My dad was assaulted

[jayswin]

Originally Posted by chris lindberg

When I was a child aneighbor kicked my dog and killed her, I cried to my grandmother and she told me, something bad will happen to this man because he did this, sure enough, about 2-3 years later he lost his legs in an accident.

What a heart warming story.

[flamesfever]

Originally Posted by Ice

Be careful about this one. California didn't properly set up thier Indian Casino laws after the voters passed that proposition. So, what was proposed to the voters as being Casinos out on the Indian reservations has turned out different. Cleverly, the Indian Tribal Councils have purchased land and therefore, it becomes reservation land and they can build casinos on it.

Now, in the middle of beautiful scenery in the Siskiyou Mountains, there's a monstrosity of an Indian Casino, and that's not the only place its happened. There was speculation this type of thing would happen but we were assured by politicians that was not the case. Its a terrible loophole.

Additionally, out of all the tribes in California, there are only four who are building casinos. The overall Indian population has not seen any improvement in their quality of life. But four tribes have gotten wealthier
and wealthier. I'm not sure the Indian casinos are the solution they were cracked up to be.

Thanks for your post. I don't doubt there are many logistical problems to iron out in the Indian Casino business in Canada. However, having access to the almost 30 years of experience in the US, hopefully will allow us to avoid some of the pitfalls.

[Flames_Gimp]

we should be allowed to shoot some people!
hope he's ok.

[Caged Great]

I hope your father is alright.

[Boblobla]

Originally Posted by West Karma

I do not blame these individuals, I blame the government and their agencies for the many decades of permitting this problem to get out of hand.

Nail on the head.

The rest of your post was fantastic as well. Ignore the people who lambaste you for saying something out of anger that I am sure they all would have said if they were in your shoes. It is very easy to be politically correct at your monitor.

My thoughts are with you and your dad.

[jar_e]

Originally Posted by Boblobla

Nail on the head.

The rest of your post was fantastic as well. Ignore the people who lambaste you for saying something out of anger that I am sure they all would have said if they were in your shoes. It is very easy to be politically correct at your monitor.

My thoughts are with you and your dad.

There's a difference between making an off-handed remark in the heat of the moment and making a broad and general stereotype of an entire race of people. Its still racist whether it was the heat of the moment or not.

edit: I should add, I'm extremely sorry to hear what happened and I hear these stories day in and day out with my job and it always baffles me what motivates people to do this. My apologies to West Karma if I offended you by not showing any sort of sympathy earlier in this thread.

[Winsor_Pilates]

Terrible thing to have happen to your father, I can't imagine what that would be like.
Glad you've had a chance to rethink your words a bit, and I hope this doesn't turn you into a Native hater looking for vengeance on a whole race.

My father and uncles were routinely assaulted by skin heads growing up in London. Turning your anger towards a whole race isn't the answer.

[OILFAN #81]

Originally Posted by fotze

I can't believe that we allow these roving gangs of east indians beating people up and spreading the word of tasty buttery food.

Damn straight Fotze! Last time I was kind in the buffet line but next time you will feel my wrath!

[BOSSY]

Originally Posted by JiriHrdina

Why does it even matter what race they were?

Your dad was assaulted by some idiots. Their race has nothing to with it.

Sorry for it happening but it doesn't give you a right to be ignorant and toss around terms that are no longer considered appropriate.

VERY well put!

Sorry to hear about your dad, hope he is alright but have to agree a-holes come in all shapes and colors - race has got nothing to do with it.

[Lithium]

*Mod edit*
Racist comment removed

[Berger_4_]

Oh man...that's playing with fire Lithium. Frankly, even I find that a little out of taste.

But yes, something has to be done with these people. Drive through northern Saskatchewan, and see how many of the houses the gov't paid to have built are still in decent shape. It seems like most of those people living on reserves up there don't like doors, because every house is missing their door. Or when we drive by some random kid sitting in the intersection of a gravel road...it's sad really. The problem is that the gov't provides everything for these people. A good portion of them from the reserves around here (Hobbema, Wetaskawin sorta) will never have to work a day in their lives. They turn 18 and the gov't hands them a cheque for 90 grand or something stupid like that and turns them loose on the town. If we want them to become productive members of society, we need to stop with the handouts. Fine, we took your great-grandparents land 200 years ago. Time to move on and quit bitching about how hard done by your people are. It's time they become productive members of society. That's not to say there aren't some who are, but it seems like a good portion of them aren't.

Anyways, back to the OP...WK, I'm sorry about what happened. It's tough to understand what would possess somebody to do something like that. Here's hoping you get your pound of flesh haha.

[chris lindberg]

[quote=Lithium;1345046]*mod edit*quote]

Not only are your words derogatory and bigoted but they are also demeaning to the First Nation people of North America and CalgaryPuck.

I remember hearing somewhere a story on the confusion of the word Indian given to the aboriginal people, it was not because of India (Hindustan) or the East Indies, but because they were so spiritual that Columbus called the indigenous people who discovered him washed up on the beach in the Caribbean "Indio," from the Italian in dio, meaning ("in God") or "en Dios" ("of God")

[Joborule]

Cot damn cowards.

Lets assemble the ready army and lay our vengeance upon thee!

Honestly though, at least your father is alive. Hope for a quick recovery.

[OilersBaby]

Im so sorry to hear about the assault. If anyone ever did that to my dad, I would be so mad, I dont know what I would do...its a stupid crime and for 20 bucks.

My husbands a prosecutor here in California and he recently went to trial on a case where 3 people assualted someone and there was NO money in the wallet..they're going to jail/prison (prison for the repeat offenders..one of them got 3 years and jail for the dude who comitted the crime for the first time).

