Someone has posted the full video on YouTube regarding the shameful, offensive and frankly “lack of home training” many of the students on this bus displayed toward an elderly bus Monitor. I couldn’t watch the whole ten minutes. I’ve seen this type of thing before unfortunately, though the participants were different. However back in the day I can honestly say that either an adult or an older student stepped in to right a wrong. And yes, I was affected by their courage to speak up, so that whenever I saw or heard something incorrect I stepped up, and still do.
I’ve embedded the video and listed a link:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X6LtvfK8qsk
Here’s a link to the CNN article on this sad, sorry tale:
http://www.cnn.com/2012/06/21/us/new-york-bullied-bus-monitor/index.html
“You’re so fat,” one student says
“What’s your address so I can fruggin’ piss all over your door” (stated 4:02 minutes into the 10 minute video)
One student says Klein’s family killed themselves because “they didn’t want to be near you.”**Please be aware that Mrs. Klein’s son committed suicide ten years ago**
Public Statement from bus Monitor Mrs. Karen Klein:
“I’m sorry that your sons acted the way they did,’’ Klein said. “I’m sure they don’t act that way at home, but you never know what they’re going to do when they’re out of the house. They should’ve been taught to respect their elders no matter who it is.”
Link:
You just don’ treat people like that. You just DON’T
Okay, listen. I suspect this has been going on for quite a while (like all school year), kids coming at her with insults while she tries to either ignore, cajole and finally shows how badly they’ve hurt her by admitting she’s been crying. I also note the kid sitting closest to her continues to touch her, thereby invading her personal space.
Unfortunately just like Jonathan Wall’s experience with intolerance and bigotry (see that blog post here) this is nothing new in America or probably worldwide in many of our “developed” nations. Some monitors and school children are routinely at the mercy of bullies who single out individuals for their own brand of “fun.” I suspect that if any of the kids making these comments ever got back what they give, they wouldn’t be able to handle it. And that’s the thing about bullies. They stay clear of other bullies because there can only be one victor. Unfortunately the story is taking a bad turn. With the video going viral the kids have been identified and now they’re getting threats. One good thing is a fund has been set up to send the bus monitor on a nice vacation, and its reportedly climbing to over $100,000 $200,000 and counting in donations.
But again I must repeat, this has probably been going on for a while, and since no one stopped it (so what was the bus driver doing? Listening to the radio the whole time?) these students felt emboldened to continue their verbal (and physical) abuse of this woman.
Here’s the thing. It was only going to get worse. The “high” these kids were feeling wouldn’t have been enough, as you should note the kid who stepped it up by flicking at her ear and tapping on parts of her body. Now, perhaps he was trying to get her to look into the cell phone camera. But his parents need to sit him down for a serious talk. Because it wasn’t so long ago that he’d face even worse than what Mrs. Karen Klein, the bus monitor was subjected to. In some places around the country he still would be.
Bullying was around during segregation. Only that’s not what they called it. Some deemed it “entertainment” and for quite a while African Americans could do nothing except grin and bear it, much like Mrs. Klein. And unfortunately bullying of an African American during segregation would escalate into either a sexual assault or a lynching.
But bullying, not matter who the recipient is needs to be challenged. Today we can all do our part to stop it.
Examples of “bullying” during segregation:
Newspaper editor Alex Wilson being attacked
Newspaper editor Alex Wilson being attacked by group of bigots
Alex Wilson’s attack continues
The kick seen ’round the world. Alex Wilson is attacked by mob and the world finally sees what African Americans are subjected to. Please note the brick in the man’s left hand.
Anti-Civil-Rights or what some back in the day would call “exercising my rights” and “freedom of speech”
One of the Little Rock Nine, ignoring the jeers Little Rock Central High School in 1957. An example of female bullies
Photo by Charles Moore. Two African American women being attacked. Note the bat in the man’s hand while another man pummels a woman with his fists.
The Lynching of Rubin Stacy in Florida. This was “entertainment” for some bigots. Note the little girl and woman who don’t appear the least bit shocked or appalled.
