what we would commonly call gay bashing.
That should not be separated from the folks who would see Jewish kids wearing yarmulkes or what folks thought were black cowboy hats and snatch them or knock them off their heads and attack them, perceiving them to be weak. Others attacked them because they perceived to have lots of money and were easy pickings. Some would call it Jew Jumping.
That should not be separated from those who would see and attack Sikhs wearing turbans or Muslim women wearing hijab . This was ‘all the rage‘ after 9-11. Key word ‘rage’ which was used as justification.
This should not be separated from roving teens who routinely have jumped and knocked out unsuspecting homeless folks over the years or folks who would shoot pellet guns at unsuspecting bike riders or throw rocks from freeways overpasses at unsuspecting drivers. or even full blown riots at college campuses .Often times such activities were reduced to kids just mischief-making.
None of this can separated from the vicious attacks that have routinely visited Mexican day labors by xenophobic types in violent versions of ‘Knock out’ commonly known as ‘Beaner Jumping‘ or ‘Wetback Whippings‘. In some parts of the country attacks on Mexican migrants would occur with folks referring to them as ‘Walking ATM Machines‘ because it was believed they carried cash were unlikely to report crimes to the police.
It was just a few years ago that our nation’s newspapers were splattered with headlines about how a group of suburban teens from Long Island attacked two Ecuadorean Brothers who were walking arm and arm thinking they were gay and ‘illegal’ gay and illegal brutally beat them with bats killing one. Once caught it was discovered that this group of teens who had dubbed themselves ‘The Caucasian Crew’ had been on a week-long spree of jumping Brown folks who they thought were undocumented.. They described Beaner Jumping as a commonplace game.. You can read about that HERE
9 year old Brisenia Flores was shot and killed vigilante border patrollers
In recent years we seen this immigrant bashing take on new heights with folks under the guise of ‘patrolling the border‘ and sporting names like Minute Men with many having Neo Nazi ties would see themselves playing the ultimate real life war game as they would head down to borders of Arizona and Texas in droves looking for ‘illegals’ to capture, beat up and sometimes shoot. Folks may wanna look up the tragic shooting death of Raul Flores and his 9-year-old daughter Brisenia by Minutemen who thought they were here illegally. Read about that HERE
Some of you reading this are old enough to recall that if you lived in New York City in the 70s there was a game called Kill Nigger Day and if you went to certain parts of town like Bensonhurst, Brookland, Pelham Bay in the Bronx, Howard Beach in Queens you were gonna get mobbed on by angry whites who basically did this for fun.
If you lived in Boston and went to South Boston same thing would happen.In fact folks may wanna look at the rap sheet of actor Mark Walhberg who as a youth was quite fond of jumping Blacks and Asians youth.. He was not an exception to what was often described by many as the most racist city in America. Read about that HERE.
In generations past in cities like LA the game was called Spook Hunting.. In fact there was white racist gang calling themselves the Spook Hunters who would patrol the borders of Watts and Mexican neighborhoods to make sure no Blacks or Brown folks would leave the area. For fun they would head into the area and attack folks. Many of these folks were war veterans.. You can read about that HERE..
We also know that many of those military folks , in particular sailors while on duty would routinely go out and bash on Mexicans wearing Zoot suits. The random attacks led to what we now call the Zoot Suit Riots. You can read aboutthat HERE
Later we would learn the police themselves under Chief William H Parker would patrol the Watts area which on the force was dubbed The Duck Pond Officers like the Spook Hunters would keep Blacks contained in that area and for fun would venture off into Watts to jam up folks in sadistic activity called Duck Hunting.. They would go in and harass young Black teens with the goal of letting them know who was in charge. You can read about that HERE
In more recent days we saw the spook hunting, duck hunting mentality rear its ugly head during Katrina. In the Algiers section of New Orleans you had white mobs roaming around going ‘Peasant hunting‘ where Blacks were shot at random. At least 11 were killed as they were seeking refuge. This is outlined in the documentary and ground breaking report Katrina’s Hidden Race War. You can Read about that HERE.
Last year we saw a group of deputies fired from the LA Sheriff department because of their random attacks on Black and Brown folks in LA in what was called Jumping.. They dubbed themselves the Jump Out Boys. You can read about that HERE
The Caucasion Crew of Long Island who did ‘Beaner Jumping’
I could go on listing things, but the larger point I’m getting at is that sadly mob violence is as American as Apple Pie. From the ‘Knock Out Game’ and ‘Beaner Jumping’ to lynchings and vigilante justice. There have always been cowardly folks who hid behind large numbers, weapons and badges who have reigned sheer hell upon innocent people. Its bullying 101 and folks of all stripes have had a hand in this. None of it is excusable. None of it should be accepted. It should not be excused as boys being boys or teens just doing a little mischief-making. This why the knock out game reporting has been so troubling, because it acts like this is something new and isolated to one group of people vs it being systemic with deep-seated roots in our country’s psyche. In fact the media sensationalizing and outright lying about a trend that doesn’t exist could be characterized as a game of Knock Out by proxy, because the end result will be folks reacting aggressively and maybe even fatally to imagined dangers conjured up by media hype. The case of Jordan Davis, Trayvon Martin and now Renisha McBride are examples of this over reaction.
