Thugs versus Hippies

Thugs versus hippies: What this racially charged viral video is teaching us about Austin

When did Austin become a city of bystanders?

Kumar Appaiah/Flickr

If you live in Austin and were on Facebook this weekend, you most likely saw this viral video from LiveLeak.com titled, "Six thugs beat up two hippies in downtown Austin, TX." The video, which begins well into a confrontation between two groups of men, is as upsetting as it is confusing, leaving viewers wondering what would prompt such an aggressive fight.

From the video, we know this: The scene opens with two groups of men arguing on the corner of Brushy and East Sixth Streets. The group of men to the left of the screen is African-American, a few of whom are wearing yellow wristbands, a la the kind you're given when you go into a bar or club. The second group of men to the right of the screen appears to be Caucasian (or really any race, it's hard to tell), and are clad in backward baseball caps and flannel shirts. One man in this group, with his wide stance and general inability to get his footing, appears to be intoxicated.

This video represents so many things we tend to wish away in our little progressive hub, our blueberry in the tomato soup: race, gentrification, the abilities of the Austin Police Department, and just how we became a city of bystanders.

Although it's hard to hear exactly what causes the initial fists to fly, we do know that it ends in a poorly matched fight, with two men on the ground being kicked at different points. It appears that all parties are able to walk away (and unconfirmed reports claim that the two men on the ground are generally okay, suffering from black eyes and bruises), but what is disturbing about this video is that as members of the greater Austin community, it shakes us to our very core.

This video represents so many of the things that we tend to overlook in our little progressive hub, our blueberry in the tomato soup: race, gentrification, the Austin Police Department, and just how we became a city of bystanders.

It's almost Shakespearean that this fight happened where it did, barely a block east of I-35. This traditional barrier of Austin's white versus black — of "us" and "them" — has, in recent years, become the heart of gentrification in Austin. This corner sets the stage for a disturbingly violent act, charged with anger and full of hateful language. And it isn't just the violence that is disturbing, but the way we seemed to perpetuate this violence by sharing it on social media with the same unwavering words: "thugs" versus "hippies."

Today, "thug" has been reappropriated from referring to strong arming members of the mob to meaning "young black men in groups of more than two." And "hippies" comes with a connotation all its own, invoking an image of a graying peace enthusiast, when in fact the men were twenty-somethings wearing Converse sneakers and rolled up jeans.

Race aside, the single most disturbing aspect of this video is that the events took place at arguably one of the busiest intersections in the entire city and no one did a thing to stop it. The fight happened just steps from a condo building and across from a gas station that is busy pretty much 24 hours a day. Most poignantly, as local comedian Chris Cubas points out to Austin Police Chief Art Acevedo on Twitter, these nine men fought uninterrupted, while someone else videotaped it, just a few blocks away from the Austin Police Department headquarters.

Remarkably, it is Cubas' Twitter exchange with the police chief that has provided the most insight into Acevedo's — and by extension, the entire department's — mindset.

.@artacevedo Why does this keep happening right by the police station? You guys too busy writing jaywalking tickets? https://t.co/PIYzVpNWds

— Chris Cubas (@ChrisCubas) February 1, 2014

@ChrisCubas that's it, 2nd safest Major City as it relates to violent crime because we just write tickets. Brilliant! Will follow-up though!

— Chief Art Acevedo (@ArtAcevedo) February 1, 2014

The exchange continues and is worth a read if only to see the snark coming from both sides. But essentially what Cubas is asking is a critical question: As Austin continues to grow, what is APD's plan? In addition to people moving here, almost every weekend our city is inundated with visitors, the result of a very successful campaign marketing Austin as the premier destination for, well, just about everything.

With a strip of bars that essentially runs from MoPac to the end of East Sixth Street, Austin rivals New Orleans and Las Vegas as the ultimate American city to party your ass off. But in the midst of that, what exactly is being done to ensure that Austin stays safe?

Before the internet trolls feel compelled to spew hatred in the comments section, this isn't about racial profiling. Instead, we need to begin a conversation that examines just when we turned into a city of bystanders who allow random acts of violence to occur, from police shootings of unarmed citizens to a large fist fight that occurred in the middle of a busy intersection without so much as a car slowing down to stop.

It is only when we begin examining that question that we can begin to turn into the city that we all want it to be.

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San Antonio leads Texas on ending horse-drawn carriage rides by 2030

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Horses will no longer pull carriages on the streets of downtown San Antonio.

San Antonio has pulled off something that the rest of Texas has yet to do, but it didn't come without some contentious conversations. City Council has unanimously voted (with one abstention) to phase out the use of horse-drawn carriages over the next five years. That means by January 1, 2030, there will be none on the streets at all; instead, there will be electric carriages.

These plans have been in the making since 2022 — if not always at the same level of intensity — when District 2 Councilmember Jalen McKee-Rodriguez and District 3 Councilmember Phyllis Viagran wrote up some concerns about the horses' wellbeing. A special session at the end of October 2024 hinted to San Antonians that the end for this practice was neigh — sorry, nigh — and the final vote was made on December 12. In addition to accepting the plan, it extended its timeframe by two years.

The initial proposal included worries about the horses' exposure to traffic and pollution, as well how their presence might exacerbate those issues for the environment at large by slowing traffic. It also raised concerns about the effects of standing or walking on hard surfaces for too long, or spending time in extreme weather.

At the December 12 meeting, San Antonians gave impassioned speeches about animal welfare — both to call attention to the need for better conditions and to defend the reputations and jobs of current horse drivers — but it wasn't the first time the council heard from the public about the issue.

In a prior city survey, 50,476 respondents weighed in. Of those respondents, 51.98 percent said they liked the idea to "Transition horse-drawn carriages to electric carriages and pedicabs and ban horse drawn carriages completely." There were alternative solutions listed, but respondents were less drawn to them.

A cultural divide emerged in the data and continued in the December meeting: some people avoided the carriages because they worried about the treatment of the horses, while others enjoyed them because of their historical echoes and living legacy. Many speakers in favor of the plan used this to form their argument, raising questions about history versus progress.

More tangible objections to the plan hinged on the businesses — specifically five companies — and jobs that would be lost, which was the main factor behind extending the adjustment period.

Discussions about the particulars of the electric vehicles are still to come, as confirmed in the discussion near the end of the meeting. Councilmember Jalen McKee-Rodriguez addressed concerns about what would happen to the horses, mentioning the Brady Hunter Foundation as a future partner in finding them rescue homes.

Some council members also brought up rhetorical questions about animal exploitation by groups like Sea World, the San Antonio Stock Show & Rodeo, military and police forces, and even various groups in the Fiesta parade, although these did not come with a formal motion to pick the issues up.

This decision could have a ripple effect on other Texas cities. Dallas has recently considered a similar ban, but it appears to have stalled; Austin's attempts at a ban have been unsuccessful, but according to the Austin-American Statesman, only one operator is permitted to bring horses downtown. She declines to do so because the long hours are unfair to her and the horses. Houston does have horse-drawn carriages, and there seems to be little conversation about banning them.

Cities like Chicago and Salt Lake City have led the charge in the United States with some of the most prominent successful bans. Other cities around the world with bans include Brussels and Guadalajara, which both switched to electric models. Bans that have been around for years, like Guadalajara's and Prague's, still aren't out of the woods — people are still pushing back on the decision, so it sounds like San Antonio still has much work cut out for it.

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