If we're going to have a conversation about race, we should include violent "flash mobs" in the list of conversation topics.  After all, recent flash mob violence is the closest our nation has come to widespread racial strife in over 50 years.

If mobs of white youths were going about chanting the phrase "white boys," beating mostly on blacks and attacking black-owned businesses, then the nation would pay attention.  Academic, media, political, and legal elites would be calling for symposia, expanded reporting, legislation, and lawsuits.

In fact, a mob of black youths in Philadelphia went about chanting the phrase "black boys," beating mostly on whites, and attacking businesses.  The same kind of racial mob violence has occurred in Las Vegas, and just last week in New York City.  Few are paying attention, and liberal elites are largely silent.

Of course, liberal elites are quick to associate white violence with right-wing politics or white supremacy.  But what happens when mob violence is carried out by favored minority groups or liberal constituents?

Time and again over the last few years, mobs of black youths attacked mostly white victims in Philadelphia.  There were at least 6 such mob scenes in Philadelphia during 2009 and 2010.[1]  These black mob attacks, euphemistically named "flash mobs," have not received anything close to the attention they deserve.  In one attack, a mob of blacks beat a young white woman senseless -- a mob that had chanted "black boys" and "burn the city," according to the New York Times.[2]  The 27-year-old woman, Anna Taylor, was attacked viciously last March.  According to local news reports, "a large group of male and female juveniles ganged up on her, kicking and punching her until she fell to the ground, where they continued to kick her in the face and head."[3]  Someone in the mob punched her so hard, the punch "split her upper lip so severely that much of it was hanging from her face and she was unable to speak."  Some reporting has, amazingly, made the simple observation about the racial make-up of these mobs: that they are "mostly African American."

These mob attacks must be viewed in the larger context of interracial violence in America.  Department of Justice statistics show that 33% of white murder victims are killed by a non-white while only 8% of black murder victims are killed by a non-black.[4]  Even greater disparities exist in violent crime and robbery.[5]  The disparity in interracial crime is certainly indicative of some form of extremism, racial hostility, or selective targeting.  The mobs reflect something worse: organized and widespread anti-white ethnic violence.

Flash mobs have taken to randomly attacking pedestrians and businesses.  This problem has potentially serious implications: a subset of the population has limited self-control, was not raised to control violent impulses, and evidently gets pleasure out of hurting other people -- particularly people of other races.  This type of person usually has done nothing to create anything of value, but rather destroys for pleasure.  They organize using social media, and their goal is mayhem.  They have been coddled and socialized by the welfare state and public education system.  With an aggressive sense of entitlement, and no regard for others, they will predictably become more violent.  The mobs reflect an undesirable character type, and the vast majority of those in "flash mobs" are of the same race.

Now, the cultural enrichment of "flash mobs" is spreading to New York City.  In Greenwich Village last week, security video captured "a group of youths climbing on counters, throwing chairs and throwing tables in a violent attack on workers" at a Dunkin' Donuts.  This was the second such attack on Greenwich Village businesses in a week.  Watching the video, one is struck by the extraordinarily callous behavior of the teens, who were all black -- a fact not mentioned in any of the reporting about that attack.  Unlike the case with many acts of violence, certain youths are evidently becoming more and more comfortable with public, organized group violence.  When we see behavior this terrible, political elites often ask about root causes: What kind of environment did the attackers come from?  What kind of politics or ideology did they have? 

Examples are numerous: Before having any facts, liberal elites like Paul Krugman blamed the Arizona shootings on "toxic rhetoric" and the "climate of hate" created by Glenn Beck, Rush Limbaugh, and conservatives.  When lone extremists commit violence against abortion doctors, organizations like NOW blame the "pro-life" movement.  When there is some fanciful, theoretical possibility that returning veterans could be recruited by extremist organizations, the Department of Homeland Security takes note.  In 2009, the DHS released a report claiming that "the return of military veterans" could expand the pool of extremists.[6]  DHS was so eager to make connections between politics and violence they concluded that "white supremacist lone wolves pose the most significant domestic terrorist threat."[7]  If this is the way liberal elites make connections between politics and violence, then shouldn't they respond to black "flash mobs" in a similar manner?

Yet, the racial aspect of the "flash mob" phenomenon is not seriously covered in the mainstream media.  This is proof of systematic racial bias in reporting, and a failure of leadership across the board in our society.  The mainstream media is in effect using a filtering process that downplays violence by blacks against whites.  The result is that a significant social problem is not being addressed.

The media filtering process undermines society's interest in safety.  When any ethnic group is subjected to group violence, the press has a duty to report the underlying facts.  Flash mobs are the closest our nation has come to widespread racial strife in over 50 years.  Flash mobs, if unaddressed, will evolve into further racist attacks against whites.  By failing to report acts of ethnic violence, by any race, the press fails part of its role in our democracy.  Moreover, if our legal, political, and academic leadership had more intellectual and moral integrity, the "flash mob" would be taken as seriously as "hate speech," racial profiling, and other non-violent offenses against minority feelings.

Notes

[1] Kitty Caparella and Stephanie Farr, Another Flash Mob Rocks South Street; In the 'Tsunami,' Chants of 'Burn the City!', Philadelphia Daily News, Mar 22, 2010. 8.

[2] That reporting is corroborated. See Kitty Caparella and Stephanie Farr, Another Flash Mob Rocks South Street; In the 'Tsunami,' Chants of 'Burn the City!', Philadelphia Daily News, Mar 22, 2010. 8.

[3] Ibid., 8.

[4] Violent State Prisoners and Their Victims, Department of Justice Bureau of Justice Statistics 5, July 1990 quoted in James B. Jacobs and Kimberly Potter, Hate Crimes: Criminal Law and Identity Politics 17 (1998).

[5] Ibid., 17.

[6] Rightwing Extremism: Current Economic and Political Climate Fueling Resurgence in Radicalization and Recruitment. Office of Intelligence and Analysis Assessment. U.S. Dept. of Homeland Security. Apr. 7, 2009. 2.

[7]Ibid., 7.