Then the hooded figure faded into the neighborhood until the social aggression of youth beckons him back to bring forth the words of peace and words that are up.

The peace-makers are happy. They love, and desire, and delight in peace; and study to be quiet. They keep the peace that it be not broken, and recover it when it is broken. If the p-WORLDSTAAAAAAAAAAAAAAR!!!

The Prole Whisperer

Needs "better people" tag.

I grew up surrounded by people like this.

Not black people (though I did live in one of the more ethnically diverse communities in my city): "false friends" that would egg each other on to get into fights (with me).

I can't even remember all the times I was surrounded by jeering, laughing, assholes just like this crowd, telling someone to kick my ass, while I was stuck in the middle with some other elementary-school-age child, with no way out. I still (and likely always will) remember the sickening sound a human head makes when it's driven into hardened ice on the ground (and know first-hand just how dangerous the DDT can actually be when it's performed by dumb kids who don't know how to do it without hurting someone else).

I tried talking to my "opponent" more than a few times, told them we didn't have to do this, they didn't deserve entertainment from us, but it never worked.

In some ways, our nature as social animals can contribute to more harm than we might otherwise find if we were more solitary...at least, that's what I thought when I was younger. I just don't know anymore.

I have a shitload of respect for this guy. Wish I'd had someone like that growing up, but not a single adult ever bothered to stop walking by or come out of their house where this was happening right in front of them (watching from windows) at the time.