On Skaters and Haters

My story for PW this week was about the increasingly harsh tactics of some members of the Philadelphia Police Department against skateboarders in Center City - and so far, it seems to have caused a little bit of a stir judging by the comments that were posted on the story, roughly 160 unique comments in 48 hours.

What I've noticed about both those comments and my observations while reporting this story, is that skaters are greatly misunderstood. While watching some normal skate action at LOVE, I was amazed by the way these kids seemed to all work together, work out 50 of them all vying to roll urathayne wheels on the same slabs of granite - and some how it just worked. There was this natural ebb and flow to it. And when pedestrians would walk by, sure they eyed skaters with suspicion, but it was just in a watch-out-for-my-ankles kinda way. I remember an older couple - white, upper-crusty, probably in their mid-to-late 60's and they were just watching these kids as they walked through. They didn't change their pace or hurry, but they just watched these little urbanites do their thing. Frankly, skating takes balls. Balls I have never had, but have always admired.

It's easy to hate on skaters, they're usually young, mouthy and not afraid of falling - but what's not easy to do is treat them with a little bit of respect, when all they are are human beings trying to find their way. I watched this little guy, the board more than half his size, trying forever to land a trick. Nothing crazy, looked like something that's kind of simple for the older guys.. but this kid tried and tried and tried.. and finally he got it. And when he did, he didn't need people clapping or cheering (although that does happen there) no, the corners of his mouth turned up a little and he smiled to himself and he charged right back to do it again. It was actually kind of beautiful to witness.

When I hear these stories of how kids are chased by cops, it makes me think, here is this generation of kids that's growing up who is learning that the right way to respond to cops is to run from them, and to be afraid. It just seems to bode bad things for any sort of respect for authority.

I understand, skating is illegal. Skating does damage to public property. But, can't Philly see what it does to alienate youth? Especially this particular subculture of creative and fearless beings? Make no mistake about it, some of them are little shits. But as one of my sources pointed out to me, little shits exist in every form of sport and subset. Little shits play soccer, baseball, basketball.. everything. You know why? because they're kids. And I'm sorry if this activity - which is pretty freakin awesome to watch - is deemed illegal by the city.. but you cannot beat these kids up for doing it. Take their bolts off their wheels and give them a ticket. Fine. Charge them with Tasers? Not fine. Chase them into traffic? Not fine.

You can't teach a kid to have any respect for anything by authority beating them into submission. It's just wrong.

Another thing that I think is wrong, is the generalization that skaters are all jobless losers. Man. That's messed up. Every one that I talked to in sourcing the story - except for the 14 year old kid - has a job. In Philly no less, meaning that not only do they pay taxes, but they pay the dreaded wage tax that Republicans and conservatives blame for flight from the city. Here they are, living, working, paying, breathing, shopping.. and all they wanna do is ride LOVE.

Now, I have little interest in getting involved in the legalization matter - but I will say that I enjoyed watching people skate in preparation for this story. No one gave me a hard time or tried to make me feel uncomfortable - and I'm a chubby, almost-30, white girl. So, I wouldn't mind watching more of it. Also, I wouldn't mind if this city that I love were to embrace this younger generation. Show them that their method of expression is valid. Also, I wouldn't mind if this city would embrace the money of this younger generation. Teenagers who skate all day get thirsty and hungry and they spend money. The X-games and the professionals who headline them bring in spectators, revenue and book hotel rooms.

It just seems like the skateboard ban is doing more harm than good. There has got to be a way to find some common ground here.

Mob-rule vigilante-ism is a crisis of conscience for Phila authorities

Stu Bykosky wrote a tasty little piece for the his Daily News column today where he compared the vigilante justice of beating a rape suspect to picking a scab on your knee as a child. While I understand the icky metaphor he paints, some kind of a slippery slope of opportunity for infection - there is something more icky going on here that I want to comment on:

The city will not be charging any of the people who apprehended and beat the suspect with any crime.

News flash: Assault is assault, and someone who wields a 2x4, striking someone else on the street, should be arrested. Bottom line, because it's assault and that's the law.

Now, I realize I'm skipping some background here. This rape was a truly heinous attack on a little girl, only 11, who was grabbed on her way to school, held and brutalized repeatedly to such an extent that she had to undergo surgery. Very few people will ever understand what that baby had to endure and what she will go through for the rest of her life. Surgical wounds heal, and even if she can have children when she gets older, the emotional scars she will have to live with can never be understated.

I watched the father of that little girl on local television news Tuesday evening when he said that he wanted to be the first one to find Carrasquillo, telling the reporter that if he did, "God knows best" what he would have done. And I instantly shared the same sentiment. If that were my baby, held captive and brutalized on her way to school, I'm not sure what I would do should I be encountered with that attacker alone.

But that said, I would expect to stand for what I had done. If I took the life from that rapist, like he took the innocence from my baby girl, I wouldn't expect the justice system to turn a blind eye to what I had done. And neither should the troupe in Kensington.

While I am happy that the suspect was apprehended, while I am happy that the neighborhood came together to do something for the safety of their streets, and while I don't feel sorry for him at all for the beating that he took, the people who assaulted this man should be charged with assault. Period. Because that's what they did. If restraint should be shown to those citizens who stepped up, then it should be done by a judge. I'm no lawyer or professor. I'm not the mayor or the chief of police, but it's government 101. The police enforce the law while the judiciary interprets the law and evaluates the circumstances surrounding incidents to assess guilt, culpability, whatever you want to call it. I'm not saying anyone should go to jail, but at minimum each person should have to stand before a judge for the role that they played in this attack. That's how that one goes. That's how it's supposed to go anyway.

If the city does nothing here by electing not to charge a single person for the crime that was committed, recorded on video, bragged and accoladed over, then they set a dangerous precedent in a city already plagued by violent crime and disrepect for the rule of law.

You reap what you sow.