Hate: The Worst 4 Letter Word
It’s hard to believe that in this day and age in a city as culturally diverse as New York that hate crimes would still be an issue, but unfortunately they are.
On September 11, 2007, the Borough of Manhattan Community College Basketball team known as the Panthers were beaten by a group of white men who called them the n-word and made slave references. They robbed one of the players of his paycheck and book bag. Two of the men grabbed player Marquis Scott, 18, and threw him into the middle of Chambers Street where they punched, kicked, and stomped him so severely that he had foot prints embedded in his clothing. A white female police officer tackled the two assailants, but let them leave the scene. She arrested Scott, assuming that he had started the incident.
Photo: AnnMarie Costella
The men followed the players to the subway platform at City Hall. When coach Chester Mapps attempted to stop the perpetrators, he was beaten and thrown into a newsstand. Mapps said he told a token booth clerk at the station what had happened, but she did nothing. Eventually, transit police arrived and arrested three of the attackers, but three more men remain at large.
The victims are furious that police are calling the incident a simple assault rather than a hate crime which would carry a more severe penalty. Moreover, this despicable crime did not get any media attention with the exception of one small article in the Daily News.
On the other hand, when vandals spray painted swastikas on temples, cars, and buildings in Brooklyn Heights this past Monday and Tuesday, 20 detectives, dozens of police officers and several members of the NYPD’s Hate Crime Task Force were assigned to the case. There was also a significant size article about it in The New York Times. Surely, while we would all agree that it is disgraceful to deface property with anti-Semitic graffiti, it doesn’t require the entire police force to solve the case.
Photo: Google Images
The players on the Panthers basketball team were savagely beaten for no apparent reason other than the color of their skin, yet they have not received the justice they deserve. Only recently, after coming under much pressure has Police Commissioner Ray Kelly stepped up to the plate on this issue.
That is despicable….and the fact that they arrested the boy who was beaten
the more things change…
I just would like to say thank you for the coverage of this incident with my son as well as with players.