Skip to main content National media outlets are reporting that some 200 members of criminal motorcycle gangs converged at a Waco, Texas, mall and shot, kicked and whipped one another. Why haven't they been described as violent thugs?Puma, The Fastest Sports Brand in the World, keeps up with their 65 year tradition of providing athletes the best in performance footwear with their line of motorcycle boots and shoes. With options for all types of riders, from the urban commuter to the most competitive track day enthusiasts, Puma has infused their classic styling with intelligent safety features that offer riders pro-level protection and unrivaled comfort. No restock fees, everFree Shipping on orders over $39.99@tanehisicoates Radical white politicians coddle these thugs. /fM1f74jsBR — Ellen Martel (@emarty) May 18, 2015 While the rest of America tried to make sense Monday of the weekend shootout at the Waco Twin Peaks -- and learned of a whole biker subculture featuring sometimes-violent turf wars -- the Texas legislature debated a bill that would expand the rights of licensed gun owners to openly carry weapons in public.

To be fair, this wasn't the first time the Texas state Senate took up the matter of expanded gun rights. At the start of the legislative session in January, leaders in the Republican-controlled body identified an open-carry law as a legislative priority -- a proposal that has been debated in one legislative committee or another ever since. And contrary to the state’s gun-loving, gun-slinging reputation, Texas is one of just six states that do not have a so-called  “open carry law” on the books. [Waco Twin Peaks, criticized by police following shootout, ‘will not reopen’] But even in Texas, debating the merits of a bill that relaxes gun laws one day after nine people were killed in a shootout between rival biker gangs and police at a Waco restaurant seems oddly timed. It's tailor-made for a "Daily Show" segment full of knowing jokes about America’s relationship with guns and the country’s singularly elevated gun death rate among wealthy nations. What happened in the Texas state Senate on Monday was also, in many ways, just an example of the vastly different ways in which crimes committed by white individuals – even when those individuals are members of organized criminal organizations and happen on a spectacular scale – are routinely if not always viewed as the questionable, discrete acts of independent actors.\ Consider the headlines

, cable news show line-ups and editorials that would have followed if the weekend shootout happened at a Waco hip-hop show or club. used bikes for sale kamloopsOver in a corner of Twitter that most of white America doesn't visit (because apparently our social media networks are about as segregated as they are in real life), snark took over. motorbikes for sale in kwazulu natalMany tweeted ironically about the corrosive influence of biker culture on weekend warriors and the imperative need for white leaders to denounce the broader scourge of “white on white crime” in front of hashtags like, “#stuffthemedianeversays." motorcycle dealers near salisbury nc

Pictures of Sarah Palin and in leather biker gear popped up along below tweets about “radical white politicians, who “coddle,” and commune with, “thugs.” motorcycle rebuilders for saleThe subtext of all of it was clear: This is what the world’s paid and volunteer shouter corps say when the tragedies involve black people, not white. motorcycle tire wear uneven"9 killed in Waco biker gang shootout - where are the white leaders decrying this white-on-white violence?" #stuffthemedianeversays — John Fugelsang (@JohnFugelsang) May 18, 2015 All the while, a planned debate about the merits of the bill moved right along. 250cc motorbikes for sale ukAustin Police Department Police Chief Troy Gay testified that an open carry law would almost certainly complicate the chaotic situation at Twin Peaks. kawasaki 500cc motorbikes for sale