Posted by Faith of Acts of Faith In Love and Life blog
The interesting part of life is that it is not the set of circumstances that you are given that matters, but your response to them. Give the same pressures and same type of opportunities to ten people and you will get ten different reactions. The pressures and opportunities may be identical, but the responses will differ, and in that sense, by living life, you learn quite a bit about yourself. —Susan Miller
Yeah I’m tired of Skippy by now but this police dust-up/rallying cry for the “plight of the black man” has been so revealing on so many levels. Soon he may wish he’d just kept his mouth shut. Gina reminded me of Skippy’s support of 2 Live Crew during their obscenity trial. I know viewing it from a distance without any analysis it may have appealed to the typical African-American emotional reaction of the “white man trying to take the black man down” but it was in fact one of the last ditch efforts at policing aberrent behavior.
If you recall that trial was in 1990 and it was before the onslaught of the filth to come via the gangsta rap and other perverted music with their accompanying videos that would then be played during the day when kids could watch them instead of being listed as adult content and relegated to midnight airings as they had been. It would have affected retailers being able to sell their music and would have given all record labels pause about what type of music acts they would be able to sign. I am also reminded of the fight C. Delores Tucker put up to stem the tide even while she was vilified.
I find it very telling that the RIAA, the same one that cries foul of the “illegal downloaders” actually DEFENDED them and filed a Friend of Court Brief on their behalf. This LA Times article states it was the argument between ANYTHING GOES vs. ENOUGH ALREADY. The group was acquitted but the jury’s contention was their lyrics were akin to parody because that was how black people communicated. There was this rush to defend this group or dismiss their lyrics as part of the larger “black culture” of the “black community”. The argument they are quintessentially black, that black women exist solely to satisfy violent sexual desires or that their lyrics are funny is part of the reason why African-Americans have lost their moral compass and will form a permanent underclass in this country.
If some still question how young boys aged 14 and under could be socialized to become rapists (like the ones in Arizona) if they hadn’t had any previous mental defects then here’s your answer. Yes media does ABSOLUTELY have an affect on the minds of people, particularly CHILDREN who have fewer filters in place. If you’ve parked your child in front of the tv as a babysitter and offer NOTHING to counterbalance the negative images consumed you are training your children to adopt a depravity mindset. Especially when that child is parked in front of the likes of BET.
MISOGYNY is defined as: HATRED OF WOMEN AND GIRLS. No ifs, ands or buts. When I stated in an earlier post about DBR (damaged beyond recognition) behaviors prevalent in a majority population of African-American males (and many females) and how they hate AA women I got a LOT of denials. Misogyny is directed at women as a collective group. Of course there are nuances where a man might hate women of one group but be able to fawn over women of an entirely different group. Or parse it to like some while still despising others. Other variants include the Madonna/Whore complex. Honor killings, rape, violence and skin shade racism fall under this.
In the Legal Response to Violence Against Women Karen J. Maschke contends “many do not bust out laughing” like Gates does while listening to 2 Live Crew and she details specific lyrics. I decided against displaying the lyrics here because they’re NSFW and also they’re disgusting. We have to be careful about immersing ourselves in filth when analyzing it. You might like to review the court transcripts along with this essay.
So in his defense of this (what used to be thought of as) explicit rap group, Skippy is saying ALL black men naturally HATE women. Now if we look at the actions from the general population of black men, especially African-American men from the past 45 years what has emerged is the trend of their abandonment and abuse of BLACK WOMEN. If someone can point to another ENTIRE GROUP OF WOMEN this would apply to feel free to keep looking and I’ll wait for you to fall off the Earth since it’s flat. Anyone who wishes to dispute this can do so at their own forum because there will be NO misdirection of this point. Now whether an individual male DECIDES to recognize it and redirect it or squash it is up to that man, but Gates wasn’t offering that caveat. He was using it as an excuse to EXPLAIN AWAY THEIR DEPRAVITY.
Now to be certain there are plenty of women-hating men in the world but again we come to discuss survival and domination tactics. No group can survive without women. So it comes down to other men to police the behavior of the men in their group to maintain a workable model. There is NO such policing going on in the “black community”. Not when you have the “premier” African-American scholar who’s a refugee from his blackness, reveling in his 56% European heritage, married to an average white woman and crying victim when hitting the third rail of white male authority saying it’s okay that these men embody every racial stereotype ever visited upon black men because it’s in their nature to be that way.
