Two cyclists attacked and beaten in Portland - Page 4

01-16-2007, 08:36 AM

Mark Hickey wrote:
:: [Only registered and activated users can see links. ]l (Tom Keats) wrote:
::
::: So I have the feeling these victims may have been
::: picked-on because they were /perceived/ as "rich chicks"
::: with fancy, expensive bikes, sticking their /perceived/
::: Conspicuous Consumerism in other people's faces.
:::
::: Or maybe the perps thought the cyclists were gay,
::: and it's a case of [misguided] gay-bashing?
:::
::: I dunno.
:::
::: But as a life-long city boy, I do know when I'm
::: confrontin'. And I know when to back-off.
:::
::: I guess these ladies didn't.
::
:: Would you say the same about if the victims had been black and a
:: group of affluent white girls had attacked them because of their
:: hip-hop dress and attitude? If only they had "backed off"...
::
:: Exactly how DO you "back off" when your "insult" is being white and
:: riding a bike? Personally, I'm not quite sure how to do that. I've
:: ridden thousands of miles through predominantly black neighborhoods
:: and never realized that I needed to "back off".

I took it to mean use some caution in a potentially dangerous situation.
The backing off part would be to alter your course, speed up, etc., rather
than just riding into trouble.

Again, we can't know for sure that this was only racially motivated. The
trigger might have been something else and the racial slurs came "just
because.".

01-16-2007, 08:39 AM

Gooserider wrote:
:: "Roger Zoul" <[Only registered and activated users can see links. ]> wrote in message
:: news:[Only registered and activated users can see links. ]...
::: Gooserider wrote:
::::: "Roger Zoul" <[Only registered and activated users can see links. ]> wrote in message
::::: news:[Only registered and activated users can see links. ]...
:::::: Ken C. M. wrote:
:::::::: Gooserider wrote:
::::::::: Wow. And that's a bike friendly city. I hope the assailants
::::::::: are caught and sent to prison.
:::::::::
::::::::: [Only registered and activated users can see links. ]
:::::::::
::::::::: PORTLAND, Ore. - Two cyclists said they were attacked by three
::::::::: teenagers near a north Portland bus stop on Wednesday.
:::::::::
::::::::: The women, Ashley Gorman and her co-worker Heather Moles, were
::::::::: riding their bikes home from work when the attack occurred
::::::::: near Legacy Emanuel Hospital.
:::::::::
::::::::: The cyclists said the teen girls were standing in the bike
::::::::: lane waiting for the bus and they had to steer their bikes
::::::::: around the group. The teens may have thought the cyclists
::::::::: rode too closely.
:::::::::
::::::::: The next thing she knew, one of the teens kicked out Moles'
::::::::: tire, causing her to fall.
:::::::::
::::::::: "I felt the thud, and then the tire went, and I went skidding
::::::::: into the road," Moles said.
:::::::::
::::::::: That's when the beating began. Three teens punched both
::::::::: cyclists in the head and dislocated Moles' shoulder.
:::::::::
::::::::: Jonathan Corey was passing by and helped break up the fight,
::::::::: pulling the teens off the cyclists.
:::::::::
::::::::: "It became obvious who was the aggressor in the whole
::::::::: equation," he said.
:::::::::
::::::::: Corey added that the assailants were ruthless.
:::::::::
::::::::: "I felt like I almost didn't use enough force in retrospect
::::::::: as I might have wanted to to make the thing stop," he said.
:::::::::
::::::::: One witness heard a racial slur aimed at the cyclists, who
::::::::: said they didn't hear it. The teens were black while the
::::::::: cyclists were white.
:::::::::
::::::::: The cyclists wonder whether race had anything to do with the
::::::::: attack. They can't understand what caused it.
:::::::::
::::::::: "I could imagine if we had said something but nothing was
::::::::: said," Gorman said.
:::::::::
::::::::: Gorman suffered the worst beating. She went to the emergency
::::::::: room but has no insurance to pay for it.
:::::::::
::::::::: "I got bruised up pretty good," Gorman said. "I got my behind
::::::::: handed to me."
:::::::::
::::::::: A fourth teenager with the group apparently stood by during
::::::::: the attack but then apologized afterward just before everybody
::::::::: scattered and police arrived.
:::::::::
:::::::::
::::::::
:::::::: And I thought Portland was generally regarded as very cyclist
:::::::: friendly! If thats friendly I would hate to see hostile.
::::::
:::::: Surely you don't judge an entire city by the acts of a few stupid
:::::: teens....
::::::
:::::: Strange (or
:::::::: maybe not) that race was mentioned in the article. I wonder if
:::::::: it was a predominately black (African American or whatever)
:::::::: part of town.
::::::
:::::: Maybe it was just a random occurence. Who knows. Geez, people.
::::::
::::::
:::::
::::: And MAYBE the black girls attacked two white women because they
::::: were white, and did so while calling them racial slurs. Geez,
::::: Roger.
:::
::: Given that you nor I were there, we'll never know. For all you
::: know, one of the women on bike could have said something to incite
::: them.
::
:: Nothing they could have said(and they insist they said nothing)
:: justifies a BEATING. What kind of bull is that, Roger? Even if the
:: two cyclists were n-word spouting skinheads, no words justify a
:: beating. Why are you so unwilling to believe this is what it
:: obviously is---a racial attack? Unbelievable.

