Dennis RomeroWas it a hate crime?
As the Dodgers head north to do battle with the Giants today, it's an assertion being made by John Kobylt of L.A. station KFI-AM 640's The John and Ken Show. He's talking, of course, about the opening-day beating of Santa Cruz paramedic and San Francisco fan Bryan Stow by a pair of thugs in Dodgers garb.
Stow remains in a coma at County-USC Medical Center. While the rest of the world was chalking this up to the worst kind of hooliganism, Kobylt says …
… because these suspects appeared to be Latino, and the victim is white, that this is a hate crime.
That prompted Gustavo Arellano of sister paper OC Weekly to go off on Kobylt (ballsy, because Arellano used to be a regular commentator at KFI):
These guys.
Other stupid Dodgers fans have assaulted Latino Giants fans in the past–is that now a hate crime?
But that Kobylt is already screaming “hate crime” shows how stupid and truly bigoted he is. Did he categorize the takedown of Kansas City Royals coach Tom Gamboa by two white Chicago White Sox fans as a hate crime? Of course not, because it wasn't, nor have I ever heard anyone allege that race played any factor. Same with a 2007 incident when a Latino Angels fan threw a water bottle at then-Oakland A's player Mike Piazza. No one brought up race in speculating about the fan's motive, because there was no conversation to be had. Sports, unfortunately, attract boors of all races–but in the Kobylt world, only Mexican sports fans are capable of mayhem. Moron.
Calling this a hate crime is assuming a lot, too:
-That these idiots knew the guy was white (Latinos come in all colors and, for all they knew, he could have been Latino or mixed).
-That the suspects are indeed Latino (that's the description, but you never know: Latino is, technically, not a look).
-That Latinos aren't white (technically, anthropologically speaking, we are).
Discuss.
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