Turned Away from Precious

Yesterday, I was one of the over 1,000 people who got turned away from Loews AMC Boston Common for an Advance Screening of the new hit film, Precious. I was disappointed and so were so many others. The screening was to start at 7:00pm, I got there at 5:45pm and there were already hundreds waiting. Turns out, the folks who arrived at 3:00pm were the lucky ones to get in!

I'm betting that this week the film breaks some Box Office Records with its wide release. The film is based on a 16 year old, overweight dark skinned teenage girl, who is also mother of two children fathered by her own father.

The film is getting some amazing reviews and even Oscar buzz. The film stars my idol, Mo'nique and newcomer Gabourey 'Gabby' Sidibe.

I received this via e-mail and can't agree more. Racism is alive and well in the USA. White people get annoyed when blacks complain about racism. Yet, they continue to judge people by the color or their skin. Right now, there is such an increase of negative rhetoric against President Barack Obama, it's scary. Those children calling for the assasination of our President are definitely getting that idea from theire parents and other grown-ups that they are around. READ ON....
And yes, Andrew M. Manis is white.
**********************************************************************************


Andrew M. Manis is associate professor of history at Macon State College in
Georgia and wrote this for an editorial in the Macon Telegraph.

Andrew M. Manis: When Are WE Going to Get Over It?

For much of the last forty years, ever since America "fixed" its race
problem in the Civil Rights and Voting Rights Acts, we white people have
been impatient with African Americans who continued to blame race for their
difficulties. Often we have heard whites ask, "When are African Americans
finally going to get over it? Now I want to ask: "When are we White
Americans going to get over our ridiculous obsession with skin color?
Recent reports that "Election Spurs Hundreds' of Race Threats, Crimes"
should frighten and infuriate every one of us. Having grown up in
"Bombingham," Alabama in the 1960s, I remember overhearing an avalanche of
comments about what many white classmates and their parents wanted to do to
John and Bobby Kennedy and Martin Luther King. Eventually, as you may
recall, in all three cases, someone decided to do more than "talk the talk."

Since our recent presidential election, to our eternal shame we are once
again hearing the same reprehensible talk I remember from my boyhood.
We white people have controlled political life in the disunited colonies and
United States for some 400 years on this continent. Conservative whites have
been in power 28 of the last 40 years. Even during the eight Clinton years,
conservatives in Congress blocked most of his agenda and pulled him to the
right. Yet never in that period did I read any headlines suggesting that
anyone was calling for the assassinations of presidents Nixon, Ford, Reagan,
or either of the Bushes. Criticize them, yes. Call for their impeachment,
perhaps. But there were no bounties on their heads. And even when someone
did try to kill Ronald Reagan, the perpetrator was non-political mental case
who wanted merely to impress Jody Foster.

But elect a liberal who happens to be Black and we're back in the sixties
again. At this point in our history, we should be proud that we've proven
what conservatives are always saying -- that in America anything is
possible, EVEN electing a black man as president. But instead we now hear
that school children from Maine to California are talking about wanting to
"assassinate Obama."

Fighting the urge to throw up, I can only ask, "How long?" How long before
we white people realize we can't make our nation, much less the whole world,
look like us? How long until we white people can - once and for all - get
over this hell-conceived preoccupation with skin color? How long until we
white people get over the demonic conviction that white skin makes us
superior? How long before we white people get over our bitter resentments
about being demoted to the status of equality with non-whites?

How long before we get over our expectations that we should be at the head
of the line merely because of our white skin? How long until we white people
end our silence and call out our peers when they share the latest racist
jokes in the privacy of our white-only conversations?

I believe in free speech, but how long until we white people start making
racist loudmouths as socially uncomfortable as we do flag burners? How long
until we white people will stop insisting that blacks exercise personal
responsibility, build strong families, educate themselves enough to edit the
Harvard Law Review, and work hard enough to become President of the United
States, only to threaten to assassinate them when they do?

How long before we starting "living out the true meaning" of our creeds,
both civil and religious, that all men and women are created equal and that
"red and yellow, black and white" all are precious in God's sight?

Until this past November 4, I didn't believe this country would ever elect
an African American to the presidency. I still don't believe I'll live long
enough to see us white people get over our racism problem.

But here's my three-point plan:

First, everyday that Barack Obama lives in the White House
that Black Slaves Built, I'm going to pray that God (and the Secret Service)
will protect him and his family from us white people.

