A commenter to an earlier post linked to this chart over at Open Salon (I don’t really know what that is, by the way). It purports to document rightwing violence versus leftwing violence. It seems to be crafted in good faith, but it is ridiculous.
The creator, Greg Correll divides it into “Left/Libertarian-Far Left” and “Far Right – Right/Libertarian.” I can only assume some libertarians will find this tales you win, heads we lose dichotomy annoying.
But what’s really troubling is how Correll considers any band of white goons to qualify as “rightwing.” Here are some of his examples of rightwing violence:
Two Mexican men fishing at a jetty in Rocky Point are asked for their green cards, then beaten and robbed by four teens. The teens punch and kick the men, take their money and accuse them of stealing jobs from U.S. citizens. All four are charged with felony robbery and assault as hate crimes. Daniel Sturgis eventually pleads guilty to thirddegree assault as a hate crime and second-degree robbery and is sentenced to two years in state prison. Nicholas Provenzano is convicted of charges related to the attack, but his sentencing is deferred. The two others are charged as juveniles. (The Associated Press, June 15, 2006) (immigrant attacks in Suffolk County, NY)
And:
Sept. 22More than a dozen teens throw rocks, sticks and logs at Sergio Yanza’s house in Patchogue as he and others sit on the porch. The teens also shout disparaging remarks about “Spanish” people. Yanza is hit in the back of the head with a rock and suffers a cut requiring eight stitches. (The New York Times, Jan. 9, 2009) (immigrant attacks in Suffolk County, NY).
And:
Conroy and Christopher Overton, another teenager later implicated in the Lucero murder, allegedly attack a Latino man, Joaquín Gutiérrez, in Patchogue. (Newsday, Jan. 29, 2009) (immigrant attacks in Suffolk County, NY)
Are there really sane people in America who think that all violence committed by white thugs against non-white people is “rightwing”? Does that mean violence committed by black or Latino thugs against whites is “leftwing”?
If so, you could no doubt include thousands of similar crimes by black or Hispanic teens against whites. I was mugged by black kids growing up more than once. And even though their motivation was clearly to mug a white kid (at least that’s what they suggested) it never occurred to me to think these were “left wing crimes.”
When O.J. Simpson murdered his wife, was that leftwing? Considering how the black left at the time made any number of excuses for O.J., that’s more plausible (though still ridiculous) than half Correll’s examples of “rightwing” violence.
The author even leaves off his list the Rodney King riots — where white people were dragged out of their cars and beaten for being white. The riots were celebrated by quite a few people on the left as a legitimate “rebellion.”
The more I think about it the more I suspect it’s a waste of time to respond to this thing. There are just so many absurdities to it. But if you read the comments section it’s as if they take it seriously and I couldn’t resist.