A local government’s sanctioned “bullying” using law enforcement and dogs. Photo by famous civil rights photographer, the late Charles Moore
The spreading of lies printed in a 1963 paper
For more examples of America’s shame and courage under fire, click here:
https://acriticalreviewofthehelp.wordpress.com/wall-of-shame-and-courage/
So, while Hollywood thought the scene below was “feel good” entertainment, it was also pure fantasy and imo revisionist bullshit.
Celia gives Minny a hug, which is supposed to make moviegoers chuckle and go “Awww”
More recently we have the Rodney King assault (RIP Rodney) as well as the Reginald Denny assault during the riots. I’ll have photos up a bit later on those. Edited to add: George Zimmerman. Yeah, I think the man has issues and “bullied” Trayvon Martin (as in targeted and then confronted) during their tragic encounter.
This post is still in development. . .
Lauren Mullen (@lauren2mt)
June 23, 2012
Why are you constantly redirecting things back to something that happened almost over fifty years ago? I do not wish to say in any way, shape or form that what African-Americans had to suffer wasn’t cruel, tragic, and wrong. But that period is over, and we are no longer a part of it. The more you dwell on the evils of the past, the more bitter you become.
I appreciate your efforts to show how racism still appears in our culture. It’s encouraged me to reexamine my own perceptions and feelings towards minority races. But at the same time, I think you’ve gone extremely overboard. Do you ever focus on the positive things that MLK and so many other wonderful civil rights leaders have given us? I am not asking this in a mean way, but out of honest curiosity. Do you not realize how wonderful it is, to see an interracial couple walking down the street without hardly a glance thrown their way? Do you not think it amazing that we have a president who isn’t wholly white in the White House? Don’t you find it liberating that black men and women can now have power over white men and women, can say what they wish without being beaten to death for it? There will always be someone full of hatred for someone a different color than them, but they’re in the minority now. We have come so far since those horrible days in the 1960s.
Focus on the present and on progress. Don’t try to make every event in America somehow connected to events that have long since been over. Celebrate the accomplishments that we have all made together, and remember that even though there will always be some kind of racism in the world, there will also always be those people who will combat it at every turn.
acriticalreviewofthehelp
June 23, 2012
Hello Lauren,
It’s Saturday, and I’m feeling generous. So I’m going to make this a “Teachable moment.”
I’m current working on a post regarding the downright vile and racist comments about the Trayvon Martin case. I’m also including screenshots from individuals who were bold enough to claim a seventeen year old boy was “a thug” simply for wearing a gray hoodie and beige khakis and that somehow he got what he deserved. Their reasoning is not for the faint of heart. It’s coming from some well meaning people who, strangely enough don’t understand why black people still complain because everything is just peachy for us now.
And yes, I plan on tying it up with how their comments mirror what others stated back during segregation. Because for some people, the “I’m doing fine so I don’t know what others are complaining about” is their life mantra.
Because the Trayvon Martin case is just the tip of the iceberg. We’re not in this utopia of “post racial” awareness, but more closed off from what people may really be thinking. You mentioned Obama, yet you failed to note the level of horrid disrespect and racist caricatures both he and his family have experienced since he took office, the latest of which was a reporter’s numerous interuptions during a press conference, and that’s tame compared to what else is out there on the web.
I get that my post upset you. I mean, all I did was write a post on how I thought what the bus monitor had gone through was wrong, and that this type of bullying is sadly, nothing new. Because African Americans experienced that and much more (and continue to) even though some people want to believe its just not happening. But things like Post traumatic stress weren’t even considered for what our forefathers went through. And if their oral tales of what they endured (complete with pictures) upset sensitive souls like yourself, then it may be best if you realize what type of site you’re on.
I don’t sugar coat it. This isn’t about being PC simply because I want people who come on here not to feel uncomfortable. Actually, I’m glad you responded. Because that’s the first step toward honest, and adult communication.
But know this, slave days are over. You don’t get to come on my blog and decide what I should write. I suspect if I’d been Jewish and turned this around to comment on how disrespect for a people started with scenes like what that Bus Monitor went through, and people did nothing, you wouldn’t have said jack shit. Because the compassion and actual history, but most of all, the public awareness is there regarding what the still living Holocaust survivors and their offspring went through.
