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by Mike vizcarra/PoorNewsNetwork Community Journalist
Looking at Willie Warren, I find it hard to imagine anybody
wanting to start a fight with this man. He stands over 6 feet tall and
weighs around 250 lbs. This is a big and intimidating looking man. But
after speaking with him, I realized he1s one of the nicest men I1ve ever
met. But this past Labor Day September 2, 2002, Willie Warren, with his
imposing figure, was beaten by two men, two white men, in the Tenderloin.
What was Willie doing? Nothing. He was just walking down the street.
It was around 8 o1clock at night and Willie was walking east on
Turk from Van Ness. He turned onto Polk and was heading for Kentucky Fried
Chicken to get something to eat. But he never made it there. As he passed
the Wooden Horse Bar near Polk and Eddy, two men started harassing him.
"They were two white guys in their mid 20s to late 30s with
well-groomed haircuts," said Willie, "and they were both about my size with
one guy taller than me."
Willie tried ignoring their taunts and continued walking up
Polk. But one of them looked at him and yelled, "Hey nigger mother fucker!
Hey nigger, I1m talking to you punk!" This made Willie stop momentarily.
He asked them, "Why are you saying this when I don1t even know
you?"
Their response? "Fuck you."
The two men started to approach Willie, with one of the men
blocking his way. Willie walked around the man and continued up Polk. But
the two men started to follow him. Sensing some kind of danger, Willie let
the men pass while he turned around and started heading back towards the
bar. This time the men were upon him again. One of the men got in front of
him while the other stood behind him.
"What problem do you have with me?" asked Willie. "I'm a
Homeless Advocate and work around the corner."
This made the man blocking Willie's path even angrier. 'You
represent those sorry ass people. You should agree with Newsome and his
plan, you fuck," said the man.
This response surprised Willie. "Do you work for Newsome or
something?" he asked.
But the man was already in some kind of boxing stance. Willie
started taking off his backpack but the man behind him grabbed his pack.
Willie pushed him away and as he turned to face the other man, he was
greeted with a club-like object (about a foot long and 2-3 inches in
diameter) to his head. As Willie fell to the ground his head hit another
hard object that was lying on the ground. Blood was rushing down his face.
He turned to look up and another blow of the club came crashing down on his
head. Willie blacked-out after that, knocked unconscious from the repeated
blows.
When he finally gained consciousness, he was looking into a
paramedic's face. He was inside an ambulance heading for General Hospital.
Once again, Willie blacked out. He regained consciousness once he was at
the hospital. A doctor had thoroughly examined him and Willie was able to
remember what had happened that night. Thankfully, he did not sustain a
concussion, although he would have headaches the next few days. He was
released from General Hospital at around 3 A.M.
When Willie was explaining to a nurse what had happened, he got
an interesting response. "Since the introduction of Care Not Cash and other
policies," said the nurse, "there has been an increase in violence." This
prompted Willie to write about his experience and to increase awareness of
these senseless acts of violence.
"Hate crimes" are exactly what that term states, crimes of hate.
It does not matter whether it is motivated by race or gender or social
status or otherwise. It is a crime. Willie Warren was walking down the
street minding his own business. But he was targeted for two reasons: first
and foremost because he is an African-American, and second, because he is a
homeless advocate.
"This is part of the behavior that we see on the streets, on the
bus, or in the shelters in response to the fear from both sides on
Proposition N," he says.
It is bad enough that hate crimes happen, but it gets worse when
people are motivated to do such crimes because of a Proposition. Willie
Warren was minding his own business and was violently attacked by two white
men because he was black and for what he stood for. The same thing happens
and goes unnoticed everyday in this city to people of color, of low-income,
to poor folks, and to the homeless. With the passing of Proposition N, I
wonder how many more attacks will occur.
Read Willies first person account and poem ( willie is a Po Poet) "You represent those sorry ass people" on this PNN column -
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