I found this great essay by Kimberlie Crenshaw (whom I’d like to see nominated for the Supreme Court before Obama leaves office) discussing this case. I don’t agree with everything she has to say – namely the knee-jerk inclination for black women to defend black men who are working AGAINST them – but this was written more than a decade ago. Like many of us who’ve seen the aftermath of the depravity women must resist the urge to think of themselves by race first and gender second in these situations. It should be every woman for herself. Yes, in a very selfish looking out for one’s own interests FIRST way. The antithesis of what most black women do NOW where they GIVE IT ALL AWAY FOR FREE AND GET NOTHING IN RETURN. Or worse are left to fend for themselves when THEY need help.
Thus, Gates concludes, 2 Live Crew and other rap groups are simply pushing white society’s buttons to ridicule its dominant sexual images. I am deeply skeptical about the claim that the Crew was engaged–either in intent or effect–in pursuing a postmodern guerilla war against racist stereotypes. Gates argues that when one listens to 2 Live Crew the ridiculous stories and the hyperbole make the listener “bust out laughing.”
Apparently the fact that Gates and many other people react with laughter confirms and satisfies the Crew’s objective of ridiculing the stereotypes. But the fact that the Crew are often successful in prompting laughter neither substantiates Gates’s reading nor forecloses serious critique of its subordinating dimensions. Gates’ use of laughter as a defensive maneuver in the attack on 2 Live Crew recalls similar strategies in defense of racist humor. Racist humor has sometimes been defended as an effort to poke fun at, or to ridicule racism. More simply, racist humor has often been excused as just joking; even racially motivated assaults are often defended as simple pranks. While it may be true that the Black community is more familiar with the cultural forms that have evolved into rap, that familiarity should not end the discussion of whether the misogyny within rap is acceptable. Moreover, we need to consider the possible relationships between sexism within our cultural practices and the problem of violence against women.
Violence against women of color is not presented as a critical issue in either the anti-racist or anti-violence discourses. The “different culture” defense may contribute to the disregard for women of color victimized by rape and violence, reinforcing the tendency within the broader community not to take intra-racial violence seriously. We must determine whether the practices and forms of expression are consistent with our fundamental interests. Although collective opposition to racist practice has been and continues to be crucially important in protecting Black interests, an empowered Black feminist sensibility would require that the terms of unity no longer reflect priorities premised upon the continued subordination of Black women.
Since I know so many take issue with a black woman criticizing a black man (hello Miss Ogyny again) I’ll add some criticism from other black men. Scholar Martin Kilson refers to Gates as the master of the “Black put-down”. Indeed. You are also free to research cultural critic Harold Cruse. During the trial Gates referred to 2 Live Crew as “astonishing and refreshing” and compared their works to that of Shakespeare, Ella Fitzgerald or James Joyce. They were not pushing the envelope of social discourse like Lenny Bruce or George Carlin. They were out to make money by denigrating black women.
In Master of the Dodge: A Reply to Henry Louis Gates, Martin Kilson critiques an earlier Gates’ project but it seems his warning could apply to anything by which Gates endeavors or even perhaps to the man himself.
So I try to advise my progressive Black intellectual peers especially to be wary of “King Gates” strategic offerings – his fish-hooks, if at all possible. And I’d like to address this especially to the up-coming younger generation of African- American intellectuals and scholars, particularly those who seek to fashion a progressive outlook for themselves. Finally, we progressive Black intellectuals especially do indeed have to perform the scrutinizing task in regard to establishmentarian and/or conservative Black intellectuals like Henry Gates, because no one else will. Above all, we progressive Black intellectuals still have a serious Black people agenda to attend to. Namely: Protecting, advancing, and redeeming Black folks’ honor, both here in the United States and elsewhere in the globe.
39 comments ↓
So what you are saying is that Skip Gates is an ENEMY of Black women everywhere and we ought not lift an eyelid to defend his “Black male vulnerabilities” ?
You’re also pointing out tha Skip Gates thinks violence and gender-based hate speech is HILARIOUS and signifying Black culture.
MAKE IT PLAIN. Skip Gates doesn’t care about Black women so why should we caree about him.
