Buying a house while black . . .

Yeah, they're idiots. They're also idiots without criminal intent, so prosecuting them will be an uphill battle. Just be thankful stupid people + guns didn't equal catastrophe in this instance.

I think spending a few days in jail and posting a $17,000 bond was a big enough of a dopeslap in this case. Sooner this goes away, on all sides, the better now.

Manuel Royal said:

Guns are small machines for killing people. You don't point a gun at somebody unless you're willing to kill them (unless you're some kind of utter moron who thinks a gun is a toy). The actions in this story only make sense if the man looked out of his house and said, "I think those people are breaking into that empty house. For that, I'm willing to kill them both, for lo, I hold the power of life and death."

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Word.

Not to derail, but just once I'd like to see Georgia make the national news because somebody did something surprisingly intelligent and / or non-racist.

shawkins said:

Not to derail, but just once I'd like to see Georgia make the national news because somebody did something surprisingly intelligent and / or non-racist.

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Well, the NBA playoffs are coming up. Maybe the Hawks will make some national news with a surprising run into the Finals--*breaks up laughing*

All right all right, but the NFL Draft is this weekend. I'm sure the Falcons will find the missing piece to propel them to a Super B--*nearly kills self with laughter*

Ok, ok, all jokes aside, I'm sure next year the Bulldogs will--*doubles over with laughter, ribcage shatters violently*

shawkins said:

Not to derail, but just once I'd like to see Georgia make the national news because somebody did something surprisingly intelligent and / or non-racist.

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"Event happens in Georgia in which races get along." Hmm, I don't think it's THAT rare, but I doubt it would sell many newspapers or attract many online ad clicks (though maybe The Onion is lurking). Like anything, it's the over-the-top incidents that get in the news.

Jcomp said:

Well, the NBA playoffs are coming up. Maybe the Hawks will make some national news with a surprising run into the Finals--*breaks up laughing*

All right all right, but the NFL Draft is this weekend. I'm sure the Falcons will find the missing piece to propel them to a Super B--*nearly kills self with laughter*

Ok, ok, all jokes aside, I'm sure next year the Bulldogs will--*doubles over with laughter, ribcage shatters violently*

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Every once in a few years Georgia Tech (known for its hot-shot engineer graduates much more than than for its football program) beats UGA.

You best not find yourself in between a Tech fan and a Dawgs fan. It's no laughing matter...

Since I got exactly O reppies for my post #22, I'm guessing many found it un-bee-lievable??? How 'bout if I say it happened on a magnolia-infused Georgia night last Spring??

We interrupt this thread with a news update: The Lawyer Speaks:
http://www.ajc.com/news/lawyer-gun-wielding-newton-1425877.html

Mr. Pocket Keeper said:

(Bolded mine.)

You know that?

How?

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You've never spent much time in the South, have you?

Mharvey said:

Yeah, they're idiots. They're also idiots without criminal intent, so prosecuting them will be an uphill battle. Just be thankful stupid people + guns didn't equal catastrophe in this instance.

I think spending a few days in jail and posting a $17,000 bond was a big enough of a dopeslap in this case. Sooner this goes away, on all sides, the better now.

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I don't know if intent comes into play in a lot of our criminal prosecutions. Or shall I say that just because someone is an idiot, that's not a valid excuse under our legal system?

Crazy folks are taking the idea of what rights they have too far. I don't care if you really, really swear-on-your-mama's-grave thought these Black folks were breaking into the house, people don't take kindly to being held at gunpoint for no damned reason! The law supports "reasonable" this and that, but all of this playing sheriff with your own gun is going to prove to be batshit insane behavior once in court, imho. Not reasonable.

They held regular, everyday homeowners at gunpoint over nothing. It's not just a misunderstanding, and I hope they get the book thrown at them for their crimes. Gunpoint is no joke.

backslashbaby said:

I don't know if intent comes into play in a lot of our criminal prosecutions. Or shall I say that just because someone is an idiot, that's not a valid excuse under our legal system?

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Nope, it's not. Ignorance of the law is not a defense.

And on the matter of intent, they intended to point a gun at someone, and they did, and that is a crime called assault with a deadly weapon (probably misdemeanor assault).

Crazy folks are taking the idea of what rights they have too far. I don't care if you really, really swear-on-your-mama's-grave thought these Black folks were breaking into the house, people don't take kindly to being held at gunpoint for no damned reason! The law supports "reasonable" this and that, but all of this playing sheriff with your own gun is going to prove to be batshit insane behavior once in court,

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Word.

shawkins, for what it is worth the HGTV Green Home 2012 is in Georgia.

shawkins said:

Not to derail, but just once I'd like to see Georgia make the national news because somebody did something surprisingly intelligent and / or non-racist.

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Well, we did have the Olympics in '96. Sorry about the terrorist bombings.

Not to derail, but just once I'd like to see Georgia make the national news because somebody did something surprisingly intelligent and / or non-racist.

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let's see. one time I saw part of a U-GA game on ESPN and they showed Uga, the mascot and everyone squeed for about 10 minutes.

Oh wait, you stipulated "surprisingly intelligent".

Hey, GA has some very impressive universities! And the CDC (don't knock it; my cousin works there ).

Just read the article. AR-15s?!? Holy Jebus. I start to wonder whether, having acquired a fantastically efficient and expensive battlefield rifle, everything starts to look like an opportunity to use one.

Yorkist said:

You've never spent much time in the South, have you?

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Because, yanno, all Southerners are red-necked bigots.

Roger J Carlson said:

Too bad the neighbors didn't mind their own business, like this guy: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P5C4hSLBdEc

(um, skip the ad)

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Roger J Carlson said:

Quite true. I also think there is an alternative to calling them stupid, despicable bigots.

