May 11, 2006 2:19pm
Why We Posted the ‘Fight Club’ Videos
EmailWe posted this story not to make stars out of the thugs, but to draw attention to a disturbing trend.
As others have noted, there is something very deep-rooted about what is happening here.
Dana Hughes of our staff posted a story tracing the connections of certain hip-hop radio stations to similar cases around the country.
If DJs are urging listeners to attack people and record it on video, shouldn’t they face prosecution too?
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I have been the victim of a fight club assault. I tried to run from a group of young men, but because of my obesity I collapsed and got the beating of my life. I could tell they were hip hop fanatics – because as they kicked my ample bottom they were singing “baby got back”. Is this the end of civilization?
Posted by: C Houed | May 11, 2006, 3:23 pm 3:23 pm
If DJs are promoting listeners to commit criminal offenses such as assault, arson, or worse then yes, they should be held accountable as accessories to the fact. The individuals who provided weapons to Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold who later commited the Columbine Massacre were held accountable.
The actions of this DJs put the community at risk and they had the intent to incite violence in the same vein as a riot leader incites their followers to disobey law.
I am appreciative of those African-American leaders who are holding the DJs responsible. Hopefully, the District Attorney will file charges.
Posted by: Lloyd | May 11, 2006, 3:52 pm 3:52 pm
I say let them kill eachother.
Posted by: JJ | May 11, 2006, 4:55 pm 4:55 pm
A few months ago, I had to walk through a crowd of teenagers to get to my destination. As I went through the crowd, one of the kids bumped into me, called me a explicit name and tried to hit me. I am 5′ 11″ and medium build and this kid was larger, but unfortunately for him I knew how to take care of myself. When he tried to swing at me, I blocked him hard to stun his arm and jabbed him in his solar plexis. A friend of his said something to me and he tried to hit me, I countered before he did and basically knocked him down, I immediately swung around waiting for the next attacker, but by that time, the kids gave me a lot of clearance, and with that I was able to get through the crowd. I know that the DJs basically incited the teens to act out, but today there seems to be less courtesy and respect for other people. Many values seem to have been lost in practically a generation and for this I am saddened.
Posted by: dale johnston | May 11, 2006, 5:50 pm 5:50 pm
My only comment is that these type of videos have been circulating for a couple of years now and prior to this..the participants were mostly caucasion and these type of newstories were non-existent…It troubles me to think that this type of behavior wasn’t given the a bad rap until the participants were brown and ” hip hop”…this story is racist in nature..paint the whole picture…
Posted by: Bob | May 11, 2006, 5:53 pm 5:53 pm
Thsi story is not racist. I think the kids in this video need to be made to work our in the fields for the farmers. I am against illegal aliens however they are some of the most peaceful and repectful people I have met. White or black they need to know what it’s like to work hard for a living.
Posted by: Greg | May 11, 2006, 8:02 pm 8:02 pm
If you are looking for someone to blame for these fight club videos, all you really need to do is look into a mirror. Let me give you all a quick and dirty on internet mass media. In any sector of media before anything is broadcasted all of the people involved get paid first. Now say you own a site that features free content (audio, video, pictures, and ECT.). You get paid by companies that sell products when you post their ads (and pop-ups) on your site. Those companies get their money from selling products to people that visit the site. Now it only makes sense that if no one visited sites that had videos of young people beating each other up, and nobody bought products from the companies that fund those sites, those sites and the demand for that kind of content go away Sadly, most of us would rather watch a video of a brutal assault than something educational. Moreover, there is the “who cares” factor to consider. The radio company broadcasts to millions of people everyday. If say 7 million people (about the population of New York City), wrote in, e-mailed, or called in to say that they would no longer listen to their station, nor would they buy products from any of their sponsors because of fight club footage seen on the radio stations web site, the radio company would rip the video from the web site and issue a public apology so fast it would make your head spin. ABC, believe it or not, IS DOING THEIR JOB, by making these videos available for debate and discussion in this forum. If people really cared about things like this happening there would be 1000’s of posts instead of the handful there are now.
Posted by: Damon | May 11, 2006, 11:01 pm 11:01 pm
After reading the posts regarding the violence of these “random acts”, I am amazed at those who are amazed at this. All we need to do is look at our culture – it glorifies violence. We are extremely puritannical when it comes to nudity or love scenes but bring on all the violence one can stomach!!! Why are people so surprised? Look around you folks. Go to Europe and see how there is very little violence (in comparison to US) – WHY! I believe it has to do with the fact that there is little violence on TV or in the movies. It all goes together folks.
Posted by: Anna | May 12, 2006, 3:35 pm 3:35 pm
I’ve been a hip-hop fan for many years. I am white, 35 years old and possess two bachelor’s degree and two master’s degrees.
In my personal experience there has always been a thread of violence in hip-hop, even before the West Coast Gangsta Rap phenomena of the early 90’s. But, never in my 20 years of being a hip hop fan have I heard a radio DJ incite violence. In fact, our hip-hop and urban disc jockeys in Chicago seem to have regular “stop the music” campaigns to talk about violence, drugs, teen pregnancy and political issues.
I believe that when it comes to hip-hop, art imitates life more often than life imitates art. I would be interested to see a statistical analysis that correlates instances of physical violence with music type, and press coverage. My guess is that this “disturbing” trend is a statistical anomaly.
Posted by: A Mar | May 12, 2006, 4:12 pm 4:12 pm
Reporting a story and providing the videos to the public are two entirely different things. Intent is irrelevant. What you meant to do doesn’t matter; only what you have done matters.
In providing these videos to the public, you HAVE made stars of these boys, and given them just what they want. You have given the sick people who pay for this sort of thing free and unlimited access to it. You should be ashamed.
Posted by: Becky | May 12, 2006, 5:10 pm 5:10 pm
When the fighting is mutual I think they should get it out of their systems. However, I own a martial arts school and try to curb violence by encouraging self-control and self-esteem. Unfortunately my awareness failed me slightly one night. I am 5’6″ and about 150 lbs. I was walking to the back parking lot of my studio, I got about a quarter of the way alongside the building on one side and the parked cars on the other, Suddenly out pop four figures, two are atleast 6′, 180 lbs., one is closer to my size but bigger and the fourth I lost track of momentarily. As I heard come on let’s get him-I thought about running between the cars. But I felt I wouold surely produce the pounce mentality. I had my surefire flashlight in hand, put it to my chest, changed my facial expression, and body language and walked to my right. As we got closer I heard let’s get him. I placed my hand on my folder and the two biggest guys hugged the building as tight as they could. The guy my size actually stopped with the fourth figure, a small female, as I passed by him with my flashlight pointed right in his eyes. He felt a little abandoned because his buddies were shaking their heads-no. He never looked at me or saw the flashlight pointed at him. The small female tried one more time to eg them on but I was able to keep walking unmolested. I got in my car and left. My point here is I was in fear of my life because of the verbal threats,their numbers, and my size difference. They may have been thinking a fun beating and fisticuffs. I was thinking survival. That all could have turned out very ugly for everyone, thankfully it did not.
Posted by: arnisador | May 21, 2006, 4:43 pm 4:43 pm