Mastermind is correct when he stated that all those horrible thing that happened before, during and after Slavery color peoples outlook on life. There's absolutely no way to escape it! So this begs the question...How do we move on?...what do we do now? The answer lies in the spiritual world... not the earthly world. The cycle of remembering injustice and trying to forget about past injustices leads nowhere. It's an endless cycle as well as a pointless cycle. It's not remembering or forgetting that will lead to peace...It's the cycle of repentance AND forgiveness that bears fruit. Forgiveness even in the face of unrepentance is exactly what Martin Luther King would call for if he were alive today. Unilateral forgiveness...what a foreign concept!! Christianity is the predominant faith in America and some of Christ's last words were "Forgive them Father they know not what they do." But instead of doing just that, we have a continual series of events like this one in which anything but forgiveness is the rule. Oh well, Go figure.
all true and reasonable but the major point of the story is missing--- one is performing work he is paid for and one is in his house. gates should be able to be disrespectful and belligerent (even for the wrong reasons) without being cuffed and arrested.
They are his children, Einstein. You figure it out. Translation: "I already showed my ass and feel the need to do it again." -- martin
Why? The police are working a potential crime scene until they sort it out. Gate's refusal to let them sort it out is not a right or a privilege. Gates was not arrested for being in his house but for refusing to cooperate with the police, verbally assaulting the police, and causing a public disturbance. This is not only a racial incident, it is a class incident. The rich, self-important Harvard Professor versus the blue-collar police officer doing his job. "Do you know who I am?", Gates asked him, like it mattered a damn bit. He expected special treatment and status and was annoyed that he wasn't recognized, much like that Black female representative in Congress a few years ago who slapped an officer for asking her for her ID.
we stop caring about race. we stop being afraid to make judgments or taunt each other for our deficiencies. we treat each other like friends, not like enemies trying as hard as we can to get offended. what is your answer? oh. well, thats ...super. no question about that. how can you disturn the peace at your own house? who are you gonna disturb? trespassers?
I stab people in my own house. I don't go to jail. When the police show up, I say things like, "hey I pay your salary" (because the officer doesn't pay taxes). and then I say, "do you know who I am?" And then they say "yes, you're better than me, do as you please. we were just leaving. we would rather you say we don't do our jobs then actually do them. have a nice night". Then i stab again, because I can get away with it. Obama supports this statement
Good god, mon, don't you ever watch COPS? Let's say Elrod (the one in the wife beater) gets drunk and cuffs the old lady around the trailer a few times. She starts screaming at him and fires the .20 guage into the fake chandelier. The neighbors dial 911 and a cruiser is sent to investigate. At that point, my friend, the peace has been disturbed. By the way, Gates was outside the house acting all high and mighty when he got arrested.
Oh absolutely no doubt about it. The question is why and how many hundreds of years before they move on and worry about today? Just like I said in my post, I don't let the fact that my ancestors were loaded on ships and dumped in the swamp hold me back. I don't waste mt time feeling sorry for myself and blaming everything bad on what happened hundreds of years ago. The biggest question isn't IF ancient history overwhelms the Afro Americans thought process, the question is WHEN will he/she be able to move on and take responsibility for his/her life and quit blaming whitey?
First,,,,,let me say that I'm a late-middle-aged white guy. With that said, let me pose some scenarios. Alot of you guys here KNOW what I'm saying is true weather you admit it or not. Everywhere I've ever lived, I've been subjected to Racism. I have friends, family, and aquaintences that frequently use the N word on a regular basis. They feel that blacks as a whole are inferior to whites. Some of these guys actually have people that work directly for them. So, if these folks feel blacks are inferior, obviously they're gonna give the raise or better position to someone that they feel is superior. Some of these guys are in positions of ok'ing or denying people credit as a part of their everyday jobs. Who do you think they're gonna deny credit to if they can? Some of them are in positions to deny housing. Same scenario, right? Now, I'm not saying all whites are like this. I'm not saying there aren't just as many blacks that would do the same thing in the same situation. What I AM saying is that it happens. Do you not think that there are cops that feel the same way? What really bothers me personally is when my friends use the N word or belittle blacks either joking or not when we're talking and there's no blacks in the vicinity. I almost feel like I'm supporting the guy if I don't say anything. I've lived in several countries during my short life, but I've noticed one thing is the same worldwide: There's ALWAYS a group of people that are discriminated against in every country. I've found that poverty = discrimination. The poor people are the ones thought of as inferior. I was also "lucky" enough to have lived through integration in Louisiana schools. I was about 10-12 yrs old attending Pride High School when integration happened. It was a blood bath to say the least. Lots of kids were taken to the hospital for about 3 days straight. I also remember riots in downtown Baton Rouge where people were killed and badly hurt. One of the local newsmen covering the riots was beaten and went to the hospital only to go into a coma. I think he died later. I don't know who was right or wrong in this paticular situation at Harvard, but I DO know one thing. ALOT of Cops will lie till they die instead of admitting fault in the process of doing their jobs. I've had on 2 occasions had cops LIE when writing reports and once speaking directly to a judge in a courtroom. In the courtroom situation, I was lucky enough to prove the lie and have the cop sited for contempt. All I'm trying to say is that if you don't think that blacks have a reason to think that they're discriminated against, then you're just naive'. Just my opinion, I could be wrong.
Unless your friend appointed you Vice President-in-charge-of-foisting-your- beliefs-on-others, I'd MYOB. If it bothers you, find new friends. You are correct, though. That sh!t happens. And don't think a smoke filled room full of white politicians doesn't have a few N-bombs floating around either.
