A Boston police officer who sent a racially charged e-mail protesting newspaper coverage of the arrest of Henry Louis Gates Jr. apologized Wednesday night and said "I am not a racist."My response to those three statements?
Justin Barrett, 36, admitted using the term "jungle monkey" in writing about the arrest of the Harvard professor by a Cambridge police sergeant.
"It was a poor choice of words. I did not mean to offend anyone," Barrett told NewsCenter 5's Cheryl Fiandaca.
"Bullshit, you're damn right, and bullshit." In order.
Enjoy your free time there, man. You're going to have an awful lot of it. I personally suggest taking up a constructive hobby to help you reflect on your life, like photography or creative writing or not being a racist asshole.
Meanwhile, Pam Spaulding asks some very important questions while I try to cool off for a while:
Help me out here -- If Officer Justin Barrett's that transparent in his racism and yet doesn't consider himself racist, what in his mind constitutes racism? Burning a cross on a lawn? Lynchings? Unleashing dogs and training high-blast fire hoses on people? Fire-bombing a church and killing four girls? If that's the line that people like Barrett draw to cleanse their consciences of any ability to say or do anything racist, then we are so far away from a post-racial society that I want to weep.Tell me about it. I was up at 3:30 AM over this guy, trying to find one redeeming quality in a guy who supposedly had the duty to protect and serve when all it was apparently was a way to make this guy feel powerful at the expense of others. This guy really didn't think he was being a racist. It's staggering. Whatever race sensitivity training these cops are going through in Cambridge or Boston, they need to get the city's money back.
It's the good cops out there in the country who should be the most upset, regardless of race. They are the ones who still have to go out there and clean up after this mess day after day long after the media attention is over. And they'll have to deal with the next incident like this, wherever it may be.
Post-racial era, my ass.
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8 comments:
Sorta puts a damper on the wingnut rhetoric about Officer Crowley, doesn't it?
Hey Zandar, why are you so pissed?
So that cop is an asshole. What, there's a law against that?
He appears to be stupid too, but I don't think there is a law against that either.
But in any case, if the news reports be accurate, he's already been suspended, and it looks like the Mayor is going to get him fired.
Looks to me like the system is working, after a fashion.
You libs are SO consistent about 1st ammendment rights. By the same reasoning, Harvard should fire Gates for his inflammatory racist rhetoric.
Well alright then! A real live troll. Oh goody!
So, Z, I think I was correct when I commented the other day that Obama used the word "stupidly" intentionally. I think he knew it would be get a conversation started. Plenty of other words come to mind other than the one he chose if he wanted to comment but not "start a conversation" , as it were.
This is Obama playing chess when the rest of us are playing checkers. The man is brilliant and rarely makes mistakes when choosing words. This was not a mistake, nor was it a gaffe.
I know he, or one of his minions is going to say or do something in the civil liberties arena to piss me off again, but right now this particular choice of words--with regard to GatesGate--kept this conversation going. Like many things, it's never convenient to discuss issues like race, or shine a light on crushing issues.
"I am not a racist."
Always the first words out of a racist's mouth.
Here they come white supremacists like Nabal, The Grand Panjandrum out of the woodwork... and they are LEGION.
All the arrests this RACIST cop made on minorities are now suspect.
Btw, Nabal... read this:
Crowley "Violated The Constitution"
Fox News legal analyst Andrew Napolitano defends Gates and American civil liberties. Napolitano is one of the few conservatives allowed on Fox who actually believes that individuals should be protected from the power of the police state. The whole thing is worth watching:
http://andrewsullivan.theatlantic.com/the_daily_dish/2009/07/crowley-violated-the-constitution.html
Btw, Nabal... read this:
Crowley "Violated The Constitution
Yeah right, Sullivan is such a constitutional expert, among his other towering intellectual achievements, such as unmasking the true story of Trig Palin's birth. And what do you think of his endorsement of Dobbs' position on Obama's birth certificate?
And let me return the favor. Take a gander at this section of Massachusetts legal code:
Neglect or refusal to assist officer or watchman
The first defense of a racist is "I'm not a racist."
The second defense is "I had no racist intent when I uttered words that might be misconstrued as racist." We're at that one right now.
Third defense is "Under your standard of racism, we are all racists." That's coming next.
Or are we already there now, here?
We're already there, Zandar. A Klansman like Nabal says that Gates is the real racist.
It's the new racist tactic: accuse the victims of racism of being racist, for being "uppity" and not accepting their proper place in society.
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