Yet segregation went on for over a century. And it included your Jerry Sandusky’s back then who didn’t get arrested, and all sorts of things happening to a people simply because of the color of our skin. Black men and boys were targeted, not just in the south. And there are stories of kinfolk who could pass for white after their mothers were forceably raped. Many of those children were not sent away, but became a part of the family, thus many of us (African American) have family albums with people of seriously contrasting hues.
Not to mention being denied proper medical care, or doctors and nurses who made their displeasure known when they touched our skin. I’ve got a permanent bruise as a reminder of what my mom went through as I was being born.
I’m goint to find the link I’ve got on here about the racial disparity TODAY regarding young black women and young white women. The assumption being that black females are more sexually promiscuous than whites, which is rooted in racial stereotype. And by some doctors making this assumption, some white females are not afforded tests which could reveal reproductive issues.
Link:
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/43009472/ns/health-sexual_health/t/race-factor-whether-young-women-tested-stds/
I’ll also include a link on the Jonathan Wall case, where he was forceably removed from a North Carolina bar simply because he was the wrong color. Thankfully diverse voices are speaking out and planning to hold the bar and its management accountable, because Mr. Wall was not alone in being singled out because of his race.
Link:
http://philipchristman.com/2012/06/18/a-friend-of-mine-gets-booted-out-of-downtown-sports-bar-raleigh-nc-for-being-black-because-this-is-1960-apparently/
And finally, because this site deals with the stereotypical depiction of the characters in The Help, both black and white, I’ll leave you with what Kathryn Stockett, in blackface wrote about a culture she knew nothing about and chose not to research, because as she stated “I’d been around black people all my life”
Yet in 2009, she wrote dialogue like this “Plenty of black men leave their families like trash in a dump . . .” and “Frying chicken just make me feel better about life.”
And “Medgar Ever was bludgeoned on his front lawn.” Stockett repeated that claim in three audio interviews. It’s sad that she never took the time to just google how the man died, especially since her publisher hyped up the book as a “Civil Rights” feel good sisterhood.
I’d think knowing how one of the icons of the civil rights movement was killed, especially after writing that he’d been shot in your own novel and he was from her home state, which again, was hyped up by the publisher would be important. But I’m just a blogger. Meh.
I’m glad my post caused you to respond. Because Un-PC communication is the first step toward enlightenment. You either want to know what another culture really thinks, or you don’t.
And there’s also the third option. Where you’d rather have it filtered through the words of writers who simply “watch” minorities to create stereotypical characters and white wash history. The choice is yours.
Lauren Mullen (@lauren2mt)
June 23, 2012
I’m sorry that my comments upset you so much. But to me it seems that you are hung up on stuff that everyone knows is a joke, such as racist remarks towards Obama or Stockett’s literary flop. Do you see people out there applauding others for making jokes about the way Obama looks? Nope. When those idiot kids made those disgusting jokes about the actor of Rue from The Hunger Games, did you see the whole world nodding in agreement at their evil behavior? No, they were condemned for it. Did you fail to see that the overwhelming majority of people believed that Zimmerman should burn in hell for killing Trayvon? And did you notice how many reviews of the film of The Help were negative, constantly pointing out the unnecessary “white savior” character? Again, I am not in any way trying to deny that African Americans still suffer injustice today. But we no longer live in a world where we can’t rebuke a racist for fear of being beaten or killed.
My point is not that you, or anyone for that matter, should ignore the fact that racism has been completely eradicated from our society. It hasn’t, and unfortunately it never will be; it will always exist in some form towards someone else. But my point is that to me, you seem to be willfully ignoring just how much progress this country has made from the 1960s If you were a Jewish person trying to make everything about the Holocaust and what Jews went through, I would still be saying this, because it would again appear to me that you were so caught up in the past that you could not see the progress that has been made. Moreover, how can you say that people are not publicly aware of what black people went through? We’re reminded of it every day. Whether it’s Black History Month, or a stupid novel like Stockett’s, or tennis shoes with shackles on them, we are reminded monthly, if not daily, about what black people have gone through. Nothing’s wrong with that; I’m just saying that awareness of all that happened to African-Americans since the formation of this country is very much there in the public mind.
