Emo kids of the world...

Yesterday, I ran into an article of Wired about demonstrations of Emo Kids in Mexico, protesting the recent raise of violent anti-emo acts over the country. As stated by Wired,

A series of attacks on dyed-hair, eye-makeup-wearing emo kids began in early March when several hundred people went on an emo-beating rampage in Querétaro, a town of 1.5 million about 160 miles north of Mexico City.

The next week, shaggy-haired emo teenagers were harassed again by punks and rockabillys in the capital, prompting police protection and a segment on the TV news. Most recently, a Mexican newspaper reported that metal heads and gangsters have warned Tijuana's emo kids to stay away from the town's fair next month.

But the so-called emos are organizing, too. Last week, they demonstrated against the violence, pictured above, and Wednesday some met with police in Mexico City.

My first reaction was a smirk: emo kids being beaten by punks and goths ? It's so sad I want to cut myself and cry about it. Typical.

But then, I realized that it's actually quite sickening and frightening: it is not because I personally find the emo culture ridiculous that I can condone the violence against followers, on the contrary. The situation is escalating: as reported by The Daily Swarm, the riots are now spreading to Northern Mexico, with attacks reported in Juárez and Tijuana. It is not especially new nor confined to Mexico only either. A month before, in Chili, an attack of emo kids by skinheads was also signaled. A few months ago, a gang of teenagers assaulted a couple of goths in Lancashire, eventually killing a young woman, as covered by the BBC:

A 15-year-old boy kicked and stamped to death a woman because she was dressed as a Goth, a court heard.
The drunk teenager was among a gang of five who “savagely and mercilessly” attacked Sophie Lancaster, 20, and her boyfriend, Preston Crown Court heard.
Miss Lancaster was begging the gang to stop beating Robert Maltby, 21, when they turned on her in Stubbylee Park in Bacup, Lancashire, the jury was told.

Now, substitute "emo" or "goth" by any other minority (racial, sexual) and be afraid, be very afraid of the world in which we are living.