Missing in Aruba and Racial Profiles in Gang Banging!

I have always found it a curious thing that so many of my black American friends admit anxiety whenever a high profile crime hits the 24/7 streaming media in the United States. They confess that this anxiety stems from the irrational fear that if the culprit turns out to be black it would reflect badly on them. (Coincidentally, many of my Muslim friends have been suffering similar bouts of anxiety ever since 9/11.)

Well, as much as I hate to admit it, as an Islander – I experienced similar feelings of anxiety when news about the mysterious disappearance of a blonde girl on the island of Aruba hit the shores of America like a tsunami a couple weeks ago. And, those feelings were only exacerbated by the constant broadcasting of the made for television arrest of a black suspect, as if it were as newsworthy as the capture of Osama bin Laden.

Racial profile of the usual suspect: Arrest seen around the world of a probably innocent man being dragged from his home in handcuffs

But a few days ago, three white boys were also arrested in connection with this case. And, based on what little is known, they seem like prime suspects for involvement in her disappearance. Indeed, reports are that this girl we now know as Natalee Holloway (visiting Aruba on a high-school holiday) was last seen driving off with them voluntarily – even if puke drunk.

(I feel constrained to declare before continuing that no matter how drunk the woman, she does not deserve to be treated like prey by a pack of two-legged hyenas with dicks for brains!)

At any rate, it was the wee hours of the morning and they were headed to points unknown where, evidently, the boys had their way with her before kicking her to the curb back at her hotel. At this point, according to their story, two black security guards came along scavenging for sloppy seconds (or fourths and fifths as the case might be) and took her away. They claim that that was the last they saw of her. That’s their story and they seem to be sticking to it!

The gang-banging trio who are pointing the finger at black natives for the heinous crime they’re suspected of committing. (By the way, did anyone see them being dragged from their homes in handcuffs?)

I have to admit that the arrest of these boys brought on another curious sensation: the same relief (even schadenfreude) many blacks apparently feel when notorious crimes initially reported to have been committed by fellow blacks turn out instead to have been perpetrated by whites. (Perhaps some of you recall the range of emotions when Charles Stuart of Boston gained national infamy by murdering his pregnant wife and then blaming a black man for his crime.)

Well, the mystery of the missing girl in Aruba is still unfolding. Clearly only those involved know what happened. But what we all know beyond any reasonable doubt is that those white boys pointed the finger at the black security guards because they assumed racial profiling would virtually guarantee that no one who mattered would question their word or believe the black men’s claims of innocence. Indeed, it is a testament to the incriminating power of this perverse assumption that, despite having no evidence against them, Aruba police are still holding the black men behind bars based solely on the word of these three alleged gang bangers.

Natalee Hollaway: Victim? Yes, but also decidedly stupid and irresponsible. After all, no good girl gets into a car in the dark of night with 3 men she just met; unless of course, she’s in a hurry to become a very bad girl indeed!

Meanwhile, desperate to salvage his tourism industry, Aruba’s PM Nelson Oduber insists that “hope is still alive” for Holloway, even though most law enforcement officials believe is already dead. Therefore, the only truly helpful thing to say at this point would be to admonish young girls who think it’s cool to go to bars (at home or abroad) and drink themselves into a drunken stupor, that such behaviour is not only hazardous their health but can also get them gang banged or even killed!

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