Community? NOT.


Good.

There was one line in the story that kind of torqued me off, though.
Jessica Abels, who lives near the spot on Cronk Avenue near Illinois Avenue where the woman was found walking bloodied and naked, said she looked out the window when she heard a woman screaming for help around 2 p.m. Sept. 26.
She saw the woman jump out the window of a nearby vacant home, she said. 
"Her eyes were all swollen and she had blood all over her and in her mouth," Abels said. "She was pretty messed up." 
That's when the community jumped into action. 
Several area residents offered the 21-year-old woman clothing and comfort while a man who holds a valid concealed pistols license ordered the suspect out of the house at gunpoint, according to Flint police.
Emphasis mine.

Now, gather 'round and listen closely, ye who would claim to be reporters.  I know that you have almost certainly been taught that "social justice" and "journalism" are effectively synonyms. However, now that you are actually out in the real world, and doing real reporting, please do us all a favor, put that attitude away on the shelf next to your diploma, and keep that SJW nonsense out of the freaking facts of the matter, will you?

The "community", whatever the heck you think that is, did not "jump into action".

Individual people saw what was happening.  Each individual then made a personal decision to step up and do something.

I am pretty sure that things happened quickly enough in this case that the "community" was not involved at any point.

I sincerely doubt that a "community" meeting was called in order to reach consensus and collectively decide the proper course of action vis-a-vis this situation.

I will admit that I cannot be absolutely positive this was the case.  However, I do believe the circumstantial evidence is on my side.

Note the complete lack of a hashtag campaign, for example.  The absence of a slipshod protest against the dirty Koch Brothers and the notable absence of any "organizers" on the scene is a pretty good indication that the "community" was not involved.

Finally and most importantly, there is the simple fact that something was actually accomplished, which in my experience is a near-certain indication that the wonderfully ambiguous and amorphous "community" was not involved in any way, shape, or form.

"Community", my shiny metal... er.

Sorry.  Channeled a bit to much of my  inner Tam there.


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