tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6155133175831479740.post1490392356545257061..comments2024-02-16T04:05:23.512-05:00Comments on Rev-elution: Black Man WalkingREV-elutionhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08726120253716456109noreply@blogger.comBlogger6125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6155133175831479740.post-48560983622334102172009-08-07T16:00:59.001-04:002009-08-07T16:00:59.001-04:00While I was a young man, and in college, one of my...While I was a young man, and in college, one of my older brothers was a law enforcement officer. I was complaining to him one day about the treatment that I and my friends frequently got stopped and -- in my outraged opinion -- harassed by the police. Yes, I was stopped while driving while white, walking while white, and followed around stores while white. <br /><br />(It's strange that so many black people seem to think that when police see a white person they say to themselves, "Oh they're white, so I'll just leave my gun and cuffs in the car ... Say, I wonder if I should give them some free tickets to the Policemen's Ball!" Trust me, it ain't like that.)<br /><br />After listening to me rant for awhile, my brother looked at me -- me with my long hair, tattered jeans, old Army jacket, beat-up car -- and said, "You know, police don't look for criminals; they look for criminal <b><i>types</i></b>".<br /><br />This was an epiphany for me. And sure enough, once I (eventually) transformed my appearance by cutting my hair, dressing nicer, and driving a better car, the policemen's curiosity about my life dropped off significantly.<br /><br />What does this have to do with black people? I would urge you to be informed about the crime rate of blacks compared with, say, whites. It is my understanding that the average black man will commit about same amount of serious crime over his lifetime as nine white men will over theirs -- and remember, blacks have shorter life spans.<br /><br />So, yes, with police looking "criminal types", they -- just like Jesse Jackson when he hears footsteps and fears robbery -- will pay more attention to black people than to white ones. Though probably more attention to scraggly-looking white folks than to well-dressed black ones. <br /><br />You can call me a "racist" for saying what I just said, but you can't call me a liar for any of it. And I'd rather be called a racist than a liar.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6155133175831479740.post-50819782922113136952009-08-02T17:00:17.735-04:002009-08-02T17:00:17.735-04:00Excellent advice!Excellent advice!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6155133175831479740.post-88611925792161112212009-08-01T21:27:32.143-04:002009-08-01T21:27:32.143-04:00It seems like there are 4 possibilities here:
1. G...It seems like there are 4 possibilities here:<br />1. Gates is right, Crowley is wrong<br />2. Crowley is right, Gates is wrong<br />3. They were both right<br />4. They were both wrong<br /><br />I think the only reasonable arguments would be for 3 or 4. Personally, I would go for number 4. As an officer Crowley should develop methods of dealing with suspects that do not offend and don't allow situations to escalate too quickly. As an educated man Gates should have given a police officer more patience and not lowered himself with such a poor choice or words. <br /><br />We will not come together until someone takes the high road first. Ask yourself now... What would I do in that situation to change the world for the better? <br /><br />When a cop asks where are you going it may be a racist move. But, he/she won't learn to doubt his racist instinct until you demonstrate to him that he should. Tell him where you are going. Then, take a moment to talk to him. "how is your shift going?" "Are you looking for someone, maybe I saw them?" "Thanks for helping to make my neighborhood safe." You will both feel better when you get home. Good luck!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6155133175831479740.post-73793000755400464282009-07-30T21:47:22.787-04:002009-07-30T21:47:22.787-04:00Coda:
Today's news, AP: "For his part, ...Coda:<br /><br />Today's news, AP: "For his part, Gates said he and Crowley had been caught up as characters in a much larger narrative about race over which they had no control.<br /><br />"It is incumbent upon Sgt. Crowley and me to utilize the great opportunity that fate has given us," Gates said in a statement. He said their task must be to foster sympathy among Americans about "the daily perils of policing on the one hand, and for the genuine fears of racial profiling on the other hand."<br /><br />In Massachusetts, meanwhile, a black sergeant who was with Crowley at Gates' home said he's been maligned as an "Uncle Tom" for supporting the actions of his white colleague, according to an e-mail that CNN said it received from the sergeant. The officer, Leon Lashley, said he "spoke the truth" about the arrest, and he said Gates should consider whether he "may have caused grave and potentially irreparable harm to the struggle for racial harmony."Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6155133175831479740.post-62616003468904404032009-07-29T23:42:04.396-04:002009-07-29T23:42:04.396-04:00The world is always seen through the prisms of our...The world is always seen through the prisms of our experiences or our concerns for others.<br /><br />For the most part, liberals have plugged the Gates incident into the unfair-racial-profiling template, and proceeded to call for blacks and whites to "listen to each other's narratives" and other fuzzy niceties, even after it was determined that police racism probably had little to do with the event.<br /><br />Most conservatives, on the other hand, were following their own "narrative," the one in which racism is often exaggerated and the real victim is the unassuming common man scorned by the deference-demanding "liberal elite." This puts Gates in the "Ivy League big shot" role, which he of course assumed himself rather readily. After all, Cambridge, Mass., is home to a particularly obnoxious combination of left wing orthodoxy and upper-class entitlement.<br /><br />Gates demands that Sgt. Crowley "beg for his forgiveness." Doesn't it sound great when a rich guy who summers on the Vineyard asks a working class cop to "beg"?<br /><br />So, how one interprets and reacts to the Gates incident, really does depend on your background. Carl, the end of your essay indicated you were hurt by Crowley's actions even though you admit they may have had nothing to do with race, but they did stir some bad memories and associated emotions within you. But I'm sure you can see that there may be others who have different bad memories and emotions based on a different life experience and, as such, interpret this incident in another way.<br /><br />All of us have to stop being so quick to judgement of others and make an honest attempt at understanding different points of view.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6155133175831479740.post-6983697824669039602009-07-29T10:57:46.432-04:002009-07-29T10:57:46.432-04:00Summary:
1. You have been discriminated against ...Summary:<br /><br />1. You have been discriminated against because of assumptions connected to race.<br /><br />2. Many black men (and women) have been discriminated against because of assumptions connected to race.<br /><br />3. Therefore, the Gates incident must have been discrimination because of race.<br /><br />When you took Logic 101 in college, they would not have allowed you to assume #3 was true based on #1 and #2. To do so is, in itself, a form of racism. Dr. Gates overzealous reaction no doubt came about because he made the same conclusion.<br /><br />Why is it that Sgt Crowley's police comrades, many of them African-American, were unanimous in his defence? First, they knew him and his character, having observed him over several years, and did not think him a racist. Second, they thought like police officers. When you are called to a house with a potential burglary in progress, you are on high alert. Many police officers get killed following up seemingly routine complaints. Many burglars, caught in the act, claim that they are the actual residents of the house. The initial call mentioned TWO men breaking in the front door. Until the location and identity of the second "intruder" is known, the police are still alert. Professor Gates did not take into account that a true burglar might have forced him to the front door and told him to tell the police that everything was all right on threat of his life. Until the police establish who the second person is, they must still be on alert.<br /><br />Of course, Gates knew nothing of police procedure, so he made his own racially based assumption that a white cop was prejudicially harassing a black man. And, Gates was of a higher social status and therefore felt a double degree of anger.<br /><br />As a Boston black expert in discrimination noted, "Sometimes a cigar is just a cigar." It isn't always about race, even when your personal experience has sensitized you to know that sometimes it is about race. Obama jumped to the same illogical conclusions as you did, so you're in good company.<br /><br />Once the facts were made public, the largely liberal press has been bending over backward to explain that Gate's and Obama's reactions were justified, even as they exclude or ignore facts and police procedural policies in doing so. Sgt. Crowley's fellow black officers know better and have risen to his defense.<br /><br />All of this means that even though we haven't reached a post-racial society yet, both blacks and whites have made progress. And, the racism door swings both ways.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com