Posted by
Tony Hubble on Monday, July 27, 2009 12:00:00 AM
Clearly I have to amend my original blog regarding the Crowley/Gates arrest incident. I had written that if anyone should be accused of racial profiling it should have been the 911 caller. Turns out, she did not cite race when she called.
http://www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/articles/2009/07/27/gates_caller_didnt_cite_race_police_say/
Here’s my caveat however. Had she cited race I wouldn’t have considered her a racist for making the call. It was the actions of the men that prompted her to call and not their race.
I keep reading and hearing about people trying to find “teachable moment” in this case. I can’t believe no one has figured it! The closest pundit I’ve heard come up with it was Juan Williams on Fox News Sunday. Ironically I rarely agree with Juan Williams.
Let me summarize the “teachable moment for you.
Mrs. Whalen was aware that there had been break-ins in the area, she sees two men trying to force their way through a front door. She calls police. Sgt Crowley responds to the call, goes to the house, sees Dr. Gates in the house and asks him to identify himself.
Okay, here it comes; the “teachable moment. Ready?
Dr. Gates, a highly educated Harvard professor responds to this request by becoming belligerent and saying, “Why? Because I’m a black man in America?” He follows this up by insulting Sgt Crowley’s mother, in the presence of another black officer and a Hispanic officer.
It’s a scene right out of an Eddie Murphy parody on SNL. So did you get the “teachable moment”? I know, everyone seems to keep missing the point. Why? Because Dr. Gates is indeed a “black man in America”. He gets the instant victims pass. He gets a double pass because he is a personal friend of the President.
If he had been a member of any other ethnic group he would have gotten no sympathy from anyone and his actions would have immediately been questioned. People would have been rightfully stating that becoming belligerent with a police officer investigating a crime is stupid. They would be making fun of a highly educated moron who displayed a huge lapse in common sense and judgment. He would have been mocked for the inordinately large chip on his shoulder. Rightfully so.
Instead, no one can seem to figure out the “teachable moment”. It’s the huge elephant in the room no one wants to seem to acknowledge.
If you look at my pictures and pictures of every Arab terrorist who hijacked a plane you'll see more similarities than differences. You don’t have to tell me. When I was in Qatar I saw the similarities. It was like I was among my relatives. As a result, I've been "profiled", as it were, on multiple occasions.
Want to know what the difference is between my reaction and Dr. Gates? I'm not as educated as he is, but I am easily credentialed, I'm respectful to the official questioning me and I dont have a huge chip on my shoulder.
Here's the thing, since I do happen to look like every terrorist who ever hijacked a plane, AND since I also have to fly in those airplanes, I would rather they take a second look at me than at an 85 year old white grandmother. I dont call it "profiling". I call it good security based on tangible, historical evidence. Plus, I notice that the officials questioning me provide me with the same measure of respect as I provide them. Thet have been, without exception, professional exchanges.
So you say, I'm not black. That is the point isn't it. With the culture of victimhood being propagated by the black leadership (Al Sharpton, Jesse Jackson and now President Obama) a black person will always be a victim. Victimhood is an opiate. The more you get the more you need. That’s the big elephant in the room. The one person who had the power to prevent this entire fiasco was the one who created it to begin with.
Ironically, he was the most educated as well. Ain’t that something?