With all these recent news reports of Knock Outs folks may be quick to forget it was just two weeks ago these same reporters were telling us to hide our cell phones because everyone was getting them snatched and with daylights saving times the FEAR’ was evil cell phone snatchers would be out in droves looking to make you a victim..
We have forgotten that it was just a year ago that these same anchors were warning us to watch out ‘Flash mobs’ of Black youths that were going on terror sprees attacking white folks all over the country from Milwaukee to Philly and we needed to be on the look out. In fact the Mayor of Philly Michael Nutter went ahead and passed legislation for Youth curfews. Other cities around the country used the Flash mob reports and attempted to follow suit.
Many of us have forgotten that not too long before the Flash Mob news reports we were told that the evil, vicious Mexican cartels were now invading America and taking over the drug trade and attacking folks and that we need to run for the hills. Many forgot that we were being bombarded with stories and numerous TV specials about MS-13 the World Most Dangerous Gang and they were an international super predator gang that was taking over cities all over America.
There were even some ‘special reports’ linking them to terrorists organizations like Al Qaeda and more recently Hezbollah. Needless to say these reports caused a big stir which helped usher in anti-immigrant bills like SB1070 and HB 86 in Alabama.
It led to lawmakers from Texas to Florida to California warning us to watch out for ‘anchor babies’ and ‘terror babies’ as they used the reports as rationale to try to change the constitution that would disallow children born in the US from undocumented parents from being citizens. The threat of the Brown menace was used as an excuse to get billions, not millions of dollars to new border walls.
Ironically the same companies building walls here in the US are the same companies building walls in Israel/Palestine where hysteria around Brown Arabs wylding out has led to economic windfall. Lets just keep it 100% real, the threat of the Black Brute and Brown menace is Big Business for a lot of people. It’s a tradition that dates back a century in popular media from the days of Birth of a Nation which led to the rise of the KKK to the lies told about rapes and murders in the Superdome during New Orleans to now..Zeaolous politicians and law and order types reacting to these false narratives can easily build political capital, using communities and groups of people who are not fully prepared to counter…
The nationwide hype of the ‘knock out game’ are designed to get us hysterically upset, fearful and angry resulting in us embracing policies and laws that will soon be proposed that justify racial profiling designed to protect us (translation: protect good white folks from ‘out of control Black and Brown mobs’)
***Update to this story..*** as predicted: A bill is being drafted to give folks who play the knock out game’ 4-25 yrs depending on age..If I was abetting man I’d say this is a playbook from ALEC designed to sweep the country state by state.. end goal fill the prisons..Watch miinor things become ‘Knock Out Related.. http://foxnewsinsider.com/2013/11/25/ny-lawmaker-james-tedisco-proposes-tough-new-law-%E2%80%98knockout-game%E2%80%99-perpetrator
A New York state legislator is drafting a new bill to increase the penalty for crimes related to the terrifying and deadly new “Knockout Game” trend. A 25-year sentence is being proposed for teens ages 14 and up who play the game, film it, or stand by and watch.
New York State Assemblyman James Tedisco told Elisabeth Hasselbeck on this morning’s Fox and Friends, “We can’t let kids use their youth as a way to get out of a serious and very violent series of incidents which are happening and continue to expand.”
Great article! Perfect summation of the media and the public locked in a embrace of stoked fear. Reminded me of the Jogger case in Central Park in the late 80’s. Fear about Wylding made sure 3 young men stayed in prison for 20 years for a crime they didn’t commit. Thank You.
Spot on Dave.
This is the most thoughtful and reasoned response to media hype I have ever read. Thanks for doing the research and background checks.
Can you cite any source(s) for “anchors telling us to be on ‘high alert’ for roving gangs of BLACK youth participating in this nationwide trend called ‘The Knock Out Game‘..”
Yes I can …
Lol I JUST saw something on news here in Chicago like 2 or 3 days ago!!
I guess Joe Blow needed to rephrase?
WILL you cite any source(s) for “anchors telling us to be on ‘high alert’ for roving gangs of BLACK youth participating in this nationwide trend called ‘The Knock Out Game‘..”
yes.. I did that already..pay attention..
Um still no sources on this statement. Please point us in the direction of where you cited this.
yes Brandon stop playing games and read carefully..
