Black Beach Week used to get all the glory: Every Memorial Day weekend for more than a decade, 300,000 black people gathered in Miami Beach to get their freak on. And also create a tsunami of violence, robbery, shootings, carjackings, vandalism, mayhem, noise and trash.
Always mountains of trash. None of it in trash cans.
But in 2014, many party-goers complained that Black Beach Week -- only reporters call it “Urban Beach Week” -- just wasn’t as much fun any more: Too many cops, too many tactical vehicles, too many helicopters, too many lights, too many towers, too many cameras, too much suspicion. Not enough chaos.
And there is no doubt that art deco capital of America was at least temporarily turned into an armed camp for Black Beach Week. Not to worry: The rest of the country picked up the slack. Black mob violence over the holiday weekend was reported in more than a dozen cities around the country. Some fatal. Some comical. All relentless.
Let’s take a tour, starting with Cincinnati: Four days after scattered reports of black mob violence during the Memorial Day Taste of Cincinnati event, local police and media figured out just how violent their annual holiday event was.571 “General mayhem,” said one police Captain.
One of the first victims was the son of the local district attorney. He and his girlfriend were helping his sister back her car out of tight parking space when a group of black people punched him, knocked him to the ground and kicked him. He had a concussion. When his girl friend suggested that was not a good idea, they beat her too. 572
Police caught the aftermath on video.
The local CBS affiliate was the first to get the inkling something was wrong, very wrong. They started reporting Wednesday night that the DA’s son was just the tip of the iceberg.
“There were other victims that night. David Manz was catching a bus near the courthouse to get to his night shift at Dunkin Donuts. He says about 20 black teenage girls attacked him and were in on the punching, kicking and stomping. He suffered bruises, scrapes and broken ribs.” 573
A member of a gay country western dance group reported that members of his club were also victims of racial violence.
“Three of our CRW friends were also attacked and assaulted on Sunday May 25th 2014 @ 10:00 PM.,” said Tim of the Cincinnati Rivertown Wranglers. “They were jumped and thrown out into the street at Central Pkwy and Walnut. The violence against them was also unprovoked and seemed to be racially motivated as the black teenagers were selecting white victims as people passed by.”
But black mob violence was just getting started then. Before it was over, there would be a shooting, robbings, numerous assaults and even “teens” throwing rocks at police.574
Curiously, the station that first reported the racial violence did not want much to do with the story: “By most accounts, it was a successful weekend for the city of Cincinnati,” said the CBS affiliate news anchor, introducing the first report of the chaos.
Other than that, the play was just fine, Mrs. Lincoln.
We could linger on Cincinnati, with lots more details of racial violence over the Memorial Day weekend. But we have a lot more to cover. Before we move on, let’s just say this: The most difficult part of reporting racial violence in Cincinnati -- and lots of other places -- is looking into the camera and trying to pretend this is not a regular feature of life there. Because it is.
Next stop Chicago. There was almost nothing in the local press about it, but the popular police blog, Second City Cop, is reporting black mob violence all over the city’s downtown over the weekend.
“If anyone listened to zone 4 last night they would have heard that the boyfriend of a young couple was hospitalized after getting the shit beat out of him at Van Buren and State by a couple "urban" youths,” reported the blog. “That multiple car and store windows on North Michigan Ave were smashed by "urban youths". That there was a massive fight between "urban youths" on the Red Line platform at State and Lake that shut down the line. That there were multiple thefts of purses, laptops, phones, etc. by groups of "urban youths" celebrating the holiday.”575
For you out-of-towners, Michigan Avenue is the site of the so-called Gold Coast: The uber-upscale shopping district that is the site of regular and frequent and violent and destructive black mob violence.
Steve Chapman is an editor at the Chicago Tribune who does not like it when people like Second City Cop complain his paper “embargoes” news about racial violence. “Why do you care so much about the attackers’ race?” he wrote. “If you fear or dislike blacks, I suppose it would confirm your prejudice. But otherwise, it tells you nothing useful.” 576
Now you know.