Rachel’s Tavern- Shakesville Comment on Whiteness and Racial Awareness
- Arrested for BAHWB (Being at Home While Black)
- John Hope Franklin Has Died
- Bottles, Breasts, and Mothering “Choices”
- NAACP Class Action Lawsuit on Subprime Loans
- We Have a Future Blogger
- I’m Afraid President Obama, Himself, is a Bit of Coward on the Race Issue
- Highly Skilled US Immigrants are Emigrating: What’s the deal?
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Sep
12
More About Those Attackers in the West Virginia Hate Crime Case
Filed Under Black/African American Issues, Gender and Sexism, Media Praises and Critiques, Race and Racism, Sociology by Rachel
So I guess that some of the people in the West Virginia case have long histories of violence, including killing people.? Check this out from the New York Times:
The Brewster family and their trailer has a history of violent crime, the police said.
Mr. Brewster killed his stepfather there when he was 12, the authorities said, and served time at a juvenile correction facility.
In July 1994, Mrs. Brewster shot and killed an 84-year-old woman she was looking after, also in the trailer, according to court records.
Mrs. Brewster, who was charged with first-degree murder, pleaded guilty to voluntary manslaughter and served six years at a state correctional facility. She was paroled in 2000.
In 2005, two men got into a fight outside the trailer, the police said, ending with a fatal stabbing.
In January, the police were again called to the trailer, where they found a man who had been slashed across his abdomen; the man survived, according to court documents, and Mr. Brewster was a witness in that case.
Also being held in the case of the young woman were Danny J. Combs, 20, who was charged with sexual assault and malicious wounding; George A. Messer, 27, who was charged with assault during the commission of a felony and battery; Karen Burton, 46, who was charged with malicious wounding, battery and assault during the commission of a felony; and her daughter, Alisha Burton, 23, who was charged with assault during the commission of a felony and battery. The four were being held in $100,000 bond each.
The Brewsters were being held pending bond hearings.
The authorities said they were still deciding whether to file additional charges, of hate crimes, against the defendants.
The whole family is shocked, a sister of the victim said.
Relatives said the victim has mild learning disabilities but graduated from high school. The relatives would not comment on whether the victim was living at home or had a job.
It would seem to me that the fact that the? victim has learning disabilities also makes the release of her name? more suspect, and if you watch this video, it does not appear that the victim is in any shape to consent to have her name released to the whole world.
On a side note, clearly these people are dangerous, violent, and disgusting, but? they didn’t do this because the are? Appalachians, rural whites,? or poor whites.? They did this because? they are criminals, thugs, and racists, so I will not be accepting any comments or commentary like these:
Hillbilly Hell in West Virginia
Mama! Mama! Look At The White Trash!
I know plenty of hill folks and? poor whites, and the vast majority are not at all like these wackos.
Comments
34 Responses to “More About Those Attackers in the West Virginia Hate Crime Case”
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I agree with you about releasing the victim’s name, which is why I did not reprint it despite finding it in one of the articles I read. I’d seriously be interested to know what you find offensive about my commentary. I said my initial reaction was that they were inbred white trash, to paraphrase.
I am, myself, white, and much of my family is quite poor. That fact, however, is irrelevant to the abhorrance I hold for the behavior of these people. In fact, all the more so. I never said they committed these acts because they were poor white trash. My intent, if it was unclear, was to state that it was their history of behavior, and their participation in this horrible, horrible crime, that makes them trash.
I would appreciate a response. Thank you.
[...] a post at Rachel’sTavern, the author states: On a side note, clearly these people are dangerous, violent, and disgusting, [...]
Thanks for that side note.
My grandparents are from West Virginia. I don’t feel a deep fondness for the state or a desire to visit it again, but WV already gets enough abuse from the rest of America that I really hate to see more piled on.
The Brewster family sounds like they jumped off the screen of a slasher movie.
