Uncle Ruslan Tsarni is as Causasian as they come

[malaise]

and he's pissed.

Says this has nothing to do with Chechyna

[aquart]

1. I haven't had my coffee. Need more information.

(Living in California now. Bleary-eyed way later than I used to be.)

[malaise]

2. LOL - severa; journalists interviewed the uncle and NBC carried it

He is pissed. Lots of stupid questions about Chechnya and about the family - he was sharp and then he told them he expects them to respect his property

[slackmaster]

4. Welcome to the West Coast club!

A lot of shit went down in the last 12 hours.

[AsahinaKimi]

17. Can I be in the West Coast club?

San Fran here!

[slackmaster]

29. Absolutely!

[AsahinaKimi]

30. Yay!

waves my flag...

[slackmaster]

3. The obsession with race on DU flabbergasts me.

[malaise]

5. Well blame CNN

They had proof that they were dark skinned men

[slackmaster]

7. I never watch CNN. It's more proof that they've been a lame joke for more than 10 years.

I was unaware of that claim until another DUer pointed it out to me this morning.

[malaise]

14. Neither do I but it was everywhere n/t

[RZM]

16. Blame CNN for how race is discussed on DU?

Why?

[malaise]

28. I haven't noticed an obsession with race on DU but this post

was a response to John King's rubbish

[Brickbat]

6. Seriously.

[nadinbrzezinski]

8. You live in the US? It's not DU, this country,

Yes even sunny San Diego, is very race conscious.

Just ask a UCSD professor who took SDPD to the SCOTUS for detainment while walking while black in La Jolla, near his home...I know, the damn horror

[slackmaster]

10. That was in the 1970s. I lived in La Jolla, and met the man.

He looked kind of Rasta-ish. Really nice guy.

I think we've advanced a bit in the last 40 years.

[nadinbrzezinski]

15. Go to La Logan

Go to South East.

Go to the communities to the East.

Chiefly talk to people, and LISTEN.

Blind...all I can say.

[malaise]

11. Shhhhhhhhhhhhh!

They're repeating some of what he said

[Nuclear Unicorn]

12. I'm thinking the "white privilege" angle is being overblown.

I would also note that Asians, African Americans, Hispanics, South Pacific Islanders and Full Brush Salesmen were also on the list of those not reflexively suspected. I don't know if that means they're privileged or not but it speaks to your point that race -- and only a certain particular race -- has become an obsession.

[CakeGrrl]

13. The uncle of the suspects has a good handle on profiling and called it out.

He has a very real and valid concern that the "Chechnyan ethnicity" will be blamed once the media makes the suspects' ethnic origin known to all.

This society is not color- and ethnicity-blind. I don't know why people need to be jumped on for recognizing it.

[slackmaster]

34. I just heard him on the radio imploring his nephew to turn himself in. He said that the actions...

...of his nephews had shamed the Chechen community, and that all Chechens would be regarded with suspicion because of what those young men did.

He's right, of course; and he's also placed a share of the blame on the correct individuals.

[Skip Intro]

36. Crazy, ain't it? nt

[itsrobert]

9. He said they were "Radicalized"

by some entity.

[DinahMoeHum]

18. I'd have to agree. I don't think they had any real religious

convictions until very recently (the past couple of years or so).

With such a blank slate, add alienation, disillusionment, not fitting in, etc., and those two young men, particularly the older one, were easy meat for radical Islamic propagandists on the (spider) Web.

[Jenoch]

19. "Uncle Ruslan Tsarni is as Causasian as they come..."

That is understandable since he comes from the Caucasuses.

[LisaL]

21. Well, if you put it that way...

[eShirl]

26. exactly

[Zax2me]

20. It has everything to do with Islam. And terrorism.

The facts are already out.

[Zax2me]

22. Two law enforcement officials said they believe there is a “Chechen connection” to the bombings.

In the last several months, Tamerlan Tsarnaev had posted videos to YouTube indicating his interest in radical Muslim ideologies.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/massive-police-operation-under-way-in-boston/2013/04/19/979ec6dc-a8c6-11e2-a8e2-5b98cb59187f_print.html

[BainsBane]

23. Chechnya is part of the area associated with Caucasians

The term was invented in 1800 by a German anthropologist, Johann Friedrich Blumenbach. The invention of race and the idea that it constituted a biological category dates from this period. Here is an early map he created.

[malaise]

24. LOL

I know - thanks. This was for John King and CNN

[BainsBane]

31. I don't know how I was supposed to know that

Since your OP didn't mention CNN or even the media.

[malaise]

32. True - nice map

[DevonRex]

33. Anthropologists do categorize features in their work when analyzing bones.

Chechens fit that category. They are Caucasian. I have an anthropologist in the room with me now. He says that Russia, of course, gets tricky. The category consists of countries in: Northern Africa, Horn of Africa, Western Asia, the Middle East, Asia Minor, Central and South Asia.

[Taverner]

25. That's true: Chechnya is in the Caucasian Mountains...

[ellisonz]

27. When they catch this idiot, I hope they just give him to the Uncle to deal with. n/t

[Jamastiene]

35. I think the uncle would give them a healthy dose of "what for"

if they did that. The uncle was furious.