SECOND DEGREE

MANSLAUGHTER

SECOND DEGREE MANSLAUGHTER

It is half past noon

And I already need at least two stiff drinks.

jeje. i hear you, BA. hold a seat for me.

Yeah I'm with Blackamazon; this is pretty heavy. I'm still shaking my head over just how insultingly lame that lawyer's statements were; he basically said, the guy was a bum, don't worry about it, maybe he fell down, who knows, don't worry about it.

I happen to really dig the town of Mount Kisco, it's my home turf, it's where I shop and eat and drink ang hang out, outside of NYC. I've been watching the tension grow for years as the town has developed the highest Latin@ concentration in the region; officially it was one-third Latin@ in the 2000 census, but by now it's definitely well over half Latin@ in actuality. I've spoken to white folks who decide not to live near Mount Kisco because it's not their idea of a dreamy suburb anymore. But for me, it's a great example of what a suburban town can be: brown, proud, culturally and economically flourishing. Unfortunately that's just not enough in a racist society, some people insist on getting bent outta shape by this. There are hardcore white right-wingers in the town as well who were "there first" and who must protect their families from bad elements; and the police force is almost one-hundred percent white. Obviously, it's a situation that's ripe for problems.

I'm gonna drive through town this evening or over the weekend and try to find out if there's any organizing going on (I'm sure there is) to prevent this from happening again, and to keep the situation from getting out of hand. I'll snap some pics too. If I find anything interesting, I'll post about it. After stopping by the taqueria.

Peace.

Kai, Mount Kisco is pretty close to Peekskill, where some friends and I hang out on the occasional Sunday. The old downtown area is all latino, now. I had never been to Peekskill before, but if it was anything like a lot of upstate small towns, the downtown had been largely abandoned by whites who had moved further out into the suburbs, leaving empty storefronts and crime. Now, there are no empty stores! It's all resturantes, cafes, bodegas y tiendas. Sundays there are spent the way God intended, resting. One can stand on the sidewalk greeting friends and enjoying the day for hours. I can spend the whole day there without speaking a word of English, gorging on Ecuadorian, Salvadoran, and Guatemalan food, listening to ranchero and bachata, shaking hands with people who come up and greet nosotros in that cordial way, being happy. But I see the faces of the white people as they drive through (they only stop if they have a flat tire). I know they think all these brown men "loitering," talking on their cell phones, and smoking, are dealing drugs, committing crimes or thinking of committing crimes. I feel sorry for them with their fearful, narrow, little minds. And I really love Peekskill; I'm sorry for the ugliness that has occurred in your stomping ground. I hope nothing like that befalls la buena gente in Peekskill.

My educated guess is none here will bother so much as wasting an annoyed sigh, let alone a developed argument, on someone like yourself.

Good bye hombre.

you are right, mimi. i deleted the hateful "hombre" commenter before most people could even read him. adios to haters and murdering chota, too.

Thanks for posting this, Nez. I was under the impression the "off"-icer (a new version of the term, perhaps?) had not been charged at all. My heart goes out to the victim and his family. And I appreciated what Janna wrote, describing the beauty that is possible when it is allowed to flourish. How lovely it is to be embraced by such a setting. And how sad that White folks' fear can keep them from enjoying it. They don't know what they're missing. Sigh.

thanks, changeseeker. i agree...thanks for leaving your good energy and heart here.

and ten points for a bad pun. i do love them so. ;)