Comments on: Those Who Resist the End of Racial Profiling http://www.edrants.com/those-who-resist-the-end-of-racial-profiling/ a cultural website in ever-shifting standing Wed, 08 Feb 2012 18:01:24 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 By: Andy http://www.edrants.com/those-who-resist-the-end-of-racial-profiling/comment-page-1/#comment-256776 Andy Sat, 25 Jul 2009 14:16:26 +0000 http://www.edrants.com/?p=12235#comment-256776 Crying Department's upstairs, Harold. Crying Department’s upstairs, Harold.

]]> By: harold http://www.edrants.com/those-who-resist-the-end-of-racial-profiling/comment-page-1/#comment-256766 harold Sat, 25 Jul 2009 03:53:06 +0000 http://www.edrants.com/?p=12235#comment-256766 I think both sides need to evaluate where they're are coming from before they start putting numbers in the sky. I called the number in the sky and I got these dudes, Steve and Andy. I just wanted a boat. I have millions of dollars in assets at my disposal. I think both sides need to evaluate where they’re are coming from before they start putting numbers in the sky. I called the number in the sky and I got these dudes, Steve and Andy. I just wanted a boat. I have millions of dollars in assets at my disposal.

]]> By: harold http://www.edrants.com/those-who-resist-the-end-of-racial-profiling/comment-page-1/#comment-256760 harold Fri, 24 Jul 2009 19:32:08 +0000 http://www.edrants.com/?p=12235#comment-256760 See what you did, Henry Louis Gates, Jr.? Leave it to the blacks to tear the very fabric of our litblogs apart. See what you did, Henry Louis Gates, Jr.? Leave it to the blacks to tear the very fabric of our litblogs apart.

]]> By: Andy http://www.edrants.com/those-who-resist-the-end-of-racial-profiling/comment-page-1/#comment-256738 Andy Fri, 24 Jul 2009 14:25:10 +0000 http://www.edrants.com/?p=12235#comment-256738 How is your implication, Steven -- supported, as usual, only by a reading of my remarks that is either malign or feebleminded and by selective quotation that removes the material from its ironic context -- that I am a racist who supports abusive police tactics anything but "ad hominem"? You don't have to tar and feather me to make your point. I get your point. To the extent that you're arguing in favor of standing up for individual and civil rights, I agree with the point. Our disagreement doesn't arise from the end, but from the means, and you haven't actually acknowledged the reality of the cost that I've said, quite plainly, I'm unwilling to pay. It's a personal choice to which I have a right, just as you have the right to get your head split open mouthing off at a cop, or to spend the night in some county lockup on a bogus charge, if you so choose. Speaking of rights. I would say that in this instance, Professor Gates miscalculated. Five minutes' humiliation for him could have yielded career-stunting censure for Sgt. Whatshisname. All Henry Louis Gates, Jr. had to do was contact the Mayor of Cambridge and that cop would be working at the impound lot for the next five years. Instead we have a high-profile he said/he said situation that will yield neither truth nor a resolution of the problem. The media will chatter for the next week about the difficulties black men in America face, then go back to sleep. How is your implication, Steven — supported, as usual, only by a reading of my remarks that is either malign or feebleminded and by selective quotation that removes the material from its ironic context — that I am a racist who supports abusive police tactics anything but “ad hominem”? You don’t have to tar and feather me to make your point. I get your point. To the extent that you’re arguing in favor of standing up for individual and civil rights, I agree with the point. Our disagreement doesn’t arise from the end, but from the means, and you haven’t actually acknowledged the reality of the cost that I’ve said, quite plainly, I’m unwilling to pay. It’s a personal choice to which I have a right, just as you have the right to get your head split open mouthing off at a cop, or to spend the night in some county lockup on a bogus charge, if you so choose. Speaking of rights.

I would say that in this instance, Professor Gates miscalculated. Five minutes’ humiliation for him could have yielded career-stunting censure for Sgt. Whatshisname. All Henry Louis Gates, Jr. had to do was contact the Mayor of Cambridge and that cop would be working at the impound lot for the next five years. Instead we have a high-profile he said/he said situation that will yield neither truth nor a resolution of the problem. The media will chatter for the next week about the difficulties black men in America face, then go back to sleep.

]]> By: Steven Augustine http://www.edrants.com/those-who-resist-the-end-of-racial-profiling/comment-page-1/#comment-256732 Steven Augustine Fri, 24 Jul 2009 07:25:18 +0000 http://www.edrants.com/?p=12235#comment-256732 For a thread on this topic not hosted by idiots: http://kateharding.net/2009/07/21/this-is-what-happens-to-black-men-in-america/ For a thread on this topic not hosted by idiots:

http://kateharding.net/2009/07/21/this-is-what-happens-to-black-men-in-america/

]]> By: Steven Augustine http://www.edrants.com/those-who-resist-the-end-of-racial-profiling/comment-page-1/#comment-256731 Steven Augustine Fri, 24 Jul 2009 07:20:15 +0000 http://www.edrants.com/?p=12235#comment-256731 Of course, Ed. Because you're so gentle, circumspect, and never, yourself, pursue an argument. If only I had the class to follow your example. Next time someone disagrees with me, rather than respond (please note the absence of ad hominems in ALL of my comments), I'll just forget my point and write "LOL". Because nothing really matters, anyway. You're just *pretending* to be passionate in your beliefs; you're only passionate about your ego, obviously. I get it now. Don't bother banning me, you phony. Hope your fantasy as a "crusading journalist" pays off. LOL. Of course, Ed. Because you’re so gentle, circumspect, and never, yourself, pursue an argument. If only I had the class to follow your example. Next time someone disagrees with me, rather than respond (please note the absence of ad hominems in ALL of my comments), I’ll just forget my point and write “LOL”. Because nothing really matters, anyway. You’re just *pretending* to be passionate in your beliefs; you’re only passionate about your ego, obviously. I get it now.

Don’t bother banning me, you phony. Hope your fantasy as a “crusading journalist” pays off. LOL.

]]> By: DrMabuse http://www.edrants.com/those-who-resist-the-end-of-racial-profiling/comment-page-1/#comment-256728 DrMabuse Fri, 24 Jul 2009 02:08:29 +0000 http://www.edrants.com/?p=12235#comment-256728 Steven: You are trolling here. Knock it off. This is not the kind of bullshit I want to have on my blog. Andy has the right to his opinion. There's no reason to badger him like this. Steven: You are trolling here. Knock it off. This is not the kind of bullshit I want to have on my blog. Andy has the right to his opinion. There’s no reason to badger him like this.

]]> By: Andy http://www.edrants.com/those-who-resist-the-end-of-racial-profiling/comment-page-1/#comment-256727 Andy Fri, 24 Jul 2009 01:58:41 +0000 http://www.edrants.com/?p=12235#comment-256727 Good for you, Steven. Go for it. Good for you, Steven. Go for it.

]]> By: Steven Augustine http://www.edrants.com/those-who-resist-the-end-of-racial-profiling/comment-page-1/#comment-256723 Steven Augustine Thu, 23 Jul 2009 22:43:43 +0000 http://www.edrants.com/?p=12235#comment-256723 "You’ll have his foot on your back in a twinkling." Well, people have been fire-hosed or billy-clubbed, by the police, for sitting at segregated lunch counters or swimming pools, too. It's a mistake to assume those days are entirely over. "You can’t be right, because the police decide what’s right." Uh, no, Andy. No. “You’ll have his foot on your back in a twinkling.”

Well, people have been fire-hosed or billy-clubbed, by the police, for sitting at segregated lunch counters or swimming pools, too. It’s a mistake to assume those days are entirely over.

“You can’t be right, because the police decide what’s right.”

Uh, no, Andy. No.

]]> By: Andy http://www.edrants.com/those-who-resist-the-end-of-racial-profiling/comment-page-1/#comment-256721 Andy Thu, 23 Jul 2009 20:03:07 +0000 http://www.edrants.com/?p=12235#comment-256721 I haven't forgotten anything, Steven. Like I said, if you want to "call" the responding officer on his behavior, that's your choice. You'll have his foot on your back in a twinkling. I don't quite understand the principle you're defending. It's too abstract for me. When a civilian is ordered to do something by a cop, or two cops, or more, the civilian has absolutely no leverage, irrespective of whether the civilian is in the right or not. It's asking for humiliation, at best, beating and arrest at worst. You can't be right, because the police decide what's right. I don't agree with it, it's absolutely Orwellian, but that's how it is, and that's how it's been since long before concepts like "Miranda warnings" and "probable cause" were admitted via the thin slit through which things gain entry to cops' consciousness. I haven’t forgotten anything, Steven. Like I said, if you want to “call” the responding officer on his behavior, that’s your choice. You’ll have his foot on your back in a twinkling. I don’t quite understand the principle you’re defending. It’s too abstract for me. When a civilian is ordered to do something by a cop, or two cops, or more, the civilian has absolutely no leverage, irrespective of whether the civilian is in the right or not. It’s asking for humiliation, at best, beating and arrest at worst. You can’t be right, because the police decide what’s right. I don’t agree with it, it’s absolutely Orwellian, but that’s how it is, and that’s how it’s been since long before concepts like “Miranda warnings” and “probable cause” were admitted via the thin slit through which things gain entry to cops’ consciousness.

]]> By: Steven Augustine http://www.edrants.com/those-who-resist-the-end-of-racial-profiling/comment-page-1/#comment-256720 Steven Augustine Thu, 23 Jul 2009 18:23:31 +0000 http://www.edrants.com/?p=12235#comment-256720 Andy, if no one's brave enough to call the heavily-armed centurions on their ever-spreading attitude that "disrespecting" them is in and of itself a crime, how will the behavior stop? I think you (and the police) have forgotten what it is the police are supposed to do: protect the legally innocent from abuse... not expose them to it. Andy, if no one’s brave enough to call the heavily-armed centurions on their ever-spreading attitude that “disrespecting” them is in and of itself a crime, how will the behavior stop? I think you (and the police) have forgotten what it is the police are supposed to do: protect the legally innocent from abuse… not expose them to it.

