And the beat goes on....

It is safe again to ride the school bus in Belleville IL. The two young men responsible for beating up another, older, student have been arrested. The driver of the bus has been suspended. According to the article on stltoday.com (and being picked up by newsweek.com as well) states that the victim, a 17 year old student got on the bus and looked for a seat. When he finally sat down the 14 year old student in the seat next to him attacked him, punching him in the head and then holding him by the neck and punching him in the face. The victim was attacked again later by another young man aged 15.

The victim is Caucasian and the attackers are African American. This is leading to claims that this attack is racially motivated. The Belleville police released the video from the school bus and stated that the motive was racial. Then the next day a police department spokesman said that the statement was personal opinion and emotional. It was also stated that in the state of Illinois there needs to be more evidence of racial motives than the fact that the victims are of two different races. This has sparked a national debate about racial violence


I am not sure how to feel about this. Especially after reading some of the blog comments. I rode a bus to school in he mid 1980's and some of the things that went on during that rural ride make my toes curl as a present day mother. That being said, there is no telling what set that fight off, but to make it a racial even seems a bit gratuitous. Conversely, if the victim had been African American, Latino or homosexual and the attacker Caucasian it would definitely be labeled racial. It kind of makes me think that there is a large double standard here.

I also think that it was very unprofessional for the police department to release the video and to make an off the cuff statement like they did. Perhaps they deliberately tried to start the debate.