Long Beach continues to be a subject that everyone wants to know about, but few people want to talk about. How do I know this? A Google search for “Long Beach attacks” brings up my site second, after the L.A. Times article. That’s pretty sad – not sad that the LAT article comes up first and me second, but that so few other blogs and news outlets are talking about what happened.

I don’t know how to feel about the whole situation. I continue to feel like the teens convicted, but given probation, know who really did what, but have closed ranks to protect the whole group. I also don’t know what the teens themselves have to say, but I can tell you I did not like what their parents had to say.

I think the thing that makes me angriest about the whole situation is how the parents have acted in this whole situation. As most psychologists would agree, children follow — oft-times unconsciously — their parents’ leads. And these parents have shown no sign of humility, remorse or regret. It’s as if they forgot that three women trying to mind their own business were beaten for no reason other than being white. To my knowledge, only one parent has apologized and expressed any regret for what happened. That’s one out of presumably 10 pairs of parents. That’s sad.

Right now, it seems as if the teens who would have had strikes on their permanent records won’t get struck after all — at least, according to a ruling by the court of appeals.