Second, I'm going to report to the FBI any white person I overhear saying,
in seriousness or in jest, anything of a threatening nature about President
Obama.

Third, I'm going to pray to live long enough to see America surprise
the world once again, when white people can "in spirit and in truth" sing of
our damnable color prejudice, "We HAVE overcome."
**************************************
It takes a Village to protect our President.

Tanzania's Radar Scandal

The money eaten in this scandal could have used to improve Tanzania's School, Hospitals and Water Supply! SAD!

***************************************************
BAE: The Tanzanian connection
Source: www.bbc.co.uk

Europe's biggest defence company, manufactures the Typhoon fighter By Andrew Hosken The Serious Fraud Office (SFO) says it will begin what promises to be the biggest corporate corruption prosecution in British legal history.

It is asking the Attorney General for the go-ahead to prosecute BAE for bribery under the 2001 Prevention of Corruption (Amendment) Act.

One of the four countries involved in the alleged corrupt deals is Tanzania. Though far from the largest deal, it looks certain to cause the biggest heartache in Downing Street.

In 2001, Tanzania, one of the world's poorest countries, decided to purchase a military air traffic control system from BAE.

Clare Short, then secretary of state for international development, says she was horrified by the move and was convinced it was a corrupt deal. "I was really shocked by the behaviour of British Aerospace and the collusion of all these government departments in such a gross and disgraceful project," she told me.

"Even when I got all the information and took it to the highest levels of the government, I still couldn't stop it."
'Grubby'Ms Short says that a number of factors convinced her that this was a corrupt deal. She says that the deal had been proposed 10 years earlier but had been blocked by intervention by the World Bank and the UK's Overseas Development Administration, the precursor to the Department for International Development.

"Then it came back as half a project. The thing was so grubby from beginning to end and, of course, it was so old that the technology was overtaken. Tanzania didn't have military aircraft. It needed civil air traffic control improvement in order to improve its tourist industry."
But Clare Short was far from alone in expressing deep concern about the BAE-Tanzania deal. In October 2001, a report by the International Civil Aviation Organisation, a part of the United Nations, said:

"The system as contracted is primarily a military system and can provide limited support to civil air traffic control purposes. The purchase of additional equipment… would be required to render it useful for civil air traffic control.

However, if it is to be used primarily for civil air traffic control purposes, the proposed system is not adequate and too expensive."
Clare Short says tha Tanzanian deal was "a disgraceful project" At the same time in 2001, Clare Short had agreed a £35m aid package for Tanzania to help provide more children with education but saw virtually the whole sum being effectively gobbled up in the air traffic control system deal.

She opposed the deal in cabinet, a row which soon became public, but claims that in December 2001 one person above all insisted the necessary export licence be given: Tony Blair. "Tony was absolutely dedicated to all arms sales proposals," she says.

"Whenever British Aerospace wanted anything, he supported them 100%. He didn't seem to understand that there are matters of principle concerned. He had also been duped and bought the argument that it's always good for the British economy, which is absolutely not so."
In 2006 Tony Blair made one of the most controversial decisions of his premiership, helping to force the closure of an inquiry by the Serious Fraud Office into allegations that British Aerospace had paid bribes to win a lucrative arms contract with Saudi Arabia.

"I stick by that," he said six months later, "and the idea frankly that such an investigation could be conducted without doing damage to our relationship is cloud cuckoo land."

Cow on a Motorcycle

Cow riding motorcyles! Now I've seen everything. This photo was taken in Tanzania, East Africa.

Maasai Warriors in 1918

Found this interesting photo of Maasai Warriors taken in 1918, in German East Africa (now Tanzania). Look at what is on those ears. (Photo by Walther Dobbertin)

How to Talk About Race

Many white people would like to believe that race is not an issue in 2009. After Gatesgate, its pretty obvious that it still is even though we have a black President. President Barack Obama was even reminded that he was still an n-word even though he is President (Gatesgate backlash). A white congressman, Joe Wilson was rude to him in an act unheard of in U.S. history! And more..... Couldn't help but post this article as it speaks the truth.

************************************************************************************
Analysis: Wrestling with how to talk about race

By LIZ SIDOTI

WASHINGTON (AP) - For a while, it almost seemed as if President Barack Obama had soothed the angst over race in this country simply by taking office. The focus was on big issues facing a new president - one who just happened to be black.

