Bethany Storro was once the target of the nation's sympathy, but she is slowly becoming the target of the nation's suspicion. The 28-year-old Storro, who is deaf, said that she was the victim of a random attack. According to Storro, a young black woman came up to her and said, "Hey, pretty girl," before throwing a cup of acid in to her face.
The attack on Storro, which allegedly took place on August 30, grabbed international headlines. She was even scheduled to appear on the 'Oprah.'
That's when reporters started asking a lot of questions.
According to Storro, the injuries to her nose and face did not affect her eyesight, because she was wearing sunglasses, but one reporter asked her why she was wearing sunglasses when it was nearly sunset. The reporter also asked how Storro could hear what the woman was saying when she is deaf.
The suspicions of the reporter were accelerated by the fact that many homeless people in the park on the night Storro was attacked said she was all alone when she fell to the ground screaming. While the incident is still under investigation, it is known that Storro canceled her scheduled appearance on 'Oprah' without giving producers a reason for her decision.
On her Facebook page, Storro simply said she canceled because "the show was going to possibly turn into another direction, so my family and I decided not to go on."
One must sincerely hope that the reports that Storro is making this up are untrue. If it were the case that Storro did indeed fabricate the incident, there is obvious reason for concern.
It's sad that when many people have lied about being attacked, they were quick to say that a black man or woman did the crime; Susan Smith, the woman who drowned her two children, blamed it on a black man. There was also the infamous incident in Boston nearly 20 years ago, when Charles Stuartkilled his pregnant wife and said that a black man did it. Finally, there was the case this May, in which a Philly police sergeant, Charles Ramsey, said he was shot by a black man but actually shot himself.
The world is a crazy place.
Clearly, these accusations contribute to racial profiling. African Americans are more likely to be suspected of crimes and are therefore more likely to be searched, arrested and incarcerated for crimes, even when they didn't commit them. This is the nature of America and the nation we've been for the past 400 years. Unfortunately, things aren't going to change anytime soon.
09-Sep-10 - Prominent gospel music artist Marvin Sapp recently lost his wife, MaLinda Sapp, to colon cancer. The couple had been married for 15 years and they had three children.
09-Sep-10 - Prominent gospel music artist Marvin Sapp recently lost his wife, MaLinda Sapp, to colon cancer. The couple had been married for 15 years and they had three children.
09-Sep-10 - San Jose State University student Courtney Howard said she and other pledges were warned that 'snitches get stitches' while they were punched, kicked and paddled during their initiation by four Sigma Gamma Rho sorority members.
09-Sep-10 - George Grier, who lives in Long Island, was arrested for using an AK-47 assault rifle to protect his family from gang members who were threatening to hurt them.
08-Sep-10 - Rodney King, whose senseless beating by the Los Angeles police became fodder for news outlets worldwide, became engaged to one of the jurors who awarded him a $3.8 million settlement in a civil suit against the LAPD.
03-Sep-10 - African-American males in Detroit between the ages of 15 and 24 are dying at a rate that is roughly seven times higher than the rest of the Detroit population.
02-Sep-10 - Hip-hop zillionaire 50 Cent, who is no stranger to drug arrest, offered fellow rapper T.I. and his wife, Tameka "Tiny" Cottle, some advice on how to best deal with the recent felony charge that they're facing for possession of a controlled substance.
02-Sep-10 - Iconic rapper T.I., 29, and his new bride, Tameka Cottle, 35, a TV reality star, were arrested Wednesday night in West Hollywood and booked on felony possession of a controlled substance charge.
31-Aug-10 - The eldest of John McCain's four children, Meghan has now publicly revealed her feelings about Sarah Palin in her new book, 'Dirty Sexy Politics.'
27-Aug-10 - Alveda King's decision to join forces with Fox News host Glenn Beck during his bogus March on Washington is likely one of the most shocking and extraordinary political events in recent months.
More serious than this is that innocent people and infact whole communities come under suspcion, this is nothing new and is not limited to america alone, just as this imagine is flashed all around the world those with sterio typical views take it all in, i suspected her from the begining but i said you know what give her the benefit of the doubt, not only did i suspect her but i suspected her parents, them seemed to jolly, people like that are wicked, they are always looking for a escape clause, and that escape clause 9/10 is us!it's not just with crime but you can cast the net wider, we always have to be aware when we are given an opportunity they are waiting for us to mess up and then to turn around and say i told you so, this is nothing new.
Veronica, she might not be pretty in your opinion and I do not refute your belief. However, the media has made White women into the beauty objects that most women have bought into! As we have heard from many delusional minded White people, many believe that ALL Black women want to look like them!