Black women who support those (like Skippy for instance) who have made it publicly known that they are AGAINST the self-interests, safety and welfare of BW and black girls – are not only stupid – but also aiding and abetting the assassination of their own image.
If that’s not a manifestation of self-hate, I don’t know what is.
Personally, I could care less if Skippy feels “violated”, “abused”, and “wronged” by “the system”.
He supports a system (the Rap industry) that routinely encourages and takes glory in the violation, hatred, and abuse of BW and black girls.
Therefor – if anything – I see this nonsense as more of a LONG overdue case of the chickens coming home to roost.
News flash, no one even cares about the Skip Gates story anymore. Even my militant friends don’t give a damn. When all the other unarmed folks were getting beaten and killed no one heard a peep from Obama or Gates. The media focus is on Obama being humiliated now by trying to win the acceptance of some blue collar cop, its not even about Gates. At this point most folks I know really don’t like how either one of them has responded to the issue. No one is gonna march for this guy.
If anyone knows about his past they would know Gates is anti black period, so he is not really being supported by black men or women.
Gates divested a long time ago. He actually should be a model for it. You should be happy for him. He has being coined “the leading black” by white liberals, lives in a white construct and has a white wife. He is a great model for divestment.
I guess he “Skip” was okay with the RACIALIZED SEXICISM because he knew his white wife would not be a victim.White’s and other groups have made it clear and plain what is acceptable behavior when black men deal with their women.They will not accept black men treating their women just anyway. They will Emmit Till these negroes.By that i mean not only possibly kill black males physically for mistreatment of white women but also their careers and put them behind bars too if they have to.There is no code of conduct for the way black males treat black women.Whites and other groups have demanded apologies and proper treatement ,for their most triflin women, who participated in their own degradations, from black men.Which they have gotten.Particularly rappers,who have apologized to other women and groups of people for blatant disrespect.See Busta Rhymes’ apology to arab community for the way he talked about an arab woman.Yet the Rappers versus America series showed these rappers refusing to make an apology to black women. They would not do it.Tupac apologized to white people for saying he hated them and other non sense.He also apologized for talking against Quincy Jones’ IR marriage.He later dated Quincy’s daughter.Ms Delores Tucker and black women got an unapologetic wonder why they call you bi***.And black women get all up in arms and protest in streets for men who think this way.
@Naima There’s a big difference between someone who divests with their integrity and racial pride intact AND what you see with the majority of these black men. Gates is a REFUGEE who has tried to escape from his blackness.
That is NOT what black women should be doing. A lot of the self-loathing and hatred for black women stems from those black men only concerned about what benefits them but who constantly TAKE or REMAIN SILENT at the atrocities that occur. Then they produce these children who think blackness is “optional” and the ones that can’t do that are constantly tearing down black women.
I respect people who have VALUES. Being famous means nothing and prominence is in the eye of the beholder. Perhaps you will learn that one day.
@truthprevails you can take the man to task sufficiently without going after his choice of life partner. It undercuts an otherwise strong argument. i don’t care who he married. More power to him. if he likes it, I love it, but its his ridiculous defense of gender-based hate speech as humor that he should be ROUNDLY condemned for.
IDK if it’s okay to do this, name drop another site, so i hope i won’t offend anybody. I was just at Sandrarose.com she has a video up of a black female police officer ,courtesy of youtube,who says that she will not vote for Barack a second time around because of his lack of support to officer Crowley and other officers.She then turns to hug Officer Crowley as if she felt bad for the white superiorist.I don’t think she should support crowley or Obama considering Crowleys unjust arrest of a mouthy black guy or Barack considering his non support of black people all together and black women in particular.I just don’t see how it’s in her interest to speak up for or against either.She defitnetly could learn something from this blog and others.I just was thinking about the comments that Barack reportedly made at the NAACP conference,which i did’nt get to see myself,about black men stepping up to the plate for the sake of family and the outrage of black men on different message boards who claim Barack is making them look bad in front of white people.I know Gates is probably a buddy of Barack but I was wondering if Barack got a sense that black men felt that way and felt the need to appeal to black men through this situation and it back fired on him.
@ gem2001 umm I don’t care who he married either.I’m simply saying that black men like him make it okay and feel it’s okay to hate on BLACK women.This is racialized sexicism.He knows that certain behaviors by some black men will not be tolerated by other groups towards their women.If he was married or dating a white woman at that time he knew that black men would be less likely to treat her with such disrespect.So he could care less about 2livecrew doggin black women after all as he stated that’s apart of black culture not the majorty culture in america.