Who said anything at all about the attack being justified? Are you truly
this stupid? I don't think it was justified in any manner whatsoever.
However, I'm not so willing to believe as you are, that it was racially
motivated. Perhaps that's the "easy" answer, but so what? That doesn't make
it so.

Obviously, you have some issues.

01-16-2007, 08:55 AM

Stephen Harding wrote:
:: Gooserider wrote:
::
::: Nothing they could have said(and they insist they said nothing)
::: justifies a BEATING. What kind of bull is that, Roger? Even if the
::: two cyclists were n-word spouting skinheads, no words justify a
::: beating. Why are you so unwilling to believe this is what it
::: obviously is---a racial attack? Unbelievable.
::
:: While I believe there may have been racism involved in the
:: attack, there is also the aspect of the attackers just being
:: idiot teenagers.
::
:: Sometimes the behavior of teenagers toward non-members of
:: their group is amazing!
::
:: I typically use a bike path for part of my work commute and
:: have occasionally had to deal with knucklehead teenagers
:: walking down the path 3-4 abreast and refusing to share the
:: path whatsoever. They knew I was behind them: I rang my bell
:: and did the "trying to pass" finally giving up and riding on
:: to the grass off the path to get by them (muttering "it's a
:: herd of idiots" not too weakly under my breath in passing).
::
:: Sometimes teenagers [especially in groups] do really dumb
:: things and race doesn't really have any root cause in it.
::
:: But I agree that "racism" is largely defined as white persons
:: doing harm to black/brown/red/yellow persons in this country
:: now. "Racism is a white man's disease" was stated by a local
:: Hispanic city council member some years back; which only goes
:: to prove there really is equality between races: we're all
:: equally capable of racist thinking.

I find it amazing that people would so quickly jump to "racism" as being the
sole reason for this attack. Perhaps the people in this thread just don't
get around to the right places enough. There are plenty of people who will
attack you simply because you're in the wrong place at the wrong time doing
the wrong thing wearing the wrong clothes, etc. It won't matter much what
color your skin is. If you're preceived as an outsider, you become the
target of the moment. People will degrade you in any way they can, too.
Imagine if one of these poor ladies has been grossly overweight. I'm sure
the word "fat" would have turned up too.

As for racism...there has always been hater among minority people for the
white man. However, it has historically been the case that discrimination
based on race was something that only those in power could do. Hence, the
those without power could only hate, but those with power could hate and
discriminate.

But you're exactly right, everyone has the ability to be racist.

01-16-2007, 09:24 AM

On Tue, 16 Jan 2007 05:44:33 -0500, "Gooserider"
<[Only registered and activated users can see links. ]> said:

>YES IT WAS.

Um, no. It was not.

