http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5HZQ7l2xYqA
WARNING: Video above contains violent content and NSFW language.
This past weekend, there was footage released of a newly immigrated Chinese teen getting assaulted by seven others in Chicago. Some of them were even Asian Americans. From the video, it shows that the seventeen year old teen did not provoke this fight at all and was defenseless. All of this was an act of bullying. The punching and kicking continued even after the boy had said, “Please no more, don’t hit me anymore, please.”
This is the 21st century and one would think racial violence should not be occurring today. However, this video shows that some of us are still ignorant and feel the need to bully someone to demonstrate superiority. We wrote previously that APAs are more likely to be bullied and this is a prime example. The assailants also robbed $180 from the teen.
The bullies thought that the recording would be a good laugh and decided to post it up, but little did they know, they were the only ones who thought this was funny. The person who originally uploaded the video already took it down. It is still a mystery who recorded this disturbing and brutal video. Many people are outraged by this and they want those teens that attacked the Chinese American teen to take responsibility for the injuries they caused. So far, no one has been arrested but police have questioned six of the youths seen in the video.
People are claiming this assault to be an act of racial violence. However, something I do not fully comprehend is why Asian Americans were also involved in attacking the young teen. Have we come to an age when we also draw a distinction between Asian Americans and Asian immigrants?
arrest these animals.
“Have we come to an age when we also draw a distinction between Asian Americans and Asian immigrants?”
Well yeah. In this case, the kid probably thought that if he didn’t victimize other Asians, they might end up being victimized by their so-called friends. I see similar shit go down among adults, even.
You guys don’t have your facts straight. Listen carefully what they say and do further research on it… It was a retaliation on 2 of the teens beating this guy up. 20 Chinese people jumped 2 of the guys on this video… This guy beaten was one of the attackers. Chinese role deep in the South Side of Chicago…
@ErikaHarada your wrong dude.. You must have never been to the South Side of Chicago then.. There are a lot of crazy Asians.. And this video had nothing to do with bullying or racism or trying to fit in… It was retaliation.. Most these kids doing the beating were Asian too.
@sh5871 There was no explanation given on the video within the video or outside of that, soooooooooo
Were you directly involved, perchance?
@sh5871 link please.
@Laciemn But on the flip side, if what she says is right, then this isn’t a case of bullying, but the internet is feeling empathy for what is – essentially – a gang fight.
@sh5871@ErikaHarada
This is a racist hate crime either way even if these kids beating him are white or Asian. They are yelling racist terms. Whether or not the term used is because maybe he is an immigrant or because he is Chinese. Who knows?
I don’t know why they are using that term specifically but these people are vulgar and racist. I hardly believe it is appropriate to retaliate 7 against 1. The worst thing is these are teenagers! Soon enough these guys will be full grown and who knows how they will treat others then?
Presented without comment, this:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=8tumHJ57MC4
Transcript: “Look, these people aren’t all as bad as it seems in the video. You won’t believe it, but its true. The kid that got ganged up on is in a group called the fobs. Anyways these two groups has always had their differences and always had beef.. a year ago they had messed with a guy in the video and almost went at it but then the cops came. This year they were planning to fight and it didn’t happen again it was canceled. Near Halloween, 20 of the fobs had came and tried to attack 2 people, Wesley and Easley. They’ve been wanting to get back at them for a while now. And the kid that got ganged up on was the one in the video 6 against 1. Its not right for them to record it. Its not right to fight at all. But im just saying, to all the ignorant mother fuckers out there who only know one side of the story, shouldn’t be posting peoples information out like that.”
No, I can not validate this. But this is being posted on people’s social media streams like wildfire.
@Ernie H. According to the police, as far as they have worked so far, they also think that the retaliation theory holds some truth.
http://news.yahoo.com/video/chicagocbs2-15750637/cops-beating-posted-on-youtube-was-retaliation-for-earlier-attack-27909613.html
However, in this case, the motive is sort of secondary to the actions already taken. These young attackers basically screw themselves by video taping it and posting online.
It’s heart wrenching to watch something like this (I couldn’t finish it), and we’re only human to feel bad initially, but in the end of the day, the only thing people can do is find the guys and deal with them, legally. As for the rest of us, I guess stay safe and if possible, find ways to prevent violence.
Ugh…warning to everyone. Don’t look at the comments. I feel sorry for this girl. If this is the true story, she is really brave to come forward. Still, they all deserve prosecution to the fullest extent of the law.
