Grand Theft Auto: 7 Year Old Edition

Angel food cake, devils food cake, enough said!

OK, here’s my take. I really, really, REALLY hate playing the race card. Even when I have the right to do it in my place of business, I don’t. I fight by making it difficult for anyone to bring an indictment against the quality of my work or character.

BUT…

In ruminating about this issue, I often wonder if the roles were reversed in terms of Latarian being raised in a two parent household vs. Preston being raised in a dysfunctional, abusive one, what would happen. I believe Latarian would have done and quoted the same as Preston, and the same vice versa. Unfortunately, I also believe that Latarian would still have incurred a grand theft auto charge, and Preston would have received a slap on the wrist.

I believe that Preston probably would not have received any media coverage because of his background, and the media’s willingness to overlook the michievousness of a little blonde haired, blue eyed cutie, yet they still would have placed Latarian in the crime and courts section of msnbc, because how dare this chunky, cute little black boy even THINK about wreaking such havoc in ANY neighborhood, much less an affluent one?

SMH…doggone shame.

Harriet. Don’t be afraid to play the race card when it comes to legal disparities. They exist more explicitly than people imagine. The case in which the progressive attorneys refer to as the “Dred Scott decision of our time” is McCleskey v. Kemp.

In that case, the Court stated that, “[a]pparent disparities in sentencing are an inevitable part of our criminal justice system.” In that case, they proved racial disparities in the administration of the death penalty. Well… the Court said if we have to admit racial bias in the administration of capital punishment… then that means we would have to make that concession in all other forms of justice (and of course … we can’t have that!)

Amazing ain’t it?

The dissenting judge mocked the Court’s majority for being afraid of “too much justice.”

It’s the most painful contemporary to read.

Here, we are talking about the coverage! We can’t even get equal coverage before they go to court. I will save my tirade about Fox, MSNBC, and CNN for another post — but thank G-d for Fiberoptic cables and the blogosphere. As least we can research to get a scintilla of truth.

I hear ya but I would have to respectfully disagree.

First, from a legal standpoint, going on a high speed chase, resisting arrest/ evading the law is more dangerous and a greater crime by statute in every state… than lets say… destruction of public property — hitting a stop sign.

But let’s pretend that it was not.

The question in my mind isn’t so much that the white 7 year old didn’t damage anything, but rather, would he be treated the same if he damaged a stop sign too. The black kid was charged with Grand Auto Theft. Not only did the white kid steal the car too, he went on a high speed chase! (This brings up another issue of selective prosecution, doesn’t matter what the granny wanted). (on a side note? Do you note think a high speed chase endangers the life of people?)

@ Felicia – I Complete Me.
I like that motto, if you can’t live with yourself you can’t be any joy to anyone else, we all must learn to “complete me.
Kids have video games and they all think they know how to drive. When you have a baby everybody wants to give you advice. My sis-in-law told me to always sleep with my keys because when the kids get older they get tempted to steal your car. Best advice I ever got. When my kids became of age I was already in the habit of securing my keys and keeping my peace of mind.
Someone mentioned that the boy stole the car because he did not want to go to church, what kid of church was it. I am so glad that I was not eating because I was laughing so hard, being I am home alone I most likely would choked to death. LOL. I saw the video of the little white boy and he stopped the car, got out leaving the door open and ran into the house, the police officer was running right behind him. It’s sad to say but that was funny. I thought I was watching a “kids” episode of cops. LOL.

UGH! RA.CI.SM PERIOD! I try not to post when something upsets me, but I’m about to let it rip! No! You know what? I’m just going to walk away from my laptop. The pictures are even pissing me off! They have “Angel Food Cake” looking all, well, angelic! I mean did they have to do a close-up on his big blue eyes? And the little Black boy’s picture make him look like he singing “cuz I’ma thug, all day everyday” with his wife beater on! Walking away now!

Jessica said:
dissapointing… not surprising, unfortunately, but so disapointing none-the-less. Poor Latarian, someone should do something to give him some good publicity… hmm any thoughts?
~~~~~~~~~~
I have some thoughts Jessica. Give him community service like they did T I and Mike Vick, that way he can redeem himself and realize he can be a part of society instead of a product of bad decision making. LOL. We all know T I and Vic had/have to serve time in jail. J/K. Both these kids need love and support and maybe anger management classes. The black kid punched his grandmother in the stomach, the white kid drove the car to get away from going to church. These kids obviously have issues. There is nothing wrong with counseling. If what they did/do is not nipped in the bud now ,it only gets worse. I read a story about a 13-14 yr. old who stabbed her grandfatehr/stepdad to death with a steak knife over poured out milk. It is not about the milk but built up anger. We are parents and are not suppose to bully our kids into submission and low self esteem to make them great kids.

In all fairness, I sorta thought Latarian Milton’s story was played from the human interest/whimsical kid angle myself. I really didn’t think the CNN account made the kid look like some future criminal, it actually was pretty funny and lighthearted. You walked away thinking this was a good kid who did a stupid thing.

Latarian and his grandmom didn’t help their cause by continually going back on TV for followup interviews. There was also that unfortunate appearance on Hot97 (where he was exploited for an Xbox 360) and the Judge Judy appearance that never materialized.

Meanwhile, I never even heard of that white kid.

I’m not saying there isn’t a double standard. This morning, Fox News did an interview with a button cute Asian child who was given a summons for selling lemonade in Central Park. They conveniently overlooked the fact that the child was totally wrong (no permit) and made it a cutesy human interest story. I doubt a black kid from Harlem would get the same treatment, which is why Latarian seems to be the exception, not the rule.