Please just link us to where you got this from: “anchors telling us to be on ‘high alert’ for roving gangs of Black youth participating in this nationwide trend called ‘The Knock Out Game‘”
That was a cheap shot trying to play the victim card at the end of your article. The legislation you quoted just looks to stop these acts, not target a certain race. You stating that it’s profiling, implies that you acknowledge that this is a common act among “Blacks and Browns”, as you call it. Like you said, it’s been around forever – what’s wrong w/ having a law in place to prevent it?
Because that law will inevitably end up unfairly targeting youth of color. Every recent sensational news story we’ve seen has only depicted videos of youth of color, so that’s who police will be hounding, whether consciously or subconsciously.
No cited sources… This is just another way to enhance the hatred of whites while ignoring the fact that racism goes both ways… At least on side can admit its real.
Lol, this guy thinks one article on the internet is going to “enhance the hatred of whites”. *chuckles* I swear, you wouldn’t last one day as a Black person.
Well put!!! Racism definitely goes both way – stop cry wolf! I think there’s just as much reverse discrimination as the is discrimination!
Racism does not go both ways. Racism is a systemic problem that targets people of a certain race and prevents them from gaining access to equal educational, economic, and political opportunities. As white people, we generally control the power in N. America, economically and politically, and our prejudices can shape policy to a large extent. Although people of color can be prejudiced against other races, without institutionalized power it is not racism per se.
Where did you get that definition of racism? Let’s stick to the Merriam-Webster version 1) poor treatment of or violence against people because of their race, and 2) the belief that some races of people are better than others.
It can, and does, go both ways. Don’t try to redefine it to fit an agenda.
Source please?
Any they are…
Media hype and propaganda didn’t jump me on Halloween night. A group of teenagers did. $4500 in medical bills and three weeks of missed work. I am white, my attackers were black and hispanic. This isn’t a racist statement, it is a factual one. I have had friends of all races offer to help find these kids and bring them to ‘justice’ (because we know the local PD sure won’t). I have respectfully declined and chalked it up to childhood indiscretion, but to completely dismiss this phenomenon as propaganda and a ‘made-up’ problem bothers me. New or not, indiscriminate and unprovoked violence (by all races toward all races) needs to stop. New laws for imprisonment and incarceration aren’t they keys, but what are? Interested in hearing some responses.
Davey, I now personally feel a LOT better about this now that YOU have put it in perspective so well! Thank you for that! You’re a wonderful writer! Bravo!
The recent event here in Washington, specifically in Laurel Park, located less than a half mile from Western Washington University’s campus is a prime example of nothing less than a riot being dismissed as youth just blowing off steam or getting just a little carried away. If it had been black youth just a little carried away would more properly imply being dragged, beaten and thrown in jail or a morgue. I’m personnaly tired of the BS that rich (typically) white kids get away with because of how they’re portrayed by the media as upstanding citizens just mischief-making. What we have a problem with here, in my humble opinion isn’t about race, religion or creed, but money… the age old rich being above the law and allowed to buy their way out of jail, though, admittedly, at face value, it would seem racial. I’m a white male and only because God decided so. If God thought it good to create a variety of colors, who am I to judge bad what God thought good. I kind of feel just a little cheated… like God ran out when he got to me. I’m just glad I don’t have to worry about sharing heaven with people who are color intollerent. Can I hear an Amen!
I have no words…. Except amazing! Just a factoid, here in the old Bay State before the revolution there was large spread gang fighting between working class neighborhoods all over Boston . Each year on a holiday called Popes Day the two largest mobs would fight. After the Bunker Hill massacre the two gangs joined forces and would terrorize loyalist in the colony. Most of these gangs became the militia. We are a nation built on mob violence. I think you are spot on with your article… Somebody is waggin the dog and keeping everyone in hyper sensitive racist mode…..
I’m sharing this article with everyone in existence that has any direct or indirect connection with me!
I am sorry, I largely agree with your statement, but I never once thought it was race related. It is unfortunate that the only videos posted on Youtube of the Knock-Out Game were of black teenagers assaulting elderly people. Also, I did notice that all of the “random” victims were not random at all, but they were selected because they were/ appeared “weak”. I agree of the historical significance you bring into context, but this still doesn’t make this propaganda. This game exists, people I know have been affected, and we need to put a stop to it. And as a society we are supposed to protect the people who cannot protect themselves… just because it didn’t happen correctly in the past doesn’t mean we can’t try to make our society a better place now!
Unfortunately I disagree with this. I experienced the knockout game when I was in highschool and I can honestly say I think people are going around doing this dumb ass shit still. I think it’s time for BLACK folk to start taking responsibility for the generation of youth that are doing this and WE need to get the kids back on track and out these streets. Anytime fingers get pointed to the black community we want to blame everyone else and Im sick of the excuses! Every damn ghettos wants to blame the system! If the community worked as a community we wouldnt see half of these problems, forget the handouts we get from the government.
