Man says he was beaten for wearing Obama shirt
A Shreveport, Louisiana man says he was beaten for wearing a Barack Obama t-shirt. KSLA reported:
Kaylon Johnson says he now has a broken nose and eye socket after the brutal attack that he says was racially motivated and brought on by the t-shirt. "They were screaming "f" Obama, f***. Obama something about a n**** president, basically you know I was hit."
This all happened Saturday night around 11:30 at the Citgo on Industrial Drive off of I-20. He says he had already pumped gas and was walking out of the store with a drink when he was attacked. "Seem like some red necks, they're pretty big guys and they were blasting music or whatever, mean by the time I turned around and looked at him they were on me." Johnson says all he remembers after that was hitting his car door.
Johnson had been a volunteer for Barack Obama's 2008 campaign. A local blog says that Johnson had been the "go-to IT guy and one of the office coordinators."
I fuckin hate rednecks!
I live in the Northeast, in a Democratic-majority town. A neighbor's Obama sign was torn down and nasty anonymous notes left at his house. For that reason, and the photo, which looks very real, I tend to believe this man's unfortunate story. Hope that if his story is true, the perpetrators are brought to justice, and soon!
It's not limited to one region.
These backward thinkin regressivist racist sons of bitches have held our nation back too damn long.
They are anti-American. And should be treated as such.
Racism may be everywhere, but nowhere else but in the South is it overtly part of the cultural norm. I was born and grew up in NC, moved to NJ as a young adult where I was a civil rights investigator in my checkered employment past, and eventually returned South (to Georgia) upon retirement, so I've lived in various regional cultures.
"Yankee racism" certainly does exist, and I saw a lot of in the Northeast through my job while investigating employment and housing discrimination complaints.
But the two regions express their racism differently. I didn't ever hear racism expressed verbally in the Northeast, in contrast to its overt expression with such self-righteous confidence as I've seen it SO often in the South. That doesn't mean it doesn't exist in the Northeast (which is more progressive percentage-wise), but people are less willing to be open about being openly racist because they're likely to get taken down a peg or told off publicly, or even shunned. That almost never happens in the South.
And when you apply "red-neckedness" to the Southern mix, with its macho, braggardly characteristics, you find groups of racists often hanging out together and they aren't averse to beating a "n****r" up, though you rarely see a Southern racist setting out on his own to beat up a black man. It's almost always a group because an individual could get the tar beat out of him in a one-on-one confrontation and that would be beyond humiliating.
Anyway, I am so sorry for this man and am somewhat astonished at his attitude -- "we've got to keep working (on racism)." I doubt that I'd be as level-headed. Maybe we need to contact the law enforcement agency that is handling this matter and don't let them get away with glossing it over or a sloppy investigation.
And racism is alive and well there and even moreso in SC...
But I have met more outspoken racists from NYC and even Canada than I ever had the displeasure of meeting.
But I've never lived north of NC...so my experience is somewhat limited...
Living here in the Keys...I've never seen such polarization amongst the respective races and ethnic groups here...
When I lived in Charlotte, I was in a mixed neighborhood, and everyone knew everyone, and hung out at each others houses...down here, everyone sticks to their own "kind" for the most part...and it makes me sad.
While I agree that there is a lot of racism in the South, do not generalize it to the region. I have lived in several places in this country, and have witnessed this ignorant mindset everywhere. One of the most racist areas was acutally in Southern Oregon. During the civil war, many Confederate sypathizers settled in that region. In fact, it was once one of the most active areas for the "sundown" towns.
http://www.uvm.edu/~jloewen/content.php?file=...
And because of the population mix of black and white cultures in the South, I have actually found many that strive to promote racial equality. While yes there are many ignorant people of all races that harbor racism, it usually is grounded on lack of education and ignorance.
But after viewing the pure hate exhibited at the Palin rallies, if this sad incident is true, I won't be surprised at all.
Those "people" at Palins rallies were fuckin rabid.
I know it's wrong to hate....but when someone doesn't want to learn, doesn't want to break out their negative mindset because it's too hard to change...fuck 'em! I hate them.
