7.11.2006

Ugh

*UPDATED BELOW*

So, we all know about the horrible murder of Alan Senitt and the attempted rape of his friend. Let me just say that, first and foremost, I hate, hate, HATE that this happened. It's truly horrible and I really don't have any words beyond that. I don't know what kind of defect in humanity and/or society allows this sort of thing to happen.

But I also hate the reaction to the murder. Yes, the crime was horrible. It was totally senseless and frightening. But this sort of thing happens across the Anacostia all the time. Whenever someone is murdered in Ward 2 or 3, people flip out, as if what happens in Ward 7 or Ward 8 isn't our problem. Well, it is. We're all part of the same town. The town is so ridiculously segregated that people often forget that it's one city. It doesn't matter if you're from AU Heights or Congress Heights, you live in Washington, DC. We're all Washingtonians.

And the race issue just can't be ignored. I implore you to check out the DCist comment thread. I know from experience that the people who leave comments on blogs are not indicative of its audience, but, Jesus Christ, this is eye opening. Who are these people?

I can't really do justice to a crime like this. It's too much and I feel stupid for bringing it up. I'm just sick and tired of people thinking I'm being naive when I get angry at every murder in the Metro section. "It's a city, you have to deal with crime." But once that reality comes within a few blocks of a Whole Foods, everyone flips out.

Every murder is just as unacceptable as this one.

UPDATE: Anyone who doesn't think that the reaction to this story is racist is out of their tree. And it goes further than the DCist comment thread. As reported in The Washington Post,

...[Police Chief] Ramsey temporarily reassigned Inspector Andy Solberg, who urged residents to report suspicious activity and said, "This is not a racial thing to say that black people are unusual in Georgetown."

Actually, Mr. Solberg, that is the pretty much the definition of a racial thing. Calling an entire race of people suspicious seems pretty "racial" to me.

In a later interview he backed off his remarks and said, "What should be suspicious is three guys standing out on a street corner at 2 o'clock in the morning."

Yes, I agree. But you didn't say that the first time around. Hindsight is a bitch sometimes. If I had the opportunity to take back every stupid and/or offensive thing I ever said and replace it with something that made sense, I would be a happier man. Unfortunately, I can't do that. Neither can you, Mr. Solberg. I hope you get fired.

49 comments:

  1. AnonymousJuly 11, 2006

    "The town is so ridiculously segregated that people often forget that it's one city. It doesn't matter if you're from AU Heights or Congress Heights, you live in Washington, DC. We're all Washingtonians."

    Sorry Rusty, but you just cannot believe that statement living in Friendship Heights. You have little to no connection to the people in Trinidad, Anacostia, SW Waterfront, or hell, even Columbia Heights, except perhaps that city services universally suck in every quadrant of the District.

    In every major city, there are good parts and there are bad parts. People "flip out" when something happens against their normal perception - in this case, a murder happened in Northwest (specifically Georgetown). Same would go for a murder in Friendship Heights. And that's what makes the news. Fair? Hardly. But what ever is?

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  2. I am aware of the unfairness. But I can still refuse to accept the status quo as acceptable.

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  3. i'm a regular reader and fan of your blog and am delurking now...i live 5 blocks from where this murder happened. two people in my building have been robbed at gunpoint in the last few months right outside our front door and i will not at all be surprised if it turns out that these murderers were the same people who committed those robberies that have had me scared to walk from my car to my front door after dark for the last 6 months.

    i agree - this crime is no more of a tragedy than any other crime that happens in this city. personally it has hit home for me because it is in my neighborhood. but as a resident of DC, not just a resident of Georgetown, I REALLY hope this incident serves as a wake up call for the ENTIRE city as to how fucked up things are. i'm not holding my breath, and i have no faith in the current DC leadership or our police force - this problem goes way beyond anything i think the current city government is capable of handling. but one can hope that we've finally reached a tipping point, regardless of the ward where the crime occurred.

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  4. AnonymousJuly 12, 2006

    I am aware of the unfairness. But I can still refuse to accept the status quo as acceptable.

