Contrast that with the community next to us. They have one of the lowest pay scales in the state, and some very incompetent cops who have (or have had) a penchant for harassing local high school students.
During the few years I worked with local teens, my view of law enforcement officials began to change. The addicted sister of one of the girls who would infrequently attend the youth group I led at church was roughed up by those same cops, to the point where her story appeared on one of the national evening news magazine. There were, and still are, rumors of several million dollars of liability suits pending.
Imagine my shock and dismay when I ran afoul of police harassment. I am Republican, Episcopalian, Caucasian. I fit all the “right” status groups. White women don’t get harassed by white cops, do they? If you’ve been listening to Barack Obama, only African Americans are harassed by cops; by white cops. This is where I think Barack Obama is so very, very wrong. There are bad cops of every race, theology and ideology. Some of them are racist; others are just plain bad. The one who harassed me was just plain bad.
Several years ago I was driving the parents’ Cadillac through a large southwestern city, which I will not name because I still fear the cops there. We were traveling, my mother in the front seat, my father napping on the back seat with the poodle. The back seat was cluttered with things for the puppy and several Louis Vuitton handbags. My father had a bag full of snack food and paperbacks.
I was less than a block from the entrance to the Interstate when a black-and-white pulled up behind me, its siren blasting. I’d done nothing wrong, was in the right lane, had stopped at all the lights. Nothing was wrong with the car. I knew enough not to pull over on the side of the rush-hour road, and drove another half-block to a large truck stop, where I drove into the parking lot in a highly visible location, and parked.
The white cop greeted me with a drawn hand-gun. His partner went to the other side of the car and held one on that side of the car. They demanded the usual license, registration, etc. which were in the pocket of the seat, behind me. They would not allow my eighty-year-old father to reach across the seat for it. Instead, the white cop (the other was Hispanic) held a gun on me while I climbed out of the car and went into the back seat to find the information. He then pushed me back in the car and held his gun on me while I rummaged through my purse for my license.
Article comments
— go to most recent comments1 - pablo
yawn
2 - Arch Conservative
Cops are a microcosm of society in general, some good, some bad.
Obama, by assuming that the cop was a racist without knowing any of the facts, proves that he's no better than that fat race baiting pig Al Sharpton.
3 - Joanne Huspek
The one sentence that makes the most sense is the our President is out of touch with reality. He's not alone; the entire Congress and most state governments are in that same boat.
You're right. Not all cops are good cops and not all are racists. That said, not all college professors exhibit common sense and some play the name game as well as the race card.
The President should not have inserted himself when he did when he didn't have all the facts (admittedly). But since "press conferences" are orchestrated, I have to think he knew the question was coming and had an answer waiting.
4 - Bliffle
Zzzzzzzzzzzz.
5 - Robert M. Barga
While I must say that this sucks for you, I would simply have sued and won a crapton of money.
You acted exactly how you should have, and you did it all properly
That said, this "black scholar" was obviously in the wrong and should not have acted the way he did.
6 - Silas Kain
So Barack made a mistake in his commentary. The stark reality is that Black men in America deal with these things on a daily basis and THAT is the ultimate issue. Perhaps the professor was over the top. Perhaps the Cambridge police responded a bit too aggressively. As one who travels through Cambridge on a daily basis, I find Cambridge police to be more in tune with "serve and protect" than say, Boston cops. To me the Boston police union is more like an organized crime family designed to serve and protect their own and screw the ones who pay their salaries. But I digress...
We may have an African American President but we haven't evolved enough to the point where Black males can feel comfortable walking down the street. That's reality, folks. Perhaps after the professor and the cop have a beer with the Prez, we can move on and have a frank discussion about race and profiling in this country. Let's see if we can fit that into the national dialog between health care, the economy, the wars on two fronts and, of course, world peace.
7 - Robert M. Barga
Maybe, just maybe, it is the black males fault for this
As Jessie Jackson himself said "if i am walking down the street at night and see a black male on my side, I will cross to the other"
8 - Silas Kain
Oh please. I'd rather walk down the streets of Dorchester, Massachusetts amidst hundreds of Black males than walk in the streets of Provo Utah where Mormons are Mormons and sheep are frightened.
9 - Dr Dreadful
What makes me feel that Obama overreacted with regard to this particular case is the photo that most prominently accompanied the story when it broke, showing Gates in handcuffs and in the foreground, a black police sergeant.
That said, I think Silas pretty much hits the nail full on here; and Robert made a good point too. I suspect that even black officers are more likely to stop and search an African-American than a Caucasian. The meme (sorry, Clav) that black men are more likely to be criminally active is very hard to shake.
10 - Nails
"S okay, Doc, this once :>)
But, is it a meme?
Or, is it reality?
And I would venture that Jesse Jackson said what he did because statistically, as a black man he's far more at risk on a dark street at night when another black man approaches than a white man would be.
11 - Dr Dreadful
Clav, I agree that there's more at work here than just prejudice.
But there's also the fact that I've never been pulled over by a cop whereas my former co-worker, an African-American whose Dad is a criminology professor at the local university, gets stopped quite regularly for the offense (which I have a feeling may not be on the statute books) of being a black man driving a BMW.
12 - Clavos
Doc,
Yeah, I'm sure that's true.
Here we have a concept called DWB, Driving While Black, and it's unfortunate when it happens to an innocent person, but if all that happens is a stop, and then the individual is allowed to proceed, without harassment, there's no real harm done.
