With Gatesgate behind us (hopefully) it's time to reflect on what happened. A world renowned scholar of African American history who is also African American, Prof. Henry Louis Gates, Jr. is arrested at his own home in prestigious Cambridge, Massachusetts by a white police officer, Sergeant James Crowley) because the Prof. yelled at him. The Prof. is charged under a strange law which his said offence doesn't even fall under. Charges are dropped, but that doesn't stop the commotion and chaos that is about to unfold.
Suddenly, the ugly in people comes out. The racist/biased views in both whites and blacks suddenly start to come out. Some white folks throughout the nation start yelling and screaming, "America has a black president, Massachusetts has a black Governor, Cambridge has a black Mayor...what more do those people (blacks) want?!"
Suddenly, the n-word in its deragatory sense is being used freely towards blacks, people who thought they were once true friends now question that as they realize they see the issue differently.
You need to have experienced being discriminated against first hand to know how some black people felt. Ask someone who lived through Jim Crow, the Civil Rights movement, seeing 'Colored Only' signs, how they feel about a black man being arrested in his own home.
Once again, I have to say that I am sorry for calling Lucia Whalen a bigot for her role in this matter but it was based totally on Sgt. Crowley's police report which we now know is innacurate. (Now we know why officials delayed releasing it to the media). And many of the white folks who spewed the n-word based their views on the same report. Her 911 call to the police was made with good intentions and I'm sure that when she made that call, she had no clue that she would go down in the history books for sparking what followed. I also think Ms. Whalen should have been invited for a beer. I also still think the FBI should investigate the discrepancies in the police report.
Now, Prof. Gates says that he is receiving death threats, even after the Beer Summit and Harvard University has even suggested that he move. Well, if he leaves Cambridge, MA it will be another notch in the belt for the whites in Cambridge who want to eradicate the city of its black population. .They have made strides indeed! Please stay put Prof. Gates.
Suddenly, the ugly in people comes out. The racist/biased views in both whites and blacks suddenly start to come out. Some white folks throughout the nation start yelling and screaming, "America has a black president, Massachusetts has a black Governor, Cambridge has a black Mayor...what more do those people (blacks) want?!"
Suddenly, the n-word in its deragatory sense is being used freely towards blacks, people who thought they were once true friends now question that as they realize they see the issue differently.
You need to have experienced being discriminated against first hand to know how some black people felt. Ask someone who lived through Jim Crow, the Civil Rights movement, seeing 'Colored Only' signs, how they feel about a black man being arrested in his own home.
Once again, I have to say that I am sorry for calling Lucia Whalen a bigot for her role in this matter but it was based totally on Sgt. Crowley's police report which we now know is innacurate. (Now we know why officials delayed releasing it to the media). And many of the white folks who spewed the n-word based their views on the same report. Her 911 call to the police was made with good intentions and I'm sure that when she made that call, she had no clue that she would go down in the history books for sparking what followed. I also think Ms. Whalen should have been invited for a beer. I also still think the FBI should investigate the discrepancies in the police report.
Now, Prof. Gates says that he is receiving death threats, even after the Beer Summit and Harvard University has even suggested that he move. Well, if he leaves Cambridge, MA it will be another notch in the belt for the whites in Cambridge who want to eradicate the city of its black population. .They have made strides indeed! Please stay put Prof. Gates.
2 comments:
Chemi, you are so right about the ugliness in people coming to the fore. It all started with a well meaning phone call. Sad state of affairs.
This issue saddens me. It all started out with a call from a concerned citizen. Then a race war explodes. White people show they still feel like superior human beings while blacks still feel oppressed. When will it end, probably 100 years from now. Lucia Whalen inadvertently helped show the world that The Good Old USA still has race issues.
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