[jayswin]

Originally Posted by OilersBaby

Im so sorry to hear about the assault. If anyone ever did that to my dad, I would be so mad, I dont know what I would do...its a stupid crime and for 20 bucks.

My husbands a prosecutor here in California and he recently went to trial on a case where 3 people assualted someone and there was NO money in the wallet..they're going to jail/prison (prison for the repeat offenders..one of them got 3 years and jail for the dude who comitted the crime for the first time).

This is one thing I think the media and people in general play up a little bit much; the amount of money the person had. Really it's just an assault by cowards every time, the amount of money taken is kind of moot imo, since the attacker(s) doesn't know what the person had on them. You often see "Man stabbed over $10!", well the idiot attacker didn't say, i'm going to stab someone over $10, he just attacked and hoped the person had lots of money.

I guess I'm being a little petty here, but when I read those kind of headlines, it always makes me think that they're implying that had the victim had say $2000 on them, that the attack would have been less outrageous.

You often read "Man stabbed over $50", with the emphasis on the fact that it was over a measley $50, but you never read "man attacked and stabbed, however he had over $3000 on him, so this obviously wasn't some coward criminal who would stab someone over $50"

[JiriHrdina]

Originally Posted by Boblobla

Nail on the head.

The rest of your post was fantastic as well. Ignore the people who lambaste you for saying something out of anger that I am sure they all would have said if they were in your shoes. It is very easy to be politically correct at your monitor.

Again. Answer me why race had to even be brought into this. His father was assaulted by thus. How this became a race issue puzzles me.

[Hack&Lube]

I was mugged by a gang of Moroccans in Belgium last year. Jumped me for wallet.

[Nuje]

I haven't had time to read this thread tonight. I will say this much. These sound like people who have done this before. Race aside, where is our justice system?
"On a red/yellow/green light basis, How likely is this person to re-offend?"
Extremely likely, likely, or not likely. They let all 3 out on parole.
Why is a citizen with no criminal record put at risk to give these scum a second/third/18th chance? I'm a supporter of giving somebody another chance, but only if it's at no risk to the person who hasn't commited a crime. The way the system is laid out, makes it sound like it's tough to go through life without commiting theft, assault, rape or murder. Somehow I haven't had a problem going through life without doing any of the above. I'm not holier than anybody, but gimme a friggin break.

[krazycanuck]

I think even Native people would admit there is a problem with how Natives have intigrated into Canadian society and because of that there are social ramifications for both natives and non-natives. Much like aboriginals in Australia, many natives in Canada have never felt like they were part of this country. Reserves, while also being refuges for native culture, are also causing segregation.

Addiction is also another major issue. I assume genetics plays a roll in why natives are so prone to drug and alcoholism. However, I also think that the indian affairs system needs to be scrutinized. Logic says if you give someone money every month, regardless of their situation. It puts many people in a situation where they don't feel the need to work, since have money and because there is no work, have extra time to drink/do drugs/whatever. If I was an addict, and I was getting a cheque to support my habit regardless of what I do, what is the point of it to do anything else, aside from sit around and get drunk or high

I also don't think that native groups raising their own money is the answer. look at the collossal failure that Hobbema is, Shootings there don't even make the news in Calgary or Edmonton anymore. Yet the group there has tons of money from Oil drilling on the land.

More intigration is key as is a gradual decline over a large number of years in the benefits that natives are receiving until that number is zero.

I think in the case of this gentleman's father and the bad dudes he ran into, I hope they are caught. But I think the reason that some people on this board, and in general have problems with natives is simply many Natives simply don't care about other people. Think of it as an protestant Vs catholic in northern ireland. They view themselves as two separate people, so they are intollerant to each other, and clash. If I'm a pallestinian, I hate israelis...because they are on our land, and i'm not friends with any israelis...why wouldn't i just kick ones ass if he declines giving me a quarter.

I do hope that the native issue does get looked at by politicians or a study done, to come up with a solution for all the problems with reserves and I.A. I think the sooner we stop giving special treatment, the sooner we're all more chill and respectful of each others differences.

[fatso]

This thread has gone completely off the rails. Here are a few of the strands I can decipher...

1. I think everyone feels bad for West Karma and is sincerely glad his/her father will be ok. No doubt about that.

2. Is there a systematic bias, enabled by the government that disadvantages First Nations peoples? yes, absolutely... whether it's "hand-outs" (as some so naively put it), reservations, failure to address historic economic inequality, straight-up racism, etc., I think everyone can agree that First Nations people are in a tough spot and need some better social support and leadership. We can debate the terms of that assistance 'til we're blue in the face, but there is certainly a cultural problem that needs to be addressed - a problem that negatively impacts all Canadians.

3. West Karma's father got beat up by some "drunk Indians". IMO it is fundamentally racist to draw a link between the violence and their race. The presumption that someone is the way he/she is because of their race is racist, because it delimits that individual's character to be a singular expression of their race. Why is race an issue here as JiriHrdina asked, but no one addressed? Is it because "indians" are inherently violent drunks? Is it because "indian blood" carries some kind of social misfit gene? Or maybe it's not about race directly... maybe it's about poverty? And what about those "indians" who are law-abiding, model citizens? Did they beat the Indian gene? Are they the exception to the blood rule? Or maybe they had more opportunities in life or didn't fall through the cracks?

Race may be a valuable descriptor of an individual, but it's not - and should not be - a determinant of, or a criteria through which we pre-determine, their character. At least, that's what racial equality means to me.

4. As always, there's a camp that's adamant there is some politically correct conspiracy to prevent people from speaking the truth. Come to think of it, has there even been a thread in the history of CP that raised race, that did not degenerate into a whinefest about the tyranny of political correctness?

flame away...