Lately, I have been so enmeshed in my own pathetic life that I completely missed the news about an affront to prominent black scholar, Henry Louis Gates Jr. (thanks to C. for telling me about it). The story goes as follows: Gates returned home from a trip to find his front door jammed. He enlisted the aid of his driver to help him to force the door open. Apparently, while this was going on a neighbor called the police and reported that two black men were breaking into the house. The story should have ended once Gates produced identification with his address thereby ascertaining that he was in fact a resident of the home but instead he was arrested, allegedly for disorderly conduct. Now I can imagine that Gates had some harsh words for the officers and I can’t say that I blame him. If you were accused of burglarizing your own home (added to the stress of traveling and fighting to gain entrance) I’m sure you’d be a little upset too.Racism is such a messy topic and I really hate to revisit and rehash but sometimes we really have no choice. I do believe that racism is alive and well in America. It is visible and ever present. More than anything, I’m really tired of the automatic dismissal of people who believe that they have a legitimate right to claim that they were targeted because of their race, simply because we now have a black president. Give me a break! Finally, after dozens of white men before him, a black man was finally elected to the highest position and racism suddenly becomes a non-issue? That’s an easy enough statement to make when you haven’t ever been a victim of racism. Unfortunately the history that this country was built on cannot be wiped out simply because of one act.
Personally, racism is the very last option that I allow my mind to consider whenever I encounter anything that seems foul for no good reason. But incidents such as the one involving Gates are not uncommon throughout America. As I read about it, I was reminded of another incident in Boston where blacks were essentially stripped of their basic rights and were treated as criminals. All because of a white man’s accusation that a black man killed his wife. Ironically, it turned out that the ‘grieving husband’ was the was the killer but police action sent a message that blacks are and will forever be second class citizens whose rights could be stripped at will. America still has a long way to go but that’s just my opinion. Read some of the comments that follow this article to see why I still worry.
That Boston incident is nothing new in this country. There was a caucasian lady who killed her kids a few years back and blamed a black man. Why? ....because it's believeable to many non-black Americans that somehow believe we are more capable of such than any other race of people. I really don't see how the amount of melanin in one's skin could be an indication of elevated aggression, but that's what's been driven into our minds since birth.
ReplyDeleteI think it's utterly ridiculous that Gate's neighbor did not know who he was. Being a hermit myself, I'm not saying that I'm best friends with all my neighbors, but I know them when I see them. I think the biggest culprit is being ignored in this story......the neighbor! Who really knows how the story went down when the police arrived. Perhaps the cops did act or think in a racist manner prior to Gate's verbal attacks, or perhaps they didn't. I think it's only fair to explore that possibility.
You have a valid point. From what I read, the neighbor works in a capacity where Gates should have been easily recognizable to him/her, even if he/she didn't recognize him from the neighborhood. But we can't punish people for being "concerned citizens." Whatever they were told, the police had opportunity to assess the situation for themselves and act accordingly. I guess they felt an arrest was necessary.
ReplyDeleteI agree girl. What makes me even more pissed off is the backlash Obama is getting for calling the cop stupid. I do agree that he should've phrased it better, but I'm sorry he was a dumb azz!! People and there sense of entitlement makes me sick!!!!
ReplyDeleteOn the one hand, I like that he's not afraid to voice his opinion on "sensitive" subjects but then I do wonder if he shouldn't have stayed out of it altogether. It does seem that the whole incident is gaining more attention because he did say something and thats definitely a good thing. I'm going to reserve passing anymore judgement until the whole story comes out though.
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