There's no faking those wounds. Hope there's security camera video to back him up and those rednecks get what's coming to them. Only problem is that I'm not sure a group of white guys beating up a black man is technically illegal under Louisiana law.
Whether it would have been 'in operation' to observe peckerwoods thrashing a black man is the issue.
If circumstances were reversed, I'm SURE it would have evidence. In this case, I'm not so sure.
I now endeavor to stay as far from the "South" as possible, not forgetting that Oklahoma, Indiana, and the whole Ohio River valley is peckerwood-ville...
There may be some who will demand we treat this sceptically, given the idiocy of the McCain supporting bacwards B scrawler. (Remember her?)
But to pre-empt those cries, I want to point out that this is profoundly different.
1) The race is over.
2) There's no motivation for self-harm
3) That's a LOT of damage to be self inflicted
4) Even the police found McCain-girls statements suspicious. No one is going to have that problem here.
and so on.
Instead, this is symbolic of how much hate some of the right-wingers have for those who do not think like they do.
have for those who are not like they are
Some stuff you can't make up!
I think it would take a very very very sick individual to do this kind of damage to himself. And isn't the brain (or instinct or something) hardwired to prevent the average person from inflicting this kind of self-damage?
This looks like a genuine beating from another person to me.
"1) The race is over."
So what? Trust me, the lack of an election won't stop people from going to stupid extremes for political reasons.
"2) There's no motivation for self-harm"
What was the b-girl's motivation? To make people she hates look bad. Are you claiming this guy can't possibly feel the same way?
"3) That's a LOT of damage to be self inflicted"
Doesn't mean it wasn't self-inflicted.
"4) Even the police found McCain-girls statements suspicious. No one is going to have that problem here."
Really? Why not?
My instinct is to believe this guy, but in all fairness, you haven't shown how this situation is "profoundly different" from the b-girl business.
Uhm... I hope you have something besides this guy's word to verify this story.
But read the post above yours.
n/t
as I don't know enough about it, give me a minute to google it ok?
Or Bill Norton?
I was asking the 'soi disant' Bill Norton...
Excuse me...I needs more coffee...
His broken nose and his broken eye socket. But of course your question is neither a real question nor and honest one, now is it?
Prima facie evidence that he's probably lying, right?
Jesus...waddafuckintool
Because he's black? Seems to me that's all he's got going for the doubt-fest here.
me-oww!
Where the guy wearing the Bush T-Shirt got the shit kicked out of him, please?
Any cameras at this place ?
An old retired fart.
I am sure we will find out as soon as the police decide to assign a detective to look into it.
Wait. I have a better idea. Why don't we just call them and ask them when exactly they plan to do that?
Sounds a bit like the crazy cracker girl, who claimed an Obama supporter carved an O in her cheek.
However, with Louisianna's reputation...
Diabolus est Deus Inversus
Your off the wall comments are often amusing, but not this time.She used mascara. This guy is going to have surgery.
And It was a backwards "B" YSB...
Why would anyone injure themselves so severely in order to prove that some southern white people are racist?
That fact has been long established.
This guy was savagely attacked by a group of racist assholes.
Expect more of these.
Yup...
Mebbe the crackers and peckerwoods aren't ready or able to pull off out-right race-war.
But that doesn't mean they won't take 'targets of opportunity.'
Small incidents, but many, many, over time...
Can you spell 't e r r o r i s m?"
And it's been around in the south for a long long time.
History is on this poor man's side....unfortunately.
There's always the possibility the beating was real, but a phony motive given.
But like I said, with Louisianna's reputation...
Diabolus est Deus Inversus
what has become of you? are you one of those texans who went out and bought a few guns after the election?
heaven forbid you admit to the existence of RACISM!!!!
Some stuff you can't make up!
n/t
Geeez YSB?
What possible motive could exist to get beaten up like that under false pretenses?
-Edit-Changed my mind.-/edit-
But a broken nose, and a broken eye socket?
Someone beat that man. Why wouldn't it be as he said?
but it's not funny.
