UPDATE: NJ Teen Arrested For Racial Wal-Mart P.A. Message

Praise Jesus...now who can I sue?

Have a blessed day!

If the kid is in fact black, would this be still considered a racist inccident?

(In addition, hoax racism still victimizes the "oppressed" group, because they don't know it's fake. The kid who called in the fake report on the NJ turnpike certainly oppressed the hell out of his peers, assuming they weren't in on it.)

Why not? In some sense it would have to be racist, intentionally causing trouble by exploiting racial divisions.

Wouldn't you think any "hoax racism" is racist against the imagined perpetrator? You are pretending that someone is doing something to you when they really aren't. Certainly we have no problem conceiving of white people who blame things on imaginary black men as racist. So, yeah.

Funny how eager everybody is to imagine it's a black kid. I'd put money on all the kids on the surveillance tape being white. Wager?

Sure. If somebody shouts racial slurs, that is a racist act.

That doesn't necessarily mean it rises to the level of a civil rights violation, "harassment" or "bias intimidation," or that the kid should have the book thrown at him

white kid: "i hate you stupid white people!"

black kid: "you dumb racist!"

o.O

Once when I was 10 my parents took me strawberry picking on long island. A black lady who was also picking strawberries got mad when the farmer told her that she was picking berries in a field that was not yet open to u-pick. She launched into a tirade and called everyone a honky and stamped back to her car. I guess she should have been arrested.

Has "honky" ever been insulting to any white person, ever?

Yeah, that is the lamest racial slur ever.

Shouldn't every good race war begin at a Walmart?

I bet the kid is black. Just like the black Columbia prof who hung the noose on her own door or the black student in Cali who wrote racist graffiti on campus. They are always demanding to be the victim.

...don't forget the black teen in NJ who called 911 to report black kids with guns in a van. He wanted to sue as well.

You're absolutely right. it usually is them. Why is that????

it's b/c we're nearing the end of the old earth, and things that many people do in darkness will be revealed and uncovered... hence the chapter of "revelations." dum dum dum...

...just kidding. i don't know why either. and frankly, i don't even care. *shrug*

Arrested?? WTF? If that's true it makes no sense. I mean, its an effed up thing to do....but its something they should be ashamed of(or shamed for), but that's not an arrest-able offence. Its just ignorant.

Not suprised in the least bit that racist whites are still so fearful of the consiquences of showing their hate in the faces of the ones they are racist towards. This forum is a perfect example, all of these comments about this headline are posted by racist white cowards who only go as far as chatlines and forums ect ect to express their hatred but would never go public and express it in the presence of the one they hate. Being white myself, i feel a great deal of sorrow and embarassment for fellow whites... Dont support COWARDISM!!.... COWARDS!!

Written with extreme hypocrisy by an anonymous white coward on this forum! Too efffing funny.

Well, there's one point I think you misunderstand about my comment, anyway. Being racist and "not acting on it" is not the same as hating minorities in private but keeping it a secret.

I'd describe racism as more of a basic animal urge, like the desire to have sex with attractive people, to lie, to steal, etc. We all have little negative impulses that bubble up from time to time, and ultimately we just ignore them. That doesn't make us cowards - it makes us civilized.

Yet, in my opinion, to deny that you have these impulses is just lying to yourself. You're only going to live in denial and fuck something up later, Michael Richards-style.

I don't think he's referring to you. There were some other comments here that have been deleted. I see quite a few gaps in the comment numbers.

You people just don't get it. They should have ordered all "African Americans" to leave the store.

whats the charge? this is a non case, its a JOKE.

i guess theres some generic cause for alarm crime, maybe a hacking telephone unauthorized use crime this falls under.

doesnt anybody remember kids getting on the intercoms on subways in the 80's oh i forgot ohio transplants didnt live in nyc then.

this guy should be given the key to the city!

Or at least an hour slot at the Comic Strip!