Rachel,
Your last statement is true. (I grew up in Mississippi and can attest to it)
I can’t help but be amused though by the white power crew crying that the media is “smearing all whites” with this story when their claim to fame is to take seek out every example of bad behavior by non-whites and make it out to be the norm
[...] by Vox on September 12th, 2007 Rachel has more information about the six people who tortured a young black woman for six days in West Virginia, including [...]
Jamie – I’m not Rachel, but I think the reason why your original post caught her eye WAS the use of color/”race” in naming the perps. I am in total agreement, if all facts are true (and sadly there’s no reason to think otherwise), the people who did this are lacking in humanity. They are trash.
Why they would have to be white to be trash, though, is I think the problematic part. If I wouldn’t want, say, Asian or black or Latino criminals identified solely by ethnicity, then neither should white criminals. That and saying you want to hang the lot of them…. I know you probably meant all the criminals… but it could be misconstrued to mean their kids? other relations? anyone with a criminal record who’s poor and white? It’s kind of what some people say when something happens in a poor black community – “burn/bomb the whole neighborhood to the ground and start over.” And yeah, I hear that sometimes from black folks sick of hearing crime after atrocity after crime in “la ghetto.”
Blame Wes Craven and movies like THE HILLS HAVE EYES, it’s a horror movie stereotype that allows white people to put some distance between them and the perpetrators.
Why they would have to be white to be trash, though, is I think the problematic part. If I wouldnt want, say, Asian or black or Latino criminals identified solely by ethnicity, then neither should white criminals.
Well that’s an interesting point, but not really appropriate to what I wrote. I did not identify them solely by ethnicity. And I never implied that they had to be white to be trash. They just happen to be so, and so I described them accurately. If you go to my blog post and the comments back and forth regarding this I think my position is quite clear.
In fact, after reading Rachel’s post, I made it a point to clarify in my own post that these people are didn’t commit these crimes because they’re “poor white trash”–rather the contrary. It’s the commission of such reprehensible acts against this young woman that makes them trash. The fact that they’re poor and white is just called accuracy in my description–I never said their status or race was a contributing factor.
Jamie: “The fact that theyre poor and white is just called accuracy in my descriptionI never said their status or race was a contributing factor.”
OK, but do you honestly think that the average person makes that distinction? You didn’t come up with the phrase on your own -it’s a known phrase. “Poor white trash” is akin to “urban/disadvantaged youth” in conjuring up stock stereotyped images, based primarily on economics and race. To pretend otherwise is disingenuous.
Thank you thank you thank you! for drawing this line. I live in WV and have to tell you that I’m horrified that this would go on. I knew it was only a matter of time before people would start the whole bit about the inbred backwoods mutants. Thank you so much for standing up against that!
I don’t write for the average person. I try to write for people who think critically, even if I’m not always up to the challenge myself.
I also live in the whitest state in the nation, with plenty of trailer parks around. There’s no real bias against living in them up here. “Trailer trash,” for instance, is used to refer to certain people within any given park, not merely anyone who lives in a trailer park. So perhaps part of the difference in interpretation is regional.
Jamie: Unless you are vetting each and every person who happens upon your website, or here, a blog/website where you post comments, you really do have to assume that your statements are for the general public, or at least those with internet access, a search engine, and a working mouse. You don’t get to pick and choose your readers, they pick and choose you, essentially.
Critical thinking means being aware of all the potential meanings of what you write, and providing clarity as warranted. Instead of getting defensive, maybe you can at least admit where Rachel may have been coming from regarding your linked post? I’m not trying to nitpick, really. I just understood immediately where Rachel was coming from – if it’s wrong to demonize people by ethnicity or origin, it’s wrong – all the time, everywhere, in all situations.
I’m white, and i do not need Wes Craven or anyone else to “allow” me “to put some distance between” myself “and the perpetrators.” I was not involved, I even have an alibi, and I bear no responsibility for the actions of others. Collective guilt is a non-starter as far as I’m concerned.