You don’t hear any commercial country, pop, r&b talking about killing people, the only genre of music we hear that in is commercial hiphop. It’s time for the urban youth of America to change and for us to quit making excuses. black Gangs have be terrorizing the united states since the early 90’s and i think people are just sick and tired of it and are willing to fight back and shoot back. It may be propoganda but the fact is YOUTH IN AMERICA today are influenced by violence. We need to find different role models on national Radio and TV. Instead of companies accepting Payola to air bullshit they can air content worth watching. If black people are portrayed better in then people wont be so scared of our youth
Slain last I checked most rap is brought and consumed by audiences that are 70-80% white ..80% of commercial rap is owned and promoted by white folks.. look at Interscope/ Universal.. The majority of urban radio stations that play this crap are white owned.. starting with Clear Channel followed by Emmis, CBS, Entcon and many others.. The biggest video show are white owned.. Viacom owns MTV, BET and everything else in between..Also an exhaustive 2 year study was done by Cathy Cohen of University of Chicago.. the findings were close to 90% of Black teens and young adults DO NOT like the music that is being offered to them commercially.. She wrote an entire book on this and has done numerous interviews and panel discussions about this.. Book is called ‘Democracy Remixed, Black Youth and the future of American Politics’..
With that being said if I pulled up examples of country songs or R&B songs talking about drugs and killing what would that mean? Certainly you’re not foolish enough to suggest they don’t exist.. we can easily find examples.. Second, we have many rap artists who say violent things who are white, what does that say? The number one video games that easily outsell any rap album are Call of Duty, Grand Theft Auto etc.. Do they have any influence on behavior? Should we be concerned about that?
Lastly u said Black gangs have been terrorizing the US..which ones? Bloods, Crips, GDs They run stuff More than the Mafia? Hells Angels? Militias? How much extortion is going on with your business bc of Black gangs?
You couldn’t have said it better Slain. It’s sad how often now the tables are flipped and the race card is pulled. There’s no reason for this crap anymore. This isn’t propaganda and is certainly not shown in the media as 100% black. As a matter of fact, the first 3 references to this game I saw in the last few weeks have involved primarily unknown race-affiliated teens. What a joke. People just want to find racism in anything they can and cause a stir over it. Get off the damn horse already and live your life. Take responsibility for the people who do wrong in your own race and stop condemning others.
Dear Non user the videos shown on the Today show, NY1, ABC news for starters showed.. The video of Black teens knocking out a teacher in New Jersey.. That was from two almost 3 years ago.. They also showed a video of a black man knocking out a woman.. That was from a year and half ago and was in London.. It was a video of mentally disturbed Black man man who attacked someone.. Not a knock out game.. There was video shown of Black youth in NJ bragging of how they play the knock out game, but no video to show for it.. what was shown was stock footage of a fight, not a knock out game of some guy getting hit.. It was not in New Jersey where those kids were speaking.. The other video shown was a Black man who was in jail supposedly because he played this knock out game and was remorseful for what he did..
On the Today show and on ABC News maps were shown indicating how ‘widespread’ this supposed trend was.. 2 in St Louis, 1 in San Diego, 3 in NJ, a couple in NY.. I think 1 was in Houston.. The anchors on all the newscasts said these videos were being posted on line by the hundreds…. where? hundreds?? Kids in St Louis are talking to kids in NJ and saying gee Roger lets go knock someone out and get on Youtube?? GTFOWTBS.. Nice try, no cigar..
Can you provide links or footnotes? That is what folks are asking for I believe.
Also, this article is a valuable perspective.
Thanks they are there..read the article…
A good piece. We have SO far to go still in terms of overcoming racism — from every angle. As you’ve pointed out, all races have racists. Sad and deplorable!
I don’t care if they are black, white, Asian…but when I see people getting knock down by a sucker punch I kinda worried about our youth and my family safety.
Great article as always
can you please tell me why i have been robbed twice personally by blackyouth ?! and why many other friends of min have also. can you tell me why i fell the need to cross the street when i see ahead of me a group of black people coming in mi direction ?! i don’t watch TV and i dont belive what ever the media tell me, this fear is all from experience i when true, so, please tell me why am i so suspicious of the blackyouth these days ?!?!?! and im not a racist, i have very good friends that are black … but its a younger pseudo rap gangs in between 12 and 25 years old that fuck shit up for every one … WHY ?!?!?! black people today hate so much the white people, because of the past, but they forget that white people were also against watt happened in the past and tried their best to change things, obviously its takes time, generations, but no matter watt, ALL white people are racists in the black eyes, and this is so wrong, let it go, its in the past, we love you all, you should love us back and stop with this stupid racist hate remorse shit
You were robbed because you had something they wanted. You act like Black people don’t get robbed too. Trust me the folks that robbed you are just hateful people. Black people today are not a monolithic group which you need to understand. Not all black youths are out their robbing people and listening to rap. Not all Black people are carrying around hatred towards Whites. Why are you making assumptions about how Black people think and feel. And then you want love? What kind of abuser nonsense is that? You want us to recognize the good in White people but don’t want to do the same for Black people. And never tell us to let it go, it’s in the past. Ya’ll never say that shit about things like 9/11, World War 1 or 2, Civil War etc. We always have to remember your tragedies.