I find that black men generally will defend one another’s doings till the end. It’s the boys club at work. They will defend one another against whites, against women, against any entity. Black men often can’t see past their shared sex organs and the shared color of said organs.
It’s pathetic that there are few actual black “men” running around these days. So in the case of Skip and 2 Live Crew, he had to support, and regard for black women, well what did he care? I don’t care about him at all. If only we women could bind together more.
I have always wondered about educators like Dr. Gates, who become militant when they get in trouble, yet don’t seem to have enough inner-militancy to teach at an HBCU.
@gem2001, His choice of life partner absolutely speaks volumes about his core and honest beliefs about himself and his female reflection. The mass rejection of black women by black men that has helped to produce an alarming (and ignored) statistic such as a 70% single rate, points to the same devaluing that makes it easier for a Prof.Gates to discount black women both personally and in general. When I see black men like Gates, who spends most of his life in critical thought and study, and who is undoubtedly aware of the manifestations of internalised white supremecy, but who still practice this diefication of whiteness and devaluing of blackness, I am left feeling hopeless about the future of black people.
“@truthprevails you can take the man to task sufficiently without going after his choice of life partner.”
In this instance, we are dealing with a self-claimed “race man” who serially marries white women.
He expects us to racially support him during the incident, when he racially rejects us on the regular? I don’t think so.
That was a pretty good blog. How true that it is: Skippy didn’t come to defend Black women back in the 90s before sexism and violence in rap was not only the norm, but now readily encouraged for ‘correct’ black male behavior. He, as an intellectual who had an opportunity to speak out against the misogyny in rap, chose instead to encourage it and then validate it by putting 2livecrew on the same level as
Shakespeare (are you kidding?). What social commentary does ass and tiddies music provide?
I wish we as a people would take a moment and really digest a situation before running to someone’s defense and then agreeing with others who may defend them just because we share the same box on the census survey under race (as Skippy did with 2livecrew). What if Black intellects did critically analyze one another, like the commentary in the blog suggests. What if we had a genuine conversation about the treatment of black women by black music and the support of “black” television. Just because you’re black, doesn’t mean you have the interests of the people in your heart and the future of the people in your heart. When you look at our community, any recognizable elements of a cohesive group (support of one another, male and female relationships, family and children, etc.) have been broken. The only time we do come together is when a ‘black’ man is unjustly arrested on ‘bogus’ charges. Not that this doesn’t happen (and it does happen often), but every time a black is arrested the reasons are not completely unjustified (i.e. R Kelly-different topic I know, but he got our instant support when he was accused of child abuse and rape of a black girl).
Further, why support this ‘black’ man when he considers himself 56% European (a man who revealed in the rape of his ancestors to give him a perceived ‘lighter advantage’). So if he doesn’t consider himself black in the first place, why should we even care? If he isn’t working for the progression of the people as an intellectual, then again, why should we care?
Some very good points in this blog. Love reading your comments!
Thank you for publishing this.
@TruthPrevails
“@ gem2001 umm I don’t care who he married either.I’m simply saying that black men like him make it okay and feel it’s okay to hate on BLACK women.”
By your standard, BET’s content should have been less abusive of Black women under the tenure of Reggie Hudlin, who’s married to a Black woman. In fact, the content on BET became MORE sexist and pornographic.
In short, Hudlin was okay exploiting other Black women as long as HIS wife was okay.
Similarly, Gates’s support of groups like 2 Live Crew is based on the same strain of selfishness. As long as he’s not personally affected, then who cares how Black women are harmed by gangsta rap?
(cont.)
Thus, the color of a Black man’s wife is no clear indication that he’s “down with the cause” or an “Uncle Tom.” After all, Frederick Douglas was married to a White woman, yet was one the the staunchest opponents of slavery, which he’d personally endured.
Truthprevails wrote:
“I was just at Sandrarose.com she has a video up of a black female police officer ,courtesy of youtube,who says that she will not vote for Barack a second time around because of his lack of support to officer Crowley and other officers.She then turns to hug Officer Crowley as if she felt bad for the white superiorist.I don’t think she should support crowley or Obama considering Crowleys unjust arrest of a mouthy black guy or Barack considering his non support of black people all together and black women in particular.”