This just goes to show that the government let people do what the H*** they want because these people are repeat criminals and they just keep getting off how many more crimes will they have to commit before they are locked away for more than 6 years or to be held with out a bond, damn is 100,000 considerably low for a bond, not to mention the jena 6 guys are minors and hell they bond is high…..Like i have always been told there is a white law and there is a black law
[...] More About Those Attackers in the West Virginia Hate Crime Case – Rachels Tavern “clearly these people are dangerous, violent, and disgusting, but they didnt do this because the are Appalachians, rural whites, or poor whites. They did this because they are criminals, thugs, and racists” (tags: hatecrime white stereotypes racism) [...]
Jamie: Unless you are vetting each and every person who happens upon your website, or here, a blog/website where you post comments, you really do have to assume that your statements are for the general public, or at least those with internet access, a search engine, and a working mouse. You dont get to pick and choose your readers, they pick and choose you, essentially.
I also get to assume that if someone is going to critique what I’m writing that they’ll take the time to read more than one post. My positions are fairly well established, including my positions on race, politics, religion, etc. Merely reading my “about me” page, or my “coming out” page tells my basic life-story, and where I’m coming from. My advocacy in favor of freeing Genarlow Wilson earned me a great deal of scorn from many white people, and that didn’t change the way I write, either. I can’t help it if people are lazy. If they want “clarity”, however, there’s a search function and multiple category tags on the blog to help them out.
Instead of getting defensive, maybe you can at least admit where Rachel may have been coming from regarding your linked post?
Um, I’m not being defensive, just honest. And I thought I did exactly that by modifying the original post to address her concern . . .
I honestly do enjoy the discussion.
Wish I could modify that last comment to put this in:
On my “about me” page, I clearly state that I feel Labels of any kind are detrimental and detract from critical conversation. Now, knowing that about me, (and it’s consistent in my writings as well), is it possible for you to acknowledge that I wasn’t “demonizing people by ethnicity or origin,” but merely stating a fact?
MAH: things sometimes work differently in rural communities, too. I’m not sure why, it may be the average lower number of people per square mile puts less pressure on judges to care about “immediate danger” in setting bail, or maybe it’s a lesser number of attorneys for both sides to choose from (I’m not saying there aren’t qualified prosecutors or defense attorneys in rural areas, but like the population, there may be less to choose from).
My hunch comes from a case regarding my uncle’s neighbors on the bottom of their mountain (all private-owned lots, central Pennsylvania, 2 hours from Altoona). The middle-aged couple at the bottom of the mountain had a history of law trouble, their kids caught stealing, domestic disturbances, etc. Also a history of alcoholism.
The husband and wife were both drunk and started fighting. The husband went out with a shotgun to the yard, saying he was going to shoot her horse. The wife shot her husband in the back, and claimed self-defense. She served about 6 months and was released, and still lives at the bottom of the mountain.
The judge set the bail at $100,000 because there’s no chance in hell they’d ever be able to even come close to raising that amount. Judges aren’t allowed to set excessive bail. I believe it was the judge who was quoted in a news report as saying they’d have just as much chance of raising $1,000,000 as they would raising $100,000. Apparently one of them needed to put up $350 for bail for a prior crime, and he couldn’t even get together that much.
On a side note, clearly these people are dangerous, violent, and disgusting, but they didnt do this because the are Appalachians, rural whites, or poor whites. They did this because they are criminals, thugs, and racists
Exactly. The Brewsters and their accomplices are clearly bad eggs – that Brewster woman killed an eightysomething woman she was looking after – wtf? – who would be bad eggs if they lived in New York or California or anywhere else. If the victim in the case had a learning disability, then that makes Brewster a woman who goes after those least able to defend themselves, i.e. even more scum.