Great article and reminder. How quickly we forget. Help Lord!
Great article. Another interesting perspective to add is that as cases where innocent African Americans are being gunned down in cold blood are finally getting some attention …it is worth asking if this sudden media hype of “violent black youth” is to draw attention away from the real issues and real perpetrators of violent crime…. and as you mentioned in the article use it to justify when “folks react aggressively and maybe even fatally to imagined dangers “
Proofread.
Waiting for promised sources.
You genus you! You uncovered the illuminati plot. Yes, you see.. they made up the knockout game and tried to blame it on young thugs.. It’s not really happening, all the video footage, interviews and police reports were made up just like 9/11 and the Easter Bunny! Can you say PULITZER!?
Boom glad u understand.. No Pulitzer needed.. I have plenty of other awards check the resume.. but thanks..
You only reply to those who commend you for this article, yet fail to address those who want a simple source..
The sources are IN THE FREAKING article.
He was being sarcastic….
This article justifies why we need to invest in are selves. If you haven’t yet please go to investinus2.com and let’s try to get our businesses started so we can get our children from the prison to the boardroom. It must start with us and only us!!!!!!!
These kids need an outlet, just like us adults.
Im not at all condoning this game in anyway, however a 25 year sentence is extremely harsh…
Hello, Dave!
My name was Diana Hacker. I’m the editor of a wildly popular series of books: “A Writer’s Reference.” I highly suggest you pick up a copy of ANY edition and flip to the section about punctuation; you have a lot to learn.
I “checked the resume” and found that all of your awards are for “Worst Punctuation by a Supposed ‘Writer'”. Please, pick up a book before you pick up a pen or sit at the keyboard – this is an insult to the English language.
Yours truly,
The Ghost of Diana Hacker
hello Diane..
U need to check the resume again my dear.. obviously u didnt..
Okay, I’m impressed by the way you responded to the way to the grammer ghost. That’s just annoying and pointless, and shouldn’t she be proofreading tombstones or something?
Resorting to being the Grammar Policeman is always a sure sign that one is defeated. She really wanted to discredit this amazing anaylsis. Since she can’t do that with logic or facts, she is taking the child’s way out.
This is on point…
Media agencies do us all a disservice by pursuing ratings at the expense of impartiality and accuracy.
It is so clear even here and based on responses how ignorant people are and how prevalent racism still is…..folks here are blaming black youth for their isolated incidents by a black person , this of course makes the entire black population or “the majority of black youth” criminals , this will cause fear towards all black youth because ” they’re all the same” such ignorance!!! Then the same should apply to white folks who are larger in population than blacks and committ twice the crimes people of color do ! The media is all people believe , and who does the media showcase as criminals? Black and Brown people of course ….illustrating whites as “the innocent victims ” this is a white supremist society, it’s disgusting ! I’m so tired of white folks pulling the “reverse racist card!!!” cause guess what? It doesnt exist !!!! No such thing as a reverse racist !!!! Get educated and stop blaming our black youth !
I certainly don’t think every black youth is a punk who will knock me out, but you cannot deny that this game doesn’t perpetuate a stereotype. In the same breath, do you not consider every white guy who wears a shirt and tie to be a smug “wallstreet asshole” until proven otherwise? (you might not but you get my point of my, “guilty until proven innocent” theory)
I honestly wish race cards would be revoked, but sadly the media gets more attention from “Racially charged motives” in crimes than they do from just reporting the news so you will FOREVER see stories provoking the interest of severe racists: both white and black.
Curious why everything has to be about black and white. Blacks point fingers at white people and white people point fingers at black people. Then to top it off both Sides exploit their points by posting up specific stories to back up their claims but disregard the large amounts of other stories and crimes that happen through out the world and by other races. My point is when you point out a certain race no matter if your defending your race! Your adding to the problem. Try a different tact, You started off this story great but turned racist when you had to point out white people.
I was feeling this until you started talking about flash mobs. That was a very real phenomenon in Philly. I witnessed 2 occasions first hand. One was 15 kids destroying a South Philly gas station to the point it closed for 3 months to remodel and add cameras and crazy locks to the doors and a massive bullet proof glass for cashiers. There were incidents of random jumpings and at least two department stores robberies. One well documented incident was an editor from the Onion getting jumped with her friends.
