A feeling of hopelessness came over me when I heard about this recent finding . . .
A kid is run over by a fire truck and before his body is even cold PR officials are sending tapes to the media, stories are being crafted and spun to local reporters and the official line regarding the tragedy was delivered within one newscycle.
Call it a lesson in crisis management . . . Because an alternative version of this story never had a chance.
And I don't care what any of the d-bags who read this blog think . . . Had it been a white kid run over we'd be talking about protecting "our" children, measures to ensure their safety and the best practices to keep school crossing safe . . . You know, the same way this town is spun into a tizzy whenever a white woman goes missing. Instead, because it's a Black kid dead, the only topic we're hearing loud and clear is that the Fire Department is exonerated. And essentially, unfairly . . . The kid is being blamed for his own death.
Honestly, I don't really care who I offend with this one . . .
I'm happy to take the side of a kid struck down near a sidewalk over a media smear campaign any day. The lack of compassion in Kansas City toward dead people of color, kids even, makes me realize what a disgusting little backed up sewer this town is in the grand scheme of things.
Every summer we learn that death in the minority community doesn't matter and now a kid struck down is treated like a pesky insurance claim in the local press . . . I would say that this town should be ashamed of itself but this kind of disparity marks virtually every facet of life in Kansas City . . . And it just keeps getting worse.
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fuck that. if you're not smart enough to get the fuck out of the road when a fire truck is blazing down the street then natural selection has taken its course. color is a non issue.
ReplyDeletewhat kind of parents let a 7 year old walk around 12th and chestnut by himself? put the blame where it belongs tony.
ReplyDeleteHere you go again Tony, with your race baiting.
ReplyDeleteI like your writing. However, when you try to buddy up with fools like Alonzo Washinghton and you start your 'man of color' vs. the white world routine, I stop reading.
ReplyDeleteI am with all the above posters. It is a shame and tragedy the young boy was killed, however who was watching him ? Seven year old kids need to have supervision when it comes to crossing roads. Don't play the race card game Tony, you will only lose.
ReplyDeleteTony, you're a fucking idiot. Please move away! You hate Kansas City, whay stay?
ReplyDeleteEven a douche like Tony has to know that he's being intellectually dishonest with this tripe.
ReplyDeleteLolzerz
ReplyDeleteWe have a crisis of lack of personal responsibility. Let's say I was an over protective parent and despite my best efforts my 7 year old slipped by me and was somehow killed. I would live with crushing guilt for the rest of my days. There are some things you can't blame on society.
ReplyDeletemay the Lord have Mercy on everyone of you who have absolutly no feelings regarding the lost of life pertaining to children. No matter how you chalk it up. . .that was a baby walking home from school. . .
ReplyDeleteanon 7:39 you nailed the fact that it was a baby walking home, and babies need supervision. We are not being racist and we are not being hateful. I feel sorry for the parents, but someone has to shoulder the responsibility for watching such a young child walking home. Where was the mother at, and why wasn't she walking the child ? Don't make this out to be some heartless thing because it simply is not the case.
ReplyDeleteI'm on your side on this one Tony! All those negative posters with their vile and insensitive viewpoints just prove your point. How can they dare blame this tragedy on the innocent 7 year old child victim. I feel for their family.
ReplyDeleteTo Anon 7:58 - In many areas of our town their are school crossing guards on duty to help the kids cross. Why did this location not warrant one?
ReplyDeletecorrection, the school crossing comment was for anon 7:53
ReplyDeleteI hate to say it. I agree with Tony.
ReplyDeleteWelcome to Kansas"niggertown" City...shithole of the midwest!
ReplyDeleteTheir was a crossing guard, he did not cross at an intersection, he darted from between cars in the middle of the block.
ReplyDeleteUnfortunate yes, but entirely preventable. I feel for the parents and family of this little boy.
Despite what Tony would let you believe, people PULLED over because the truck was blowing sirens and lights. What happened was people immediately jumped the shark on the hopes of a settlement.
What they forget is a young boy was lost. Even if the truck driver saw him, those things do not stop on a dime.
Sad all around. The driver is probably guilt ridden too. People that join the FD do not hope pain on anyone.
The kid got his Darwin award. So do all the people shooting each other on the Eastside. Nothing to see here, move along.
ReplyDeleteTony, Tony, Tony (a.k.a. Alonzo Lite) don'cha know nobody didn't care the kid didn't got run over and kilt 'cuz he's black. It's jus' that no ones carss 'cuz he's a furaner. This wouldn't have happened if he was a 'Murican kid.
ReplyDeleteYou might be right on this one Tony... and I say.... So what? Who cares... I say that because it sounds as stupid as your racist blog. The kid ran out in front of a moving vehicle. It doesn't matter if the kid was black, white, Spic, chinese, etc., the result would have been the same. It was an unfortuately accident. What would you want to happen? Of couse the kid is being blamed for his own death. When I was a kid I ran out into the road and was hit by a car and through about 10 feet into a ditch. Fortunately, I was fine. Did my parents go around saying that a black man tried to run over my son... No,I was at fault. The driver of the vehicle tried to stop as fast as possible. Get over yourself spunky. Quit starting to insight war between the races... You'd lose spic.