HELLOOO! People wake up. White trash is a racial slur equivalent to nigger. This is coming from a black/African-American. (And yes I do use the term African-American although Afro-American seems a little more accurate.) The term white trash is not innocuous. White trash is distinctly racial and distinctly derogatory and that is why it was flagged. If you don’t find it acceptable to use the word nigger, spic, gook, or wop then the use of the term white trash should not be acceptable to you. I had to break myself of using the term when I realized just how bigoted and offensive it really is. I pride myself on being nonprejudicial and unbigoted and it made me feel ashamed when I heard it come out of my mouth. Of course the older I get the more I realize just how hard it is to fight racial bigotry and prejudice and that fight begins at home with ourselves. Trash is trash. It comes in all shapes, sizes and color. White trash is a racial stereotype. People obviously feel strongly about such offensive crimes and want to word their post to reflect it but maybe instead of white trash you could say trailer trash. Its really not that much better than saying white trash but it eliminates the specific racial implication and people will know you mean. It could be a start to eliminating all racial bigotry from your vocabulary.
As for the maggots that victimized that child (anyone under 25 is a baby), eternal hell is too light a punishment for them.
HELLOOO!!! I don’t think any body should say trailer trash either because that is prejudice as well as streotyping. Thats just like saying they from the low income part of town or they from the projects, they don’t know any better. Like you said trash is trash and that is what they are. So, if you are going to aplaud yourself on something aplaud yourself on recognizing trash when you see it. Well I believe that everyone has been raised to be stereotypical or racist in some way, shape, form, or fashion, weather it is on purpose or just bad habits passed down from their parent, gaurdian,or older people. Anyway on to the subject at hand I can’t believe that out of everything the State of Virginia could have charged them with they looked over hate crime. And in the H are they charging those pieces of trash less than what the Jena 6 boys. I know that they are two different states, but aren’t the laws and procedures of a hate crime applied the same. If the state of Louisiana charges anybody they should charge the caucasion boys for hate crime and having a concealed weapon. Well thats a nother case;the case with this young lady is so unbelievable though. I can’t even imagine what she and her family are going through. The people who did that to her are sick and need to be put under the jail.
White trash is a racial stereotype.
That’s news to this white-looking boy who grew up in a trailer park. White trash is just that:trash that happens to be white. Again I believe there are regional differences here. But I’m glad you feel comfortable lecturing others on the inappropriateness of the “white trash” slur, but feel “trailer trash” is somehow more acceptable.
Boggling illogic.
“maybe instead of white trash you could say trailer trash.”
So, am I to understand that ALL people who live in trailer parks are “trash”?
Jamie: So you regularly say or hear people say “Black trash, Latino trash, Asian trash?” I think the answer to that one is no (if only because there are OTHER negative words used for other groups.) How about middle-income white people who live in double-wides (as a good friend of mine did)? Is anyone going to call her middle-income white trash? Again, doubt it.
You claim you’re just pointing out location and economic status, and at the same time you say that regionally the term “trailer trash” means anyone who lives in a trailer park? Gee, that’s not derogatory at all…
I’m not going to put PWT in the same category level as N, for historical and other obvious reasons (to my knowledge, noone’s been lynched while being called PWT, for starters). But it’s sort of like comparing marajuana to heroin – if you’re anti-ALL-controlled-drugs, you have to object to use of both. If you’re against ALL racist language, you have to act accordingly.
BTW: I did initially read both your original post and other posts. My objections still stand. Except for one thing: I don’t think you’re being defensive in your replies so much as condescending.
Lyonside: I’m not condescending at all. I just expect people to read the words I write, not what they choose those words to mean.
For instance, you just wrote that I said:
You claim youre just pointing out location and economic status, and at the same time you say that regionally the term trailer trash means anyone who lives in a trailer park? Gee, thats not derogatory at all
Do not misrepresent my words, especially when they are clearly posted directly above yours. You are completely wrong. I did exactly the OPPOSITE. Read what I wrote again:
Trailer trash, for instance, is used to refer to certain people within any given park, not merely anyone who lives in a trailer park.
See that: NOT merely anyone who lives in a trailer park. Certain people, meaning “Those particular people in that trailer over there who demonstrate X behavior.”
I also reinforced this point in my response to Paisley, above:
But Im glad you feel comfortable lecturing others on the inappropriateness of the white trash slur, but feel trailer trash is somehow more acceptable.
The only condescension here is your inability to even try and consider my point of view because you are so certain in your own correctness. Absolutism like that scares the hell out of me, especially considering the absolutism in Washington these days. Life is much more nuanced than that.
