Etan Thomas on the Gates arrest
Before the trade, I already knew that Etan Thomas dabbled in poetry. Yet I had no idea he was so politically active. He is a regular contributor to the Huffington Post. For those unaware, The Huffington Post is a liberal news website similar to the conservative Drudge Report. So if your political views lean to the right, you might not be too interested in Etan's political views.
As a few of you might know a Harvard professor was arrested in his home while the Cambridge Police responded to a reported burglary. The meat of this news story is that Professor Gates is a black man caught up in another alleged case of racial profiling. This has been covered extensively by the national media (including some interesting coverage on NPR). President Obama has even gotten involved trying to use this moment as a teaching moment.
In Thomas's opinion on the subject he shares a few personal gems from his own experience:
Personal experiences such as being stopped and dragged out of my car while I was in high school by members of the Tulsa Police Department and made to lay on the ground while on my way to one of the biggest games of the season because the officers thought they saw my face in a lineup or on a mug shot. It turned out they had just seen me in the papers playing basketball, but I definitely didn't receive an apology. Or while I was in college being put in handcuffs by the Syracuse Police Department, in the snow mind you, my freshman year along with one of my teammates because they thought we had stolen the car we were in. They actually had the audacity to tell us to stay out of trouble afterward, but no apology. Or after I was drafted by the Dallas Mavericks, being stopped by the Dallas Police Department and told that my Navigator would be impounded if I could not provide proof of a job that would allow me to purchase a car of that magnitude. Again I received no apology. Or driving through Virginia on my way to one of my teammate's house and being stopped by the Virginia Police Department and asked what business I had in that neighborhood, detained for hours and later told that I "fit the description" of something that happened. Still no apology.
Thomas summed up his article with the following thoughts:
This is my point: no matter what our past experiences are, it is not intelligent, nor is it fair not to see people as individuals. Furthermore, if a policeman is to prejudge a situation and not have the ability to view it on a case-by-case basis, he has no business being a policeman.
To read Thomas's complete article click here.
This post does not necessarily reflect the views of the staff of Welcome to Loud City or SB Nation. However, it was made by one of the members of the Welcome to Loud City community, so there is a large chance the above post is extremely ballin'!
11 comments
|
0 recs |
Do you like this story?
Comments
As a white man, it is easy to discount racial profiling on people of color. But the facts are that people are unfairly singled out on a daily basis. I can only bring up one event where I was pulled over, questioned and detained for a while when I visited my best friends house in a rich neighborhood while driving a 400 dollar car. It is a shame that these events still happen.
Emerald City Funk Machine
It is a shame that these events still happen.
I agree. What is worse is that many people do not acknowledge that such events still happen.
More on Thomas, I just found his Voices of the Future project.
Also Known as "4D" one step beyond 3D
That made me sick....
And we wonder why everyone else in the world (predominately people of color mind you) hates the US. I just don’t understand it. I’m white, so I have never experienced anything like that. But I have many friends that have unfortunately. Both black and hispanic. It’s just plain wrong. I could understand it to some degree if there was the common decency of an apology. I understand mistakes happen. But usually when you make a mistake you apologize for it. You don’t simply go on without addressing the mistake in some way. And then to actually somehow blame the individual for you mistake is just wrong. This is why as a law abiding citizen with no police record, I can’t stand most police officers. Unfortunately, there is no longer the humility needed to qualify for such an important role in society. The aparent racism and bias for women is so sickening, the later maybe a regional thing. Here in Oklahoma, if you are white or female, if you say it, it’s true. That’s just not fair. You like to think of all the ways our country has advanced and how far we have come, but then you see stuff like this, and you realize how far we still have left to go.
I think by saying sorry, they would be admitting what they did was wrong. I think in some sick way these cops think that what they are doing is right. I got an idea. Lets just flog everyone with a felony. I am sure there were some that committed serious crimes and were not brought to justice.
Emerald City Funk Machine
by blackvanilla on Jul 30, 2009 2:56 PM CDT up reply actions
While I think Etan's personal examples are a great
Window into the issues at hand, I also think that Gates isn’t entirely innocent. Not only was he partially to blame (according to multiple witnesses) for escalating the situation, but he’s somewhat of a douche for blowing it way out of proportion. This is far different from S. Allen Counter’s earlier case, or any other case he’s attempting to relate this to.
In fact, before we all go crazy with this, people should note that the arresting officer, Cambridge Sgt. James Crowley,
“has taught a class about racial profiling for five years at the Lowell Police Academy after being hand-picked for the job by former police Commissioner Ronny Watson, who is black, said Academy Director Thomas Fleming”
Also, read dissenting opinions on the matter from black scholars who disagree (Dr. Boyce Watkins, Syracuse University) before coming to immediate conclusions. I find it interesting that all the attention is on racial profiling and how Gates is immediately the victim. Without firsthand knowledge of everything that transpired, I’d rather not run and grab my pitchfork (yet).
i will say
that Gates was probably too quick to jump to victimhood and i dont think that Crowley was acting racially in his actions i will say at some point this became more of an ego contest than about the law. Crowley felt pissed on by Gates and so he used his power to arrest him where the better action in the situation would have been for the person in power, Crowley, to de-escalate the situation and walk away, so for me they both acted badly.
by Michael Gleich on Jul 30, 2009 1:59 PM CDT up reply actions
Exactly
I’m more inclined to think that they were both being stupid in how they dealt with the situation. If Gates voiced his irritation without being an ass … if Crowley didn’t get irritated and decide to cuff him for little reason … if Gates didn’t start screaming the racism card … if Crowley didn’t …
In short, it seems like the racism card often gets overplayed. Sometimes, it’s just about two people being stupid. It’s like sexual harassment cases. Some huge percentage of the time, I’m sure there’s some real harassment. The other minority of the time, it’s some dipshit people crying wolf.
Interesting article, good point about withholding judgment unless firsthand knowledge is presented.
Emerald City Funk Machine
by blackvanilla on Jul 30, 2009 3:01 PM CDT up reply actions
My comments werent about the Gates case...
Just the racial profiling in general. I have been in the car with a particular black friend and been “watched rather intently” from cops passing by or in other lanes of traffic merely for being in a car with tinted windows driven by a black man with braids. So to be honest I have no idea about anything with the Gates case. I was commenting purely on the racial profiling.
I think that came across in the earlier post.
Emerald City Funk Machine
by blackvanilla on Jul 31, 2009 1:50 PM CDT up reply actions

by 
