I would guess that if the crime statistics were highest for say, indigenous Mexicans, it would be they who would be stopped while driving beemers.
That it's largely not a product of racism, I think, is evidenced by the fact that Black cops practice it as well.
13 - Ricardovitz
I'm real tired of hearin 'bout what Black folks think Whitey been wronging them about.
We all know that this here Gates feller ain't nobody. Harvard done gave him a job and gave him a house and gave him a class to teach so they can claim that their College is "Racially Diverse". Somehow, these idiots think being "racially diverse" makes their school more enlightened, progressive, and down right full of geniuses.
But, I'm here to tell you that it ain't. Harvard is full of idiots. And, King Idiot is that fella Gates. He's a whitey-hating racist black man, yessiree, boys and girls.
I reckon that Harvard needs racist-whitey hating black men spoutin all sorts of nonsense to yer kids, so them idiots can smoke there dope and dream about how enlighted and smarty-smart they are.
Welcome to Harvard Community College, where any black man can teach any old crap, and any dumb idiot can get a full scolarship if he's black and can prove that he was a product of inner city gangs.
Any fool who sends there white kid to Harvard, is one dern stupid fool.
14 - Robert M. Barga
Jackson actually said it when talking about stereotypes, and explained that the way to combat them is to stop the reason that they are happening. Thus, he explained that young black men need to stop comiting so many crimes
15 - Silas Kain
I reckon that Harvard needs racist-whitey hating black men spoutin all sorts of nonsense to yer kids, so them idiots can smoke there dope and dream about how enlighted and smarty-smart they are.
Dear God, spoken like an Arkansan redneck. I agree Harvard is populated with idiots but Professor Gates is not one of them. Could he be an angry Black man? Sure. Does he have reason to carry such anger? Absolutely.
The stark reality is that Black men still suffer some kind of stigma. While one would think after all these years it would go away, the truth is that it does not. Racism may not be expressed on the streets -- but it is expressed in the confines of the home.
Times have changed. We're at the dawn of a new era in the United States where white males will no longer maintain majority status. It's a bitch, crackers, deal with it.
If Nelson Mandela can rise above his own oppression and forge ahead to make his own native land racially diverse, who are we not to imitate his example? Our Christian forefathers did not intend to include "negroes" as "free men" in our Constitution. But they left behind a living document that could adapt to a changing world.
This piece of paper is our sacred bond as a common people. I don't take it lightly. It is intended to be the hallmark in our society, governed by the rule of law. Not by God. Not by the Torah. Not by the New Testament. Not by the Koran. And, certainly, not by the Book of Mormon. All these books have their place in society within the confines of organized religion. No verse from any of these books, whether quoted or incorporated by reference, have a place in our Constitution.
We may not be able to enforce tolerance across our society. That being said, I would hope that we could at least seed the next generation with the notion that it is possible to coexist in a peaceful society.
If anything, I look at Justice-designate Sotomayor as being in the unique position to cross all barriers when rendering her decisions from the bench. Those decisions could finally resonate across all divides because, you know what? She was right. The perspective of a Latina woman is different from that of say, Justice Scalia. While Justice may be blind, it must never be blind to compassion and empathy. I hope I live long enough to see the day come when she succeeds John Roberts as the Chief Justice.
16 - Ruvy
Obama has definitely gotten it wrong on race - but folks in Jerusalem have Obama's number and can tell you why he gets it wrong. He is a racist. Nice to see my fellow Israelis finally waking up and calling a spade a spade (pun intended).
17 - Jordan Richardson
Yeah, Ruvy, sounds like a very intelligent group of "folks" there in Jerusalem at those rallies. I especially love the "Let My People Grow" placards.
18 - Ruvy
sounds like a very intelligent group of "folks" there in Jerusalem at those rallies....
That's okay, Jordan. They do not have to answer to what you think is intelligent or not. They, like me, answer to G-d. I'm sure they would think highly of your intelligence too, Jordan - NOT!
19 - Robert M. Barga
um, Ruvy, just a side point, that was very childish
that said, I agree that Obama is not helping the Jews out as he implied he would, but i dont see why he needs to
20 - Ruvy
Actually, Robert, Obama is the best thing for us to happen in years. He ripped the mask of "friendship" from the United States government, and now Israelis can just what Jew-haters and self-hating Jews run America.
The enemy is clear now - and he who bows to him will find himself a target.
21 - Robert M. Barga
Just because we do not support people doesn't mean that we hate them
22 - Ruvy
I'm not talking about you or your opinions, Robert. I'm talking about your government and its actions. Maybe you should put that pipe down and let the smoke clear a bit there so you can actually see what I'm writing, chum. Last I recall, you do not make American policy....
If you've been promoted in the Obamacracy of the Obamanation, and you do, my congrats - sorta.
23 - Robert M. Barga
My question to you is why should my government help your government
24 - Jordan Richardson
Robert, Ruvy talks incessantly around here about how he doesn't want "your government's" help but then he whines when he doesn't get a president to reflect a foreign policy that is akin to a blow job.
Between that and telling Americans they're all going to die from swine flu/Obama/the economy/drugs/gangster rap, Ruvy's pretty solid.
Plus, he tried a "not" joke. So....yeah.
Ruvy, if the protesters answer to a higher power, that's super. But you're bringing them up in this discussion, so their credibility regarding Obama's "racism" is certainly relevant on a level far beyond (or below) a deistic one.
25 - roger nowosielski
Just like the makers of the Hebrew Nationals, Jordan. They do answer to a higher authority.