And yes, the Mexican Cartel is well documented in having a good foot on American drug trafficking. 50% of the world’s cocaine is consumed by 5% of the world’s population, right here in the USA, and there money and covert reach is longer than any of us know.
Violence is an American thing. We all have a fixation with gun, vigilantes and anti heroes. I agree there is a true conspiracy against “minorities” and “undesirables” in our country, but you can’t coat everything in race or color because it prevents small minded people from seeing the.big picture.
And you definitely can’t claim actual events are propaganda when many people have to deal with it first hand.
I never denied the flashmobs.. I even pointed out that there was a curfew for them..Butr was it a nationwide trend?? Nope.. We can find instances for thge past 50 years where unknowing subjects were assaulted..is that a nationwide trend?? How did it become one? Were kids in chicago talking with kids in New York exchanging notes, or do we live in a world where when large crowds get together something somewhere will happen? Not all the time but will occur.. Case in point.. there was an article the other day in CNN talking about people falling to their death at stadiums.. This has actually happened more times than the 7 documented instances of Knock Out which is what the Today show had up..They noted that this was not a nationwide trend? They even said we may see more of this bc folks are reporting this more vs in the past..
So with respect to this .. Do assaults happen in the US.. Perhaps so every 3 minutes..Lets deal with that phenomenon and not play silly games about phantom games that make for good discussion but doesnt deal with our collective love and acceptance of violence..
Thank you for the solid response.
And I remember laughing at the posters for the curfew thinking which unruly kid is going to be home by 8:30pm during the summer? I think the statistic every 17 seconds a violent crime happens in America. We are the most violent Western nation and imprison more of our citizens than any other country, and the majority of people in jail are in there for non-violent or victimless crimes. Dumb crap like “possession” and get hit with a crazy sentence like 10 years.
I honestly refuse to watch the news or tv because at this point in my life, I know 98% of it is propaganda and the other 2% is a half truth. Most Americans don’t know who Hitler is, can’t find their state on a map, let alone find any of the countries USA considers “enemies,” and consider their fellow citizens traitors or barbarians. This entire conversation and thread leads to a big underlying problem with our country: We are the richest nation in the world, which may change in our lifetime, but until then our politicians and evil corporations will use ignorance, fear, and miseducation to keep the citizenry fighting amongst themselves while they make off with money and abuse power.
The guy on the $100, and he said two incredible things that ALL AMERICANS should remember
“Those who will give up liberty for security deserve neither.”
“We should hang together, or we shall all hang separately.”
As an average white guy who was admittedly outraged at the game at first. I thought to myself (as you may have read all over the internet), if this was Whites punching out Blacks, there would be hysteria. I appreciate the thought and research you put into the article and while I do not necessarily agree with EVERY point you make (i.e. the media is protecting the white people), I do think you are correct in that this isn’t the first youth group to run amok and most likely will not be the last.
I can honestly say that hearing of this game has made me more aware of my surroundings when I am walking down town or out by myself, and if you want to call it racial profiling, then so be it, but I would rather exhibit racist tendencies at times than end up in a hospital bed.
Thank you for the good read my man.
I’m a white man. Did 15 years in prison. Was surrounded by black and latino people.
If you want to sit here and pretend like the reason most people in prison are black, is due to racism, fine. Keep shrouding yourself in denial. But ALL of my black homies in prison were admittedly guilty of the crimes they committed. Maybe 2 people I did time with vehemently claimed to be innocent, even behind closed doors.
Black people aren’t a target. Stop making excuses. More crimes are committed in America by black people than any other race. That is a FACT.
Get on Worldstarhiphop.com right now. How many videos do you see of white people sucker punching and knocking out unsuspecting victims without warning? How many videos do you see of white, pregnant chicks fighting each other, or jumping each other?
The proof is out there, man. You can sit here and write long-winded rants all day, but get your head out of your ass. Black people fight like pussies, shoot each other for no reason, punch women, rob, steal etc. Your one novelty article of some white kid (who is probably way into rap music) sucker punching an old lady doesn’t cut it.
Most white people don’t have a cousin, or friend, or relative, that is in prison/guilty of some sort of senseless violence. EVERY black person does. Fact.
Michele Alexanders book totally and comprehensively refutes your ridiculous claims.. I encourage you to read it. Its pretty thorough, well researched and backed up.. That will save us having to do a statistical war and put things into context to make the point.. The New Jim Crow..is the book for anyone reading this and hasn’t read it..
