UP Ibalon Bicol: race relations

Showing posts with label race relations. Show all posts

Race-relation in the White House: mending the “stupid” comment of Pres. Barack Obama

7/31/2009 | Posted by Anonymous | Edit Post

As a photo-op to mend the racial controversy sparked by Barack Obama’s siding with his friend, the black Harvard professor Henry Lewis Gates, Jr, the White House welcomed the two warring personalities----Cambridge police officer Sgt. James Crowley who was accused by Obama to have acted “stupidly” in arresting Professor Gates. The teacher was rowdy, belligerent and angry after being asked to produce an ID, prompting Crowley to arrest him..

Sgt. Crowley went to Gates’ house in response to an alleged break-in the latter’s residence. He found the black teacher suspecting the white police officer of “racially profiling” him. In truth, Crowley was just there to help.

The supposedly educated black Harvard mentor escalated the simple situation by raising a race issue----something he professed to be an “expert” of. Many viewed this case as a “Do you know who I am?” kind of thing by a teacher known to Obama which brought the incident to national attention.

In the White House on Thursday, July 30, 2009 Crowley and Gates got time with Obama. They talked and tried to mend fences over a drink of beer.

What resulted was an embarrassment for Obama who joined the controversy by siding with Gates without first knowing the facts. So they had to meet in the South Lawn of the presidential house, most likely to minimize the negative backlash. There were criticisms against the president from the police force nationwide for his “uncalibrated” comment against the police officer.

In simple terms, I believe, Obama didn’t have to meet the two in the White House. He has more important national issues to tackle. Instead of trying to deflect the real issue from himself and his black friend, he could just have apologized for a mistake----a racial bias (a Freudian slip of sorts) he expressed against Crowley. The public is smart to understand. (Photo Credit: CBS/ AFP/ Saul Loeb) =0=

RELATED BLOG: Obama backtracks from “stupid” statement against a white Cambridge police officer Posted by mesiamd at 7/27/2009

================================================================

Labels: Barack Obama, Cambridge, Harvard, Henry Lewis Gates, political correctness, politics, race, race relations, Sgt. James Crowley, Totie Mesia

Obama backtracks from “stupid” statement against a white Cambridge police officer

7/27/2009 | Posted by Anonymous | Edit Post

Without knowing the circumstances between in the altercation between a white police officer and a black Harvard professor, Pres. Barack Obama, jumped in siding with the black professor----only to learn later he should know better. The police officer wasn’t stupid and he was just doing his job.

Sgt. James Crowley, the police officer responding to a break-in report in the home of Harvard teacher Henry Louis Gates Jr. found himself dealing with a belligerent acidic professor who didn’t want to show his identification. It boiled down to Gates’ unfounded paranoid suspicion that he is being “racially profiled’ by Crowley.

Pres. Barack Obama who is a friend of Prof. Gates reacted quick without knowing the facts:

"I think it's fair to say, number one, any of us would be pretty angry," Obama said. "Number two, that the Cambridge police acted stupidly in arresting somebody when there was already proof that they were in their own home. And number three -- what I think we know separate and apart from this incident -- is that there is a long history in this country of African-Americans and Latinos being stopped by law enforcement disproportionately, and that's just a fact."---http://wb.tv (07/23/09,

In truth, the Cambridge police officer was there to help black teacher----but Gates probably expected that people like Crowley should first know him because he is a “Harvard professor(?)”. Call it hubris in the academe's ivory tower, a demand for respect or an overreaction, but in the police report, Gates was described as tumultuous, uncooperative, and upset.

It is disgusting that this happens in America on people who are supposedly educated. This kind of “Do you know me?” challenge by people of influence and arrogance commonly occurs on simple folks who need to deal with the “VIP’s” like fragile porcelains. Self-importance and inappropriate reaction are most likely operant here.

People like Gates are absorbed in their self-awareness and that a simple showing of identification to a police officer becomes a race issue or a contention to start an argument. The black professor is said to be an “expert” on racism---and in my opinion he has carried his expertise too far.

I am amazed, a US president went down so low to quickly comment erroneously on an issue that is parochial and least deserving of his attention. This split second decision to defend a friend by the president offers clues on what goes on the way he thinks of race relations. Is the preferential option for friends becoming common in the Obama administration?

As a consequence of Obama’s rushed response, he has to patch up,---short of an apology, admitting that he could have used a "calibrated" response. He is correct that the police disproportionately arrest blacks and hispanics more than other races. The reason is obvious--- Blacks and Hispanics have high rates of criminality than other races.

Sgt. Crowley could have over-reacted in arresting this black teacher, but the officer isn’t pleased by the president’s partisan reaction---and so are his colleagues in the police force who try to do their duty as officers. The irony of it all, Crowley, in his career, has been a resource person on avoiding "racial profiling" and in the past, tried to revive a black guy in an emergency, by mouth to mouth resuscitation. (PHoto Credit: WBZ.com) =0=

============================================================

Labels: Barack Obama, black box, Cambridge, discrimination, Harvard, Hispanic, Latino, political correctness, race, race relations, Sgt. James Crowley, Totie Mesia

UP Ibalon Bicol

Race-relation in the White House: mending the “stupid” comment of Pres. Barack Obama

Obama backtracks from “stupid” statement against a white Cambridge police officer

Blog Archive

About Me

UP Ibalon Newsmakers

Topics/Categories

Feedjit Live Blog Stats

Topics/Categories

Featured

Ateneo de Naga HS Batch 74

ABS-CBN News

Recent Posts

GMA News.tv

Philippine Commentary

Inquirer Breaking News