Well, I checked out the video you suggested:
http://sandrarose.com/2009/07/27/black-female-officer-says-she-wont-vote-for-obama-again/
The Black Officer was simply saying that that Crowley should be judged by his record, not his skin color. I think Dr. King would approve.
According to a recent Washington Times column, Officer Crowley’s record doesn’t exactly scream Klansman:
Sgt. Crowley, as it happens, is the Cambridge police force’s hand-picked racial profiling expert and was selected by a former black police commissioner. He also performed CPR on black basketball star Reggie Lewis, whose widow praised the public servant for doing everything he could to save her husband. Sgt. Crowley’s own police department immediately jumped to his defense in a picture-perfect multiracial photo op and press conference.
http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2009/jul/27/the-presidents-accidental-gift-on-race/?feat=home_headlines
So, I think the officer is right that everyone, White and Black, needs to be careful about taking sides and passing judgment until we hear ALL the evidence.
As this blog entry demonstrates, Prof. Gates isn’t exactly a saintly member of Black America.
Skip wanted to be and thought he was White until they took his Black ass to jail. I guess all that White DNA didn’t help him. Regardless how much he hates his mother and other black woman, he ” is ” because a Black woman gave him life. I always tell my friends & family who are in relationships with non-blacks; after you have your kids and your kids do as you do and only engage with relationships with other non-blacks. Take a family portrait. Guess what? You the only one!! Congratulations. You have just eliminated another sorry as negro. Thank you.
Can we please stick to the point. Do you really think he would have felt different about the 2 Live Crew lyrics if he married a Black woman? Bob Johnson was married to a Black woman doing his tenure at BET and we all know how that went.
Our focus should be on vetting people before we lend our support, not who someone marries or how much their white ancestry may not have helped them. Thank you Faith for posting this because it lets me know that I need to do a better job researching before I lend my support.
It isn’t about the white wife, it’s about Skippy and other black men like him who act like refugees from blackness but want to be rescued when they face off against white males – and lose. These men are ONLY interested in “justice” when it pertains to THEM.
**It’s REALLY about the legions of black women who act as bodyguards and defenders or these men who do NOTHING to help uplift them. It’s really a call for black women to only spend time & energy on people & things that offer them great value in kind.
@Fred I think Crowley should also be judged by record not color.I simply said and I will say again I don’t see why this woman is supporting either.Neither Crowley nor Obama have shown that they care about issues that affect her as a woman and as a woman of color at that.Also are we to believe that the white man is the only one who deserves to be judged by character not color are should it be that way with all people.More importantly should’nt all people have to abide by the same set of rules or laws.I think so,so why was Gates taken to jail unlawfully?I did’nt know being mouthy with the police was grounds in it self to be thrown in jail.We’ve come back to color have’nt we?Also as far as the case you made saying that the person Gates married had nothing to do with him devaluing black women I find this ridiculous.Alot of men of other races of men have joined in on the fun of belittling black women following the lead of black males.Just because that man at b.e.t married a black woman does’nt mean that he values or thinks highly of black women collectively.He may believe, like alot of black men do,that he got one of the teeny tiny microscopically small amount of good black women.Also i’d like to point out the FACT that neither the man at b.e.t’s black wife nor Gates wife are currently stuck in majority black “communities” where most of the anti-black women attacks and hatred occur.Think Location, location dear .Is’nt this partially the reason why Khadija over on muslimbushido has suggested black women physically move away from these social constructs.
***It’s REALLY about the legions of black women who act as bodyguards and defenders of these men who do NOTHING to help uplift them. It’s really a call for black women to only spend time & energy on people & things that offer them great value in kind.***
It’s as simple as that.
Fred, my contention is that all of these, lets call them ‘thinking Black men’, that you have mentioned, be they married to black women or not are exhibiting varying levels of internalised white supremacy. This infection determines (on a very subliminal level)who and what we value/don’t value. In my opinion all of these men devalue black women (to differing degrees). This makes it literally difficult for them to recognize that we are even human enough to be deserving of justice or protection. Black men in general are in positions of power in choosing a mate or t.v. programming. Their choices are not disconnected from what they love or hate or are indifferent towards or dismiss completly. Your choices are you. I don’t think that any of these men is capable of leading any black woman to the black girl ‘promised land’.