    This is the same as anything else though. Snow in Detroit in October - not news. Snow in Phoenix in October - national news. It's the occurrence of something different than what people perceive. And I am not discrediting the loss of human life by comparing it to news of a snowfall.

    So the solution would be to report each murder with the same level of media coverage? Or report each day where a person isn't shot in Southeast? I don't see a good way to break the status quo.

    For what it's worth, I live in Tenleytown. Howdy, Metro neighbor in the milquetoast part o' town.

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  5. AnonymousJuly 12, 2006

    Blacks killing blacks is one thing. Blacks coming into Georgetown and killing white people who are just trying to put something in their trunk is another.

    There's a reason I live in Georgetown and not SE. You want to fight racial segregation Rusty? Go move to Anacostia. Until then, quit whining.

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  6. AnonymousJuly 12, 2006

    And another thing, I'm so sick of you acting like some social avenger when you spend the majority of your time in Dupont Circle and Friendship Heights.

    You're lazy and you're a hypocrite. Quit acting like you care and do something about it. I don't blog about social injustices because I'm not motivated enough to do anything about them. Yet you blog up and down about homelessness, poverty, racial inequality and violence...all from your safe, clean office or your cutesy apartment near Mazza Gallery.

    Whatever. Grow some cojones, my friend. Either that or shut up. Either one would do.

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  7. AnonymousJuly 12, 2006

    There's a reason I live in Georgetown and not SE. You want to fight racial segregation Rusty? Go move to Anacostia.

    Hmm, so for a human being not to be a racist, he/she should move to Anacostia? Well, I don't think all the bigot racists like you in the world can fit in the small area of Anacostia.

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  8. Anonymous, I know exactly what you mean. A murder in Georgetown is more newsworthy. But the reaction that the murder created is what startles me. In Washington, white people fear black people and this murder has made that all the more obvious.

    And, fine, this story gets front page headlines in the Post. But what was it doing in The Cape Cod Times? If four black people robbed and slit the throat of a black man in Georgetown, would the reaction be the same?

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  9. AnonymousJuly 12, 2006

    perhaps you could be a little more clear about what exactly in the "reaction" bothered you? Some examples?

    People don't usually get their throats slit in Georgetown, be they black or white.

    Yes, that is unusual.

    And anonymous, my point was not that you have to live in Anacostia to not be racist.

    My point is that Rusty whines all day long about how people are so afraid to live in SE just because its filled with black people, all the while tucked away a few blocks from Cheescake Factory.

    Like I said, there's a reason I live in Georgetown and not SE. You read the crime reports. Has nothing to do with black or white. Why am I a racist for choosing to live where there is less crime?

    Nice job throwing epithets, though.

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  10. Formerly, I want the city desegregated. That doesn't mean I want a ton of white people to move to Anacostia and live happily ever after. I want Ward 7 and Ward 8 to be improved to the point where people can live there and not expect to hear gunshots or be robbed. I want people from SE to be treated as fellow Washingtonians instead of, as one DCist commentor put it, "animals." I want people from SE to have equal access to a good education and good social services.

    I'm one man. All I have is my vote and my ability to volunteer. I'm not so naive that I alone can make a difference. But the blog is about hating DC, and I'm expressing an aspect of DC that I really hate. I never signed up to be put on a cross for half the city.

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  11. AnonymousJuly 12, 2006

    More of why DC sucks.... I've heard that the DC Metro Police Dept has been holding back on funding and tac support for police officers in Anacostia. There's a reason why it takes them 6 hours to respond to a call. Furthermore, officer are discouraged from locking up individuals. Hell, they only recently got overtime pay back.

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  12. AnonymousJuly 12, 2006

    The coverage and reactions are indeed startling. However, many DC folks who live in their nice little enclaves tend to forget that they're still living in a city, a city where bad things can and do happen in every neighborhood (granted, in some more often than others).

    When you're living in a large metro area, no place is immune from crime. We all need to remember that.

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  13. AnonymousJuly 12, 2006

    I once lived in Adams Morgan/Mount Pleasant and saw a group of teenage men coming at me. Not wanting to make anything "racist" of it, I tried to ignore them. One of them put a gun to my head.

