The story about Bethany Storro has come to a bizarre and sad ending. For those unaware ofthe story, here is the back story: Bethany, a woman from Vancouver, B.C told the police that a woman came up her outside in front a coffee shop, splashed her in the face with a cup that contained acid. When I read the story online and saw it on television, I was horrified by the story because why would someone do that to any people. But when I heard she told police officers that a black woman was the attacker, I said to myself "This is not good." Soon the story received national and international coverage and people were sending their support (financial included) to Heather and her family. Unfortunately, stories like this brought out the hatred in a number of people. Vancouver's online newspaper The Vancouver Sun's message board was bombarded with so much hate filled and racial tinged messages that the organization had to shut it down.
As the days went along, people and some police officers started to question whether or not if the was made up because they could find anyone who saw the incident took place, especially in a public place like outside a coffee shop. A few days later, Storro canceled her appearance on Oprah Winfrey's talk show and within hours later, Storro told the police that the story was a hoax and she splashed herself with acid.
After hearing about the revalation, I felt bad for her because she has some serious mental issues going on because why would she do that to herself. At the same time, I was really mad at her because one again an imaginary black person was blamed for a crime that they had nothing to do with. As black people, we catch enough hell as it is fighting stereotypes, trying to explain the actions of other black folks, and doing the verybest that we can every single day. Why add on to this because we don't need to deal with anymore nonsense.
History of hoaxes
The Storro case of blaming a black person for a crime that they had nothing to do with (this time around it was a black woman) is nothing knew because this country has a sad history of that. in 1931, the Scottsboro boys were found guilty and each one was recieved a death sentence( but was eventually acquitted ) of a crime they did not commit. The case involved two women claimed that the 11 men attacked them even though there wasn't enough evidence to suggest that the crime took place. There are a number of black men throughout the 20th century getting shot, stabbed, lynched and tied and burned to a stake for crimes they had nothing to do with. Remember Charles Stuart, the Boston businessman who in 1989 ,shot his wife, ditched the car and told the police that two black men ran off with his wife and his car. After a city wide manhunt, Stuart eventually killed himself before turning himself in. How about Susan Smith, the South Carolina mother of two young children, who strapped her kids in their seat belts and let the car float into the river. In 1994, she told the police and a nationwide audience that a black man stole her car with the children inside. After a manhunt for every black man in site, Smith later confessed that she was the one that did the crime. In 2008, a Pittsburgh woman working for John McCain's Presidential campaign said that a tall black man attacked her and craved a backwards "B" on her cheek. Later, she said that she was admitted to a psych ward for mental problems after saying she made up the story. Last year, Bonnie Sweeten, a Philadelphia-area woman, said that two black men stole her truck with her daughter inside. Later, it was found out that without telling her family, Sweeten took her daughter to Disneyland in Orlando, Florida and was charged with a number of crimes. The crazy thing about these incidents is that while either they or family address the media, they apologize to the community, the police department, etc. But they never apologize to the black community for putting us through another made story. That is the one that I don't get. They will say I'm sorry to this person, that person, but not one word of guilt, remorse, sorrow to black folks. I just don't understanding in blaming another culture for your stupidity. It just gets sickening after awhile when you hear stories like this.
Conclusion
I hope that Ms. Storro receive enough medical attention and treatment for her issues. At the same time, I just want to know why she did this to her and why she did she blame a black woman for this crime. This story should send to a warning to all people (White, Black, Latin, Asian, Native American,Pacific-Islander) that if you did something to yourself or commit a crime, stop making up stories that a person of a particular race was responsible, even though you were the one that did it. In short, take responsibility of your own actions, develop an open mind and get your s*** together!