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Roger J Carlson said:

The part where we make a judgment on their personalities based on a 500 word article. The man was black, so they must be bigots. They carried guns, so they must be kooks. They made mistakes so they must be stupid.

This rush to judgment...say, isn't that exactly what they did?

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Roger J Carlson said:

Sorry. My fault for trying to see a measure of complexity in the issue.

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Roger J Carlson said:

I don't think that at all. Do you? Because I think that would be quite unwise.

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Yorkist said:

You've never spent much time in the South, have you?

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Roger J Carlson said:

Because, yanno, all Southerners are red-necked bigots.

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I fail to see what point you are trying to make. First you post a video of a house break-in where apparently the person didn't do anything to help his neighbor. Are you saying that's better than the guys who acted as vigilantes? Becuase it's not. It's as bad a committing the crime becuase by not calling the authorities, andknowingly let it happen, the person becomes complicit in the crime.

Then you say we are snapping to judgment from a 500 word article and that you are trying to see the complexity of the issue, but I see no attempt to share that insight with anyone else. So are we so politically correct now that we have to bend over backwards to not use the obvious evidence before us to discern events in our world? We have to go out of our way to not call a duck a duck? Do you honestly think that anyone here, at AW, thinks all white people in the south are rednecks?

Did you not notice Yorkist is FROM THESOUTH? Yorkist was asking how Lyv knew she was safe because she was white, because Yorkist -I would ASSUME- is saying that racism exists against whites as well as blacks. Yorkist never implied all white people in the south are rednecks.
And Yorkist, if I am wrong, nevermind.

Thanks.

sassandgroove said:

I fail to see what point you are trying to make. First you post a video of a house break-in where apparently the person didn't do anything to help his neighbor. Are you saying that's better than the guys who acted as vigilantes? Becuase it's not. It's as bad a committing the crime becuase by not calling the authorities, andknowingly let it happen, the person becomes complicit in the crime.

Then you say we are snapping to judgment from a 500 word article and that you are trying to see the complexity of the issue, but I see no attempt to share that insight with anyone else.

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I'm sorry you don't get my point, but I don't see any point in simply reiterating it.

So are we so politically correct now that we have to bend over backwards to not use the obvious evidence before us to discern events in our world? We have to go out of our way to not call a duck a duck?

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Once upon a time, it was intuitively obvious that black people where lazy, inferior, even sub-human. It behooves us not to repeat that mistake -- with anyone.

Do you honestly think that anyone here, at AW, thinks all white people in the south are rednecks?

Did you not notice Yorkist is FROM THESOUTH?

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I don't know what people actually believe, but I see quite frequently here in P&CE about how "people from Texas" are this or "people from Mississippi" are that. It irks me because making generalizations about some groups will get you called a racist or sexist or ageist or some-other-ist, while generalizations about other groups is simply "obvious evidence".

The fact is generalizations about ANY group are untrue and, yes, we should be extremely careful about calling a duck a duck because people are not ducks. People are individuals and shouldn't be treated as anything different.

And in case you didn't notice, I'm NOT FROM THE SOUTH, and it doesn't make any difference.

How does a statement like

Because, yanno, all Southerners are red-necked bigots.

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help anything when it is obtuse and not relevant to the person you are responding to?

sassandgroove said:

How does a statement like help anything when it is obtuse and not relevant to the person you are responding to?

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I suppose an irrelevant response to an irrelevant response might be seen as obtuse. On the other hand, it might be seen as ironic. Since this is a writer's site, I'd hoped for the latter.

Here, Roger, take one of these:

Roger J Carlson said:

The fact is generalizations about ANY group are untrue and, yes, we should be extremely careful about calling a duck a duck because people are not ducks. People are individuals and shouldn't be treated as anything different.

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Generalizations about groups are often quite accurate. The problem lies only when attributing any group generalization to a particular member of that group, with no evidence.

If one meets a person from Mississippi and immediately makes assumptions about him or her simply because they are from Mississippi, for example, that's stupid and shows prejudice.

But if one notices that Southern states are the "most religious" (except for Utah) and that the New England states are the "least religious" that tells you something about the different cultures of both areas.

http://www.gallup.com/poll/153479/mississippi-religious-state.aspx

When polling shows that 80% of Alabamians oppose gay marriage, but only 40% of Coloradans oppose it, it's valid to make certain assumptions about the cultural difference in the two areas.

Gun culture in Texas is far different than gun culture in Oregon. Racial attitudes are different in Mississippi than in Rhode Island.

Noting those differences and commenting on them is not the same as stating that every single individual in each state shares the same cultural beliefs. Noting that a particular type of behavior of action is not unusual or unexpected in certain areas of the country is perfectly valid.

Roger J Carlson said:

People are individuals and shouldn't be treated as anything different.

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rugcat said:

The problem lies only when attributing any group generalization to a particular member of that group, with no evidence.

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Then we agree.

http://www.bing.com/Dictionary/search?q=define+generalize&qpvt=GENERALIZE&FORM=DTPDIA

generalizeDefinition
gen·er·al·ize

VERB

1.
intransitive verb make sweeping statement: to state a supposed general truth about something on the basis of limited or incomplete evidence

2.
transitive and intransitive verb express something general: to express something general on the basis of particulars

3.
transitive and intransitive verb give wider use to something: to use something in a wider or different range of circumstances, or be used in this way

4.
transitive verb make something generally known: to bring something into general use or to general knowledge ( usually passive )

5.
intransitive verb medicine spread: to spread to other parts of the body

6.
transitive and intransitive verb logic make inference: to infer a general conclusion from particulars or a universal statement from an instance

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