    Almost: Dead Guilty White Person.

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  14. AnonymousJuly 12, 2006

    "in a neighborhood so overwhelmingly hoity-toity, 2-blonde-haired-kids-and-young-parents-that-belong-in-an-LLBean-catlog,"

    And that's not racist?

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  15. AnonymousJuly 12, 2006

    Exactly. It goes both ways. These L.L. Bean types are actually the most tolerant culture on Earth. Try to be a black man in China. See how that goes.

    See, I'm white but I can be reasonably assured that most blacks and Hispanics throughout my day will treat me with courtesy. Most.

    We forget that this (america) is as good as it's gotten.

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  16. AnonymousJuly 12, 2006

    The big slew of teenagers who get on and off at the Tenleytown metro in the afternoon are loud and annoying and belligerent.

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  17. AnonymousJuly 12, 2006

    As a long-term *white* resident of Ward 8, I am having a mixed reaction to the comments posted here thus far. Should every murder in the District receive the same level of news coverage? Probably not. Much more happens in this city than murders. Should murders in Wards 7 and 8 receive more attention? Absolutely.

    It is true that the murder rate in the 7th District was twice that of the next highest total last year. Perhaps the residents of this fine city have grown numb to news of murder "east of the river". But we'd be foolish (and maybe perceived to be racist) to think that the only newsworthy murders happen in Wards 1 - 3.

    All of that said, this particular crime and the reaction to it was appropriate. The brutality alone warrants the attention it received.

    What's my point? I honestly don't know. I suppose to get people to view both sides of this coin called Washington, D.C.

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  18. i don't think this is about any murders in any part of the city needing to receive "more attention" from the media or residents. the bigger issue here is the competence and resources of our police department. turning this into a ward vs ward or black vs white debate is not going to solve one damn thing. there is clearly something wrong with law enforcement in this city and someone needs to get to the bottom of it fast.

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  19. AnonymousJuly 12, 2006

    Relax and quit throwing around accusations and pointing fingers, I just wanted an intelligent conversation.


    This from someone who, just a few posts earlier, calls someone a racist.

    Interesting.

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  20. AnonymousJuly 12, 2006

    I remember being on one of those Tennyletown train cars and didn't realize why all of the people were abandoning the car with all of the black teenagers.

    I remember one 60-ish black man grimmacing w/ an apparent headache as teenagers yelled inches from his ear. A black woman told me that was the worst ride she's had in a while.

    I also knew a black girl who lived in Georgetown and said she wouldn't want to visit my neighborhood....

    I agree that news is the unexpected. It's not news that it was hot in the desert today. the entire thing was shocking.

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  21. AnonymousJuly 12, 2006

    I remember one 60-ish black man grimmacing w/ an apparent headache as teenagers yelled inches from his ear. A black woman told me that was the worst ride she's had in a while.

    Freaking racists.

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  22. AnonymousJuly 12, 2006

    anonymous said:
    "See, I'm white but I can be reasonably assured that most blacks and Hispanics throughout my day will treat me with courtesy. Most."

    I'm white and I feel that most white people should treat me the same way. Doesn't always happen. Especailly the white men who won't get up off their fat asses for an elderly woman. Yes, you really did see her.

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  23. AnonymousJuly 12, 2006

    I want my fucking second amendment rights restored and I want them restored now. Until that happens, I'm thrilled that Eleanor Holmes-Norton doesn't get a vote.

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  24. AnonymousJuly 12, 2006

    it's always a tragedy when the crime occurs in a wealthy and/or white neighborhood. just like 1 US soldier dying is a tragedy where it's just not that big of a deal when 500 Iraqis die at the same time as said one soldier. that's life. I just shrug and move on because I don't have the energy to get angry anymore.

