Fault the internet all you want for its proclivity for snark, irony and the ad hominum attack but where else can you get some first hand reporting and commentary from people who are closer to a situation then you are? I have just started wandering through the newsie comment sections and have found some good stuff.
A quick update on the event itself: it appears that there was substantial planning, especially on the part of students from two high schools, Westport and Raytown South, but other schools may also be involved. The participants were almost all under 18. Here is a comment, from the KSHB site, of a witness/victim:
I was there that night from 7:30 to 10:30 and it was ridiculous. It started out alright our group of girls having a blast laughing, taking pictures and shopping everything that the plaza is about. Having all the teens around was very annoying, many were rude, obnoxious, even cat calling but we turned the other cheek and kept walking. Until around 9:30 we were by the big fountain posing for a pic when a large group of guys comes running up behind us and a child probably 12 charges us tackling one of my friends in to the nasty fountain water(phone, and purse in hand)and what happens he merely gets cheer from his group and they race off towards the plaza. Once we were sure she was okay, we made our way to the police. As we got closer we find that pure chaos has erupted- fights, purse snatching, running in the streets. The police were doing the best they could but the second they stopped the problem children on one end of the plaza it would start up on the other end. After talking to the police we no longer wanted to stay in the plaza fearing for our safety. But trying to leave was easier said than done- for with all the flocks of kids and traffic jams. At one point I was in the left turn lane at a light and as I am about to turn, hundreds of kids are stampeding around my car and all thru the street they are lucky that no one was hit. In our car all of us were hacking and coughing from the pepper spray. It was a horrific night that we will not soon forget. I just hope that the situation is taken care of and this can be stopped because I don’t know if I will be returning to the plaza till it is.
Another eyewitness chimes in, from yesterdays Kansas City Star article:
justjane wrote on 4/11/2010 10:52:58 AM: Yes this is a race issue, isn't it okay to call it what it is as long as we're not being racist while we're doing it? There is a distinction. All of the media reports I've read have felt it necessary not to mention this; some reporters go as far to say that these kids weren't even doing anything, and the cops showed up for fun! Imagine, dozens of police on almost every corner and paddy wagons to boot! I was there last night. I regularly walk to the Plaza, and last night I went to meet up with some friends. I should have turned back when I saw the police lights and helicopter circling. Here are the things I saw: A large mob (probably about 70) of African-American teenagers running and screaming down the street. I thought someone had been shot. By St. John, one teenager was being held down while 2 dozen or so kids watched some boys beat the lights out of him. I nearly became entangled with this crowd and had to run across the street to get away. This is the SECOND WEEKEND IN A ROW this has happened. And if anyone can remember, this is not the first time in history Kansas City has had race riots. What's the full story here? Someone want to interview these kids? Someone want to track down how they are organizing this flash mob? Is there a reporter left in KC who isn't too scared to dig around or are we really just going to interview other Star employees (which is rather unethical journalism) to put together a story where the lead is so buried, it's non-existent?
Here is a terrific series of comments from the Kansas City Star's news article today.
This is why, we as black people are not welcome anywhere. When all that outcry of "foul" came upon the Sprint Center and its rules, I said to myself, "good for them!" I don't blame them for not wanting us anywhere their property. Instead of acting like civilized human beings, we act like a bunch of wild, ignorant animals and then as you can see from this story, we pass this ignorance right on to our children. Then we want to cry racism and blame white people for our problems. Assume responsibility for yourselves and your children. Stop the vicious cycle of stupidity and ignorance and start parenting your children and start acting like grown ups - instead of useless leeches on our society. Absolutely disgusting and shameful!
These are the same people (MY people, I acknowledge shamefully) that have destroyed and continue to destroy our neighborhoods. Walk through my neighborhood and see the homes with trash in the front and back yards, broken, unreplaced blinds, children hanging out all hours of the day, parents blasting music and t.v.'s all night long, yards strewn with empty beer cans or liquor bottles...yet, this doesn't outrage us. We are quick to cry racism and cry that white people have done this to us...done what?? What white person told you to spend over $300 in clothes, nails and hair while your children's education is non-existent? What white person told you to keep your house and yard so nasty? What white person told you that it's okay to stay home and live off of government assistance?? While we are so busy pointing one finger at someone, remember we'll always have 3 fingers pointing right back at us. Take responsibility for yourselves. We're so busy looking for a handout that we have no idea how to be self-sufficient and we are teaching our children the same insanity.
Our fearless and intrepid Black lady poster responded to another commenter thusly:
az2ks, I posted my comment again because you obviously didn't read it thoroughly the first time. I happened to agree with the Sprint Center - read it again..this time slowly and try receiving, instead of being so quick to post...
"This is why, we as black people are not welcome anywhere. When all that outcry of "foul" came upon the Sprint Center and its rules, I said to myself, "good for them!" (SEE, THIS IS THE PART WHERE I'M AGREEING WITH THE SPRINT CENTER) I don't blame them for not wanting us anywhere their property. Instead of acting like civilized human beings, we act like a bunch of wild, ignorant animals and then as you can see from this story, we pass this ignorance right on to our children. Then we want to cry racism and blame white people for our problems. (THIS IS THE PART WHERE I STATE MY PEOPLE ARE QUICK TO CRY RACISM OR BLAME WHITE PEOPLE FOR PROBLEMS WE CREATED OURSELVES..DID YOU SEE THAT?) Assume responsibility for yourselves and your children. Stop the vicious cycle of stupidity and ignorance and start parenting your children and start acting like grown ups - instead of useless leeches on our society. Absolutely disgusting and shameful!" (BY DISGUSTING AND SHAMEFUL, I'M REFERRING TO THE ACTIONS OF THE DESTRUCTIVE TEENS)
If you need anymore help understanding what you read, just let me know. Thanks.
Another excellent comment, along the same lines, from yesterday's Star:
This is my last comment on this article, and it's not addressed to the racists who post here. It's for anyone who's black and can understand. If you open your eyes, you can see what's going on here. A picture is being painted. Those of us who have influence in the black community cannot just cluck our tongues and shake our heads and dismiss what's happening to our youth. People are being misled to believe that all of us are criminals, and are being pushed toward acting against us, and when they do, they won't take time to see who's thugging and who isn't, so just because you're not in the ghetto doesn't mean the problem isn't yours. We need to look out for our own lost youth before others start figuring that since we murder each other they might as well murder us too.
I still believe that even though the "why" issues are important, the first thing is to protect this economically and image important part of our city. We do need to ponder, however, how it is we are raising our kids of all races (see this Dr. Laura blog post about the situation in South Hadley, MA for more stuff that makes you wonder about the next generations), and what they are growing up to be.
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