This part was not added until later.

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01-16-2007, 09:25 AM

On Tue, 16 Jan 2007 13:33:38 GMT, [Only registered and activated users can see links. ] said:

>Yes it was:

Um, no. It was not.

This part was not added until later.

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01-16-2007, 09:27 AM

Gooserider wrote:
:: "Random Waftings Of Bunker Blasts" <[Only registered and activated users can see links. ]>
:: wrote in message news:[Only registered and activated users can see links. ]...
::: On 15 Jan 2007 19:48:37 -0800, "Sir Ridesalot"
::: <[Only registered and activated users can see links. ]>
::: said:
:::
:::: If you read the whole article you will see these lines:
:::
::: That was not mentioned in the original article.
::
:: YES IT WAS.
::
:: [Only registered and activated users can see links. ]
::
:: One witness heard a racial slur aimed at the cyclists, who said they
:: didn't hear it. The teens were black while the cyclists were white.
::
::
::
::
::
:: Can you read? It's right there in black and white, along with a nice
:: picture of the two white victims. This was a racial attack.
::

You don't know this...you weren't there. Even the cyclist didn't know why
they got attacked. "A racial slur" doesn't mean it was a racially motivated
attack.

What's your issue?

::
::
::: Buy my book about school bullying here:
:::
::: [Only registered and activated users can see links. ] (recommended)
:::
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01-16-2007, 09:59 AM

Roger Zoul <[Only registered and activated users can see links. ]> wrote:
> Tom Keats wrote:
>
> :: I dunno.
> ::
> :: But as a life-long city boy, I do know when I'm
> :: confrontin'. And I know when to back-off.
>
> I tell you what....I'm surprised the ladies on bikes let them get so close.
> It's hard to know the circumstances, but if I were riding and saw them
> threatening kids ahead in the bike lane, I'd have either turned around or
> swung wide with speed. Could be the problem started with the kids standing
> in the bike lane and the cyclists trying to use that lane too.

Yes, the cause of the incident is now obvious to me. Bike lanes. If it
wasn't for them, the women in question would have been cycling in the
street and not had this problem (removes tongue from cheek).

Really though, I don't let anyone get within arms reach of me on the
bike if I can help it. Mainly because people do stupid random things
and I'd like a little maneuvering room. I would definitely have swung
well into the road.

--
Dane Buson - [Only registered and activated users can see links. ]
You can take all the impact that science considerations have on funding
decisions at NASA, put them in the navel of a flea, and have room left
over for a caraway seed and Tony Calio's heart. -- F. Allen

01-16-2007, 10:10 AM

Random Waftings Of Bunker Blasts wrote:
> On Tue, 16 Jan 2007 05:44:33 -0500, "Gooserider"
> <[Only registered and activated users can see links. ]> said:
>
>> YES IT WAS.
>
> Um, no. It was not.

Yes it was.

> This part was not added until later.

It's in the OP (original post).

Gee, for a supposed book writer your reading comprehension and retention
skills seem severely lacking. Good luck.

01-16-2007, 02:13 PM

Roger Zoul wrote:
>
>
> Again, we can't know for sure that this was only racially motivated. The
> trigger might have been something else and the racial slurs came "just
> because.".

I think the point some posters were making was that many white-on-black
offenses are easily and enthusiastically labeled as "racist," while
black-on-white offenses aren't so easily labeled that way. Certainly,
if a group of whites attacked two blacks and yelled racist slurs, there
would be little doubt as to the black public's reaction.

I can remember one incident where I blared my car horn at a woman
driving stupidly and dangerously, who had nearly hit my car. Since I'm
white and she was black, she immediately yelled that I was a racist.
But sorry, I wasn't honking at race; I was honking at dangerous
stupidity.

- Frank Krygowski

01-16-2007, 02:59 PM

On Tue, 16 Jan 2007 11:10:30 -0800, "Bill Sornson" <[Only registered and activated users can see links. ]> said:

>Yes it was.

No it wasn't, stupid.

I proved this to you already. If you can't figure that out, it's your
problem.

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