Jamie: I reread and yes, you did say certain, so I apologize.
I still maintain you didn’t invent the term “trailer trash,” and it’s used derogatorily to mean poor rural whites, with poor academic/social education, regardless of criminal record. It’s used as a slur, and it’s not absolutism to say that it’s negative and wrong. The whole debate (not just you and me) sounds suspiciously like those around N (not saying they’re the same thing – they’re not in the same category) – people make the same justification that N are ignorant black people, not every black person. Changing a definition doesn’t make the word OK to use.
“I still maintain you didnt invent the term trailer trash, and its used derogatorily to mean poor rural whites, with poor academic/social education, regardless of criminal record.”
I think you meant “white trash,” which we were talking about, so I’m going to respond to that, ok?
I certainly never said I invented the term, and apologize if that’s what you think I meant. I steadfastly maintain, however, that it doesn’t mean the same thing to me as it obviously does to you, and I can only write to what I believe any given term means.
The whole debate (not just you and me) sounds suspiciously like those around N (not saying theyre the same thing – theyre not in the same category) – people make the same justification that N are ignorant black people, not every black person. Changing a definition doesnt make the word OK to use.
I’m sorry, but that’s quite the jump you’re making. N is universally understood to be an insulting, derogatory remark based on race alone. Those who claim it is something different clearly have their own agenda, IMHO. The conversation you and I are having, I would hope, is more substantive than that. The very fact that we need to have this conversation belies the fact that “white trash” not as commonly understood as either of us believed it was. I’m not changing a definition, I’m standing by the one I’ve known for my 34 years on the planet. As a gay man, I try to be very sensitive to others’ beliefs and deliberate in my own word choice. What I said was accurate. I’m just as secure in calling Paris Hilton white trash for her behavior as I am these thugs. Obviously Paris Hilton isn’t a kidnapper or rapist, but from what I have seen she has no moral compass at all, and her flaunting of any responsible behavior at the expense of others sensitivities makes her “white trash” in my eyes. And I know I am not the only person who feels this way. Just this past week I’ve heard Lindsay Lohan referred to several times, by different people, as “white trash.” By one white guy and two African-American women.
It has nothing to do with finances, geographic location, or “trailer parks.”
It has to do with behavior. And it always will.
[...] though the victim (who has an unspecified learning disability) has supposedly given permission to have her name released, I also have to say fuck you to the journalists who [...]
In the Pennsylvania mountains where I grew up, “white trash” and “trailer trash” are two distinct types. White trash are not poor.
I am white, I live in wv and no I am not white trash. let me say that what these animals did wss no more normal in wv as if it had happened in any other state or anywhere in the world. there are many people in wv that are poor and there education is not up to par as is in all other states. my job takes me to many states were I sit down at a kitchen table and talk to people. I have spoken to people with a lot of money and people with not much money at all. yes these people were of all races. some sections of any states I have been in I would not care to go back to and some sections are beautiful. I will tell you this , I know it is much safer in rural areas than in cities. people in wv are treated like all are animals as these people are but I will tell you they are many good people in wv. Many people in cities do not even know there neighbors or they are afraid to know them. The people in wv know that what these people did were very wrong but they also know that this is just something else that gives a lot of people in other states a reason to step on everyone in wv. these animals would have done this thing to anyone of any race,religion or color because that is what they are ANIMALS.
New york and Ca are bad and alot worse with crime ! So somebody does not know what they are talking about. Were more cleaner in wv more cheap living and more nice and don’t yell and run you off the road !!!!!!!!!!!!!But people like some of you we don’t take to kind here because of that mouth.
Oh and………….. South still does have hate a bit but WV is not that bad as what people think they just like twisting stories around. What south state does not? They all do we are still trying to fight that prob. will till our last breath.
Some of these people got what they deserve in jail just everyone on blogs needs to drop it please. I believe in what goes around comes around these people done wrong. Don’t blame it on WV blame it on the county that it happend in. Bye.