Do you people ever find that chip-on-shoulder thing exhausting?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The story about the black Yale student is a simple case of mistaken identity. This is not "walking while black". Please don't even try to say that it is, because the "walking while black" is a real problem for other non-Yale students. Trying to equate this lame story with "walking while black" trivializes the entire issue, and creates a strawman that deniers can easily knock over.

To the PP who said his white son was stopped similarly for playing "hide and seek", I have a question. Was your son on someone else's property?

Walking while black is a problem. My son has been profiled twice in the last 3 months. He was "profiled". All 125 pounds of him.

Yea, I am not sure why people argue like this is not a thing. Happens to my 16YO son in our desirable MoCo neighborhood fairly frequently - walking to the store, walking the dog, etc. Police pull up and ask him where he lives and where he is going. He has a state ID with his address and he shows it and they let him go. He has gotten to the point where he wears his school sweatshirt so that people at least think he belongs there. It irks him but I would not say that he is traumatized generally. Although he did have some concerning things to say about the Trayvon Martin case.

Will you please share the MoCo neighborhood you're in so the rest of us can avoid it? It's county police who do this?!

Well, if I identify the specific neighborhood, some of my neighbors on DCUM will immediately be able to ID us. But my son goes to one of the W's. Yea, it is the County police.

I guess I am naive but I find this outrageous. What do they think, black people can't possibly live in places like Potomac and Bethesda? This is Washington, DC, for god's sake.

I totally get not wanting to ID the specific neighborhood, but thank you for sharing this.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The story about the black Yale student is a simple case of mistaken identity. This is not "walking while black". Please don't even try to say that it is, because the "walking while black" is a real problem for other non-Yale students. Trying to equate this lame story with "walking while black" trivializes the entire issue, and creates a strawman that deniers can easily knock over.

To the PP who said his white son was stopped similarly for playing "hide and seek", I have a question. Was your son on someone else's property?

Walking while black is a problem. My son has been profiled twice in the last 3 months. He was "profiled". All 125 pounds of him.

Yea, I am not sure why people argue like this is not a thing. Happens to my 16YO son in our desirable MoCo neighborhood fairly frequently - walking to the store, walking the dog, etc. Police pull up and ask him where he lives and where he is going. He has a state ID with his address and he shows it and they let him go. He has gotten to the point where he wears his school sweatshirt so that people at least think he belongs there. It irks him but I would not say that he is traumatized generally. Although he did have some concerning things to say about the Trayvon Martin case.

Will you please share the MoCo neighborhood you're in so the rest of us can avoid it? It's county police who do this?!

Well, if I identify the specific neighborhood, some of my neighbors on DCUM will immediately be able to ID us. But my son goes to one of the W's. Yea, it is the County police.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The story about the black Yale student is a simple case of mistaken identity. This is not "walking while black". Please don't even try to say that it is, because the "walking while black" is a real problem for other non-Yale students. Trying to equate this lame story with "walking while black" trivializes the entire issue, and creates a strawman that deniers can easily knock over.

To the PP who said his white son was stopped similarly for playing "hide and seek", I have a question. Was your son on someone else's property?

Walking while black is a problem. My son has been profiled twice in the last 3 months. He was "profiled". All 125 pounds of him.

Yea, I am not sure why people argue like this is not a thing. Happens to my 16YO son in our desirable MoCo neighborhood fairly frequently - walking to the store, walking the dog, etc. Police pull up and ask him where he lives and where he is going. He has a state ID with his address and he shows it and they let him go. He has gotten to the point where he wears his school sweatshirt so that people at least think he belongs there. It irks him but I would not say that he is traumatized generally. Although he did have some concerning things to say about the Trayvon Martin case.

Will you please share the MoCo neighborhood you're in so the rest of us can avoid it? It's county police who do this?!

'

My goodness, are people really this naive? find me a mostly white neighborhood where police *dont* bother blacks disproportionately, even if they are doing absolutely nothing strange.

The whole point of the article was that a black Yale student leaving the library during normal hours is harassed by police. I attended an ivy too and that never happened to me or any of my white friends, even when the police were looking for white assailants. In fact, security guards would see white students smoking bongs and wave and pass by. No trouble here.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The story about the black Yale student is a simple case of mistaken identity. This is not "walking while black". Please don't even try to say that it is, because the "walking while black" is a real problem for other non-Yale students. Trying to equate this lame story with "walking while black" trivializes the entire issue, and creates a strawman that deniers can easily knock over.

To the PP who said his white son was stopped similarly for playing "hide and seek", I have a question. Was your son on someone else's property?

Walking while black is a problem. My son has been profiled twice in the last 3 months. He was "profiled". All 125 pounds of him.

