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

Even if the officer thought that Gate's ethnicity was the most important descriptor he could use, that doesn't make him racist. Skin and hair colour are probably the two most noticeable things about a person, and merely noting them down doesn't mean you're disparaging the person who possesses them. If I say "John has red hair", I'm probably saying that because less than 1% of the population has red hair and it's pretty damn noticeable if anyone wanted to find John. I'm not saying that gingers are less than human.



If the solution is colour blindness, then getting worked up over the results of some statistical data is equally detrimental. Those people aren't opposed to the commissioner's statement because he said "the majority of muggings are carried out by [insert ethnicity]". They're opposed because the ethnicity is black people. They are specifically drawn to that statement because it connects black people and crime in a way they assumed was racist. If he said that statistical data showed that the majority of muggings were committed by white people, or redheads, or rugby players, or people over 40 or any other subset you care to name, would it still be considered discriminatory?

QFT

Talking about how it makes people feel is important, but not at the expense of truth.

There is a normal identification & defensiveness in any minority community, a good example is the Italian Americans and how theyve dealt with the Mafia & its constant portrayal & glorification in the Media.

In fact, there are so many paralells to the Black experience its astonishing.

While millions of hard working Italian americans struggled to find a place in "The New World" thru hard work, family values, & strong religious influence,they daily confronted the Al Capone, John Gotti images.

The same can be said of the Chinese, Irish, etc etc....

I can tell you my grandfather felt very differently about the JFK assasination than I did, as he personally identified with him as an Irish Catholic.

I feel no defensiveness when I see a white person arrested on a show like "Cops", but Black friends have told me they feel an almost reflexive, visceral reaction to the same show.

Hopefully, Obama will have a beer with these guys & Gates will admit he was being an asshat...& Crowley feels bad about what happened (even though he felt he had no choice, thus no "Apology for having done his job")

Statistics can lie but facts are facts & we have more important problems to deal with than this fiasco.

Its an interesting choice to use a red-head as an example...due to the fact they are almost universally targeted for abuse in K-12 schools in this country.

Just like polio victims (gimp) & people with cleft palattes ("Hare-lip") were in years gone by
(the first derogatives I remember learning as a child are: "Red on the head like... & the ubiquitous "Red-headed step child")

Where did the passerby say that they wouldn't have called the cops if they thought a white guy was breaking in?

So because they didn't say that they wouldn't, it's correct to assume that they wouldn't?

Assuming fails. Stop doing it.

***** please, stop pretending that cultural biases against black men don't exist and have an adverse affect on them in society. I'm just waiting for Pensive now to swoop in for some emergency pedantry.

Edited, Jul 27th 2009 1:12am by Annabella

Stop reading into things to prove your own pathetic point about how absolutely awful all whiteys must treat black people. You have absolutely zero proof other than "WELL OF COURSE IT'S BECAUSE HE'S BLACK SHE WOULD NEVER HAVE DONE IT OTHERWISE. I'm psychic, so I know! :D"

If you look for racism, sexism, homophobia, you name it, you sure as fuck are going to find it everywhere.

You'd have a point, if she wasn't as old as she is. Except for all things ****, I'd expect her to be pretty god-damned experienced.

Listen, we can keep going around in circles, but the truth of the matter anyone would have been pissed at a cop lingering around their home after establishing that they were the owner & not breaking in. The fact that he arrested a prominent black scholar, outside of his own home after establishing the fact that he was the owner & not breaking in, made it a race issue (even if the officer is not racist, which is how things seem to appear).

It was a **** move on the cop to arrest him for disorderly, even though Gates was being a ****.

As much as even I would like, cops just can't go around arresting all the ****** (There's a Nixnot joke in there somewhere, I know it).

Fairly common, similar to arresting a sympathetic figure at a media/protest event for "Unlawful Assembly" or "Obstructing Traffic" etc.
say, like a 75 year old grandmother in a wheelchair

Then releasing her later with no charges filed. Cops can use it to gain control of the situation without any permanent consequences.

Coincidently, also avoids creating "Martyrs" for the cause lol.

Also, officially, police arrest & District Atty. decides who to file charges on.

Except, you know, the whole being black thing. Also, being a male.

I don't want to turn this into an Anna bashing, but whenever I see her "take up the cause" for other people, I tend to ignore it. She's like the little boy who cried wolf on everyone else's behalf.

Really? And this is the incident where you aren't gonna find it? This is people here denying certain realities that some people face. It's part of white privilege.

I guess it's true what they say. You don't have to be posh to be privileged, you just have to be white.

I....I...see the light! Thank you, white male!