(C) Daily Kos This story was originally published by Daily Kos and is unaltered. . . . . . . . . . . America, we seriously need to talk! [1] ['This Content Is Not Subject To Review Daily Kos Staff Prior To Publication.'] Date: 2023-09-13 Trigger warning: Some links will contain stories with racial violence and racist images. Good afternoon, everyone. This story led to this title. Yes, it bears repeating; America, we seriously need to talk! ​​​​​​When I think I am shocked by extrajudicial, racist violence, I struggle with stories like this that excuse the violence. No white 14 year old boy should have his hands on any human being, especially one his age. The young man is aware of what happened to George Floyd. Here's an excerpt of the Atlanta Black Star article about what this 14 year old boy did. According to the Cape and Islands District Attorney’s Office, Sheeran and another white friend met the victim at the pond to go swimming. The victim reportedly said that he could not swim and wore a life jacket to wade in the water before Sheeran dunked him several times under the water as the other friend laughed and called the Black teen “George Floyd.” The teens also called the victim “boy” and the N-word. The DA’s office released a statement saying the incident was motivated by race. “Once in the water, the juvenile defendant proceeded to pull on the victim’s life jacket and submerged him underwater 4 to 5 times, causing the victim breathing distress,” said the release. “The third juvenile laughed at the victim during the attempted drowning and referred to the victim as ‘George Floyd.'” I would like to believe that if this young man learned about this country's race massacres, he wouldn't have resorted to attempting to drown a 15 year old Black boy. I would be mistaken. What has me most infuriated is the minimization of what he did. It wasn't "horseplay"; it was attempted murder. He attempted to drown a Black boy his age be cause of race. He needs to be held accountable for his choices. There's nothing funny about taking a life. This young man learned this behavior. These teens also need a history lesson as well. If anyone recalled some white teens in Utah wearing blackface and cop Halloween costumes in a Cedar City, Utah Walmart store, I'm betting no one forgot how he or she felt seeing that image. These teens "thought it was funny" to portray cops and Black prisoners, not even thinking about how others would feel about blackface. What both of these incidents have in common is these young people will have someone minimize the behaviors for minimum or little consequences. Those teenagers thought what they did was entertaining. I'm going to circle back to what infuriated me the most. I'm talking about the minimization of both actions. Drowning a 15 year old Black boy and posing as cops and prisoners in blackface aren't "funny". They are both cruel and intentional. They both deserve appropriate consequences. [END] --- [1] Url: https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2023/9/13/2192378/-America-we-seriously-need-to-talk Published and (C) by Daily Kos Content appears here under this condition or license: Site content may be used for any purpose without permission unless otherwise specified. via Magical.Fish Gopher News Feeds: gopher://magical.fish/1/feeds/news/dailykos/