Some stuff you can't make up!
That's how she was caught.
If she had done an O, she might have gotten away with it.
Fortunately, idiots tend to be stupid.
These people project their own fantasies onto others. Cracker girl projected the behavior she would have liked to engage in onto imaginary others.
*
While I am always going to be suspicious of such attacks from now on, I do believe this one is more probable than that crazy lady. Its one thing to fake a few cuts and/or bruises, and another thing to fake what that man has had happened to him.
on her cheek with a mascara pencil, and claimed a "niqqer" did it cuz she was wearing a McCain shirt?
I do believe this one is more probable than that crazy lady.
Yeah, with injuries that will require surgery to repair, I'd say this was a little more believable...
►Nothing will be done about it, unless maybe the idiots who did it get some kind of payments or something from the local population.
S.E. America is full of bigotry, not just against blacks either. Blacks just happen to be in the top of the list. Also hated by the Rednecks of the SE are Jewish, Italians (eye-talian), Hispanics (all grouped together and called mex or spix) and any of the Orient or Asian persuasion.
You're quite right.
They also hate white people who don't wear those stupid 'welder' hats and speak in words of more than one syllable.
I spent 30 years in Oklahoma--redneck central for the heartland--between 1994 and 2000...
as well as gays, yankees, and women that don't know their place. I swear I've eaten in homes where the females are served last. If you want a somewhat watered-down example, check out Dwight Yoakam's excellent performance in "Slingblade."
I've seen some stuff, man. And some thangs...
And don't forget unions!
Also, doesn't the still shot of the man on this page make it look like he is dead? eek, it is creepy.
I grew up in NE Texas. The "Ark-La-Tex" area as they call it is beyond the definition of redneck. Here's another example that made the news, and mentions a few others:
http://www.pww.org/article/articleview/7115/
Many attacks/beatings go unreported because of fear of further retaliation. And when people are convicted, their sentences often don't even include jail time, much less a prison sentence. I don't doubt this guy's story for one second.
I've seen some stuff, man. And some thangs...
I haven't been in the area since I was a teen. It seemed like no one was under 55 years old, and it was all bait shops.
Diabolus est Deus Inversus
Whoever did that needs to pay severely. Rednecks can go burn in hell where they belong.
Is it the 21st century yet?
If they're gonna suffer, you gotta get 'em before they die.
With baseball bats, preferrably...
They'll be suffering forever in hell.
Is it the 21st century yet?
I wish like hell I could not believe this happened. I wish I didn't believe there were people in this country who would do something like that. Maybe some day that time will come, but sadly it isn't here yet.
Say what you mean. Mean what you say. But don't say it mean.
Hero's by their fellow idiot rednecks.
Morning POP.
None of this is funny, my sister is visiting in the SE right now, she says she gets the finger five or ten times a day for having an Obama bumper sticker.
Hi and how are you
I bought an "Obama 08" sweatshirt from Obama's website back during the campaign. Each time I wear it I get at least one mean smirky look from someone. Usually they are elderly women. Haven't figured out yet what gets their bloomers in such a twist.
Say what you mean. Mean what you say. But don't say it mean.
Been up on the border mountains with some friends.
Wanted to go visit a friend in Korea, but ....
Now he is flying into Vientiane, so maybe by next week he can get here by train.
Looks like Obama is setting up quite a team to help him with the wrinkled suit the idiot bush left him.
For every one step of progress this country makes...
Troglodytes like those who beat this poor man, takes us two steps back!
OK, obviously this guy was beaten up and pretty badly. However, he SAYS it was a group of White guys. Were there any witnesses, or we all ASSUMING he is telling the truth? What I am seeing here is a lot of rage and no proof, and an ASSUMPTION that it was actually White guys. Maybe it was Black guys? Didn't something similar just happen with a McCain supporter and everybody on the other side of the fence ASSUMED that she was telling the truth (at first)
Are we any less judgemental than the people we profess to be against?
And comparing this to the McCain supporter is like apples and oranges.
