All Hail The Mighty State

Echidne caught this tale from the White Ages, playing now in a suburb near Houston:

Two white teenagers severely beat and sodomized a 16-year-old Hispanic boy who they believed had tried to kiss a 12-year-old white girl at a party in Spring, Texas, authorities said.

The attackers forced the boy out of the house party, beat him and sodomized him with a metal pipe, shouting epithets "associated with being Hispanic," said Lt. John Martin with the Harris County Sheriff's Department.

The two teenagers were jailed....

Prosecutors are considering whether to attach hate-crime charges, but unless the victim dies, the possible penalty would be the same. If the boy dies and it is ruled a hate crime, the attackers could face the death penalty, authorities said.

(For foreigners who don't know, the title of this post is from the Texas state anthem.)

UPDATE: And a little relevant input, found at Feministing, from our Canard Boiteux's new Press Dodger, the Artful Snowman:

"Here's the unmentionable secret: Racism isn't that big a deal any more. No sensible person supports it. Nobody of importance preaches it. It's rapidly becoming an ugly memory."