Crucible.

So, last night I had the tv on, news going in the background while I was picking up my cluttery living room, when I heard, “Microwaved baby is expected to live…” To which I said WTFing HELL?!

So, I googled it. Apparently the gentleman, just arrived in Galveston, Texas on a personal call from JESUS to start his ministry there, microwaved his baby for at least 30 seconds. WHAT IS WRONG WITH PEOPLE?!

I was shocked to find that there were, in fact, other instances of this type of idiot behavior in the past, taken to the level of homicide. One woman, in Virginia in 1999(if i remember correctly,) murdered her 2 month old baby by folding him in half and stuffing him in the microwave. No one noticed until the next morning when the baby was missing. The Aunt of the mother found the baby dead in the microwave. The woman’s defense was that she has Epileptic seizures and it often disorients her. She apparently MISTOOK the baby for a BOTTLE she was warming. I mean, how is this possible, that is not even comparable. What is most appalling about this is that this woman only received FIVE YEARS in prison for MURDERING HER CHILD IN THE MICROWAVE.

Another woman in 2005(?) in Dayton, Ohio murdered her 1 month old daughter in the microwave. She was arrested shortly after the death but released and not until a year and a half later was she actually arrested and sent to trial and convicted for the killing. I don’t know what her sentence was exactly. But her bond was set at 1 million $, so I am thinking it is probably hefty. AS WELL IT SHOULD BE.

So, while I was reading up on these cases in various news archives on the interweb, I came across something that was nearly as horrid as the crime itself.

Read, if you will:

by Jeff Davis

I occasionally get e-mails wondering why I don’t do more black and immigrant crime columns. Part of the reason is that the blundering insanity of the neocons is so fascinating–it’s like watching a train wreck in slow motion, except we’re all in the train–but another reason is that, as awful as this is for me to admit, over the years the constant flow of black criminality in the news seldom shocks me anymore. You can get overloaded with horror, and most Americans have come to accept the possibility of being raped or murdered or robbed or assaulted by our swarthy fellow citizens just as traffic accidents or cancer randomly strikes people. But every now and then, a black crime story comes along that is so horrific that even jaded observers like me sit up and take notice.

NBC NEWS reports that a black mother in Dayton, Ohio murdered her own infant by jamming her in a microwave and turning it on reheat or possibly the popcorn setting. According to the article, “China Arnold, 26, was jailed Monday on a charge of aggravated murder, more than a year after she brought her dead month-old baby to a hospital.” (It took a whole year to figure out the baby was microwaved???) “Bail was set Tuesday at $1 million. ‘We have reason to believe, and we have some forensic evidence that is consistent with our belief, that a microwave oven was used in this death,’ said Ken Betz, director of the Montgomery County coroner’s office. He said the evidence included high-heat internal injuries and the absence of external burn marks on the baby, Paris Talley. ” (This woman apparently named her baby after the glitterati bimbo Paris Hilton, which is adding insult to injury.)

I won’t get into any more details about this appalling case. Cruelty of this kind to a baby, even a black baby, is simply beyond the pale. But I think we all need to reflect on the disturbing fact that in our society, before she was arrested, the black woman who did this could vote. She could sit on juries, possibly your jury if you were unfortunate enough to be arrested in Dayton, Ohio. In a dozen different ways, this creature might have been placed in some kind of authority or control or some job or place where she affected you and your family. She was a “fellow American.” Then she popped her baby in the microwave. Now multiply this case by a thousand more “China Arnolds” and multiply that by 365 days in a year, and multiply that by the 52 years since the Supreme Court effectively ended segregation.

Fifty-two years of “equality,” and these black individuals among us are still dancing to the beat of the jungle drum, still robbing and raping and killing and whoring and selling drugs to poison young white people, still corrupting and destroying everything they touch, still dragging everyone else down to their level with their rap music, crack and depravity. How long is it going to take for blacks to become civilized? If a black mother could throw her baby in a microwave, what might a young black criminal do to a hated member of the white race???

I just can’t believe that people still think this way. I mean, “…even a black baby.” This guy needs something to fall on his head. I know that there are racist people out there, supremely racist. I suppose I’ve mostly chosen to ignore it, which is not a good tactic. I just can’t believe that anyone would treat another human being badly. Slavery, the things that were done during the Civil Rights Movement, make me want to vomit. I am ASHAMED to be a part of a people that would do something like that. I guess, instead of ignoring it, I should be more vocal.

This is something that actually happened to me when I was working at Kmart. The checkout lines were backed up a bit, and as I work at Customer Services and didn’t have anyone in line there, told the folks who were waiting that I could check them out at my counter. A younger black lady, probably around 30 or so, was first in line. I checked her out and she was on her way. Behind her, an elderly white couple. I would guess their ages to be nearing 80 if not older. The man actually took an advertisement paper from our stack and wiped off the counter and said something to his wife about “…dirty…” something mumbled. Anyway, he wanted to do what he could to rid the counter of her dirty black germs, apparently, before he would lay his merchandise down to be checked out, to avoid tainting as much as possible. Because, god knows, he couldn’t possibly use shampoo that a black person had ALMOST touched. I was so disgusted. I didn’t not want to wait on them. I wish I would have refused them service. Or said something, anything. I looked to see that the black woman hadn’t seen him and she didn’t. I am so glad. I would hate knowing someone thought of me that way, I am glad she didn’t have to know. I didn’t say anything to them. I rang their items as quickly as possible and proceeded with my huge line of people. Perhaps if it hadn’t of been busy I would have said something? Honestly, I was afraid to say something. Not afraid of them or their reaction, but of being so over the top angry and emotional and making a scene and possibly getting in trouble.

I regret not doing anything. I should have. And I am sorry for it.