@Ernie H. Maybe so. However I don’t think it’s wrong to feel empathy for them. Some kids are good kids before they get in with gangs. It sad to see our youth resorting to this violence. Thanks for posting this link.
I can’t believe these idiots recorded themselves saying “nigga, nigga.”
@Danny_Ahmed This video is informative. At the end of the video, the reporter says that it’s not a racially motivated crime as the attackers were Hispanic and Asian. The victim was Asian. However there are racial slurs used repeatedly in the video. The slur “nigga” is used many times. I also noticed that the victim appears to have slightly darker skin compared to at least one of the attackers. It’s hard to tell because you don’t see all of their faces. To me, that is racist even if they were all the the same race.
@Laciemn it gets worse. someone posted her address in the comments.
Report by Chicago news mentions that it may have been a retaliation, and the person being attacked in the video was involved in a previous 20 vs 2 attack
http://chicago.cbslocal.com/2012/01/16/video-of-beating-posted-on-youtube-prompts-police-investigation/
Video of Raymond Palomino being arrested:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-QXPxq2N-3w
@Dosan Jee I had a taiwanese roommate who would do this. He felt like it was an affirmation of his masculinity, or something.
@Dosan Jee staying classy ^_^
David So has been able to make some comedy and commentary out of this. http://youtu.be/r7shB4OB0C0
welcome to “post racial America,” PhillipChang 😉
Racism till this day? I was reading a article about Chinese getting bullied in the US in the late 1800s and it seems after 2 world wars, civil rights movement, and equality amongst race idealology had no effect and its tough to see that video and the cruelty displayed I myself have parents that immigrated to the United States and would not have wanted them to be treated this way. Hope justice is given to those bullies.
@Laciemn
You’re an idiot, seriously, they’re weren’t any blacks in there so nigga’ wasn’t used in the racist sense. It was said by these kids to sound more “gangster”. Everyone on the planet understands this BUT you apparently. Aslo, he wasn’t attacked because he might have been “darker” as you claim but because there was conflict between two groups that had NOTHING to do with skin shade. Nice way to create a whole controversy where none existed.
@Laciemn@sh5871@ErikaHarada I don’t know how many times I can call you an idiot or more importantly, how many times you can be an idiot, but the fact that they were saying “nigga” wasn’t racist because there are no blacks involved. And unless you’ve been living in a cave the last 30 years, and you might have been, you would realize that blacks use that word all the time as a term of endearment and that others, non blacks, use that word to sound black, more gangster, more hard. The definition of racism means that it has to be another race. By definition it MUST be another race. If not, it’s just 2 kids fighting. So according to your definition, every fight between 2 white kids is a racist fight. Or every fight between 2 blacks is racist? So why would a fight between 2 Asians automatically be racist? Your a fucking moron, there, that must make me a racist.
@johntolber@KangLee@Laciemn@sh5871 Yeaaaaaaah, we’re supposed to know the entire background to a video where it was NEVER mentioned in the first place, since we’re clearly psychics. Or something.
So were you guys directly involved or what?
@ErikaHarada@johntolber@Laciemn@sh5871 No we just did more research into it before spouting off idiotic comments. And initially I thought it was a racist attack of an innocent Asian kid by a gang of white kids also. Because it happened to me everyday growing up in Carbondale Pa. So I can excuse that mistake. But the moron who says that it’s racist because they yell “nigga” to an Asian kid is just a moron plain and simple. There no excuse for that stupidity.
@KangLee@Laciemn@sh5871@ErikaHarada Ok. KangLee and sh5871 have got it 100% right. ErikaHarada and Laciemn have no clue what they are talking about and have obviously never been to the South side of Chicago. I can’t tell whether Erika and Lacie are morons or just ignorant in this particular area (dynamics of gang violence in Chitown), but I’m leaning towards the former.
In any case, it was not a racially motivated attack, it was a gang beatdown. As for the use of the word “nigga”, it was the kids trying to be more gangster. You know how stupid white kids use the n-word to sound cool or be more “gangster” – same thing here.
@KangLee@Laciemn@sh5871 Name-calling? Really? Stay classy dude.
@ErikaHarada@KangLee@Laciemn@sh5871 If you don’t like being called a moron or ignorant, perhaps you should:
a. refrain from utter speculation
b. refrain from implying that other commenters were involved in a felonious assault
c. read a news story on the incident – http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/breaking/chi-7-teens-charged-in-beating-robbery-posted-on-youtube-20120118,0,1110792.story
@KangLee@johntolber Just a friendly reminder of the 8Asians commenting policy, which you can read here: http://www.8asians.com/2011/11/14/8asians-commenting-policy-profile-photo-real-identity-or-well-delete/
Please refrain from attacking other readers directly or you will be banned. You’re welcome to continue the discourse but stop with the personal insults.