If only it were so simple. This summer, Obama stepped into the dustup between a black college professor and a white police officer, and the race debate erupted anew. Then vitriolic attacks on Obama over his health care proposals spawned rippling allegations that his critics were motivated by racism.

And now passions over skin color are flaring red-hot again.
Obama's election nearly a year ago - a monumental stride toward bridging the racial divide - turned the politics of race on its head.
But it didn't end the matter by any means.

It turns out that Obama was right when he said in his much-watched race speech in March 2008 that there are "complexities of race in this country that we've never really worked through - a part of our union that we have yet to perfect."

Americans still are figuring out how to hold that conversation as the country navigates uncharted territory under its first nonwhite president.

One conundrum is how to hold Obama accountable for his words and actions - or even talk about his policies - without risk of being called racist.

Hillary Rodham Clinton and John McCain both wrestled with that question during the presidential campaign. Both found it tricky to maneuver. Both were frustrated by it. Each handled it differently.

In the Democratic primary, Clinton acted so cautiously that some insiders questioned whether she was afraid to throw a punch.
Come the general election, McCain early on accused Obama of playing the race card, hoping to send a message that he would not brook being called a racist.

Obama had triggered the reaction with a warning that Republicans would try to scare voters by saying he "doesn't look like all those other presidents on the dollar bills."

A year later and now as president, Obama is the one working to tamp down race in the political dialogue.

"Are there people out there who don't like me because of race? I'm sure there are," Obama says matter-of-factly. But he rejects the notion that racism is even partly behind his critics' attacks, as a growing chorus of Democrats have claimed.

Trying to turn down the heat, Obama adds: "We can have a strong disagreement, passionate disagreements about issues without resorting to name-calling."

But the "racist" label is as old as the country itself. And, in a nation founded by slaveholders, people aren't about to stop using it just because a black president is pleading for civility.
Certainly, Obama's election healed some racial wounds. But change takes time, and understanding the ramifications of change takes even longer.

"What we're dealing with is the foundational racial problems that we have had and still have. We're making progress, but we haven't come as far as people would like to believe we have," says Bishop Harry R. Jackson Jr., the senior pastor of Hope Christian Church in Beltsville, Md., and an outspoken conservative who is black. He says society is going through "a learning curve" on how to criticize Obama - and how to criticize the president's critics.

It's an issue that goes to the very heart of democracy. Free speech, including holding leaders accountable, is at this country's core.
Could the risk of being called a racist end up muzzling healthy debate if people don't dare voice their concerns?

Perhaps for some. But on the whole, criticism hasn't stopped.
Animosity toward the president and his policies has boiled over in recent weeks, most notably with South Carolina Rep. Joe Wilson's "You lie!" retort to the president.
Democrats from Jimmy Carter on down have blamed the increasingly harsh criticism of Obama on racism.
House Republican leader John Boehner countered that "the outrage that we see in America has nothing to do with race."

Reality likely falls somewhere in the middle.

"I hear it as anger, but anger masking fear," says Robin Lakoff, a linguistics professor at the University of California at Berkeley whose books include "The Language War." She says people are afraid of just about everything these days - the economy, the government, private business included. And she says: "There's this racial element. It isn't exactly racism but otherness."
Obama, for his part, has tried to shift the subject from the powder keg of race. It's been a distraction from his agenda, from his efforts to overhaul the health care system.

"It's important to realize that I was actually black before the election," the president said this week.

It was a gentle joke from the leader of a country still wrestling with the new dynamics that came when the son of a black father from Kenya and a white mother from Kansas took charge of the White House.
---
EDITOR'S NOTE - Liz Sidoti has covered national politics for The Associated Press since 2003.

President Obama Disrespected by Rep. Joe Wilson

56 Graymoor Lane
Olympia Fields, IL 60461
September 10, 2009

Joe Wilson, Member
United States Congress
212 Cannon House Office Building
Washington, D. C 20515-4002

903 Port Republic Street
Beaufort, South Carolina 29902

Mr. Wilson:
I am an 80 year old mother and my older child is 51 years old; but, if ever I were to hear him call anyone a liar or rudely and obstreperously tell someone they were telling a lie, I would slap his face. My two children, 41 and 51 respectively, are very well reared as was I. I can remember as a little innocent child calling someone a liar. I only did it one time because the lecture in the form of a lesson in proper decorum sank in, and to this day, I have never called anyone a liar. My mother considered this the ultimate in rudeness and disrespect, not only for the person I called a liar, but for me, myself.