Yea, I am not sure why people argue like this is not a thing. Happens to my 16YO son in our desirable MoCo neighborhood fairly frequently - walking to the store, walking the dog, etc. Police pull up and ask him where he lives and where he is going. He has a state ID with his address and he shows it and they let him go. He has gotten to the point where he wears his school sweatshirt so that people at least think he belongs there. It irks him but I would not say that he is traumatized generally. Although he did have some concerning things to say about the Trayvon Martin case.

Will you please share the MoCo neighborhood you're in so the rest of us can avoid it? It's county police who do this?!

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The story about the black Yale student is a simple case of mistaken identity. This is not "walking while black". Please don't even try to say that it is, because the "walking while black" is a real problem for other non-Yale students. Trying to equate this lame story with "walking while black" trivializes the entire issue, and creates a strawman that deniers can easily knock over.

To the PP who said his white son was stopped similarly for playing "hide and seek", I have a question. Was your son on someone else's property?

Walking while black is a problem. My son has been profiled twice in the last 3 months. He was "profiled". All 125 pounds of him.

Yea, I am not sure why people argue like this is not a thing. Happens to my 16YO son in our desirable MoCo neighborhood fairly frequently - walking to the store, walking the dog, etc. Police pull up and ask him where he lives and where he is going. He has a state ID with his address and he shows it and they let him go. He has gotten to the point where he wears his school sweatshirt so that people at least think he belongs there. It irks him but I would not say that he is traumatized generally. Although he did have some concerning things to say about the Trayvon Martin case.

Anonymous wrote:The story about the black Yale student is a simple case of mistaken identity. This is not "walking while black". Please don't even try to say that it is, because the "walking while black" is a real problem for other non-Yale students. Trying to equate this lame story with "walking while black" trivializes the entire issue, and creates a strawman that deniers can easily knock over.

To the PP who said his white son was stopped similarly for playing "hide and seek", I have a question. Was your son on someone else's property?

Walking while black is a problem. My son has been profiled twice in the last 3 months. He was "profiled". All 125 pounds of him.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
Of course it's relevant. We all know black-on-black crime is not driven by racism.

white-on-black crime: Racism!

black-on-black crime: Realities of inner city plight

What? A policeman rightfully or wrongfully pulling a gun on a suspect is not a crime. It's not a white-on-black crime or a black-on-black crime. Shooting him, maybe. Pulling a gun and asking him to get down? Not a crime.

Geez.

Anonymous wrote:
I am the OP. You didn't even look at the article, did you, and are spouting random facts. The title of the article is "Library Visit, Then Held at Gunpoint.
Charles Blow: At Yale, the Police Detained My Son" I titled the thread.

Good point. I didn't look at the title of the article, only read through it. I just assumed you had copied the article title. I appreciate the correction. But mistaken title aside, the body of his article aligns with the points I made. The author makes a big deal about the treatment of his son due to the way he looks, drawing a reference to his race. Look at the tone of the article, it's not just an upset parent questioning why his son was treated in such a way, but a black man asking why his black son was treated in such a way and suggesting that its because he was black. This is not the only time the Blow made these types of racially divisive remarks publicly. He seizing on this opportunity as yet another chance to shout from the podium.

Anonymous wrote:
And Charles Blow worked himself up from being a middle child in a big single-parent family in rural Louisiana to a top journalist at the NYT. His son is at Yale. I'm somehow not seeing the excuse for failure/victim mentality you claim he must have.

Well he certainly makes no effort to hide this victim mentality. In this very article he says:

"I am reminded of what I have always known, but what some would choose to deny: that there is no way to work your way out — earn your way out — of this sort of crisis. In these moments, what you’ve done matters less than how you look."

He is saying there is no use trying, no use making an effort, because it doesn't matter. The way you look - black or white is far more important. If you are black, you are and will be the victim, there is no way to change that. Such a depressing thought.

Anonymous wrote:Yale is in New Haven, not Hartford

Ooops, you're right. Slightly more white/less black and slightly less poor.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Haven,_Connecticut#Demographics

The US Census Bureau reports a 2010 population of 129,779, with 47,094 households and 25,854 families within the city of New Haven. The population density is 6,859.8 people per square mile (2,648.6/km²). There are 52,941 housing units at an average density of 2,808.5 per square mile (1,084.4/km²). The racial makeup of the city is 42.6% White, 35.4% African American, 0.5% Native American, 4.6% Asian, 0.1% Pacific Islander, 12.9% from other races, and 3.9% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino residents of any race were 27.4% of the population.[52] Non-Hispanic Whites were 31.8% of the population in 2010,[53] down from 69.6% in 1970.[54] The city's demography is shifting rapidly: New Haven has always been a city of immigrants and currently the Latino population is growing rapidly. Previous influxes among ethnic groups have been African-Americans in the postwar era, and Irish, Italian and (to a lesser degree) Slavic peoples in the prewar period.

