Think of the world as it appears when you’re intoxicated. A heightened sense of invincibility overtakes your normal emotions and demeanor, superseding rationality and civility. You slur your speech in an almost unintelligible dialect, with all inhibitions vanishing as your voice becomes louder and increasingly obnoxious; you think every joke you tell is incredibly funny, while conversely, any insult hurled your way is grounds for violence and retaliation; you approach every woman in sight and proceed to make an advance on her, instinctively knowing all females are completely into you, even if you’re spurned; and best of all your testosterone levels are off the charts, loosening your tongue because you’re the baddest man on the planet and no one at the bar can touch you if a fight broke --you’d break’em in half.
The consequences of your actions while inebriated matter not, because the law is immaterial to you. Concepts of privacy, property rights and decorum governing socially acceptable behavior are alien to you, and vaguely offensive.
In this state you represent the epitome of a belligerent individual, completely devoid of decency and incapable of logical actions all because of the ravages alcohol induces upon the mind.
This thought experiment allowed you a window into the mind of the typical Black male, before the provocations alcohol provides upon the normal mental functions for other racial groups.
Whether it is 70 people rioting in a Washington DC Metro Station: hundreds rioting at a Mall in late December 2009 in Connecticut; Flash mobs in Philadelphia; Kansas City’s downtown shopping complex being overrun in violence; Indianapolis problems; Tulsa’s famous Chicken Hut under siege by hungry customers unconcerned with the immaterial dying body impeding their path to fowl glory; nightclub violence and block parties collapsing into chaos; a Hurricane named Katrina; or, a brawl at a Miami mall involving more than a score of people, the common denominator linking all events is the racial makeup of the participants.
All were Black and all of these events transpired within the last year (or just celebrated birthday number five!), with the brawl in Miami happening right before Katrina’s fifth birthday:
Police and management at Aventura Mall plan to meet next week to discuss the melee at the mall that left about a dozen young people arrested and several police officers receiving minor injuries.
The melee erupted around 10 p.m. Saturday when mostly teenagers descended on the mall for the opening of two popular movies at the AMC 24 Theaters, Lottery Ticket and Takers.
It ended with the arrest of 12 minors, all between the ages of 14 and 17, according to Aventura police.
Dozens of police officers from other departments rushed to help, including North Miami Beach, Golden Beach, Sunny Isles Beach and Miami-Dade.
Officers used Taser guns on several suspects. No one was seriously hurt in the fight or the rush to the exits, though some officers received minor injuries while trying to make arrests, said Aventura police spokesman Chris Goranitis.
At least three suspects were arrested on felony charges -- battery on a police officer and resisting arrest with violence.
Most of the minors were released to their parents. Those charged with felonies were taken to a Juvenile Assessment Center.
The scene was chaotic: As the fighting spread, several hundred people, many of them screaming, fled the theater at once, running from the concession stand area and knocking over the rope barriers by the exits.
Police directed the crowd outside the theater to exit the building, but initially did not let anyone leave the area by the parking lot outside the mall.
While police have not said what caused the fight, WPLG Channel 10 interviewed witnesses who said that it may have been sparked by two rival high school groups.
A group of noisy teens had gathered to buy tickets to two movies opening Saturday. The line leading to the AMC 24 Theaters stretched from the box office to the nearby mall entrance. A fight soon broke out between two youths near the box office, spiraling quickly into a mass brawl that spread to the theater, across the mall and to the parking lots.
Luis Chiu, 17, a 12-grader at North Miami Senior High said a fight erupted during the movie Lottery Ticket and mall security evacuated an entire aisle of the theater.
``Then the fight continued outside, so the cops took over. It wasn't pretty,'' he said.
Niouseline St. Jean, 19, of Miami, was part of the crowd that was kept outside the mall, near the Cheesecake Factory, for about 30 minutes. ``All these middle and high school kids were fighting,'' she wrote at the time in a text message. ``Everything is on lockdown.''
This is not the first time crowd control has gotten out of hand at the AMC in the Aventura Mall.
In January 2005, an off-duty Aventura officer, trying to remove a group of kids he said were causing trouble, said he was jumped by other teens. By the time it was over, police had used Taser stun guns against four youths.
Nine juveniles and two adults were arrested.
Aventura already had a robust police and security presence at the mall.
``Aventura Mall has a comprehensive security program in place, which includes off-duty Aventura Police Department officers and a sophisticated CCTV system,'' Aventura Mall general manager Oscar Pacheco said in a statement. ``We will continue working with the police and AMC Theaters regarding the incident.''
Aventura police maintains a nine-officer unit on the property, mostly funded by Turnberry Associates, the company that runs the mall.
On Sunday, the Aventura Mall was crowded as usual, though some said they were worried about security near the theater. ``Security is an issue there and it's going to drive people away,'' said Amy Scharf, 37, of Aventura.
Seth Kaplan, 42, also from Aventura, agreed.
``I usually avoid the mall at nights,'' he said. ``I do think that these fighting issues are going to cause other people to stop going to the movies, but I was already concerned before this. The movies are dangerous in the evening.''
Other frequent mall shoppers were not as concerned. ``I'm still going to go to Aventura Mall,'' said Lauren Ovadia, 17, of Davie. ``There is going to be fights everywhere. Things happen.''
Mauricio Diocis, 20, of Aventura, said that while he was concerned about the incident, he still thinks the mall is best option in the area. ``When I heard about the fights it was really surprising, because Aventura is such a nice place,'' he said.
When you think of the world as it appears when you are inebriated, you’re granted a window, access to the world as it appears to Black people. It has been said that drinking gives one “beer goggles” – those imaginary, yet tragic frames that magically makes all girls beautiful and desirable.
In reality, drinking alcohol to the point of intoxication gives one “Black goggles” because you will immediately be granted insight into the Black mind and an opportunity to “act a fool” engaging in behavior commonly associated with normal Black behavior.
Which leads us to a teaser of an upcoming entry at SBPDL: curfews.
As the nation becomes increasingly non-white, it will become imperative for cities and towns to institute curfews (potentially state-mandated curfews) to maintain order and provide safety for civilians.
Curfews, brawls at Miami malls, Act a fool and Black people: just put on those “Black goggles” via drinking insane amounts of booze and you’ll enter the mind of Black person.
It all makes sense when you understand that simple fact.
Video of the Aventura brawl can be found here.
More video of the event can be found here.
Video from another news source on the Aventura brawl can be found here.