Having learned that lesson at such an early age, it made me cringe when you, at age 62, and a former military man, yelled to the President of the United States of America, “You lie.” As a military man, you know the chain of command; and, you were addressing the Commander in Chief of the United States of America. Of course, President Obama who is a very refined gentleman did not respond and he kept right on target delivering the most brilliant speech I have ever heard. I can say this with a degree of authority because I have been witness to every presidency since Herbert Hoover. Never in the hallowed halls of Congress have I witnessed such coarse, gross, despicable behavior.

I don’t know if your mother is alive or not, but if she is, I’m certain that she hung her head in shame knowing that all over the world you have disgraced her, yourself, your wife, your four sons, your office, your constituency and your country. Children of good breeding, who are properly reared carry the teachings of their parents throughout their lives. At 80 everything I do is tested against, “what would my mother think of that?” I would never defame her precious memory by demonstrating lack of self control and a knowledge of the social graces that separate women from ladies and men from gentlemen.

My mother was a proper Southern genteel lady who commanded respect because of the way she carried herself. I would think that your being from the South, you would have gotten some of that good ole Southern hospitality and gentility that seems to be characteristic of intelligent people of the South.

I do so hope you will listen to the foreign media as I did late last night. You are an international disgrace because from Ireland to China and England, your crudity was the main topic of conversation.

I note that you have a law degree. I wonder how proud your alma mater, University of South Carolina Law School , was of you tonight as you showed to the world that education without character is vacuous and meaningless. There is a popular expression of people with degrees who lack common sense, they are referred to as “educated fools.”

If you were playing to the media and to the camera for attention, you succeeded because your worldwide legacy will be that you were the ill-suited and ill-placed person who demeaned himself in the halls of Congress for the first time in U S history.

Written with embarrassment for my country,



Helen L. Burleson, Doctor of Public Administration

Caribbean Carnival Cambridge

Every year we look forward to watching the Caribbean Festival parade go down River St. here in Cambridge, MA. Usually its in August, but this year they held it in September. The weather was great as it was warm and not hot.

You can also see more photos on my Swahili language blog:

http://swahilitime.blogspot.com/

Remember Idi Amin Dada, former Dictator of Uganda

I was a high school student in Tanzania, when Idi Amin terrorized Uganda and East Africa. I remember the day when our President, Julius Nyerere declared war on Uganda after Amin invaded Bukoba and declared it part of Uganda. This was the Kagera War which ended Amin's rule.
******************

What you are about to read is REAL! Its not meant to serve as a ridicule. Below is an extract of one of dictator Iddi Amin's infamous speeches he used to deliver during the national celebrations. This particular speech was delivered in the U.K at the Conference of the U.N General Assembly.
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Ladies and women, my beloved husbands and men in this assembly, I am thank you very difficult for you hand to forgive me this hour to stalk of you Africa and my country which is Uganda. As I am a field marshall Dr. Or Haj Amin the Life President of my country, I am apologised because I have not deaded Archbishop Haemeni Kuvum. When many people tell me so many questions about him. His death on my behalf has happened with accident which was in the car when he yalked with it. So I am not a mistake you see.
Another words if or the order in my country in Uganda. The pressnewsmen which you can look them there will wanted to know the law orders of my country. They have inquiring me many questions in because my policemen don't catch people in court while they lost them on the way. No this is not right, yet all them who are catched by my policement are removed for court. When the court does not find them good enough and tie them all with mistakes begining from one month through to ten years with even above.
So we attempt people in the court before we tie them to prisons and those you understand about they dead are with if they travel dead themselves. Man invent their death. Uganda is peace loving brother country when people enjoy as if they are in another country. That is true about the country.
Dr. Kurt Waldeheim, you are beautiful in one of these husbands. I think you are this beauty to look what is going on in South Africa with Rhodesia, I am sending two hours to whites as if they can choose freedom to Africa, brothers or you will not blame me as I take wondering action to blow them. Israel is another enemy, they deaded sleeping soldiers of Uganda when they find them at night in Intebbe.
I walked one morning and I invented bodies of my soldiers sleeping in the airport and Israel had deaded people there. They must see or because I pay them of this bad news. Last of that I am thank your lunch which smelled good I am again fed up with it and have admitted revenge when both of you are invited by Uganda.
Thank you very hard and we shall collide everywhere in internal matter like assembly.
Thank you very hard. --
Field Marshall Dr. V.C. DSO M.C. Amin, Conquerer of the British Empire
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The pressmen, when asked by the Queen as to what President Amin has said, replied: "Your Majesty, That was President Amin of Uganda speaking a language similar to English."