    /jaded and disinterested

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  25. AnonymousJuly 12, 2006

    I don't think it's racist to be shocked when crime leaks into your safe neighborhood. I think it's racist to assume that the only crimes that could possibly be committed in your safe neighborhood could only be carried out by a specific race of persons. I think it's ignorant to be shocked if crime happens in your safe neighborhood. I think every murder is just as horrible regardless of where it takes place, whether its Georgetown, SE, or Iraq but I also think that murder happens in every corner of the globe and just because it's less frequent in a place like Georgetown doesn't mean it won't happen in a place like Georgetown and I hate that when it does a lot of racial discussion is had. It's just as likely, in my opinion, that white people are committing crimes in Georgetown and while they may not be murder, they are crimes nonetheless. What's racist is thinking that crime is only committed by those who live in "poor, black neighborhoods". What's racist is being afraid of three black men on a train and not three white men on a train, or vice versa. I assume any individual I see, especially during prime crime committing hours, as having potential to commit a crime and I try to just watch my back. Okay, this is turning into a much bigger rant than anticipated. Rusty all I can say to you is thank you for always being the highlight of my day; regardless of topic

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  26. AnonymousJuly 12, 2006

    No, no. My point was that EVERYONE, regardless of race, was annoyed by the teenagers on the train! Not racist!

    that's definately not what I meant. I've also found roving gangs of white teenagers to be quite annoying!

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  27. AnonymousJuly 12, 2006

    I can see how you might have misinterpreted that.

    Anyway, it was a nice gesture when that black woman made that comment to me, confirming that we were on the same side (adults who had just worked a full day), as opposed to the teenagers (who just farted around in their public school classes all day).

    I've been trying my best to stop saying racist things. I'm a man. It's hard. I've exchanged notes w/ black guys and found they have similar feelings. same damn thing.

    But I try harder not to say stupid things to people on the Internet or in real life.

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  28. Rusty,

    First of all, This ass bag's blog post was highlighted in the Express's "blog log" yesterday. I think pieces of trash like him personify the salient racism that is evident in many people who live in this area.

    Secondly, there was a recent "crime wave" around Catholic University this year, and the reaction from students was utterly rediculous. The way that all of these rich white kids from Jersey/Philly speak of the incidents illustrates how they feel that they are part of a privileged class of people (white college kids), who shouldn't have to deal with the "riff raff" who live in the area. As long as things happen off-campus or anywhere else in DC, its all peachy for these kids.

    However, you can see where these muggings/carjackings are rooted from. Students are stumbling back from bars on 12th St. late at night, waking up working-class families whose parents probably have to be up at the buttcrack of dawn. They tote around their BMW's, and park them outside of the metro. They litter the streets. They ignore the people who serve them food and clean their bathrooms, without even saying "hello" in the morning. They call Domino's or Boli's, and whine and bitch like hell if their pizza is 15 minutes late.

    What bothers me the most is that Brooklanders are just known as "the locals" to the CUA population. When "the locals" commit crimes against students, the CUA Administration is the first to be blamed for not making campus safe enough. These kids have to wake up and realize that they are as much of a part of the neighborhood as everyone else, and it's time to start being a good neighbor and earn some respect from the people who lived there first.

    Damn, I hate college students. And I'm not proud to be one.

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  29. AnonymousJuly 12, 2006

    I hate it when people are rude to their social "lessers." But does anyone deserve crime? I don't think a mugger is motivated by race/class or resentment. She's looking for an easy target.

    In my past, I was left relatively unmolested b/c I think I looked just tough enough, and just poor enough, to be too much trouble for the Return on Investment in a mugging.

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  30. AnonymousJuly 12, 2006

    "I think it's racist to assume that the only crimes that could possibly be committed in your safe neighborhood could only be carried out by a specific race of persons. "

    This of course is prejudicial.

    What is the MAIN problem here, however, is the gang culture that is romanticized/idolized by young blacks. It is this culture, not any inherent race-based calculus, that results in the high(er) crime rates in the black community. Poverty also plays a role, of course. But to disavow the role of this sickness within black pop culture is to cover your eyes from reality, to excuse criminality, and to abet in the continuation of this problem.

    Bill Cosby is right and every fucking one of us knows it. Every sociologist should cease their studies and turn on 50 cent's latest CD to see where the fuck the problem is.

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  31. AnonymousJuly 12, 2006

    I was wondering when you'd show your ugly face again--glad you're back from vacation.