Unfortunately, many Black women have bought into this nonsense and have proved their points! The wearing of green, blue eye contacts! The applying bleaches to their skin to lighten it! The putting extension in their hair to have it as long as MANY White women's hair, although we can have our own long hair! Blame this nonsense on the perpetrator yes, she obviously need serious attention onto herself. However, we have to see the bigger picture, media is at fault, people are envious of anything that is not like them is at fault and self-hate of oneself is at fault! Today, White folks are now injecting their lips, buttocks and tanning the hell out of their skin, along with perming in curls! Whose advocating to be your OWN beautiful self???
If she did do this to herself she should be mandated to a psychiatric ward because she's some serious issues-and they’re not with black people either.If she did do this to herself- most likely this woman has a whole lot of self hatred issues. And I will go as far as to say-if she did do this to herself-then for awhile prior to disfiguring herself-she probably had issues with what she saw when she looked in the mirror.
There's a name for that type of perception of one's self-if she did do this to herself.
This woman said that a young black woman came up to her and said “hey pretty girl” before throwing a cup of acid in her face.This could be true because 9 out of 10 this woman reads lips.She didn’t say she heard the young woman say-she said the young woman said (there’s a difference). Someone who has been lip reading for years will express their self in this way.
The reporter should’ve asked an open ended question-like “are you sure?” Or "how do you know that’s what she said?”
This same reporter also asked the woman “why was she wearing sunglasses and it was nearly sunset"? Most people don’t remove their sunglasses until the sun has completely set. A meteorologist can best explain why even when the sun isn’t shinning-you should wear sunglasses.
There’s a huge difference between sunset and nearly sunset, as well as almost dark outside and dark outside. One thing is clear and that’s-if the acid didn’t get into her eyes (thank God) then she had to have something shielding them, whether it was sunglasses or something else.
It seems to me that this reporter was so quick to crack the case or one-up on the other reporters… he/she neglected to ask the right questions-that would’ve lead to clearer answers.
So let me get this straight, we suspect that she is racist and hates blacks, so she schedules to hang out on a black woman's show to talk about the attack. Basic logic fail folks.
Deaf does not mean you can't hear at all (look up the actual definition). Usher has certainly worn sunglasses at dusk and later.
And the "reporter" (really a blogger) has been accused of fabricating sources before:
It should have been clear to all black people that whites and other nonblacks have been using systemic anti-black bigotry (they know it exists) to cover their criminality for centuries.
There have been countless incidents where these nonblacks have been proven to be the culprits, yet they told authorities it was some black person.
When I first saw the composite drawing, I left a comment that I was surprised black people had so little knowledge of anthropology to not be able to see that the drawing was a Latina or mulatta - but that calling that drawing a black woman, was a stretch.
I wondered why no blacks, but myself, saw this. Well, it turns out this so-called victim is probably a psycho who burned herself to get some attention. She even claimed the black woman was motivated by her "good looks". Please that girl looks like Elmer Fudd's daughter.
My people - we got to be able to solve this nonsense quick and not get taken down all manner of dead-end road by other anti-black bigots. That's what black people allowed to happen because they couldn't even see (with their own eyes) that the drawing WAS NOT a black woman.
PS: I mentioned in my earlier comment that the US media always does this. They run with the accusations of these bigots cause the US is anti-black at it's core (and makes lots of $$$$ disparaging blacks).
It is our responsibility, as black people, to bring the clarity. The rest of the population are little more the programmed, anti-black mutants (unbeknownst to them of course).
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Dr. Boyce Watkins is the founder of the Your Black World Coalition and a Scholarship in Action resident of the Institute for Black Public Policy. To have Dr. Boyce's commentary delivered to your e-mail, please click here. 
Comments: (20)
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By: rightorwrong on 9/18/2010 5:54AM
More serious than this is that innocent people and infact whole communities come under suspcion, this is nothing new and is not limited to america alone, just as this imagine is flashed all around the world those with sterio typical views take it all in, i suspected her from the begining but i said you know what give her the benefit of the doubt, not only did i suspect her but i suspected her parents, them seemed to jolly, people like that are wicked, they are always looking for a escape clause, and that escape clause 9/10 is us!it's not just with crime but you can cast the net wider, we always have to be aware when we are given an opportunity they are waiting for us to mess up and then to turn around and say i told you so, this is nothing new.
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By: veronica on 9/16/2010 12:39AM
She is NOT that pretty, nor is she even nearly pretty enough to send someone into an envious rage because of her looks.