Say Cheese!

Ashanti Munir at Slades

Click on image for bigger view.

African Growth & Opportunity Act

Being Colored

Being Colored
(Author Unknown)

When I was born...I was BLACK.

When I grew up...I was BLACK.

When I am sick...I am BLACK.

When I go out in the sun...I am BLACK.

When I go out in the cold...I am BLACK.

When I die...I am BLACK.

BUT YOU WHITE FOLK :

When you are born...You are PINK.

When you grow up...You are PEACH.

When you are sick...You are GREEN.
When you go out in the cold...You are BLUE.

When you are scared... You are WHITE.

When you go out in the sun...You are RED.

When you die...You turn PURPLE.

And you have the nerve to call me "COLORED"!

The Sack Lunches

Received this via e-mail:

Today’s thought is brought to us by Brenda Oller.

She is the proud mother of Army Soldier Phillip Smith who is currently serving in Afghanistan.

Thanks to Brenda for sharing…And thanks to Phillip for serving…

The Sack Lunches

I put my carry-on in the luggage
compartment and sat down in my
assigned seat. It was going to be a
long flight. 'I'm glad I have a
good book to read. Perhaps I will get
a short nap,' I thought.

Just before take-off, a line of
soldiers came down the aisle and
filled all the vacant seats, totally
surrounding me. I decided to
start a conversation.
'Where are you headed?' I asked the soldier seated nearest to me.

'Petawawa. We'll be there for two
weeks for special training, and then
we're being deployed toAfghanistan

After flying for about an hour, an
announcement was made that sack
lunches were available for five
dollars. It would be several hours
before we reached the east, and I
quickly decided a lunch would help
pass the time..

As I reached for my wallet, I
overheard a soldier ask his buddy if he
planned to buy lunch.
'No, that seems like a lot of money for just a sack lunch Probably
wouldn't be worth five bucks. I'll wait till we get to base '

His friend agreed.

I looked around at the other
soldiers. None were buying lunch I
walked to the back of the plane and
handed the flight attendant a
fifty dollar bill.
'Take a lunch to all those soldiers.' She grabbed my arms and squeezed
tightly. Her eyes wet with tears, she thanked me. 'My son was a
soldier in Iraq ; it's almost like you are doing it for him.'

Picking up ten sacks, she headed up
the aisle to where the soldiers
were seated. She stopped at my seat
and asked, 'Which do you like
best - beef or chicken?'

'Chicken,' I replied, wondering why
she asked. She turned and went to
the front of plane, returning a
minute later with a dinner plate from
first class. 'This is your thanks..'

After we finished eating, I went
again to the back of the plane,
heading for the rest room.
A man stopped me. 'I saw what you did. I want to be part of it.
Here, take this.' He handed me twenty-five dollars.

Soon after I returned to my seat, I
saw the Flight Captain coming down
the aisle, looking at the aisle
numbers as he walked, I hoped he was
not looking for me, but noticed he
was looking at the numbers only on
my side of the plane.
When he got to my row he stopped, smiled, held out his hand, and said,
'I want to shake your hand.'

Quickly unfastening my seatbelt I
stood and took the Captain's hand.
With a booming voice he said, 'I was
a soldier and I was a military pilot.
Once, someone bought me a lunch.
It was an act of kindness I
never forgot.' I was embarrassed
when applause was heard from all of
the passengers.

Later I walked to the front of the
plane so I could stretch my legs.
A man who was seated about six rows
in front of me reached out his
hand, wanting to shake mine. He left
another twenty-five dollars in my palm.

When we landed I gathered my
belongings and started to deplane.
Waiting just inside the airplane door
was a man who stopped me, put
something in my shirt pocket, turned,
and walked away without saying a
word. Another twenty-five dollars!

Upon entering the terminal, I saw the
soldiers gathering for their trip to the base. I walked over to them
and handed them seventy-five dollars. 'It will take you some time to
reach the base. It will be about time for a sandwich.
God Bless You.'