@sh5871 Haha, you mean Chinese roll deep near Chinatown? This happened in Bridgeport, the last place that comes to mind when Chicagoans hear the phrase “South Side”. The area’s known for dim sum, not gang activity.
@sh5871 Haha, you mean Chinese roll deep near Chinatown? This happened in Bridgeport, the last place that comes to mind when Chicagoans hear the phrase “South Side”. The area’s known for dim sum, not gang activity.
@moye Who are you? Ok, so ignorant and inflammatory comments are okay as long as you say it politely but honest opinions are banned. Very vanilla of you and your site, way to be irrelevant. I hope this post isn’t considered a personal attack. I don’t want to be banned.
@johntolber I agree. You seem to know what you’re talking about.
@KangLee I’m one of the co-editors of this blog. Does that make my previous comment better?
Let me state this again. You’re free to call out the ignorance and misstated facts posted by other commenters but don’t call them idiots or morons. Those may be your honest opinions but treat everyone else with respect.
@johntolber Thanks for reading our policy. The warning applies to everyone here.
(I just responded to the most recent comment on this thread.)
Looks like all 7 are being charged. One count each, robbery and aggravated battery (felonies, yay!). 1 kid as an adult, and the rest getting juvie petitions. I’m not sure how it is anymore, but I believe juvie records get sealed once you turn 18. We’ll see if the charges hold. 1 of the kids is from Arlington Heights, a milky white suburb way Northwest of Chicago, also with a fair amount of Asian kids who WOULD get a kick out of yelling out “Nigga!” when there’s no black people around.
That said, this wasn’t a gang fight. And it doesn’t seem to be racially motivated. Maybe class discrimination, but …
@sh5871 Haha, you mean Chinese roll deep near Chinatown? This happened in Bridgeport, the last place that comes to mind when Chicagoans hear the phrase “South Side”. The area’s known for dim sum, not gang activity.
@moye Who are you? Ok, so ignorant and inflammatory comments are okay as long as you say it politely but honest opinions are banned. Very vanilla of you and your site, way to be irrelevant. I hope this post isn’t considered a personal attack. I don’t want to be banned.
@KangLee I’m one of the co-editors of this blog. Does that make my previous comment better?
Let me state this again. You’re free to call out the ignorance and misstated facts posted by other commenters but don’t call them idiots or morons. Those may be your honest opinions but treat everyone else with respect.
@moye@KangLee@johntolber
Hi Moye,
Well, I just read it.
“Personal attacks against other commenters are not permitted…Comments that devolve into ad hominem attacks, intentionally bait others, or are deliberately disruptive may be deleted.” I’ll admit I broke the rules. My apologies. However, so did Ms. Harada. She implied that various commenters on here were involved in the attack. While her comments don’t rise to the level of libel, I think they do count as a personal attack or were meant to intentionally bait others, so why no warning for her? If your going to moderate, maybe a bit of evenhandedness.
@moye Of course you are. I was being sarcastic when I asked who you were. I personally don’t care if I’m banned, I was being sarcastic about not wanting to be banned also. But I do understand and I will refrain from personal attacks.
@KangLee@Laciemn@sh5871@ErikaHarada It’s not “automatically racist.” I’m not saying that I know it is or isn’t racism but people shouldn’t dismiss the possibility because many of the attackers are Asian. Perhaps they think they are better than immigrants? Obviously there are a lot of different kinds of Asians so racism can still apply. In some countries people are treated poorly if they have darker skin. It’s not that presumptuous considering the name-calling.
You can say you know the motivation of the attackers but you don’t. The slur wasn’t used by the kids trying to sound cool or gangsta. It was used in a derogatory way during a violent attack.
@Laciemn
But “nigga” is a derogatory/racist term for blacks. the fact that the victim isn’t black tells you that it doesn’t have anything to do with race. Unless you know something I don’t. Did they start using that word to describe Asians? I may not know what they intended but neither do you. What kind of logic is that? You are saying that I cannot know their motivation therefore your assumption must be correct. Great logic. Kinda like religion when ppl laugh at the stupidity of one religion and therefore their religion must be correct.
@KangLee@Laciemn And with that, EVERYONE gets a fucking time out. The comments to this thread are now closed.