10 Steps Forward, 50 Steps Back

NEW YORK (Sept. 8) -- Brian Milligan Sr. believes his son's race triggered a brutal attack on the streets of Buffalo, New York.

Armed with a chunk of concrete, several assailants beat Brian Milligan Jr. on the back of the head on August 18, leaving a 3-inch gash. They kicked him in the face, breaking his jaw.

Bloodied and bruised, the 18-year-old managed to walk five blocks to his grandmother's house before being rushed to the hospital. Milligan's father believes several African-Americans beat his son, who is white, because he is dating an African-American woman.

Mulligan's father wants police to treat the beating as a hate crime. He also has criticized what he calls a deafening silence from the community, police and the national media.

"If this was a black guy who was beaten by a group of white guys for dating a white girl, people would be up in arms," he said. "There's a double standard." Buffalo police believe a group of about 10 to 15 African-American men attacked Milligan late at night, police spokesman Mike DeGeorge said. Police have made no arrests and are still investigating the motive, he said. Milligan Sr. says he believes the attackers are the same "neighborhood guys" who threatened his son and his African-American girlfriend because of their interracial relationship.

The younger Milligan and his girlfriend, Nicola Fletcher, who is also 18, had recently complained of an increase in insults and threats in east Buffalo, where Fletcher lives and where Milligan was staying with his grandmother, Fletcher said.

"Every time they walk the streets, people stop him and call him 'cracker' and ask her why she's not with a black guy," Milligan Sr. said.


This is embarassing as fuck. It kinda pains me that black people feel that since a bunch of fucked-up shit happened to our ancestors and forefathers, we have the right to be complete and total racist assholes. I do know of black dudes that talk about wanting to fuck white women, but when white dudes get black girls, they label her a traitor. Why is that?

I do jokingly announce that it may have something to do with the fact that most white guys get all the hot black chicks while black dudes mainly date mediocre-faced white women. However, this case isn't all about the boy that was attacked, but the father's pleas with the police.

The dad feels this should be classified as a hate crime, and it very well should be. He contests that if this happened to a black man for dating a white woman, it would be all over the news, and this is true. I mean, the girlfriend serves as a witness that they called the guy "cracker" and asked her why she wasn't with a black guy, so that should be proof enough.

I personally believe in actual equality, not that "I like being equal until it benefits me" shit. Affirmative action? Fuck that, no thanks. That whole thing with Sotomayor about throwing out results because no black person passed a firefighter test? Bullshit. I feel that if a black guy can be a victim of a hate crime, so can Asians, whites, Latinos, etc. I mean, seriously, if this isn't proof enough that having a president of color doesn't change shit, then I don't know what does.

The story has touched a nerve with several members of Buffalo's African-American community, including a local pastor who leads a predominantly black church in Buffalo.

"At first, it didn't affect me the way that it would have if I heard it was a black teen attacked," said the Rev. Darius Pridgen, who spent years fighting for civil rights for African-Americans.

"But after I saw his father on TV pleading with the community to find the assailants, I decided I had to go after the people who beat this kid."

Pridgen said he felt that the community has turned a collective blind eye to the beating. So he gave a fire-and-brimstone sermon at the True Baptist Church on a Sunday after the attack, appealing to his congregation to help find the culprits.
"He didn't deserve to be beaten this way," Pridgen recalled saying at the service. "If you believe this, put your hands together."

If it was a black teen, Pridgen said, "We would have been protesting with flags and everything else."

Rod Watson also addressed the issue in his column in the Buffalo News. Watson, who is black, pointed out that interracial marriages are nearly 10 times higher than they were in 1960, according to U.S. Census data, but still those couples have a tough time being accepted by society.

"If blacks in Buffalo in 2009 are acting like whites in Selma in 1959, this society has big problems, despite electing a president who is himself the product of an interracial union," Watson said.

Judy Milligan, a community activist and Brian Milligan Jr.'s great-aunt, said she has been overwhelmed with support from her friends, both black and white.
Mary Woods, a member of Buffalo's African-American community, reached out to Milligan to offer her support.

"I don't care what color you are, when something like this happens, justice must be served," Woods said. "There had to be someone who saw something, and they should come forward."

Milligan Sr. has criticized the Buffalo Police Department for spending too much time "trying to prove this crime wasn't a hate crime instead of performing a solid investigation."

I actually hope that when these motherfuckers go to jail that the Aryan nation proceeds to rape and beat them on the regular.