Ten young men left that flight
feeling the love and respect of their
fellow travelers. As I walked
briskly to my car, I whispered a prayer for their safe return.
These soldiers were giving their all for our country. I could only
give them a couple of meals.

It seemed so little...

A veteran is someone who, at one
point in his life, wrote a blank check
made payable to 'The United States of
America ' for an amount of 'up to and including my life.'

That is Honor, and there are way too
many people in this country who
no longer understand it.'

May God give you the strength and
courage to pass this along to
everyone on your email buddy list....

I JUST DID

Reflections - Prof. Henry Louis Gates Jr. Arrest

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.

Officer Uncle Tom

Truth said, when I saw the photo of Prof. Henry Louis Gates arrest and Sergeant Leon Lashley in it with his back turned, I thought he was going to claim that he saw nothing. Yes, he did stand up for his colleague and friend, Sgt. James Crowley. That's what friends are for....right? But why is it that there is a rumor that Officer Lashley was told to say what he did or else lose his job and pension? There's also that now questionable police report on the arrest. The questions being about the quoted witness, Lucia Whalen, denying that she told Sgt. Crowley about seeing black men with backpacks.

Having seen some racist incidents in Cambridge, MA in which black city employees were forced to say things they really did not want to in order to keep their jobs I can believe it. I just hope it's not true and that's not the case in this instance.

'Uncle Tom' is a term used to characterize a black person who will do anything to stay in favor with a white person. The female equivalen is , 'Aunt Jemima'. It's based on the story, 'Uncle Tom's Cabin' by Harriett Beecher Stowe. Unfortunately, as soon as that photo of the esteemed Professor's arrest surfaced Sgt. Lashley was labelled, 'Uncle Tom.'

An while I am sorry for having called Ms. Whalen a bigot based on the police report...this is just another notch for the July 16th, 9-11 call made by Lucia Whalen:

1. Esteemed scholar of African American history, Prof. Henry Louis Gates Jr. gets an arrest record.
2. Officer with stellar record now called 'Sgt. Jim Crow'.
3. Black officer with stellar record now called 'Uncle Tom'.
4. Black President of the United States reminded that even though he is President he is still an n-word.
5. Boston Police officer, Justin Barrett about to lose job because of racism comments on the incident
6. Incident becomes major setback to race relations in the USA.
7. World shakes head at USA and it's continues race problems.

Saw this at the bottom of the BEER SUMMIT Article on CNN.com:

Meanwhile, a black Cambridge police sergeant on the scene the day of Gates' arrest wrote a letter to Crowley, asking him to mention to Gates and Obama that he is now known as the "black sergeant" and to some others as an "uncle Tom."

"I'm forced to ponder the notion that as a result of speaking the truth and coming to the defense of a friend and colleague, who just happens to be white, that I have somehow betrayed my heritage," Sgt. Leon Lashley wrote. "Please convey my concerns to the president that Mr. Gates' actions may have caused grave and potentially irreparable harm to the struggle for racial harmony in this country and perhaps throughout the world."

Lashley wrote in the letter he would like Gates to reflect on the incident and ask himself what responsibility he bears, what he can do to heal the rift and what he can do to mitigate the damage done to the officers' reputations.

Statement by Boston Police Commissioner Edward F. Davis Re: Officer Justin Barrett

July 30, 2009

Statement given by Boston Police Commissioner Edward F. Davis at today's (9/30/09) news conference.

Thank you all for being here today. We are also joined by several guests and I would like to thank them for their continued support and participation. Joining us here is Minister Don Muhammad, Karen Payne from the NAACP, Michael Kozu from Project Right, and Detective Larry Ellison from MAMLEO.

On Tuesday July 28th the Boston Police Department placed Officer Justin Barrett on administrative leave pending the outcome of a termination hearing. On that day I was made aware that this officer admitted to being the author of correspondence which included repulsive racial slurs.

At that time and after a meeting with command staff, I moved immediately to take action and the officer was stripped of his gun and badge.

I was presented with a set of facts and believed that the appropriate and only response was to place the officer on administrative leave and set the wheels in motion for a full investigation. The officer is entitled to his due process and we will see that process through. There will be a thorough internal affairs investigation and hearing process which will lead to a termination hearing scheduled in the next week to ten days.

The Boston Police Department has a top to bottom commitment to community policing. Community Policing is based on trust. This type of venomous rhetoric is severely damaging. Maintaining our community relationships is paramount to our mission to serve the citizens of Boston.