As for World star Hip Hop.. whats the difference between that and say Girls Gone Wild, Spring Jams and any number of videos and DVD that show teens going nuts.. World star is no excerption and WSHH does not have tons of videos showing Black folks sucker punching anyone.. If anything they are the same ones that have been circulating for years.. But since u wanna site WSHH, they also have a section of white folks fighting and pummeling black folks.. do a search.. They make money on racially charged fights.. so fall back on all that fam..
http://unamusementpark.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/07/Race-and-crime-flyer.jpg
LOL nice try fam…u post a flyer mixed that names off gov agency, then you quote methodology and then just go ahead and make up stuff..hahahah some of us read these reportsd.. You go ahead and point out all these nice little facts that you supposedly got from the agencies mentioned..we’ll wait.. SMDH http://www.bjs.gov/content/pub/pdf/cv12.pdf
Yet another person who wants to detract from the logic and facts of this analysis by changing the subject. So you spent time in prison (we’ve got at least ONE white criminal among us) and were shocked to find out there were a bunch of criminals there? More importantly, you’d like us to know just how many of them are black. Well has it ever occurred to you that black people are policed, stopped, frisked, and accused FAR more than any other race? If law enforcement spends a disproportionate amount of time policing a certain segment then guess what? They are going to probably find more criminals in that segment! Imagine that! That does not mean that everyone else who is not being profiled, pulled over, or randomly searched are innocent.
Hey Dave,
Sorry, I just don’t buy it. I am the first to admit that the media operates on sensationalization and fear, but that doesn’t mean that the knockout game is all hype. Cell phone robberies, flash mobs, and MS-13 are real. Hezbollah IS in Mexico, and Trayvon Martin was no “imagined danger” – there is strong evidence that came out during the trial that supports the notion that he was there to rob a home.
Much of your analysis amounts to ‘they did it too’. While I won’t attempt to distinguish the many situations you mention, I don’t know if it is wise to end the discussion there. We will never be able to solve our problems if we cannot properly identify them. In this case the question is: “Why do so many young, black, males join gangs?” I have my own thoughts, but I’d be curious to hear yours.
For the record, there is no sniping or name-calling here, just open dialogue.
Jon
If its not true, simply show the Hundreds of videos .. what have we had since these stories one in Philly and one in Florida which wasn’t even the knock out game as described.. Its hype.. with assaults taking place in the US every day, I’m sure if one wants to look they can find an example or a few examples of someone randomly assaulting folks, we can also find folks who got shot at random, robbed at random and anything else under the sun.. You show me that supposed strong evidence Trayvon was there to rob.. and I’ll show u the tooth fairy.. Same with Hezbollah in Mexico.. oh wait there’s a cousin of a friend who knows a brother in Hezbollah ok I’m wrong on that my bad..
The black community in this neighborhood doesn’t seem to think it’s hype: http://landing.newsinc.com/shared/video.html?freewheel=90119&sitesection=theblaze&VID=25403880
How many more should I find before you admit it is spreading? 10? 100?
As far as Trayvon goes, this isn’t the most authentic source, but it does an accurate job of combining authentic sources, including the court case, to provide the narrative: http://patdollard.com/2013/06/trayvon-martins-involvement-in-local-burglaries-covered-up-by-media-school-police/
Add that to the description of Trayvon’s “standing in the rain” in the courtroom, and it begs the question of why he was there at that time, missing only one ingredient for Purple Drank.
As far as Hezbollah, you can read this article, or go directly to the congressional report for a primary source: http://dailycaller.com/2012/11/16/congressional-report-ties-middle-east-terrorists-to-mexican-drug-cartels/
You asked for a source, here are three.
-Enjoy
Again.. I will reiterate.. This was reported as a nationwide trend spreading like wildfire with HUNDREDS of videos posted on line of kids knocking out people for fun..You have not shown me hundreds of videos.. why?? because they do not exist and they didnt at the time.. So we have a women sucker punched and ?? A women got robbed down the street from me by someone on meth is that nationwide trend.. Show me the HUNDREDs not one or two that were in existence November 1st..Also since report after report said these kids were posting these videos on line, you should be able to find the hundreds..Not reports … Kids film everything these days including their fights.. so this should be no problem for you.. I’ll wait..
As for the hezzbollah connection.. again nice try.. Its the same story recycled..It never gained traction.. why? because its NOT true.. Also I would strongly urge you to at least know what I do outside of FB post and blogs.. If you know anything about the cartel there are a number of outlets that do nothing but extensive investigative news coverage on the cartels.. You show me one of those sources.. I’ll wait..
The Trayvon theory of him drinking lean and robbing houses.. Nope.. me and you both know it wasnt true, but its a good try.. Looks like you struck out my man.. In the meantime Work on getting me those HUNDREDS of videos from back when the stories first aired and reporters said there were HUNDREDS on line..
Ah, yes. The knockout game. The NRA’s new fear mongering tactic. I can just see George Zimmerman at the shooting range now, knowing he’s likely a favorite knockout game target. You, know, it’s weird. At one time, a group of young hoodlums would knock you out, and take your wallet. It was called a robbery. Now they just knock you out. You get to keep the money evidently. In a roundabout way, it is progress.