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By: Godzilla on 9/17/2010 7:30PM
That's ALL you can come up with, attacking her looks?? what a DEEP mind you have. lol
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By: Blkqwn7 on 9/30/2010 3:47PM
Veronica, she might not be pretty in your opinion and I do not refute your belief. However, the media has made White women into the beauty objects that most women have bought into! As we have heard from many delusional minded White people, many believe that ALL Black women want to look like them!
Unfortunately, many Black women have bought into this nonsense and have proved their points! The wearing of green, blue eye contacts! The applying bleaches to their skin to lighten it! The putting extension in their hair to have it as long as MANY White women's hair, although we can have our own long hair! Blame this nonsense on the perpetrator yes, she obviously need serious attention onto herself. However, we have to see the bigger picture, media is at fault, people are envious of anything that is not like them is at fault and self-hate of oneself is at fault! Today, White folks are now injecting their lips, buttocks and tanning the hell out of their skin, along with perming in curls! Whose advocating to be your OWN beautiful self???
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By: poetrysez on 9/16/2010 5:39AM
If she did do this to herself she should be mandated to a psychiatric ward because she's some serious issues-and they’re not with black people either.If she did do this to herself- most likely this woman has a whole lot of self hatred issues. And I will go as far as to say-if she did do this to herself-then for awhile prior to disfiguring herself-she probably had issues with what she saw when she looked in the mirror.
There's a name for that type of perception of one's self-if she did do this to herself.
This woman said that a young black woman came up to her and said “hey pretty girl” before throwing a cup of acid in her face.This could be true because 9 out of 10 this woman reads lips.She didn’t say she heard the young woman say-she said the young woman said (there’s a difference). Someone who has been lip reading for years will express their self in this way.
The reporter should’ve asked an open ended question-like “are you sure?” Or "how do you know that’s what she said?”
This same reporter also asked the woman “why was she wearing sunglasses and it was nearly sunset"? Most people don’t remove their sunglasses until the sun has completely set. A meteorologist can best explain why even when the sun isn’t shinning-you should wear sunglasses.
There’s a huge difference between sunset and nearly sunset, as well as almost dark outside and dark outside. One thing is clear and that’s-if the acid didn’t get into her eyes (thank God) then she had to have something shielding them, whether it was sunglasses or something else.
It seems to me that this reporter was so quick to crack the case or one-up on the other reporters… he/she neglected to ask the right questions-that would’ve lead to clearer answers.
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By: B flo on 9/16/2010 8:42AM
Don't forget the woman that carved a "B" on her cheek during the election run up and blamed it on a black man.
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By: Mark on 9/16/2010 9:14AM
Yes, and don't forget about Tawana Brawley.....
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By: NewBalance on 9/16/2010 10:04AM
So let me get this straight, we suspect that she is racist and hates blacks, so she schedules to hang out on a black woman's show to talk about the attack. Basic logic fail folks.
Deaf does not mean you can't hear at all (look up the actual definition). Usher has certainly worn sunglasses at dusk and later.
And the "reporter" (really a blogger) has been accused of fabricating sources before:
http://rosecityantifa.weebly.com/1/post/2010/08/response-to-vancouver-voice-racists-and-anti-racists-article.html
Does any of that make Bethany innocent. No. But lets at least try to be fair here.
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By: Michael on 9/16/2010 1:02PM
It should have been clear to all black people that whites and other nonblacks have been using systemic anti-black bigotry (they know it exists) to cover their criminality for centuries.
There have been countless incidents where these nonblacks have been proven to be the culprits, yet they told authorities it was some black person.
When I first saw the composite drawing, I left a comment that I was surprised black people had so little knowledge of anthropology to not be able to see that the drawing was a Latina or mulatta - but that calling that drawing a black woman, was a stretch.
I wondered why no blacks, but myself, saw this. Well, it turns out this so-called victim is probably a psycho who burned herself to get some attention. She even claimed the black woman was motivated by her "good looks". Please that girl looks like Elmer Fudd's daughter.
My people - we got to be able to solve this nonsense quick and not get taken down all manner of dead-end road by other anti-black bigots. That's what black people allowed to happen because they couldn't even see (with their own eyes) that the drawing WAS NOT a black woman.
PS: I mentioned in my earlier comment that the US media always does this. They run with the accusations of these bigots cause the US is anti-black at it's core (and makes lots of $$$$ disparaging blacks).
It is our responsibility, as black people, to bring the clarity. The rest of the population are little more the programmed, anti-black mutants (unbeknownst to them of course).
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By: Jessica on 9/17/2010 10:38AM
Michael,
thanks for your post on this matter. I couldnt have said it any better...Thank you! :)
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