We have to make sure our children know about the evils that have happened to African-American people, so that they will learn not to repeat those mistakes. But at the same time, if we act as if the horrible events are the only ones that happened, then they will never notice the beauty of an interracial couple, of having a boss who isn’t white, of having a class full of people of all colors and cultures. It’s not about whitewashing; it’s about realizing that even in a world that is still filled with wrongs, there are also moments of justice and victory.
acriticalreviewofthehelp
June 23, 2012
Uh, I believe you were the one “upset” and I refer you to your original post.
Apparently my connecting the bully tactics of segregation to the behaviours that exist today upset you so badly you didn’t want to read it. And it drove you to speak out against it.
But you nor anyone else can shackle or shut down those who wish to speak about race and history, which still affect us today. But you can keep trying, as you have that right.
“If you were a Jewish person trying to make everything about the Holocaust and what Jews went through, I would still be saying this, because it would again appear to me that you were so caught up in the past that you could not see the progress that has been made.”
But, this isn’t ABOUT YOU. However you decided to make it about what you feel I should do. Sorry, not happening. I repeat, the days of another deciding what someone from a different culture should think, would think, and needed to focus on are over. Especially if it doesn’t agree with what YOU think.
Just not talking about it is not the answer. And pretending that because you have examples of progress means everyone should just pack up and go home is naive at best, especially since your life experience cannot and should not be compared to anyone else’s. Because its your unique experience.
Now if you’ve got a blog and wish to note just how far “We’ve” come, good for you. But expect to be challenged, just like those who’ll claim women have it good and look at all the progress we’ve made, when we’re still earning less than men (77 cent on the dollar by latest reports) and rape is still being committed because the perpetrators still believe females are targets for their power and control trip. Yet I doubt you’d go anywhere near a feminist site with the BS you’d spouted on here, because you know you’d be soundly ripped. Think about it.
I understand as you say,
“Do you see people out there applauding others for making jokes about the way Obama looks?”
Yes. I’m not going to post the pics here, but you’ll find a big audience for Obama photoshopped as a pimp, and as a monkey. Just google it. Not only him but his whole family. So because YOU haven’t seen them, that doesn’t mean they aren’t there and haven’t been reported on (hint – Try the Huffington Post)
And in case you haven’t noticed, from the Birthers who want him out of office on a technicality (he’s not one of us, he’s not even an American) to Republicans who can’t bear to say his name (“This president” has been repeated ad naseum) to blatant lies regarding what he hasn’t accomplished is more than politics as usual. There are now pundits admitting that what Obama is going through is not just about politics, but its racial. Google is your friend here if you truly want answers.
I’m not sure who “We” is, since neither you nor I can speak for anyone but ourselves. However “I” see the search engines which refer people to this site and “They” come up with questions like “What do black people think . . .”
Thus they land on here either out of curiousity or just to say their piece.
YOU decided that a post linking a current act of bullying need not be contrasted with bullying during segregation, as if YOU only want to deal with what YOU call “Victories.”
Then go for it. Create your own blog and try telling POC how we once again shouldn’t complain (funny, but that’s the sane excuse used by those during segregation. When Martin Luther King Jr. was in a Birmingham jail, a group of white ministers asked him to “be patient” and his answer was history in the making.
Now here we are in 2012, and all it took were nationwide marches and condemnation worldwide, and yes, even Al Sharpton reporting on it before an ARREST was even made in the Trayvon Martin case. But there are many more “Trayvon’s” out there, and even blacks on death row, some housed in the newest plantation called prisons because justice is not blind. It’s very partial to locking African Americans up.
One more thing.
This blog is titled “A Critical Review of The Help” so yes, I’m going to talk about what went wrong in the book, as that’s the POINT of the blog. And since the book and movie were set in the 60s (a time period I know quite well) then it wasn’t hard to spot offensive dialogue coming out the black characters mouths as amusing anecdotes that had previously been spouted by bigots during that era.