Revised Version.
This was not a racial incident or an example of racial profiling. I find it tiresome that it continues to be packaged as such. What we had here was a police officer (who happened to be white) acting within his authority and discretion to arrest a combative citizen (who happened to be black). As is often the case with discretionary exercises of authority, this police officer was overruled and the charges dropped. It doesn’t mean this exercise of authority was illegitimate. I cry foul on Professor Skippy for pimping black politics and exploiting his association with the President to bolster his little fit. If the Professor was a victim, he was a victim only of his overweening ego (and that’s viewing this situation in a light most favorable to the Professor).
Some folk (of both genders and all races) feel entitled to act the fool with figures of institutional authority. In a police state, everybody has to show respect to the police. This is not a black lesson or a male lesson. This is a citizen lesson. Ask that old white lady who was tasered in Texas. Some of these hyper-masculine brutes will take a bad day out on your head. Maybe abuse of discretionary authority is the real issue here, something which impacts all citizens.
But what REALLY agitates me: some where a legitimate case of racial profiling is occurring (and has occurred many times) and this situation is detracting both from its authenticity and credibility.
But let’s just say, for the sake of argument, that this WAS a racial incident: Professor Skippy and his kind, sympathizers with the most foul and destructive individuals of the black collective, namely those who debase black women for profit and entertainment, deserve no championing from the likes of me.
Faith,
You said, “**It’s REALLY about the legions of black women who act as bodyguards and defenders or these men who do NOTHING to help uplift them. It’s really a call for black women to only spend time & energy on people & things that offer them great value in kind.”-
Exactly. I only vaguely remember this trial regarding the 2 Live Crew. I had tuned out “Black” radio and ALL hip-hop by the time this happened, so I basically ignored the entire situation.
But I DO clearly remember C. Delores Tucker, and how she was steadfast in trying to protect AA women and children from this mess. And what did C. Delores Tucker get from AAs (including the majority of AA women) in return for her efforts? Slander, mockery and ridicule.
Most of the AA women she was trying to protect were tearing her to pieces while acting in their traditional role of BM’s bodyguards. I remember how so MANY Black folks talked about that elderly sister like a dog, and made mockery of her. After she had given DECADES of service to us. And how hip-hop “music” artists insulted her in their “songs.”
I never spoke against C. Delores Tucker during this era. Like I said, I basically washed my hands of the entire topic. I just wish I had actively spoken out in support of her. May God rest her soul, and grant her a noble place in Paradise.
Peace, blessings and solidarity.
I agree 100% with what Faith and gem have said. It is time for this mildly amusing flea circus to leave town.
I think a bigger issue that managed to fly under the radar that affects everyone was IN AMERICA, SHOULD HAVING A LOUD MOUTH AND FAULTY LOGIC (yelling at any man with a gun) BE ENOUGH TO GET YOU ARRESTED while standing on your own property.
Apparently so…If we take the officer at his words, and frankly I believe him, then he arrested Gates basically because he was a loud mouth who didn’t know when to shut up.
Regardless of Gates background, I find that troubling.
I don’t think we should make any effort to support Gates. But, exactly how loud do you have to be … to be arrested. If you follow a police officer (white or black) one step or two, should you be arrested? When do my rights end? At my front door, on my driveway…in my living room. If an officer stops by my house tonight, and asks me to step outside…am I obligated to obey? If I get loud, even though I haven’t committed a crime, can I be arrested? Apparently, yes. I would like to think I wouldn’t have this problem…but for the grace of God, there go I.
Gates behaved badly, the police officer behaved badly, and the President in his desire to speak on behalf of a buddy looked badly.
Magoo wrote:
“Fred, my contention is that all of these, lets call them ‘thinking Black men’, that you have mentioned, be they married to black women or not are exhibiting varying levels of internalised white supremacy. This infection determines (on a very subliminal level)who and what we value/don’t value. In my opinion all of these men devalue black women (to differing degrees). This makes it literally difficult for them to recognize that we are even human enough to be deserving of justice or protection. ”
Agreed.