]]> By: Andy http://www.edrants.com/those-who-resist-the-end-of-racial-profiling/comment-page-1/#comment-256718 Andy Thu, 23 Jul 2009 17:15:20 +0000 http://www.edrants.com/?p=12235#comment-256718 Well, I'll leave it to you and Ed to behave belligerently toward "potentially lethal authority," Steven. It's not an endorsement of the actions of the police, or of their tacit policies, to suggest that the sane posture to take toward aggressive and armed men with the legal authority to use force is not necessarily the principled one. Sorry, there's no quicker way to get a cop to put his hands on you than to tell him not to put his hands on you. And any further resistance is a chargeable offense, period, fair or unfair. You don't have to be a University Professor at Harvard to know that there are better places to take your rage and better ways to seek redress. Well, I’ll leave it to you and Ed to behave belligerently toward “potentially lethal authority,” Steven. It’s not an endorsement of the actions of the police, or of their tacit policies, to suggest that the sane posture to take toward aggressive and armed men with the legal authority to use force is not necessarily the principled one. Sorry, there’s no quicker way to get a cop to put his hands on you than to tell him not to put his hands on you. And any further resistance is a chargeable offense, period, fair or unfair. You don’t have to be a University Professor at Harvard to know that there are better places to take your rage and better ways to seek redress.

]]> By: Steven Augustine http://www.edrants.com/those-who-resist-the-end-of-racial-profiling/comment-page-1/#comment-256709 Steven Augustine Thu, 23 Jul 2009 09:13:00 +0000 http://www.edrants.com/?p=12235#comment-256709 "It is, I think, a dumb idea to provoke a cop." It's pretty dumb to fuck with the Klan, or neo-Nazis, too. People should definitely learn to be more docile in the face of potentially lethal authority wherever it is encountered. Gates should have said "yes sir, no sir!" in his own house while being bullied by a glorified security guard: that's a no-brainer. It's obvious that Gates' body language and speech patterns are those of a hardened criminal and that the centurions therefore had no reason whatsoever to *not* jump to the conclusion that they were dealing with a felonious black-skinned niggra. Kudos to our quick-thinking troops. “It is, I think, a dumb idea to provoke a cop.”

It’s pretty dumb to fuck with the Klan, or neo-Nazis, too. People should definitely learn to be more docile in the face of potentially lethal authority wherever it is encountered. Gates should have said “yes sir, no sir!” in his own house while being bullied by a glorified security guard: that’s a no-brainer. It’s obvious that Gates’ body language and speech patterns are those of a hardened criminal and that the centurions therefore had no reason whatsoever to *not* jump to the conclusion that they were dealing with a felonious black-skinned niggra. Kudos to our quick-thinking troops.

]]> By: Andy http://www.edrants.com/those-who-resist-the-end-of-racial-profiling/comment-page-1/#comment-256706 Andy Wed, 22 Jul 2009 20:36:28 +0000 http://www.edrants.com/?p=12235#comment-256706 There's a more nuanced look, that draws a similar conclusion, here: http://www.motherjones.com/riff/2009/07/how-henry-louis-gates-blew-it It is, I think, a dumb idea to provoke a cop. There’s a more nuanced look, that draws a similar conclusion, here:

http://www.motherjones.com/riff/2009/07/how-henry-louis-gates-blew-it

It is, I think, a dumb idea to provoke a cop.

]]> By: Bat of Moon http://www.edrants.com/those-who-resist-the-end-of-racial-profiling/comment-page-1/#comment-256705 Bat of Moon Wed, 22 Jul 2009 20:23:45 +0000 http://www.edrants.com/?p=12235#comment-256705 I was shocked by some of the comments to a Gates post on the LAT's Jacket Copy book blog. There's definitely an attitude out there that Gates deserved his treatment because he talked back to a cop, wasn't deferential -- didn't bow and tug his forelock, I 'spose. The cluelessness is shocking. (And "clueless" is the most charitable word I can come up with for it.) I was shocked by some of the comments to a Gates post on the LAT’s Jacket Copy book blog. There’s definitely an attitude out there that Gates deserved his treatment because he talked back to a cop, wasn’t deferential — didn’t bow and tug his forelock, I ‘spose. The cluelessness is shocking. (And “clueless” is the most charitable word I can come up with for it.)

]]> By: Regretting the Error : Edward Champion’s Reluctant Habits http://www.edrants.com/those-who-resist-the-end-of-racial-profiling/comment-page-1/#comment-256701 Regretting the Error : Edward Champion’s Reluctant Habits Wed, 22 Jul 2009 17:46:36 +0000 http://www.edrants.com/?p=12235#comment-256701 [...] Those Who Resist the End of Racial Profiling [...] [...] Those Who Resist the End of Racial Profiling [...]

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