Source: TheRoot.com
Seven teens have been charged after videotaping the beating and robbery of an Asian teenager. Six boys and one girl, all of whom appeared to be white, took the teenager’s wallet, cash and a pair of gym shoes, according to police.
The video, which has been removed from YouTube, shows five of the six males punching and kicking the victim while shouting the n-word more than 25 times and other racial slurs about speaking Chinese. Some of the assailants wore masks. The victim, who was able to run from the beating, was treated at a hospital and later released.
Raymond Palomino, 17, was charged as an adult with aggravated battery. The others, who were either 15 or 16, were charged as juveniles with the same crime.
Police said that despite the slurs, the crime didn’t seem racially motivated.
This is what youth culture is becoming by the day: an endless number of videos showing people spewing hatred or embarrassing others through beatings or other methods. We need to find a way for this to stop, but with sites such as YouTube and Worldstarhiphop, young children will continue to find outlets where they can shame others while laughing at the same time.
As for the use of the n-word, in this case its use may not have been racially motivated, but the larger problem is how comfortable kids feel using the word — which seems to be a result of its routine, lazy use as a term of endearment as much as anything else.
Watch the video below:
