(no subject)
http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2009/07/27/obamas_accidental_gift_on_race_97637.html
^this
You know, the one thing that I haven't seen mentioned anywhere, and yet, I think very much deserves mentioning is this. Either today or yesterday, it was revealed that the lady who called 911 didn't actually describe them as "black men" on the phone. Whether she told it to the officer in person or not is something that's being debated. The officer claims she did, her lawyer says she didn't, blah blah blah.
The fact is, her not saying it was a black man is a BAD thing. When you call the police to report a possible crime, you should give them EVERYTHING YOU CAN. If you think the people are black, you say "I think they may be black, but it's hard to tell." If you think the people are Mexican, you say "I think they may be Mexican, but it's hard to tell." If you can see clearly that they're Chinese, you say "I can see that the men are Chinese." Why? Because when the police investigate the crime, the more they have to work off of, the better! Looking for "A heavyset, adult male who is likely dark skinned, possibly African-American" is MUCH easier than looking for "Some dude." Telling the police the men were black isn't "racial profiling," it's doing exactly what we're all taught to do in elementary school! If you're calling or talking to the police, TELL THEM EVERYTHING YOU CAN.
Of course, you shouldn't wildly guess, nor should you claim to be sure when you aren't, but if she did describe them as black because that's what she saw, she has nothing to be ashamed of! She ought to stand up beside that cop in saying "I did my freaking job, and no group of presuming, racist idiots is going to tell me otherwise, even if that group includes our own freaking President!"
And these people who are attacking the cop for arresting the guy for disorderly conduct, they need to watch the show COPS. That show proves that it doesn't matter if you're white or black, young or old, have a cane or a shotgun, if you shout at the police, cause a ruckus, and generally make their job ten times more difficult than it needs to be, you're freaking getting arrested. And as for following him in? Day one at the police academy, they teach you "Never leave a suspect alone." That cop had absolutely no way of knowing what Gates was going for, and for his own safety, he had to follow.
But it really is true, until people stop trying to find racism everywhere, we will never leave it behind us. Slavery, the Jim Crow lows, Japanese-American relocation camps, so many of us just want to leave them behind (especially those of us who had absolutely NOTHING to do with them). But as long as people continue to claim racism is everywhere, it will be. As long as groups insist that people apologize for things they didn't do to people who didn't suffer from it, paid for by money taxed by those who had no involvement, racism will still be there. We cannot beat racism to death with laws, apologies, reparations, and lawsuits. We have to let it fade into the past, and leave it there, where it belongs.
^this
You know, the one thing that I haven't seen mentioned anywhere, and yet, I think very much deserves mentioning is this. Either today or yesterday, it was revealed that the lady who called 911 didn't actually describe them as "black men" on the phone. Whether she told it to the officer in person or not is something that's being debated. The officer claims she did, her lawyer says she didn't, blah blah blah.
The fact is, her not saying it was a black man is a BAD thing. When you call the police to report a possible crime, you should give them EVERYTHING YOU CAN. If you think the people are black, you say "I think they may be black, but it's hard to tell." If you think the people are Mexican, you say "I think they may be Mexican, but it's hard to tell." If you can see clearly that they're Chinese, you say "I can see that the men are Chinese." Why? Because when the police investigate the crime, the more they have to work off of, the better! Looking for "A heavyset, adult male who is likely dark skinned, possibly African-American" is MUCH easier than looking for "Some dude." Telling the police the men were black isn't "racial profiling," it's doing exactly what we're all taught to do in elementary school! If you're calling or talking to the police, TELL THEM EVERYTHING YOU CAN.
Of course, you shouldn't wildly guess, nor should you claim to be sure when you aren't, but if she did describe them as black because that's what she saw, she has nothing to be ashamed of! She ought to stand up beside that cop in saying "I did my freaking job, and no group of presuming, racist idiots is going to tell me otherwise, even if that group includes our own freaking President!"
And these people who are attacking the cop for arresting the guy for disorderly conduct, they need to watch the show COPS. That show proves that it doesn't matter if you're white or black, young or old, have a cane or a shotgun, if you shout at the police, cause a ruckus, and generally make their job ten times more difficult than it needs to be, you're freaking getting arrested. And as for following him in? Day one at the police academy, they teach you "Never leave a suspect alone." That cop had absolutely no way of knowing what Gates was going for, and for his own safety, he had to follow.
But it really is true, until people stop trying to find racism everywhere, we will never leave it behind us. Slavery, the Jim Crow lows, Japanese-American relocation camps, so many of us just want to leave them behind (especially those of us who had absolutely NOTHING to do with them). But as long as people continue to claim racism is everywhere, it will be. As long as groups insist that people apologize for things they didn't do to people who didn't suffer from it, paid for by money taxed by those who had no involvement, racism will still be there. We cannot beat racism to death with laws, apologies, reparations, and lawsuits. We have to let it fade into the past, and leave it there, where it belongs.