I saw a darkie breaking into the house across the street...Follow

There should be a picture of you in the dictionary beside the word, "passive aggressive."

They only allow your picture in the dictionary once. I'm already next to AWESOME, so it really wouldn't work out. I'm sorry to deliver the bad news.

I would thank anna and stubs for exemplifying my point if they didn't always do this.

He is certainly a far greater man than I. If they wish to make an exception for his photograph, who am I to contest?

So you're saying it wouldn't take much liquor at this point to get you blind drunk?

Edited, Jul 27th 2009 3:31pm by Jophiel

Varus, there's just one problem.

She lives in New Jersey.

Therefore, one of you is out of the league of the other one, but I'm not sure which.

Christ almighty, I'm glad you've devoted your life to be a Savior Of The Downtrodden, but could you manage to step off your high horse for several seconds to read what I'm saying?

Let me boil it down to basic reading comprehension for you - am I talk about the manner in which Gates was treated by the officer and the subsequent arrest, or the woman making the call?

Why, that's right! I'm talking about the woman! "BUT SHE CALLED THE COPS ON HIM AND SHE SHOULD KNOW WHO HE IS!" He didn't roll up to his house in a pinstripe suit with his pinky sticking out and a personal driver with a fancy hat and limousine, now did he.

Perhaps she should have just made sure her nape was covered, ruffled her long, flowing skirt a bit, and skipped over while calling to them - "Excuse me, fair sirs! I wish to inquire if you truly are the proper owners of this humble establishment, for your behavior seems to be a bit improper. Why, one could almost assume you were robbing the house based on your actions!"

And then get shot in the face if instead of Dr. Gates, it really was riffraff robbing the place.

Oh, wait, that must just be my racist side talking again. No robbers would carry guns. I'm just saying that because they're black, and as a whitey I naturally hate and discriminate against black people.

"BUT GATES SAID IT WAS RACISM AND HE'D KNOW BECAUSE HE WAS THERE." No. He said the treatment by the officer came off as racist. The situation should have been over after he showed ID to prove he owned the place. It wasn't. That has nothing to do with the woman calling the cops in the first place. In fact, I can't find anything at all that suggests he even faults her for that.

Oh! And what's that! The lock might have been jimmied by someone else trying to break in? Boy, CLEARLY this woman called the cops because they were black, and not because it was potentially suspicious.

EDIT:

Don't let that stop your crusade, though. I guess you would know better than he would.

Edited, Jul 27th 2009 5:58pm by CBD

CBD is the new Brownduck, except you are even less articulate. Certainly, any black man shoving his door around lunch time in an area where he is one of the most well-known residents is suspect. SURELY. Suffer the possibility that she might have lived in a country with racial stereotypes and discrimination and that affected her ability to judge the situation. I mean, my God, isn't racism so rare that most of us have never even heard that black men have a higher incarceration rate and been subject to judicial racism?

And surely you know all about Cambridge, MA. I mean, you lived or worked there, haven't you?



Edited, Jul 27th 2009 6:07pm by Annabella

Well-known to the people who live around there, I'm sure. This particular lady did not live there, and perhaps she's like me, and wouldn't know Dr. Gates if he walked up to her on the street and shook her hand.

I don't blame the lady who called the cops. She thought she was doing her civic duty. Good on her. I'm pretty sure she'd have done the same thing if it had been a white guy trying to jimmie the lock.

I bet it's not all that often that the doors of those expensive houses get stuck, either.

ETA: Also, if it had happened, it wouldn't have the racism draw that would make it a huge story.

Edited, Jul 27th 2009 5:29pm by Belkira

I don't know, Belkira. I've talked to too many kids in Cambridge who talk about how the police are always harassing the black kids before the white kids--I get this account from all racial groups and kids of color getting targeted disproportionately by white residents in an area of the country with a lot of racial tension, to act like this is free from race. And Harvard Square is one of those annoyingly lilywhite enclaves of privilege, where POC have reported feeling scrutinized and excluded.

YMMV.