    I agree w/ you on most of your points, and well made. However, all of the street altercations I've ever had with other white men were ones that.... I started. Never had a white kid attempt to mug me. Poor rural white kids (where most poor whites live) don't do that. They, uh, steal shit. Mostly property crimes.

    I think you make a good point about the cultural mentality. Hey, I can certainly understand peer pressure.

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  32. A "sickness within black culture"? The top TV and movie execs are almost exclusively white men (yes, even for networks like UPN) and they're the ones churning out shows and films that glamorize crime, violence, drugs, and war. What about violence video games? I'd bet most of those are created by white dudes too. Of course people have to take responsibility for themselves, and those who blame all society's problems on TV make me shudder. But let's not pretend that so-called "black culture" (as though it were just one thing, and not a multi-layered, complex gray area composed of many different elements) has the monopoly on encouraging young people toward criminal acts. Jesus Christ, people, look around you.

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  33. AnonymousJuly 12, 2006

    everybody knows that cab drivers and House Republicans are the most racist people in DC.

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  34. AnonymousJuly 12, 2006

    you can't label so-called "black/urban fashion and music" as the root of all evil. Everyone is looking for an image, whether you want to dress like a thug, emo, prep, or an old guy with his pants way to hight above his waist.

    Crime is the result of people who lack education, employment, and a stable household. Burning a 50-cent CD is NOT going to fix any of that.

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  35. AnonymousJuly 12, 2006

    Il Ratto,

    So its the white students fault for getting attacked because they're wealthy and dont interact with the community? Get fucking real.

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  36. AnonymousJuly 12, 2006

    I love how its racist to stereotype black people as having certain behaviors but its perfectly alright to make generalization about rich white people. Not all white people are waspy, black fearing, assholes. You people are just as bigoted as the people you claim to hate.

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  37. AnonymousJuly 12, 2006

    "A "sickness within black culture"? The top TV and movie execs are almost exclusively white men (yes, even for networks like UPN) and they're the ones churning out shows and films that glamorize crime, violence, drugs, and war. What about violence video games? "

    This is funny. So it's white people that create black shows and music.

    "Of course people have to take responsibility for themselves, and those who blame all society's problems on TV make me shudder."

    I'm not doing this. Read the comment again.

    "But let's not pretend that so-called "black culture" (as though it were just one thing, and not a multi-layered, complex gray area composed of many different elements) has the monopoly on encouraging young people toward criminal acts."

    Of course black culture is not monolithic.

    Monopoly on encouraging? Did I say that?

    What I am talking about is how many young black men emulate gangsters in their dress and speech and, often, actions. I had a black friend growing up who got his schoolbooks knocked out of his hands by a group of black kids who taunted him for "acting white." That shit runs deep amongst black kids.

    What is your explanation for the fact that a black young man is MANY times more likely to commit a crime than a white young man?

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  38. AnonymousJuly 12, 2006

    I am greatly shocked and horrifed by the graphic nature of the murder in Georgetown. I am also shocked and horrified that each subsequent day there were murders in Anacostia and victims never identified, received minimal coverage on the news shows I watched. There have also been murders recently in NW and NE, one mayoral candidate idnetified but rec'd nowhere near the media coverage, this man had formerly been paralyzed due to gun violence here in the district, now loss of life. As a black man who was mugged and beaten 7/1/06 waitin for a bus, I applaud the ambulance and police quick response but police follow up and presence is no greater and the detective told me there were several car jackings in the area that weekend. All crime shoudl bring equal outrage but we buy into the mindset that its expected or reality in certain areas and not others. The whole District is becoming less and less safe and where individuals feel less threatened is where the gangs will gravitate---easier targets.

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  39. AnonymousJuly 12, 2006

    Simply put, had those scumbags stayed in their own part of town, the murder wouldn't have happened. You don't see Georgetown residents running around robbing and killing each other nearly as much as they do in Anacostia and other crap parts of DC. Hmm. Now, why is that?

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  40. AnonymousJuly 12, 2006

    That doesn't mean I want a ton of white people to move to Anacostia and live happily ever after. I want Ward 7 and Ward 8 to be improved to the point where people can live there and not expect to hear gunshots or be robbed.

