The Holy Grail of racial violence finally arrived. The story that deniers of black mob violence have talked about many times. But never produced.
Could we finally have a recent case of racial mob violence that involved someone other than black people? Were Asians running amok in Des Moines, Iowa, of all places? Fighting and firing guns and causing mayhem on the grounds of the state Capitol?
That is what a reasonable person might assume from the local stories following a May 2013 incident. 600
This would require some high-level investigative reporting. So with the world’s most famous Asian athlete battling on the golf course in the background, I got to work.
The headlines from a local TV station tantalized: Teens fight at CelebrAsian. The story revealed how a large group of people were fighting in and around this annual festival of Asian culture. When they left they found a nearby place to fight some more. Someone fired a gun.
First stop: Des Moines police department. But we would not be talking to Lori Lavorato, the police spokeswoman during the last incident of widespread racial violence in Des Moines.
Correct that: The last incident we heard about in Des Moines.
Lavorato got fired for telling the truth about racial violence during the Beat Whitey Night at the Iowa State Fair. Now she is selling real estate.601
A recap: In 2010 at the Iowa State Fair, large groups of black people were assaulting patrons to the Iowa State Fair. It happened three nights in a row.
During one of the “string of attacks” a black mob beat a white man until his skull fractured. The next day, another mob was fighting and destroying property and police were attacked when they tried to break it up. While trying to subdue a suspect, several members of the mob attacked the officers on the ground, kicking and punching them.
Three police went to the hospital. Tasers and pepper spray were deployed.
“They were running around like a swarm of bees,” Lavorato said. One police officer said in a report that some were shouting it was “Beat Whitey Night.602
Remember now?
Back to Celebrasian. Back to tracking down the so-far mythical claim that none of this violence has anything to do with race. That is because everyone does it.
Even Asians. We had to get to the bottom of this.
Most of the news accounts were no help. According to the Des Moines Register, a large group of young people was standing around near the festival. These people, “when asked, declined to come participate in the event.”603
KCCI News 8 was a bit more explicit: “Authorities said a group of teenagers was asked to leave the festival.”604
WHO news added more: “Police say a large group of juveniles got into a fight at the festival. The dispute then continued a few blocks away. That’s when someone fired one shot.”605
While I waited at the airport for my private jet to take me to Des Moines (OK, that did not happen) I posted a plea for more information at the Register news site. Matt Thao responded:
The mob involved 80 - 100 people. At the sound of the gunfire, cops drew their guns and took cover behind the trees. And the Indian Food wasn’t spicy enough and the bubble tea line was too long, Thao said.606
But still no news on the central mystery of the day: Were Asian people firing guns, getting into fights and causing mayhem at the Asian festival?
WHO TV provided a video clue: The news showed several people in custody for questioning. All black.
Finally, I spoke to a police officer. And that officer did not ask me to withhold his or her name, but I am going to anyway. “The crowd was made up of African Americans,” he said.
The search for the Holy Grail continues.
Meanwhile, Monday morning, two days after the black mob violence in Des Moines, the Register ran an editorial bemoaning the fact that black people were over represented in the state’s prison system:607
“Indeed, it cannot be disputed that the presence of so many African-Americans — men and women, juveniles and mothers — in Iowa’s prisons is aggravating those societal problems.”
Guess you have to be careful what you dispute in Iowa.
O.K. So Celebrasian was a false alarm: There was no large group of Asian people fighting, firing guns, acting out ... You know the drill.
If you want to see a real non-black riot, you are going to have to go to Newark, Delaware, home of the Fighting Blue Hens.