The median income for a household in the city is $29,604, and the median income for a family is $35,950. Median income for males is $33,605, compared with $28,424 for females. The per capita income for the city is $16,393. About 20.5% of families and 24.4% of the population live below the poverty line, including 32.2% of those under age 18 and 17.9% of those age 65 or over.[55][56]

Other data[edit]
In 2006 the New York Times described New Haven as one of the poorest cities in the United States.[57] As of 2001, the New Haven-Stamford-Bridgeport-Danbury metropolitan area had the third-highest per capita income in the country, behind San Francisco and Silicon Valley, California.[58] But Stamford is one of the wealthiest cities in Connecticut, with a median per capita income of $34,987, over twice that in New Haven.[59]

It is estimated that 14% of New Haven residents are pedestrian commuters, ranking it number four by highest percentage in the United States.[60] This is primarily due to New Haven's small area and the presence of Yale University.

Yale is in New Haven, not Hartford

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/n.y.-times-charles-blow-said-nothing-about-cop-who-arrested-his-son-being-black/article/2559374

The policeman who stopped him was black? And, Blow never mentioned that? Really?

I'm not sure it's relevant. Obviously black police officers can profile and/or be racist.

However, Yale demographics seem to be relevant:

http://oir.yale.edu/yale-factsheet

White and hispanic: 80%
Black: 9%

Demographics in Hartford: mostly black, Hispanic of Puerto Rican descent, and poor

Of course it's relevant. We all know black-on-black crime is not driven by racism.

white-on-black crime: Racism!

black-on-black crime: Realities of inner city plight

What? A policeman rightfully or wrongfully pulling a gun on a suspect is not a crime. It's not a white-on-black crime or a black-on-black crime. Shooting him, maybe. Pulling a gun and asking him to get down? Not a crime.

Geez.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/n.y.-times-charles-blow-said-nothing-about-cop-who-arrested-his-son-being-black/article/2559374

The policeman who stopped him was black? And, Blow never mentioned that? Really?

I'm not sure it's relevant. Obviously black police officers can profile and/or be racist.

However, Yale demographics seem to be relevant:

http://oir.yale.edu/yale-factsheet

White and hispanic: 80%
Black: 9%

Demographics in Hartford: mostly black, Hispanic of Puerto Rican descent, and poor

Of course it's relevant. We all know black-on-black crime is not driven by racism.

white-on-black crime: Racism!

black-on-black crime: Realities of inner city plight

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Quoted from article:

"The dean of Yale College and the campus police chief have apologized and promised an internal investigation, and I appreciate that. But the scars cannot be unmade. My son will always carry the memory of the day he left his college library and an officer trained a gun on him."

His son will always remember because he will make sure he doesn't forget. The scars won't be unmade because he will not let them heal. His son will grow up with a victim mentality, like the rest of the AA community.

That's truly sad.

Have you forgotten the days when a gun was pulled on you?
I'm not sure that's human.

That's not the same point being argued. The title of the article is "Walking While Black". On top of the gun being pulled he is adding the element of being black, branding his son a victim of racial/hate crime. Having a gun pulled on you is no small matter, I agree. But the memory will fade with time, and eventually it will be something you remember but file away with your other miscellaneous memories. It certainly won't define you as a person or change your path in life. But the author will not let this happen with his son. He has and will continue to parade this around publicly, remind his son that it happened, narrating it within the context of racial inequality. He will not let him forget, he will not let him heal, and he will place this burden in his son's life, shackling his mind permanently until it becomes a part of who he is.

I am the OP. You didn't even look at the article, did you, and are spouting random facts. The title of the article is "Library Visit, Then Held at Gunpoint.
Charles Blow: At Yale, the Police Detained My Son" I titled the thread.

And Charles Blow worked himself up from being a middle child in a big single-parent family in rural Louisiana to a top journalist at the NYT. His son is at Yale. I'm somehow not seeing the excuse for failure/victim mentality you claim he must have.

Anonymous wrote:http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/n.y.-times-charles-blow-said-nothing-about-cop-who-arrested-his-son-being-black/article/2559374

The policeman who stopped him was black? And, Blow never mentioned that? Really?

I'm not sure it's relevant. Obviously black police officers can profile and/or be racist.

However, Yale demographics seem to be relevant:

http://oir.yale.edu/yale-factsheet

White and hispanic: 80%
Black: 9%

Demographics in Hartford: mostly black, Hispanic of Puerto Rican descent, and poor