ngdawg

Retro, when I read your first statement, I nodded and thought, btdt. Having worked in a middle school that was probably equally divided down racial lines, it's not a stretch to think she went, as someone called it, "Springeresque".
It's a related issue that someone brought up-where were her parents in all this? As "mom" (as they called me) to about 40 black and hispanic kids, mostly girls, I can tell you from THIS anecdotal experience-the parents weren't bothered or weren't around. There's no way any mom involved with her kid would allow her to leave the house with only 25% of her body covered, in clear violation of school rules. And, further anecdotal evidence about the thought of why she ended up in handcuffs shows the same underlying issue.
These kids act out out of anger, out of lack of being taught why there are rules in the first place and out of a need to want to be noticed because they aren't noticed at home. Is it racial? Statistics say yes. Anecdotal evidence from those of us who worked with these kids says yes. Is it cultural? No, as the attitudes, behaviors and outcomes apply to anyone who comes from a background that would, for lack of a better word, "nurture" the behavior. It is an unfortunate happenstance that, too often, more than not, the kid in the skanky dress being led off in handcuffs....is black.
Thinking as such before seeing anything doesn't make one a racist or a bigot if their experience with similar behavior has been with someone of the same race as the subject, anymore than reading of a kid being accepted to Oxford at 16 and thinking he's white or Korean would. Or would it....