And though I can't speak for anyone but myself, I imagine that most African-Americans know what's at stake here...any hoax like the McCain supporters would be counterproductive.
And this guy worked for the Obama campaign...what would he possibly gain from lying about it?
In the early part of the 20th century, any time the black boxing champion Jack Johnson beat a white opponent, race riots and racially motivated beatings occurred all over the nation. Yes, that was a long time ago, but I can give you many other incidents like this sad story....but teachers get paid.
but just knowing the area, well, this isn't really even a "shock" story to me. Black people still get burned alive, beaten to death, and dragged by their necks behind trucks in this area of the country. A white UT football player recently was dismissed from the team for using the "N" word and calling for Obabma's assassination. I think people just find this story credible, but, yes, we must wait for the facts.
I've seen some stuff, man. And some thangs...
This is profoundly different.
1) The race is over.
2) There's no motivation for self-harm
3) That's a LOT of damage to be self inflicted
4) Even the police found McCain-girls statements suspicious. No one is going to have that problem here.
and so on.
Good point(s) John,
It's called "Occam's razor" (sometimes spelled Ockham's razor), The premise is, this is often paraphrased as "All other things being equal, the simplest solution is the best."
Pre vs Post Election.....
Study the symptoms not the virus...
Seriously, I hope these cretins were caught on parking lot video.
And yes, I'll stop calling you "seriously."
People see my Obama bumper sticker, here in Plano TX., and all I've gotten so far were way to go's, high-fives etc.
Diabolus est Deus Inversus
on the mother of her daughter's rival for a cheerleading position?
Or am i thinking of some other texas town?
I'm not sure, coulda been Houston.
More recently a mother in the Plano area was institutionalized for killing her baby girl by chopping her arms off and letting her bleed to death.
She claimed God told her to do it so save her from the devil.
There about to let her go as cured.
Diabolus est Deus Inversus
I live in Austin, the blue island of Texas, and can't say the same.
I've seen some stuff, man. And some thangs...
I have no doubt he's telling the truth. We are talking about Shreveport Louisiana. I anticipate (unfortunately) more incidents like this. As thrilled as I was about the election of B. Obama, I can't help but think what the crazies will do come Jan.20. Can't these people see their lives haven't changed since Obama's been elected? And when it does change, it will be for the BETTER.
Sad, sad, sad.......
hold their cherished belief that they are "SUPERIOR" to the 'coloreds'.
Btw: if you're not "white" with a fish on your bumper, probably you'd be well -advised to stay OFF I-20...Lotsa "sunset' towns along the way. It's the "Redneck Hiway."
The only thing I remember that I learned in Sunday School as a little girl was, Do unto others as you would have them do unto you. That's about all I remember and all I think I need to know in order to try to be a good person.
Say what you mean. Mean what you say. But don't say it mean.
With all the vicious and nasty verifiable incidents that were pulled by the Reich-wing nuts - this one is easy to believe. I'm sure it happened.
*
My brother does lighting & elecrtical design for local theatre here in New Orleans and was working on Bye Bye Birdie when he ended up in a thrift store with the set designer looking for 45s with which to decorate one of the sets. One of the singles they came across was a little tune some of you may have heard of titled "She Ran Off With a N****er." Anyone familiar with that classic by the Trashy White Band? Didn't think so. After the show ended my brother took home all of the 45s, including the aforementioned glorification of classic Southern racism (which, for the record, was not used in the set), and has had them ever since.
Fast-forward seven or so years later, and I'm entertaining a good friend of mine who is an ultra pro-active type liberal (she's currently overseas volunteering in some capacity) -- and who happens to be from Shreveport, which she always casually referred to as a very racist city. Knowing she would be both shocked and humored by a song as blatantly offensive (and musically terrible) as "She Ran Off With a N***er" - and assuming she could never have heard of such a song - I decided to play it for her. Well, after the very first line of the song, she turned to me and said, "Oh, I've heard this song before! Did you forget that I grew up in Shreveport?" Now I was the one who stood completely dumbfounded. "You've heard this song before? Really?" I asked her. Yes, and not only had she heard the song on numerous occasions growing up in Shreveport, she actually heard it once when somebody with whom she was on a date tried to impress her by playing it for her!!! I was virtually speechless when she added very casually: "That's Shreveport for you."