We all work with the community and have made great strides to earn their trust. We must not allow this action to affect those relationships that have been forged and the progress we have made over the years.

The Boston Police Department is committed to a standard of excellence. Our community rightly has high expectations for us. It is a standard that the community deserves and we are required to meet. Officer Barrett’s actions do not comply with those expectations.

Barrett’s e-mail was racist and inflammatory. These racist opinions and feelings have no place in this department or in our society and will not be tolerated.

Barrett’s comments were directed at Harvard University professor Henry Louis Gates. I regret the direct insult toward professor Gates and have personally reached out to him to apologize for this offense and inform him of the department’s immediate efforts to make this officer accountable.

I have also asked that in the coming days, members of the department reach out to those in the community that we serve, and extend ourselves to others, to reiterate our commitment to them, our citizens, and to improving relations at all levels.

As I have stated in the past, I am very proud of the officers and civilians of this department who carry out their duties in the finest traditions of the BPD. We will not allow the unacceptable actions of one member to define who we are as a police organization. This department has over 2,000 uniformed officers and 700 civilians who conduct themselves with the utmost professionalism. I applaud your integrity and continued hard work.

As a department, we must learn from this most unfortunate incident and move forward.

Officer Justin Barrett's Racist E-mail

Click on the photo to enlarge it.

I note that Officer Barrett has apologized for the e-mail. You can see his apology here. http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=justin+barrett+apology&aq=f&oq=&aqi=

However, it's scary to think that someone who wrote such a thing is a policeman who is supposed to protect everyone regardless of color, race or creed.

Another Racist Cop in Boston

Officer Justin Barrett (Photo from Boston.com)

Racism in Boston, what’s new? Today we are hearing that a Boston police officer Justin Barrett (36) is about to be fired for writing and sending a mass e-mail which had racially charged language. In the e-mail Barrett is alleged to have called Prof. Henry Louis Gates, Jr. a “banana eating jungle monkey”! On top of that Barrett says that he would not have tolerated Prof. Gates behavior and would have sprayed him in the face with pepper spray! Barrett has been suspended by the Boston police and will probably be fired. He's also been suspended by the National Guard.

Lord help us black folks! A black person dare not speak back to a white cop for fear of getting beat up, pepper sprayed, shot, even shot in the back! When I say that racism is alive and well, a lot of white folks laugh, shrug it off. The truth of the matter is, they really don’t want to admit that the racism still exists in America today.

Wake up! The sooner we all admit and agree that there is still a racial problem in America, the sooner we can resolve the issue.

Meanwhile, attention all black folks…continue to remember the lessons your Momma taught you. Never talk back to a white cop if you want to live!

You can read more about the Justin Barrett issue at the following links:

http://www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/articles/2009/07/30/boston_police_officer_suspended_after_racially_charged_e_mail/
http://blogs.usatoday.com/ondeadline/2009/07/gatesgate-stretches-from-cambridge-mass-to-boston.html

Cambridge Police Need to Apologize to Lucia Whalen

(Lucia Whalen at Press Conference Today)

Well, it's evident that Sgt. James Crowley added salt to his police report and tried to throw the blame on Lucia Whalen who made the initial 911 that started Gatesgate.

Cambridge police need to apologize to Ms. Whalen, she has been defamed. It's that police report that caused her to be villified. I wish she had spoken up sooner, then again we really don't know what kind of intimidation she was facing.

I live in Cambridge, MA. I know a lot of Cambridge cops and most are stellar, polite and caring. I have also made a 911 call regarding a B & E. In that case I was asked to describe the culprit and yes, it was a black man with a crowbar who was nabbed redhanded. I like Cambridge police because in most cases they respond promptly. But, I'm disappointed at the handling of this issue and especially now, that police Gatesgate report. I guess we now will haveto wonder about the accuracy of future reports written by the said officer.

Meanwhile, I think the FBI needs to get to the bottom of this. A race riot almost started because of this incident. I'm wondering if tomorrow's Beerplomacy at the White House should even go on now that we know the report is innacurate.

Watch the whole Press Conference here:

http://www.necn.com/Boston/NECN-Extra/2009/07/29/911-caller-in-Henry-Gates-case/1248885044.html

Question - Who is the mystery elderly woman who stopped Ms. Whalen?