Heartbreaking Story of Racism Affecting Innocent Children
Posted: Fri Mar 03, 2017 9:56 pm
I was not raised in part of the country where there were many African Americans, but had relatives down south who lived in heavily biracial areas.
Personally? I loved the friendly personality of the southern people and the dedication to survival and peace, during my rare visits.
That's why stories like this CNN one are so sad. There are nice people with kids they are trying to raise, peacefully, and strangers bring conflict right to the front yard.
http://www.cnn.com/2017/03/03/us/dougla ... index.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
Nearly 2 years after racists crashed a child's party, fear lingers for attendees
By Eliott C. McLaughlin, CNN
Updated 3:52 PM ET, Fri March 3, 2017
Douglasville, Georgia (CNN)You might think it was over when the armed party-crashers drove their trucks, most of them bearing Confederate flags, away from the 6-year-old's birthday party. Or when some of them were arrested months later. Perhaps it seemed like a tidy conclusion when two of the ringleaders were handed lengthy prison terms this week.
But it still isn't over, not for the victims.
Melissa Alford, 47, who hosted the July 2015 birthday party still worries that it could happen again, or that someone might retaliate against her for pursuing justice. It's affected her life, at work and at home.
"They terrorized us," Alford told CNN. "They pulled out guns and knives, called us racist slurs and they threatened to kill us. And that was terrifying."
Alford threw the party to celebrate her son's 25th birthday, her grandson's 6th birthday and the upcoming birthday of a 7-year-old. Many of the attendees were black. An armed group calling itself "Respect the flag" rode up uninvited. Words were exchanged, and the group brandished weapons.
This week, Kayla Norton, who loaded a shotgun during the altercation, and Jose Torres, who wielded it, were sentenced to six and 13 years in prison, respectively. Some observers have called the sentence harsh. Alford dislikes the characterization.
"What I do think is harsh is I that I've got to live and wonder, is this going to happen again?" she said. "For me to fear, not be able to sleep in my home, for me to have to look over my shoulders and make sure that nobody's out there."
She requested that CNN not film her home, fearing it might be targeted. She said she is scraping together funds to move.
An advocate who works with at-risk youth, Alford stopped visiting homes in the community in September, ahead of the trial of Torres and Norton. She said she doesn't know what residents in this Atlanta suburb of 33,000 people think of the locally contentious ordeal.
"I don't know how they feel now about me," she said. "That's harsh."
'You put it on these children'
Hyesha Bryant, 34, brought her three kids -- her infant, 7-year-old daughter and 10-year-old son -- to the 2015 party, along with a 15-year-old cousin. She remembers seeing the trucks pass as the kids were enjoying the bounce house and adults were playing cards. She and other partygoers were dancing to V.I.C.'s "Wobble."
The Confederate battle flags mounted to the backs of the trucks didn't faze her. She grew up in Douglasville, long before it was 45% black, and like Alford -- who was raised in Luverne, Alabama -- she considers the flag an unremarkable part of life in the South.
Judge: Flag offends more than African-Americans
Torres' shotgun is what startled her. That, and someone saying, "We're going to kill some f'ing Ns today," she recalled, censoring the racial slur.
She was further horrified when she urged the adults to get the children into the house and one of the party crashers said, "Nah, leave them; they can get one, too."
........
Note: CNN code adding lots of trash text so i had to shorten it, this is only about 1/3 of the damn article lol
Personally? I loved the friendly personality of the southern people and the dedication to survival and peace, during my rare visits.
That's why stories like this CNN one are so sad. There are nice people with kids they are trying to raise, peacefully, and strangers bring conflict right to the front yard.
http://www.cnn.com/2017/03/03/us/dougla ... index.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
Nearly 2 years after racists crashed a child's party, fear lingers for attendees
By Eliott C. McLaughlin, CNN
Updated 3:52 PM ET, Fri March 3, 2017
Douglasville, Georgia (CNN)You might think it was over when the armed party-crashers drove their trucks, most of them bearing Confederate flags, away from the 6-year-old's birthday party. Or when some of them were arrested months later. Perhaps it seemed like a tidy conclusion when two of the ringleaders were handed lengthy prison terms this week.
But it still isn't over, not for the victims.
Melissa Alford, 47, who hosted the July 2015 birthday party still worries that it could happen again, or that someone might retaliate against her for pursuing justice. It's affected her life, at work and at home.
"They terrorized us," Alford told CNN. "They pulled out guns and knives, called us racist slurs and they threatened to kill us. And that was terrifying."
Alford threw the party to celebrate her son's 25th birthday, her grandson's 6th birthday and the upcoming birthday of a 7-year-old. Many of the attendees were black. An armed group calling itself "Respect the flag" rode up uninvited. Words were exchanged, and the group brandished weapons.
This week, Kayla Norton, who loaded a shotgun during the altercation, and Jose Torres, who wielded it, were sentenced to six and 13 years in prison, respectively. Some observers have called the sentence harsh. Alford dislikes the characterization.
"What I do think is harsh is I that I've got to live and wonder, is this going to happen again?" she said. "For me to fear, not be able to sleep in my home, for me to have to look over my shoulders and make sure that nobody's out there."
She requested that CNN not film her home, fearing it might be targeted. She said she is scraping together funds to move.
An advocate who works with at-risk youth, Alford stopped visiting homes in the community in September, ahead of the trial of Torres and Norton. She said she doesn't know what residents in this Atlanta suburb of 33,000 people think of the locally contentious ordeal.
"I don't know how they feel now about me," she said. "That's harsh."
'You put it on these children'
Hyesha Bryant, 34, brought her three kids -- her infant, 7-year-old daughter and 10-year-old son -- to the 2015 party, along with a 15-year-old cousin. She remembers seeing the trucks pass as the kids were enjoying the bounce house and adults were playing cards. She and other partygoers were dancing to V.I.C.'s "Wobble."
The Confederate battle flags mounted to the backs of the trucks didn't faze her. She grew up in Douglasville, long before it was 45% black, and like Alford -- who was raised in Luverne, Alabama -- she considers the flag an unremarkable part of life in the South.
Judge: Flag offends more than African-Americans
Torres' shotgun is what startled her. That, and someone saying, "We're going to kill some f'ing Ns today," she recalled, censoring the racial slur.
She was further horrified when she urged the adults to get the children into the house and one of the party crashers said, "Nah, leave them; they can get one, too."
........
Note: CNN code adding lots of trash text so i had to shorten it, this is only about 1/3 of the damn article lol
