White College Students Who Put Bike Lock Around Black Student's Neck Avoid Hate Crime Convictions

Three white students at California's San Jose State University skated by with only misdemeanor battery charges after putting a bike lock around a black student's neck, attempting to lock him in a closet and referring to him as "three-fifths" of a person, among other harassments that a jury ultimately concluded were not hate crimes.

The crimes took place in 2013 when the three assailants forced Donald Williams Jr., a 17-year-old freshman at the time, to wear a U-shaped bike lock around his neck. In another incident, prosecutors said, the three men tried locking Williams in a closet, according to NBC Bay Area.

The bullying only came to light after Williams' parents visited him and noticed a Confederate flag hanging up in his shared dorm suite, along with racist phrases including "three-fifths" written on a white board there, according to the Associated Press.

"I am saddened that 12 jurors could not agree that calling a black male 'Three-fifths' or 'Fraction,' or forcing a lock around his neck, or creating an environment promoting racism with Confederate memorabilia, or hearing how this young man was humiliated, amounted to a hate crime," Cordell, who is black, told the publication. "This verdict demonstrates that we are a long way from living in a post-racist America."

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/san-jose-state-not-ruled-hate-crime_us_56ccb48de4b041136f188b0e?

Racist muther fuckers and the ignorant jurors who saw it fit to get them off lightly with misdemeanor battery charges.

Oh, Jesus Christ.

You don't understand the racial implications of calling a black person "3/5"? Did you sleep through US History I?

Dave,

Simply put, you're an ass. First off, you contradicted yourself in your first post. You had suggested that it was wrong to put the race card in the mix, giving the alternate possibility that he was bullied because he was gay. I think that you're forgetting that if anyone is bullied because they're gay, and that is the proven reason behind it, that's a hate crime too.

And, even if we were to disregard your asinine explanation of how the whole 3/5th thing ins't racist (which it is.) You're neglecting to realize that it was established by society rather recently that the confederate flag is a racist symbol. Of course there's nothing wrong with the guys parents seeing it and feeling totally uncomfortable. I'm a Jew, and that would be the exact same thing if I went to my college dorm for the first time, and saw that my new roommate put up the Nazi swastika on the wall. I'd feel uncomfortable and have thoughts about my roommate too.

Dave19 said: "As much as you would love to see racism, you do know that the “three-fifths” clause has nothing to do with the idea that black slaves were being described as “three-fifths” of a white person, right?

The compromise was for representation purposes. The fewer slaves counted the fewer number of representatives. It had NOTHING to do with the worth of a person and EVERYTHING to do with diminishing the power of the pro-slavery Southern states.

Do you actually know the meaning of the word "racism"?

Your attitude demonstrates that we are a long way from living in a post-racist America.

I'm glad the law is ahead of dumb people like you.

Oh, so the bullies misunderstood the term, so that means they weren't racist for using it! That's a relief. And a faggot is a bundle of sticks tied together for fuel, so it's not homophobic to call someone that!

And what if he was an asshole. And let's just say (erroneously) that race was not an issue here.

Does any of that excuse chaining someone up and hurling racist slurs at them?

You're not just a virulent racist, you're a sociopath as well.

Dave19 needs to be permanently removed from this site.

Clarence Thomas spoke today, so stranger things have happened.