ReplyDeleteI don't think the fire truck driver is to blame at all and I think Tony is going out on a limb here to try to make his case. However I do know there have been similar tragedies that sparked lots of related media stories about teaching kids to walk home from school safely, whether emergency vehicle sirens are loud enough, etc.
ReplyDeleteI think all of the racism in the comments proves Tony's basic point.
ReplyDeleteGenerally, when a tragedy happens, there IS a movement to prevent future similar tragedies, and often it involves more government regulation. For example, when the horse died at the Kentucky Derby, people were talking about banning horse racing.
ReplyDeleteBut Tony, this rant is all speculation, and I disagree with you for two reasons...
1) When kids misbehave, women like to talk trash on parents no matter what color they are. "Oh, if that were my kid, I would beat his ass," so even if the boy had been white, the response would have been, "It's an unfortunate tragedy, but were was the responsible adult?"
2) The responsible adult was the crossing guard, and apparently this kid didn't pay attention to him... and, (now I don't care who I offend either,) that is the parent's fault. Even the most well behaved children occasionally aren't paying attention, and do dangerous things, but I drive past Woodland Elementary at least ten times a week, and I've seen unsupervised children cross the street without looking on more than one occasion... in fact, a car behind me had to slam on their brakes one time to avoid hitting a seven year old girl who stepped into the street in front of my car, but I swerved, and she ran behind me.
So Tony, I know you're upset... everyone is. But don't start yelling at white people. Unless the crossing guard was white, and he was holding a "GO" sign, and there was a white kid on the other side of the street yelling "HEY, FREE CANDY FOR THE FIRST MINORITY TO CROSS THE STREET!"
So are fire trucks painted red to hide the blood splatters?
ReplyDeleteI agree with tony's observations on the race issue (and i'm as pale a face as they come) but I think there were additional complications mentioned by two earlier commenters -- 1) his parents are African immigrants and 2) he was hit at 12th and Chestnut. Had this happened at 103 and Antioch to parents with American names, there most definitely would have been more outrage in the media. Still not to the degree of a white family in the same situation, but more questions would've been asked. He was a poor kid from a poor immigrant family -- and I've heard questions about a possible hearing impairment, so aholes, he doesn't deserve the Darwin Award commentary from the peanut gallery, you should be ashamed of yourselves in fact. He was a kid. Get a fucking conscience.
ReplyDeleteMore questions would have been asked? Were you there or are you just assuming things to support your position? Was there a full investigation or not? How many times have we complained that something we feel should have been covered more was buried because a pit bull bit someone? You may have a gripe about media coverage and how they determine what gets how much print but truth be told it is generally related to things we have no control over.
ReplyDeleteNo, no, you're right, I'm definitely assuming things to support my position.
ReplyDeleteBased on what I've seen of KC media in the 31 years I've lived here. It's not a conscious effort, but rather it's systemic in this town that it is assumed by the local media that we don't care about certain people from certain parts of town. I don't think that's a groundbreaking assertion by any means. I'm just saying I agree.
Kids 'would be safer in Iraq'
ReplyDeleteBLACK STAR | Activists urge Obama to help fight student slayings here
May 10, 2009
BY MIKE THOMAS Staff Reporter
Kids are dying in President Obama's backyard, and he needs to do something about it.
That's what a Chicago activist group demanded Saturday as it called attention to the close proximity to the president's home of many of the murders of Chicago Public Schools students this year.
Against a map showing three-fourths of the 36 student slayings this year were within eight miles of Obama's mansion, the Black Star Project said Obama can no longer sit back and do nothing.
"He should not only be concerned as president, he should be concerned as a resident of this community," Black Star executive director Phillip Jackson said at the group's South Side headquarters.
Obama, Black Star members say, needs to address Chicago's rising student deaths as a national priority by providing his hometown with the political and financial muscle to stem the violence.
Jackson called for a $20 billion "trickle-up" federal investment, which he said could support the anti-violence efforts of frustrated community organizations, summer jobs for youth and other community measures.
The group said Obama should make anti-violence efforts in his hometown a model for the entire nation.
Jackson noted that since the United States went to war in Afghanistan and Iraq, Chicago has lost far more children than soldiers.
"We're asking [Obama] to do the same thing for this community that he's doing for Iraq," he said. "Our children would be safer in Iraq than they are a few blocks from his house."
I can see the points of both sides in this story. Minorities do seem to be mistreated. But this kids death had nothing to do with race.
ReplyDeleteThe fact remains that he ran in front of a fire truck. There was nothing that anyone could have done. He should have been supervised by an adult, he should have been tought to use a cross walk with a crossing guard, and he should have been told by his parents to never run into the middle of a busy street, i knew better when i was 5. If the truck didnt say KCFD on the side the parents would have had no case against a regular vehicle. The parents are more to blame than anyone. The whole story is just unfortunate.