Yep… u nailed it.. I think the thugs figured it out .. if they only hit u and dont rob you it’ll be a lighter sentence.. these young kids are smart.. LOL
mrDaveyd, The key distinction between the historical examples you cited and the knock out game is that the former are “targeted” hate crimes while the latter is RANDOM. Stop making excuses and learn to pick your battles. You’ve effectively lost all credibility and demonstrated poor judgement and blinding bias with this article. In retrospect, you will realize that you spoke too soon and wish you hadn’t done it online to an open audience. I have a feeling the knock out game is gonna get a lot worse before it gets better and the evidence will surface online. Only time will tell. A true test of your objectiveness will be how long you will hold your position as the evidence mounts.
Also, If you can understand how “planking” spread among the youth via the internet then you can understand how easily the knock out game became a thing. I don’t think the game is exclusively black youth but they are definitely in the mix.
Here’s a quote from today regarding an assault that happened in Brooklyn:
3 hours ago
Yaron Hiltz
“Thank you so much Wendell. The NYPD didn’t wake up one morning and decide to profile black people because they thought it would be funny. Look at how black people (MY PEOPLE) behave. The only reason black people are holding demonstrations is because of the randomness of these attacks. So no one is safe and you never know who will be next. Also, white people (both Jews and Gentiles) are not going to put up with this nonsense. Nothing in the black community is going to change until black people honestly, sincerely and openly admit that black culture is so dysfunctional and broken. Everything from the young unmarried mothers, to the anti-intellectualism, to the glorification of former drug dealers turned rappers and gangbangers.”
Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/nyc-crime/elderly-woman-city-10th-knockout-game-victim-article-1.1532989#ixzz2mAowdqTp
Also, maybe you should ask Tony Herbert, community activist and member of National Action Network, why he held a press conference speaking out against the knock out game. Perhaps Al Sharpton needs to be schooled too.
Yawn.. Nice try homie.. New York City and New Jersey is not the entire country, one Jewish kid getting punched out or even several does not make a nationwide trend..no more than the homeless guy taking a crap next to the freeway is a nationwide trend, even though its happened on several occasions…. The evidence that is supposed to surface should’ve been there when first reported..not after hours of media hype.. They said there were hundreds of videos.. Show me them from back in early November when we started hearing about this..’nationwide trend’ U know why hundreds aren’t there? because its some BS..Remember blanking has thousands of video.. same as that silly Harlem shake dance.. The knock out game..well as I noted the videos shown on nationwide TV when I first wrote this were videos from the UK and from jersey from 3, 4 years ago.. Stop the silliness..and Al is silly to if he held a press conference… Thank u and good night..
Funny how ppl can find quotes, statements, and friends of friends who know someone who was knocked out but no one can find ONE confirmed case of the knockout game. Just link ONE case where the defendant was proven or confessed to having acted as part of a knockout game during the investigation of that crime or the trial. There are NONE. The closest anyone has is the Marvell Weaver “confession” to having played the game in the past. Yet no one can logically explain why he is in jail for using a taser (not a knockout attempt) or why a person serving time would randomly call the media to confess to past crimes that no one ever accused him of. This is the most bogus scare story ever.
Not sure what kind of broken logic you used when you kept saying there are no examples then provided an example. Whether you call it the Knock Out game or just plain random assault and battery the effect on the victim doesn’t. If most of the recent victims describe the perpetrators as young people of color then these certain young people of color should stop committing the crime. Why make excuses for them?
Would you not have beef with the coverage if they rebranded it “wave of random assault and battery” and the details amounted to most the the incidences involving urban youth?
Old white Jew here. Love this site and this post. That being said- even ONE knock out is too many. Beefing about whether there’s a trend or not is diversionary. The media is what it is, for every site blogging about a trend there’s another blogging about no trend. Statistics are manipulated as well as selectively reported. Your perception is a function of what you read. It’s best to read critically. The comments are often the best way to see the different facets of an issue. The passion in your writing, Davey, is revelatory, as is the passion of your commenters, It’s all good.
Mike..I appreciate the praise, but I have to disagree.. The media has resulted in malicious things happening when it rides the wave vs being truthful.. We are in a war in Iraq because a complicit media told folks there was weapons of mass destruction when there wasn’t and called into question people’s patroitism if they objected..The so -called knock out game is a manipulation that breeds resentment, mistrust and adverse reaction..
Stop trying to make it sound like the media is making stuff up to attack the black people. The knockout game is a real thing and people need to be aware of it.
I enjoyed this little video where one of these fucks finally got what they deserved.
http://the-tubez.prochan.com/view?p=378_1386555288
Fake video homie, nice try.. show me the hundreds that are supposed to be all on line.. I admit it was a nice try SMDH