    Rusty, so you want separate but equal? Wasn't that shown not to work awhile ago? Don't want to live amongst African Americans? How Boston of you. And, you don't perceive that as racist?

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  41. You're taking that out of context. Formerly Anonymous said I am a hypocrite for posting this while living in Friendship Heights. That's ridiculous.

    My reply, which you are referring to, meant that the cure for the problem isn't a bunch of white people moving East while the black people move West. That won't solve anything. Providing adequate schools and crime prevention East of the Anacostia is the way to solve the problem.

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  42. AnonymousJuly 12, 2006

    This is some bloody nonsense.

    I'm so glad the near-failed state of the D of C had MPD out passing seatbelt tickets not too long ago.

    I also second the motion of one of the multitude of anonymous posters that the lack of full 2nd amendment rights in this wannabe 3rd wold city is a laughable joke.

    All you clowns who want to plant gardens in your yard and pretend that if the Big Bad Man and his po-lice went away that some magical post-capatalist utopia will break out are out of your god damned minds. You know what happens when you take the state and authority away?

    Some people get in your face, point a gun and start making demands you don't like - as witnessed by these poor folks who have been turning up dead the last few weeks.

    Warlords don't say please and thank you. Neither do thugs - be they neo nazis, thugmuffins or wannabe 15-year-old thugmuffins who want to show their thugmuffin friends how badass they are by fucking up some stranger's life. One of these days, one of these little sacs of human waste is going to get some mean karma back -- be it in the form of a graphite baton that will beat them into a bloody, pants-pissing, crying broken pulp for someone to scrape off the street in the morning -- or seeing the end of a barrel when they don't expect it.

    F#@k all this identity politics bullshit. There's no utopia around the corner folks, just people waiting to stab and rape you. You can preach peace all day... we all should.

    But you better prepare for the worst.

    The Korean grocers in LA knew this back in 1992. That's why, when everything went to shit, they set up some perimiter security and whoever stepped inside that perimiter got their ass shot dead.

    Peace the F#@k Out.

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  43. AnonymousJuly 12, 2006

    the cure for the problem isn't a bunch of white people moving East while the black people move West. That won't solve anything. Providing adequate schools and crime prevention East of the Anacostia is the way to solve the problem.

    Sounds like you're against integration. If so, that's racist. Is it possible that if middle-class European-Americans integrated into Anacostia and law-abiding Anacostia African Americans moved Northwest, education for the underclass would improve and the crime rate would be reduced?

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  44. I got it, Anonymous. You're trolling for trouble. Clever.

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  45. Hello, hostility! From reading these comments, it sounds like y'all are about to commit a few homicides amongst yourselves.

    I can't claim to have any insights on this (racially, criminally, or otherwise). I just got back from a year in the Middle East, where race and violence are literally explosive issues, and all I can say is this: throwing about epithets and calling each other closet-case racists won't help solve this problem.

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  46. AnonymousJuly 14, 2006

    Congratulations Lillian. You are officially the hottest girl to ever post on this blog(by far). A girl named Irene (I think that’s how it’s spelled) had the title for awhile but when she switched from a very flattering shadowy photo of herself to a well lit one it turned out she was pretty average. I'm sure you're honored.

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  47. AnonymousJuly 14, 2006

    I got it, Anonymous. You're trolling for trouble. Clever.

    Rusty, Huh?

    Why such an intense response to integration?

    You are the one who continually brings up the subject of racism when you're not bringing up the subject of DC's bars.

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  48. AnonymousJuly 17, 2006

    I think the disparity in outrage comes from the fact that most of the murders in SE are drug deals gone bad, gang violence and a perception (or, honestly, a reality) that the victims brought it on themselves. The Georgetown incident wasn't a couple of kids looking to score some crack or revenge a gang issue; they were simply returning home from a movie.

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  49. AnonymousJuly 20, 2006

    I think the disparity in outrage comes from the fact that most of the murders in SE are drug deals gone bad, gang violence and a perception (or, honestly, a reality) that the victims brought it on themselves.

    Interesting perception. I just think of the children who get whacked in the crossfire.

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