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More racial tension in the North Country

by on August 12th, 2010

We blogged last month about an alleged case of racial bullying in Saranac Lake’s public schools.  Now the Post-Star is reporting on a dust-up in Glens Falls where a white man allegedly threatened to hang a black neighbor.

“He said, ‘This is what I’m going to hang your black ass with,'” the alleged victim, Toi Rucker, told police.

The suspect, George M. Allen, 31, of Fredella Avenue faces a felony count of criminal possession of a weapon and misdemeanor count of menacing after the incident on Fredella Avenue, Glens Falls Police Sgt. Michelle Arnold said.

Allen was allegedly brandishing a home-made noose when he made the threat.

4 Comments on “More racial tension in the North Country”

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  1. newt says:
    August 12, 2010 at 6:55 pm

    Racial Tension?

    Maybe so, I am not intimately informed of either incident, but I think the following points might be considered.

    First, the Saranac Lake incident sounds like more or less classic bullying to me. In such incidents, the aggressors pick on any characteristics of the victims that make them appear, to some, to be weaknesses or deviations from the norm. Uncool clothes, nerdiness, chubbiness, wearing glasses, and so forth, are all weapons use by bullies. That poor girl who was hounded to death in Mass. was even picked on for being Irish! It makes, sense, unfortunately, that the victim’s race would also be used as a verbal by class-deficient youthful bullies. While this should certainly not be tolerated, it is hardly indicative of profound racism. Just low-life-ism.

    The Glens Falls incident may be an adult version of this, though the noose business certainly puts it over the top, and deserving of the police reaction.

    Finally, my wife and I are coming up on our third anniversary of our adopting two children from Africa, now aged 9 and 11. To our knowledge, they have experienced zero, none, incidents of racism in the North Country, or anywhere else in our travels in the U.S.

    I could be wrong, but I think you are overdoing by looking for a trend here.

  2. knuckleheadedliberal says:
    August 12, 2010 at 7:21 pm

    Swastika tattoo. Loser. (am I allowed to make comments like that if it is pretty clear that the guy is a loser? I think a swastika tattoo is pretty good evidence he’s a loser. I mean, I’m all for the benefit of the doubt, maybe someone forced him to get the tattoo, but it isn’t likely)

    http://poststar.com/news/local/article_7f4b1064-a657-11df-9ecb-001cc4c002e0.html

  3. PNElba says:
    August 12, 2010 at 10:15 pm

    A loser and a career criminal it appears.

  4. Brian says:
    August 13, 2010 at 2:01 pm

    The P-S also reported that the guy had a previous arrest for threatening to kill another black guy using another racial epithet.

    Glens Falls doesn’t have many unpleasant areas but where this incident happened (virtual tenements near the Finch paper mill) is one of the few.

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