Teens Charged with Beating Black Teen for Having a White Girlfriend

We might expect that decades after the notorious murder of the late Emmett Till that some of us might have become more civilized. But this wasn’t the case when a 17-year old boy was beaten for having a white girlfriend.  Joshua Merritt of Chicago was beaten in a hate crime in December, 2011.  Police say that the student of Brother Rice High School was attacked by three white teenagers at the same school.

The beating was allegedly motivated by Joshua’s new relationship with a white girl.  The girl was a cousin of one of the perpetrators.  The boys were charged on January 10th for their attack on Joshua.   Matthew Herrmann, 18, was charged with misdemeanor battery, a hate crime, and unlawful restraint. Herrmann will be charged as an adult and the other two offenders will be cited with delinquency.

“The 16-year-old was also charged with aggravated assault for pulling a knife,” according to the Chicago Tribune.

Merritt was kept from being able to leave the home after he was beaten.  He escaped and told his family what happened.  William Merritt Jr., Joshua’s father, says the family is upset.

“He’s just hurt by it. He’s still really trying to deal with it,” Merritt told the Chicago Tribune. “He’s real cautious of who he lets be his friend.”

“I feel they were being serious, and that if I didn’t get out of the house when I did, I might not even be here,” Joshua Merritt told the newspaper. “I might be dead.”