I'm not saying this guy's story couldn't have been fabricated, but based on the stories my northwest Louisiana friends have told me - but not my own personal experience (my time there in Hurricane Gustav-forced evacuation was pleasant, though obviously I don't know the area nearly as well as those who grew up there) - I'm definitely giving this guy the benefit of the doubt big-time.
The ignorant, knuckle dragging Reslugs from the South will forever prove to be known as the most stupid, uneducated, morons in the US.
find this surprising is anglos that believe we live in a post-racial society. This doesn't surprise anyone of color.
And those that speculate about the authenticity of this are the most disallusioned.. they miss the point because they don't realize this country is racist as fu*k and shit like this happens all the time.
This place used to be filled with thinkers... now its just a bunch of morons using it their personal anti-religion/anti-bible rants along with "progressives" that will justify anything the dems do.
Oh, yeah... bunch of closet racists here too.
Isn't it possible if this was a racially motivated attack, that the shirt he wore was irrelevant?
Diabolus est Deus Inversus
[Deleted. If you have a problem with a post, flag it. Don't attack the poster yourself. Don't bother with the post you are responding to here; I've seen it, and it's probably one of the most on-topic posts we'll see ys make all day long :-D Sitemonitor]
If you don't know his point, try reading the sentence a few more times. Racists can use ANY pretext their irrational minds can come up with to justify violence. I believe ysbaddaden was trying to say that if the man wasn't wearing an Obama t-shirt, these men would have found another pretext to attack him.
And YSB has a knack for playing the devils advocate...maybe just to get people to think more than they normally would on any given subject.
"Isn't it possible if this was a racially motivated attack, that the shirt he wore was irrelevant?"
It's possible? Though I consider the shirt unfortunately was salt on a long standing wound. (No pun intended) I hope he gets well soon and I admire his courage, all things considered.
Study the symptoms not the virus...
I might just get my ass handed to me by some of you for posting this but if the man hadn't been wearing an Obama shirt at the time of the beating, would this even be a major news story?
And YSB is not a troll, like some others in here today.
...it wouldn't be a story either. The shirt was an excuse for very angry racist people to get their hate on. Violent crime should never be rationalized.
I don't think those people cared what kind of shirt he was wearing.
They were probably looking for any black dude to beat up...the fact that the poor guy was wearing an Obama shirt may just have been icing on the cake, as it were.
This is no shock- most Republicans I have encountered tend to be bigots, and only use violence to express themselves.
Or it's taking him awhile to spellcheck his forthcoming response...
Folks, Vegofish is just a provocateur and a troll. He probably just enjoys riling all of us up. He clearly doesn't want to engage in a reasonable discussion, so he's best ignored.
[Thank you. All of the comments and replies to this vegofish the flamebaiter will be deleted. And thank you to the one poster who flagged his comments-Sitemonitor]
We done fed 'em...
But he's walkin away with some serious indigestion.
He only has indigestion if he has any respect for what's been said to him. Otherwise, he's just as likely to have a good laugh at the responses he's provoked.
Either way (if he's seriously considering what we say or is just doing his damnedest to push our buttons), until he gives some indication he really wants to engage, he's a waste of time.
there were some really snappy responses to said troll...ah well...rules is rules.
[I totally sympathize. There were some great answers. But the guy was a stone cold librul hatin racist, in deep deep denial, calling everyone here names and wildly off topic. He was trespassing-Sitemonitor]
Can't argue that really, yeah he was librul hatin SOB wasn't he? lol!
[Haha. I got a 'libruls hate free speech' email from him too-Sitemonitor]
LMAO! What a baby!
Whatchoobet the Fairness Doctrine will be adopted by conservatards?