@miki you are correct. in order for ti to be “racial profiling,” Gate’s RACE would have had to have been what triggered the initial contact with police. That’s the big problem with profiling people by race, once you’ve come to the attention of a police officer, all bets are off at any given time any of us, in particular those of us in a vehicle are violating a law somewhere. When was the last time you checked your tire pressure?
In this case the initial contact was created by a 911 call that did not mention race other than attempting to extract a description from the caller.
Then we move on to the question about whether or not yelling and screaming at a copy is enough to be arrested for. Let’s be clear, the standard for cops arresting you is NOT “beyond a reasonable doubt,” its “probable cause” the standard for stopping you is even lower, its “reasonable suspicion” and yes, the phone call was sufficient to create reasonable suspicion. Then the question moves to did the yelling and screaming and WALKING TOWARDS AN OFFICER AS HE WALKED AWAY reach the level of being PROBABLE CAUSE to believe the professor was engaging in disorderly conduct in a public place. I could get that past a preliminary hearing without a problem. Now a trial under a “beyond a reasonable doubt” standard, not so sure, but could I meet the much lower “probable cause” standard, yes.
People keep applying common sense to their analysis of this case, but I doubt they’ve looked at the disorderly conduct statute or the case law interpreting that standard. You would be SURPRISED what a cop can take you in for. And finally please recite the fact correctly, Gates was not in his home, he was chasing after an officer who had already indicated that he was LEAVING. The incident was over, and Gates kept going.
Even Gates isn’t defending himself anymore. Never fight for someone who won’t fight for themselves people.
‘Bob Johnson was married to a Black woman doing his tenure at BET and we all know how that went’
Well, how about the women who were and continue to be in power at BET, like Debra Lee? Aren’t Black women at BET accountable for “Frankie and Neffie” and “Tiny and Toya” and “Hot Ghetto Mess” etc.?
Rest assured Khadija, C. Delores Tucker IS in Heaven/Paradise.
These DISGUSTING individuals – these black males and females who treated Ms. Tucker with disdain and ridicule when she was meerly telling the truth – cursed themselves. And if they haven’t already payed the price for their behavior, they will at some point. If not now in the next life.
Black people collectively – women, males, and sadly innocent children – have paid a STEEP price for excusing (and condoning) the despicable behavior of these damaged beyond repair black males that Ms. Tucker was trying to warn everyone of.
ANY community/people/”race” that turns on it’s own women, elderly, and children like rabid dogs will be cursed.
And if that’s not what’s increasingly happening in the “bc” I don’t know what is.
IMO NOTHING will EVER go the “black communities” way collectively – NOT because of racism from the outside, but because on the inside the “bc” is TOO out of step with God’s ways and basic human norms. There’s TOO much sickness within.
I truly believe DBRBM (and the BW who habitually make excuses for them, support them, and in some instances partially create them) are a DISAPPOINTMENT and a disgrace to God.
IMO Black folks collectively are suffering from a self-inflicted curse.
And that’s why the prayers that countless black folks pray everyday continue to go unanswered.
God knows the collective is not serious.
God helps those who help themselves. And helping oneself means REMOVING oneself from the poison.
That’s the way BW can escape the curse on an individual basis.
As for the masses who remain in the Matrix, the death toll will continue to rise in these urban Hell holes and we will continue to hear horror after horror on the evening news.
Because the “bc” as a whole is too stubborn, and too stupid to admit that it’s been wrong, and needs to change course immediately.
For the sake of the whole.
BW who plan to not only survive but THRIVE in these turbulent times have a choice to make.
Either practice a LIFEstyle that leads to success, longevity, health, love, inner peace, etc… by CEASING to associate with OR support ANYONE (regardless of “race” or gender ) and anything that brings them low, OR continue practicing the DEATHstyle (putting oneself at increased risk for abandonment, violence, rape, contracting AIDS etc… by staying physically and/or psychologically tied to these urban wastelands) that is prevalent in the modern “bc”.
Ones life is an accumulation of choices made. Good or bad.
We have free will. We can steer our lives in whatever direction we wish.
@Fred
Frederick Douglas’ second wife was white, after having been married for decades to a black woman. He married the white lady when he was extremely old and probably feeling the need for companionship after his first wife passed.
This is a necessary distinction from a Gates or many of the black males today. Frederick Douglass loved black people and black women and was committed to her until the day she died. Just saying…
gem2001 wrote: “People keep applying common sense to their analysis of this case, but I doubt they’ve looked at the disorderly conduct statute or the case law interpreting that standard.”
