So, I had been in school for a month now at the university and I notice this flyer being posted around campus which I never paid much attention too. Last weekend, with nothing to do I look at the flyer and it was a picture of my friend. He is Asian by the way, more like south east location from Laos.
The flyer said that Mr. Laotian (name withheld to protect his identity) was jogging in the morning of July 27, between the hours of 7 to 8 AM. When he returns hours later, he was in an extremely bad health.
He seems to have suffered some sort of beating or something must have been done to him. The bruise on his body was so severe that it require immediately medical attention and base on the severances of his bruises, he went into a comatose state when he arrived at the hospital.
Yes, I know the bruises must have been awful. The police went to search where he was supposing to be jogging on campus, and only find a badly beaten up bike. Two months later, he had died while in a coma.
The question left is what happened to him during his daily jog and could he have been a victim of a hate crime? The police had asked anyone who can provide information about what happen to please come forward. So based on the limited information provided, here is what I theorized what happen:
July 27, 2008
7:00 AM Mr. Laotian friend got out of his on campus apartment at the university and proceed to do his daily morning jog,
which lasted between 40 to 60 minutes.
7:05 – 9:00 AM The incident that caused him to had extremely bad bruises
9:00 AM He arrived back to his campus with extremely bad bruises that made it difficult for him to speak.
9:30 AM he arrived at the hospital then went into a comatose state
11:00 AM police find a badly beaten bike about a mile away from where his on campus apartment is.
Next day, police put out a warrant asking anyone with information about how Mr. Laotian got his bruises to please come forward. The Police theorize that he must have an encounter with a car or something of the like; perhaps he was run over by the bike? He then either used all his strength to go back to his on campus apartment or someone must have driven him back to his apartment.
September 25, 2008
Mr. Laotian Friend dies while in his coma. No one had come forward about what had happen to him.
Now, I don’t want to speculate what happen to him but I recently talk to my sister, and she suggest that he could be a product of a hate crime. She suggest that the badly beaten bike could had been a weapon used against Mr. Laotian which could explain his severe bruises therefore causing him to go into comatose state and die two months later.
You see, the southern poverty law center, a website that track down hate group, such as neo-Nazi et al thought out America had listed a KKK group that is about 1 hour away from the university. There is also a report that there is a KKK group, much smaller and less noticeable about 20 minutes away or in the next town.
I don’t want to accused anyone of a hate crime because everybody is innocent until proven guilty but given the limited information that I had received though the flyer about my friend, I suspect that he might had been a victim of a hate crime. What do you think? Had you or your friend ever encounter a hate crime or been a victim of one? Do racism still dominates America today?
The university is within a small town that is extremely progressive. The green party actually held the majority of seats up here. I am shock to discover that such thing could happen here, especially at the university.
What is your experience with racism? Should we as a society talk more about the effect of racism?
Labeling this awful incident as a hate crime may be jumping to conclusions. This may sound strange, but I've actually never heard of a hate crime against someone who was Asian. Of course, a hate crime can be committed against anybody, but I've just never heard of such an incident.
I know plenty of people who are racist, and again, usually Asians aren't at the top of their hate list. Racism is still present in America, and I don't think anything will really change that. The least the rest of us can do is set a good example; that is, don't perpetuate stereotypes and ignorance, such as through racist jokes (too many comedians of all ethnicities are guilty of this) or prejudice.
Race is a bit of a taboo subject in America. People are afraid to talk about it and many others are very sensitive about it. We need to get over ourselves and our sensitivies so we can engage in meaningful conversations about race in America.
Honestly, it kind of sounds like someone on a bike accidentally collided with him, got scared, and ran off, leaving the bike behind. Or maybe they didn't run off and actually talked to your friend, who at the time may have appeared fine, but really had internal bleeding and/or a head injury. But, because he appeared fine, they went their separate ways, the biker leaving his now useless bike behind.
It is tragic, though, what happened to your friend. I hope you and his family are doing ok.
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I know it isn't likely, since the campus was in such a rural area, but maybe he got hit by a car. The car would have hurt his bike very badly, and bruised him as well. The person in the car may have gotten out, asked him if he was okay, and if he was in a state of shock he might have said he was fine. From there, the person driving the car probably gave him a ride back to his apartment.