Diabolus est Deus Inversus
This is pathetic. I hope the law checks the cameras and goes after these scum sucking pigs immediately. I am so tired of racism in this country, and that is what this is. The rednecks involved hate the fact that Barack was elected and is black, and they are taking out their frustration on this man because they can't (obviously) take it out on Barack.
It is crap like this that makes me so fearful for Obama, and I sincerely hope the Secret Service is up to the task and takes extra precautions to protect him. This is the most important thing to happen to the American presidency since Washington, and God help us if we can't protect him. Attacks such as this are just an indication of how far we have to go as a society. Even though a majority of people elected Barack, there is still a backwards braindead cruel chunk of society that thinks this sort of violence against non-caucasians is fine. They feel justified attacking anyone of color, and are encouraged to do so by their peers. I HOPE THEY CATCH THEM!
I understand that there is still bigotry and hatred towards Obama for no other reason than that he's a black democrat (if he were a black GOP, would bigots really be out in force like this?), but i'll believe it when there are some arrests (and if there are, i hope the book gets thrown at them).
While i understand that this isnt designed to do anything to affect the outcome of an election the way the backwards 'B' lady was, I just prefer to see news like this backed up, since we've been here before. Remember Palin saying that africa was a country not a continent? I called BS for the same reason and it turned out i was right.
Side note...i thought that palin wasnt stupid, just out of her league...until the turkey video...and snubbing oprah as though thats a punishment of some kind...
anyway, if this is the real deal, this guy strikes me as not being afraid to point out his attackers and face them in court. good luck finding them.
I don't think anyone here said that gangs of white, southern republican bigots are roving the streets, actively lookin to hurt Obama supporters...but...look at history...this sort of thing HAS indeed happened in this country. And not that long ago...
Sometimes we're living in history and it's not all good.
And we've got our pockets of Confederate Flag waving assclowns here too. In fact, one night several years ago, in Seattle, up on Capitol Hill, Broadway, I had to make 911 call about a load of skinheads chasing down a black guy. Those cops saved that kid's life, I am convinced. We'd been having trouble with the farm kids coming to the big city and beating the shit out of black guys and gay people, so the cops were on high alert, at the ready and responded before I hung up the phone.
me-oww!
dammit!
me-oww!
Good for you miss_kitty!
Cowards
But I wonder how they would feel knowing that Citgo is owned by the Venezuelan government of that scary "antiAmerican" Chavez. Not very good-old-guy of them supporting South American democracy.
I thought all Citgos stopped pumping gas. We started purposely going to one on our occasional route that was really cool. Minority (mostly Native American) waitresses, a buffalo head in the cafe and buffalo burgers on the grill. Too bad they had to shift to Tesoro.
I think Citgo might be a little loose on their rules of franchising to owners who can actually afford to run a gas station.
Plus, gas from that brown oil doesn't have a good reputation- supposedly it isn't very good for your engine. It's highly sulfuric, or something.
When i delivered pizzas I did some mileage experiments/comparisons, and Citgo didn't rank highly- though neither did Speedway or Admiral ranked up there, either. A friend who manages a "top-shelf" station tells me that cut-rate gas stations don't change their filters often enough.
Don't try to confuse the issue with half-truths and gorilla dust.
Would be nice to know if anyone knows how to contact Kaylon to buy his Obama T-shirts on-line. Would be a good way to support him.
'local blog.' There's info in it.
This link is a picture of him campaigning for the President elect; it comes out huge, so you have to scroll over and down for his photo.
me-oww!
Whether this is true or not, which it probably is, it's all feeding one big fire.
How does the U.S.A. get through a day in comparison with Greece?
And somehow the Greek government is in the throes of anarchy because why?
/snark
Greece is in flames because a 15 year old demonstrator was killed by a so-called ricocheted bullet, shot by police, two of which are now in custody.
The entire country is on fire. Parliament is in emergency.
Can anyone in America imagine such a thing?
I mean the part about giving a shit and taking it to the streets.
For a one-day sale at Walmart.
Diabolus est Deus Inversus
Nope...but then again, I can only stand to watch news for about 20 minutes before I want to destroy my teevee...
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