But you did it very nicely. Thanks for breaking it down (and taking me kicking and screaming back to my 1L days…lol). Now I’m just downright embarrassed for Gates and President Obama.
I/ we wonder why many black women are leaving this country for greener pastures. They want to go where the love is, but there a so few places. I ask the question on the blog. Where do black women go .. for love, happiness, and peace of mind? Is there such a place in 2009? On a IR blog I stated that is was time to move to fertile ground for a relationship. I got an email from a sister asking where are the fertile ground. I told her to go where the love is…
This is a terrific website! I agree with the writer who stated that our choices are who we are. A good example: someone who doesn’t like the color red, certainly would not buy a red car or a red outfit. Gates’ choice of a white wife is part of who he is. Unfortunately, Skip Gates has over the years, made it his duty to distance himself from the majority of Black folks, and yet carry the so called distinction of being the so called pre-eminent Black scholar in Amerikkka. By whose standards? Liberal white folks, that’s who! I know plenty of articulate Black men who on a daily basis, speak up for the masses of Black people, something that I have never known or heard of Skip Gates doing. How many people have heard of and support the Reverend Edward Pinkney of Benton Harbor, MI, who was in jail for over a year because he dared to quote the Bible to a white racist judge? He and other courageous Black men are the ones who deserve support and recognition, not Skip Gates. When I heard about what happened to Gates, my first reaction was “Good, maybe now he will begin to see that for all of his postering before whites, being on TV/PBS, for marrying a white woman (was it for love or legitimacy?), and for having (56% or 67%) DNA as a result of the rape of our African female ancestors, he was seen as and treated as just another “n____r.” I know that shocked the shavings out of him! I say, let’s move on and lend our support to the outraged people in Texas re: McClellan, Rev. Pinkney, and other Black men who have been the unfortunate victims of being ordinary Black men, and not a “so he thought”, priviledged negro man like Gates!
When I wrote about how our outrage at Skip’s treatment by the po-po didn’t excuse his silence on the bumrushing of a black coed from Harvard because she was friendly with a coed dating a murder suspect, I was damned near lynched off the blog for saying Skip should have been just as loud about Chanequa Campbell’s dismissal from Harvard under “guilt by association”.
The posters started defending the black kids at Harvard for not fighting for one of their supposed own. I guess Skip Gates is where they got that shyt.
Too bad his 57% DNA didn’t save him from the Po-Po and once again, Obama caves when he should stand for what he believes in.
It’s classism at it’s best – Gates is “their kind of people” while Chaquanda was not.
Now Now. The boys had their beer, while poor Lucia Whalen is wandering around aimlessly. Everything is okay now.
Gem2001 wrote: “And finally please recite the fact correctly, Gates was not in his home, he was chasing after an officer who had already indicated that he was LEAVING. The incident was over, and Gates kept going.”
Hmm, clearly Gates was locked up for not having a clue. What idiot chases a police officer? Maybe Gates thought we had not only transcended race, but common sense
also.
I listened to the entire health care press conference primarily because I was interested in learning more about the health care plan. (wasted time on my part). I was initially struck by the question of Gates, in general. Yeah, I know every media outlet covered it. I know there were people really interested in the President’s opinion on the matter. But, you know what? I wasn’t. It would have been okay with me to have listened to the entire press conference “about health care” and not have heard about his opinion of the Skip Gates incident. I really didn’t care about the “beer summit”.
Of course, I’ve been fed up with the media for some time, now. I want to know if my retired mother, whose health insurance goes up every year, although her retirement check hasn’t budged is going to get some relief. Now, about half her retirement goes to insurance.
For me, Obama has become what I thought he always wanted to be…not “the black” president, but a president who happens to be black. And, I have no problem with that. But, it also means…I’m not really interested in what he has to say on “race relations”. I want to hear what he has to say about education, health insurance, cap and trade – also known as (name the ways I can make your electric bill skyrocket).
Maybe now that they’ve had their beers at the White House (now the rest of us see what it takes to get to the White House), the Gates things will fade slowly away.
I knew he had a reputation for loving his white blood maybe more than his black blood but I did not know about his 2 Live Crew defense. Yeah, maybe he will ultimately regret letting the spotlight on himself.