SAN FRANCISCO NEWSPAPER PORTRAYS BAY AREA RLSH AS NAIVE, RACIST
Heroes of the Night, of course, is the source that broke the story of the arrest of The Ray, a young member of the Pacific Protectorate who was arrested at an Occupy Oakland protest in early November. I got the info from a call from Pacific Protectorate leader Motor-Mouth the day after the arrest and updated with news over the following week.
Now a cover story for the SF Weekly has reported not only on the sensational aspects of the arrest of The Ray but has also featured a number of embarrassing quotes from him on the topic of race and crime. The portrayal by writer Lauren Smiley offers The Ray as either (at best) a naive person with an immature view of race and society or (at worst) a racist in a dangerous situation.
I have not had very much communication with The Ray, just a couple very brief e-mails. I am sure he doesn't view himself as a racist, but that doesn't take the quote-marks off of those quotes. I've read (via online speculation of course) that this writer had it out for The Ray- she wanted to shoot and tag him from the get go.
I highly doubt it. It is entirely possible she started the story with best intentions but changed the tune when The Ray started saying "colored" this and "stereotype" that. If someone says stuff like that, it is pretty hard to ignore and reporting it is part of her job.
My only complaint, really, is that there is too much personal information divulged- The Ray's real name, the names of his parents, his dad's business, where they live, where he works- there is no appreciation to privacy to a subject who has brought you in and given you a good story. If someone reads this wants to find The Ray to prove something they now have got a huge lead.
If I were you, Ray, I would lay low.
You can read the article here:
www.sfweekly.com/2011-12-14/news/real-life-superheroes-the-ray-antioch-occupy-oakland-police-crime/
And I would like to hear what you think in the comments section.
The Ray might have been naive and culturally insensitive and lit the spark but she definitely knew what she was doing and fanned the flames into an inferno. Who knows what that fire might bring and burn ??
ReplyDeleteDon't know the guy all that well either, but from what little I've seen, he recognizes that there was something wrong with what he said. Aside from some SHARP roughing him up, there is also a couple of good folks in the community that are supporting him in better understanding his issue.
ReplyDeleteGuy just needs a good mentor. Even though the reporter was just doing their job, I'd be willing to bet that a lot of people would make similar or worse mistakes if put in the spotlight as he was.
It IS true that masked vigilantes playing batman will have problems with the real world. Their "Secret Identity" is one such example, but their being murdered for assaulting an armed criminal is a much more obvious one.
ReplyDeleteThe article sited as source ends, with The Ray, saying that he would have liked to wrestle a gun away from a murderer, and then shoot him with it. It's a dangerous and unrealistic mindset and superhero culture that supposes you can attack armed murderers and take their guns away. Rational people know this, yet superheroes do not.
Other superheroes carry guns. Muntinous Angel (another "Angel") in that article carries a gun in his car. How soon before someone playing batman pulls a Phoenix Jones? On "suspects", or people they imagine are "evildoers" or people that look different?
Cops are cops. Citizens are citizens, and comic book characters are fiction.
-Lord Malignance
As an ex-SHARP, I take pride in knowing that one of my own got to tenderize Ray's face, maybe one day someone will be kind enough to throw him a boot party next. Racial stereotypes ARE NOT good enough reason to target people for any purpose. Is he a racist? It's quite possible he indeed is, yes. Is he an idiot? His childish and foolhardy actions would obviously stand to prove this. Is this another example of what happens when idiots take on the cape of RLSH life? Most definitely.
ReplyDeleteMay head of The Ray's roll for his own blatant stupidity. That's what we call 'Social Darwinism', kids. :D
-MSV
As a Black RLSH, self-titled " Capt Black " no less and Occupy NOLA member the Ray is yet another reminder that race plays a role in every community, no matter how creative. If his comments are true and taken in context he's nothing more than a young White man honestly expressing views held by a large number of his peers, regardless of verbiage about this being a " Post Racial " era after Obama's election. What he did in the Occupy Oakland melee,a s someone who mediated with police as 150 of them evicted us, shows how easy it is for free speech to be criminalized, even if one is coming to citizens aid during a police action, if his account is true.
ReplyDeleteReal life superheroes and Occup Wall St. have a common ground to met upon: creatively helping what's left of America for the 99%, REGARDLESS OF RACE; RELIGION OR IDEOLOGY.
We'll either unite in the picket line or the soup line but unity is inevitable.
Respect to Captain Black, always. One believes that it's not superheroes and OWS.
ReplyDeleteIt's people.
Superheroes aren't even a part of OWS, to One's mind, they're just moving in to try and get some headlines for themselves. If it WAS about OWS and what is happening, they could do everything they want or claim, outside of their costumes.
Without weapons. Without trying to make OWS and superheroes synonymous.
Peaceful protest is success. Assaults on police with weapons are not. Our history, and histories in other countries tell us this, time and time again.
Superheroes are not OWS. These are two completely different things. Superheroes are a very minor fringe group, looking to self promote themselves at the expense of something important, that is all.
-Lord Malignance