Deja Duke--all over again.

Akron police say they aren't ready to call it a hate crime or a gang initiation.

But to Marty Marshall, his wife and two kids, it seems pretty clear.

It came after a family night of celebrating America and freedom with a fireworks show at Firestone Stadium. Marshall, his family and two friends were gathered outside a friend's home in South Akron.

Out of nowhere, the six were attacked by dozens of teenage boys, who shouted ''This is our world'' and ''This is a black world'' as they confronted Marshall and his family.

The Marshalls, who are white, say the crowd of teens who attacked them and two friends June 27 on Girard Street numbered close to 50. The teens were all black.

''This was almost like being a terrorist act,'' Marshall said. ''And we allow this to go on in our neighborhoods?''

They said it started when one teen, without any words or warning, blindsided and assaulted Marshall's friend as he stood outside with the others.

When Marshall, 39, jumped in, he found himself being attacked by the growing group of teens.

His daughter, Rachel, 15, who weighs about 90 pounds, tried to come to his rescue. The teens pushed her to the ground.

His wife, Yvonne, pushed their son, Donald, 14, into bushes to keep him protected.

''My thing is,'' Marshall said, ''I didn't want this, but I was in fear for my wife, my kids and my friends. I felt I had to stay out there to protect them, because those guys were just jumping, swinging fists and everything.

''I'm lucky. They didn't break my ribs or bruise my ribs. I thank God, they concentrated on my thick head because I do have one. They were trying to take my head off my spine, basically.''

After several minutes of punches and kicks, the attack ended and the group ran off. The Marshalls' two adult male friends were not seriously hurt.

''I don't think I thought at that moment when I tried to jump in,'' Rachel Marshall said. ''But when I was laying on the ground, I was just scared.''

Marshall was the most seriously injured. He suffered a concussion and multiple bruises to his head and eye. He said he spent five nights in the critical care unit at Akron General Medical Center.

The construction worker said he now fears for his family's safety, and the thousands of dollars in medical bills he faces without insurance.

''I knew I was going to get beat, but not as bad as I did,'' Marshall said. ''But I did it to protect my family. I didn't have a choice. There was no need for this. We should be all getting along. But to me, it seems to be racist.''

Akron police are investigating. Right now, the case is not being classified as a racial hate crime. There were no other reports of victims assaulted by the group that night.

The department's gang unit is involved in the investigation, police said.

''We don't know if it's a known gang, or just a group of kids,'' police Lt. Rick Edwards said.

The Marshalls say they fear retaliation at home or when they go outside. They are considering arming themselves, but they're concerned about the possible problems that come with guns.

For now, they are hoping police can bring them suspects. They believe they can identify several of the attackers.

''This makes you think about your freedom,'' Marshall

Stephanie wrote:Ziggy,

I get the impression that you don't think racist black Americans should be held accountable for their racism. Barack Obama has repeatedly proven himself a racist and white Americans are somehow expected to just look the other way.

Stephanie wrote:Do you subscribe to the notion that only whites can be racist or do you think blacks are entitled to abuse and villify whites because of past abuses against their people?

The problem with the Cambridge PD and Officer Crowley has nothing to do with race and everthing to do with out of control law enforcement. Had a white man refused to cooperate with police and been arrested nobody would have heard about it outside of his circle of friends and associates, but a black man cries racism and it's international news.

Stephanie wrote:I don't want him to represent me. I didn't vote for him, but he is the face and voice of the American people. I'm an American and until his term expires, or he is impeached, or dies, he will continue to represent me. I don't have to like it.

ziggy wrote: It is not a matter of being "entitled". It is a matter of fact that violence begets violence from one generation to another.

ziggy wrote:Almost everyone has a personal bias about almost everything.

So what your point?

sodbuster wrote:Did anyone hear how the beer party at the WH worked out?

ziggy wrote:

It is not a matter of being "entitled". It is a matter of fact that violence begets violence from one generation to another. White America by and large excused Jim Crow laws and the violence of the KKK for 100 years. That excusing is not lost on succeeding generations of Americans.

Had a white man "refused to cooperate" with a police officer- in his own home- he would have been ignored.

And so what's wrong with it being international news? But you are half right. Had Gates been just another poor black guy in Harlem victimized by out of control cops, we would not even have heard about it.

If your theory is correct you and the other posters on this message board had better watch out. Men in this country by and large ignored and excused the physical, sexual, emotional, and economic abuse of women for 400 years. You'd better watch your back, Ziggy.

Stephanie wrote:This isn't a race issue but Gates & Obama sure want to make it one and you seem content to let them.

Keli wrote:

ziggy wrote:Almost everyone has a personal bias about almost everything.

So what your point?

What is your bias(es), Zig?

ziggy wrote:

Keli wrote:

ziggy wrote:Almost everyone has a personal bias about almost everything.

So what your point?

What is your bias(es), Zig?

There are too many of them to enumerate, Keli.

And besides, you probably recognize some of my biases better than I do anyway.

But I'll start with admitting biases against supernatural religions, and for science and reason; and biases for social justice, and against un-reasoned bigotry.

ziggy wrote:

If your theory is correct you and the other posters on this message board had better watch out. Men in this country by and large ignored and excused the physical, sexual, emotional, and economic abuse of women for 400 years. You'd better watch your back, Ziggy.

Damn right! And more and more women are saying they won't take it any more and fighting back. Sometimes they go to prison for it. But sometimes juries understand that a wife who kills her husband was a victim of his violence for too mnay years. And there, too, in domestic relations, violence begets violence- from one generation to the next, ad nauseum.

The solution is not to blame the victims who snapped and said enough is too much. The solution is to break the cycle.

But a nation whose government that has spent most of its history either at war or preparing to make war against its both internal and foreign alleged enemies is likely not an effective mentor for non-violence.

And so the circle goes 'round and 'round.

Professor Gates wasn't defending himself ....................

Women who kill their abusers are doing so in self defense. Professor Gates wasn't defending himself and that gang of black teens who viciously assaulted that family in Akron last month weren't defendign themselves. Gates is a racist and he wants to stir up racial discontent in this country, as do Al Sharpton, Jesse Jackson, and a litany of other "leaders" of the black community. The same cannot be said about white Americans. We shun our racists.

No. More typically white Americans simply refuse to acknowledge our racists.

Stephanie wrote:

No. More typically white Americans simply refuse to acknowledge our racists.

Even if you're correct, white Americans don't revere and celebrate their racists and provide them with a platform to spew their hatred, which is what has gone on in the case of Mr. Gates.