Racism in America: July Round Up
I’m gonna start a new monthly series that’ll just sum up the month’s big news items on racism in America. The news will range from subtle, to internalized to the overt. What’s the difference? Glad you asked! Subtle is hiring a beloved African American actor to play a black haired hamster in a Disney kids movie and having him say catchphrases like “HOLLA!”:
Internalized is when a neighbor calls the cop on a Harvard Professor (the director of Harvard’s W.E.B. Du Bois Institute for African & African American Research to be exact) when he’s trying to “break into” his own house cause the front door don’t work after a trip back from China (I guess the neighbor didn’t see all the luggage and the driver, who is Black, that was helping him).
I imagine this man wearing khakis and a tweed jacket, surrounded by Burberry and Wakamatsu suitcases, trying to climb into his rear window like Hugh Grant climbing a fence - Whoopsy-daisy! - I don't see a criminal at all.
When the cop shows up, there’s a dispute about each of them showing IDs and Professor Gates gets arrested. If you’re keeping score, that’s American ethnic studies professors: ONE POINT and police officers in predominantly white cities (*cough* Cambridge *cough* Boston): ZERO POINTS. And big surprise, Gates is one of President Obama’s friends, and when asked about the situation, he said the Cambridge Police Department acted “stupidly” (Imma give the Prez 1 point for the correct conjugation of the word stupid to an adverb). President Obama speaks for everyone of color (that’s why I voted for him) that has been pulled over for being a minority (twice for yours truly) or had a gun pulled on him by police for no reason (thanks Santa Clara PD in 1997!). So FU Cambridge, you’re the only city in America that can possibly hate minorities more than Boston, I’m so glad I didn’t apply to Harvard (cause I would have totally not gone). (PS. this is the cop that “killed” Reggie Lewis too, I’m just sayin’!).
And BLATANT/OVERT racism? Kicking only the Black kids out of a private pool located near Philly. According this Washington Post article:
Horace Gibson, a parent of a camper told NBC that “The pool attendants came and told the black children that they did not allow minorities in the club and needed the children to leave immediately.” And on Tuesday, the swim club’s president issued a statement saying, “There was concern that a lot of kids would change the complexion … and the atmosphere of the club.”
That’s it for July! Hopefully next month’s beautiful August weather will dissuade racism during the height of the lovely summer weather, but I’m thinking not…
July 27, 2009 at 4:48 pm
It just came out this morning through the actual audio file that the caller actually did see the luggage, and she wasn’t able to see the race of the men. Turns out the police report was inaccurate. Who’d a thunk?
http://www.bigwowo.com/2009/07/911-caller-of-the-hook/