Of course the Walmart exec is upset. Without low income blacks spending money they don't really have on crap from China they don't really need, Walmart would go bankrupt.

What exactly is the charge?

I have exactly the same question. Trespassing?

I actually thought it was kind of funny. :)

inb4RACIST

Don't you just love it when Gothamist headline writers crown themselves arbiters of morality and ethics by labeling a sophomoric act of questionable good taste as 'racist'.

If this instance is racist, what word in the English language would they use to describe, for example, the dragging death of a black man by two KKKers behind their pick-up truck? Clearly, 'racist' cannot be used to judge or categorize both acts.

The word has been so bandied about and diluted as not to be taken seriously any more.

Indeed: Judge not, lest you be judged.

Please cite any reputable source -- just one -- that says racism is about violent acts rather than "a belief that race is the primary determinant of human traits and capacities and that racial differences produce an inherent superiority of a particular race" (per Merriam-Webster). I think you're confusing racism with murder.

Yeah, conservatives think that being called racist is the worst thing in the goddamn world. Cambridge cops haul Henry Louis Gates down to the station because he said they were racist - I mean, heaven forbid, anything but that!

Truth is everybody's a little bit racist, and the challenge is not to ACT on it, like the dickwad on the PA.

I actually would think liberals are more scandalized by a biased act or comment by anyone.

Scream bias crime and go cry in the media about the mean republicans and the big bad white man trying to destroy minorities.

And yes, I would fall within the minority standard and don't think I need to cry and scream every time someone says something mean or hurtful. I am a grown man and can fight my own battles.

I don't see anybody "screaming and crying" over this incident. The most motivated party here is Walmart, because it hurts their corporate image. You're pro-business, right? Well, it helps them a LOT if the kid is caught and punished a little. I haven't seen any evidence that anybody else cares that much, I mean, Sharpton isn't even there and that's his job.

What's actually been disputed here on Gothamist is the use of the word "racist" to describe it - which is ridiculous.

Well said.

everyone (white, black, hispanic, asian, etc, etc, etc) is a little bit racist toward another race (or races) and they should be proud of it--it's a by-product of being proud of who you are.

but please, let's still remember to be socially savvy and respect all others in presence. or else you're just being a dickwad.

Sorry, I don't buy that. I'm proud of who I am, not the color of my skin. Yes, I still judge people, but almost entirely by the way they dress, act and carry themselves. I think it's just as silly (actually more so) when a white kid or an Asian kid waddles (for lack of a better word; that kind of movement isn't walking) around in baggy pants, hoodies, bling and other hood fashions. I prefer to be around those who are intelligent, decent folk, and their skin color is completely irrelevant. Racism in private just because nobody can hear you is as counterproductive as racism in public.

"...they should be proud of it--it's a by-product of being proud of who you are."

i should have clarify that it's for those who are proud b/c of their skin color. i'm not proud of my skin color either, but i am a proud person.

this is what happens when i GENERALIZE. my apologies.

Yeah, what have whites done recently that I can be proud of?

Wonder Bread and Miracle Whip?

Slap an individually-wrapped slice of American cheese on that and you got me.

And don't say Mad Men.

the r-word is becoming a counterpart of the n-word.

what a world we live in... hahahaha

Perhaps it's the hangover speaking, but an arrest seems pretty harsh. What are they going to charge him with, verbal harassment?

Not that he's not a major dickwad and deserves a bit of public humiliation.

Yeah. People take stupid stuff way to seriously nowadays.

Wow what a reaction. Now contrast this with the response of 30 non-black high school students in Philly being pummeled by 100 black "students". One get national press coverage while the other gets swept under the rug. Progress!

ok ok, i'll be more PC.

http://www.philly.com/philly/news/homepage/88337312.html

"On Dec. 3, about 30 Asian students were beaten in a daylong series of assaults by groups of mostly African American classmates. Seven Asian students went to hospitals."

this is the first time i've heard about it since 'Tar Baby' mentioned it.

what's next? black kkk?