I can't get over this incredibly face-palm-inducing story about the Famous Harvard Professor who was arrested for breaking and entering his own home. I guess that's what, L.iving W.hile B.lack? True, he wasn't arrested specifically for b&e; it was more like the PD thought he was too damn uppity. As USUAL. I love what the Boston Globe quoted the poor guy as saying to the ignorant police sergeant when asked to step outside.
"I'll take your mama outside!"
It's fucking ridiculous what minorities have to endure in this country no matter what anyone says about a 'post-racist america'. There are way too many examples of racism alive and well. So we got ourselves a black president, so fucking what? That just pissed more people off! I work in a clinic full of veterans and someone took Obama's picture and turned it to the wall. What kind of respect is that?
I've seen such shit go on since the man ran for office. A co-worker of mine said she wasn't voting Obama because 'he's just going to get shot anyway, and I don't like Joe Biden'. Whoaaaaaaaaa, there. This is an otherwise nice, normal person saying racist shit. She then asked me if I thought he'd get shot. Did I mention this was while I was admiring a plane flyover with 'Vote Obama' streaming behind it? I think I was shocked speechless, which is admittedly kind of rare for me. I said that I definitely hoped not and expected better from our country, but damn!
I really truly hope that this incident sparks some kind of overhaul of the Cambridge PD's treatment of blacks. I know it usually takes shit like this to get into the mainstream, and usually a big-ass lawsuit to follow it.
UPDATE: They erased that version of the story!! What the fuck? Now it's one page instead of two, and the quote is missing!!
Now that's interesting. Maybe it's as or more interesting than the original story.
Heh. No way.
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"Ridicule is the only weapon that can be used against unintelligible propositions. Ideas must be distinct before reason can act upon them."
-Thomas Jefferson
This story seems to have been blown way out of proportion. I think Gates was having a bad day, was pissed, lashed out at the officers investigating the possible break-in, and instead of just dealing with this quietly, decided to grand stand as the victim of racial profiling. Yes, Gates is black... but he's a frickin' privileged Harvard professor, with plenty of pull and clout as evidenced by how quickly the city pulled the charges. I suspect that if he were caught speeding in a school zone, and was having a sufficiently bad day, he'd respond to the officer by saying, "You're writing me a ticket because I'm an black man in America."
ReplyDeleteIt's sad that this overblown story is overshadowing the real stories of racial profiling and racism that occur throughout this country... it brings in a feeling that this influential man has pulled the race card in a whiny, cheap, self serving fashion.
Faced with cops walking into my home, univited, without warrant and demanding ID when it's already clear you are who you say you are (by this I mean another of the campus police was there and verified who the guy was even before he pulled out his ID), I'd be pretty pissed off too!
ReplyDeleteYou seem to misunderstand and mischaracterize the situation and claim "race card" when it was probably just that, racial profiling. There is a well-documented history of racial profiling in Cambridge.
On top of that, the professor had just arrived from a week abroad and a trip overseas. How tired was he, and then he's treated like a criminal on top of it?
I stand by what I said and I completely disagree with you, Pilot. However! Thanks for visiting my blog. I appreciate feedback.