Issue date: 11/1/07 Section: News

To the mother of Rupert Tate,

Just wondering what was running through your mind when you talked to the Delco Times openly about your son and his impending criminal charges?

"He hangs around with all white kids. That, to me, is his downfall," you, the mother of Rupert Tate, suspect in the Cabrini stabbing, said. "He hangs around with rich white kids who get away with everything," you said.

Your son was surrendering himself to the police for stabbing someone, but according to you, it wasn't his fault; it was the rich white kids who go to Cabrini's fault. Why in a time of sadness and despair, would racial statements be made?

You believed that the only reason your son was surrendering to the police was because of racial bias. Were you that upset and weren't thinking straight when you made those statements?

Fact is, no one may ever know who started the argument between the victim and the suspect. Speculation and rumors are not always true, and there are two sides to every story. As to who started the argument is not important. What is important is the outcome. Regardless of what was said or what happened during the night, in the end, someone was stabbed and rushed to the hospital.

Students getting everything handed to them? Is that what people think about students that attend Cabrini College; or just you? Your son was living at home, not going to school and unemployed. Out of our editorial staff of 15 editors, 14 of us have paying jobs; which is more then you can say about your son. Most of us also pay part of our tuition, as well as all our expenses. To say that because we attend Cabrini we get things handed to us is absurd. Maybe hanging out with Cabrini students may have helped Rupert in the long run because most students here are hard-working and strong individuals. Open your eyes Mrs. Tate, there's more to the world than racial issues.

If you didn't like the fact that your son was hanging around with "all white kids," then why didn't you step in, be a good mother, and tell him you didn't think it was a good idea? As a mother, you should instill goodhearted values and life lessons to your children, not resort to racial bias as a cop-out when your son was finally caught doing something bad.

Did you know nothing about Rupert's marijuana possession in West Chester only a week before the stabbing occurred? Or even his open case involving conspiracy to armed robbery in Radnor? What's your excuse for him possessing marijuana; did the white kids force it in his pockets?

What kind of example are you setting for your son about expressing himself if he resorted to stabbing his own friend?

Do us a favor please? Since you already have expressed your strong dislike of your son hanging out with Cabrini students, then please keep him off our campus.

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