So if its alright with you, I’d like to continue to offer a counterargument (with links and backup) because I’m not just running my mouth. I’m pinpointing real life events recorded via history and archived newspapers. You’d be making a mistake to think speaking out on segregation and how it still impacts today means progress can’t be discussed or celebrated. Yes it can and certainlty is, but its not the mission statement of this blog. And not at the cost of researching why black males are still negatively portrayed, for example in The Help and how Trayvon Martin as well as Barack Obama are painted with the same broad brush by some closed minded indiviuals. And more importantly, connecting the dots whenever warranted.
Lauren Mullen (@lauren2mt)
June 24, 2012
Ma’m, I have never once said that this was in any way about me. I specified “me” in my comments about Jews so that you would not accuse me of saying that they are caught up in the past; I was simply making it clear that this would only be my opinion and nothing more.
Nor am I trying to stop you from talking about race and history – I explicitly told you that I appreciate your discussion about race on this blog, because it has helped me reevaluate my attitudes towards all minorities and other things such as The Help. My point, which I tried to make clear in my last post, is that you seem so caught up in bitterness over things that happened over half a century ago and willfully turn a blind eye to the many wonderful and good things that have happened and are happening. This is in no way meant to ignore the bad things that have happened and are still happening! But why can we not celebrate the good as well? Why do you not have one single positive post about the change that we can see in America? You behave as if this is *still* the 1960s. It isn’t. No, it’s not perfect, and it never will be, but we do not live in that time period any longer. Don’t you realize that half the stuff you discuss is something the majority would never support to begin with for fear of being ostracized/accused of being racist? Even with Trayvon Martin, almost 90% of people wanted Zimmerman dead, not Martin!
And ma’m, if you really think that President Obama is being hammered for his race all the time, then you must not be reading the news. Do you not realize that the media fawns over him and supports him every way? Or that most of his criticizers care more about his policies and ideals than the color of his skin? Not to mention that the guy is about as black as a Mexican. And honestly, are we not allowed to criticize the president without someone dragging race into it? Bush was ragged on freely by people of all races, but white people can’t even disagree with one thing that a mixed-race president does?
Finally, heck yes I’d willingly jump right into a feminist site that is foolish enough to complain about something as stupid as a 77-cent less paycheck than a man! Give me a dang break! There are women in the Middle East who earn maybe a *quarter* of what American women earn, women who would be beaten to death for so much as disagreeing with their husband!
acriticalreviewofthehelp
June 25, 2012
Oh how soon “we” forget. This was your first paragraph in your first response on this blog post:
“Why are you constantly redirecting things back to something that happened almost over fifty years ago? I do not wish to say in any way, shape or form that what African-Americans had to suffer wasn’t cruel, tragic, and wrong. But that period is over, and we are no longer a part of it. The more you dwell on the evils of the past, the more bitter you become.”
Cut the bull. That’s “you” trying to tell “me” what I should do. Because “you” feel “that period is over, “we” are no longer a part of it. Speak for yourself. You don’t know what “we’ve” gone through. All you can speak on is your own life experience. So, keeping it short and sweet, NO “you” don’t get to tell me what to discuss on my blog. If I choose to compare and contrast events of today with their similaries with the past, I’m going to do it.
Again I repeat, you wanna dwell on what “you” feel is “progress” while I’m doing something contrary to what “you” feel I should do (basically what I should be writing about on my own blog).
Entitlement much? Would you like me to tap dance and grin while I’m at it? Is that clear enough for “you” now?
“Not to mention that the guy is about as black as a Mexican.” Oh my.
Not so liberal after all are “we?”
So guess what? Since it is my blog I’m exercising “My” right to ignore you because you’re repeating the same old “conservative” BS, and stepping in it. Because THAT’S PROGRESS
steam1912
July 5, 2012
“But that period is over, and we are no longer a part of it. . .”
BUT IT IS A PART OF US no matter whether we like that fact or not. We are shaped by the past, both on a personal and a sociological level.