Racial Profiling is a Reality

Racial Profiling is a Reality

A common reality for a people of color is that they will be handcuffed, questioned, and will not receive any apologies for the mistreatment by their local police department. It does not matter what your level of education is, the kind of car you drive or the clothes that you wear. If you are a minority in this country, you will most likely be stopped by the police.

When you look at the picture of the handcuffed, gray haired 56 year old Professor Gates, does he look like a burglary suspect? Does he look threatening enough to do bodily harm to the police officers that were on his front porch?

Whenever a police agency accost or arrests someone of color without appropriate cause, they have the tools in place to explain or justify their actions. Officer Crowley said he was fulfilling his duty by investigating a report of a burglary in progress and that Professor Gates became unruly during the encounter. Well was there truly an appropriate cause to arrest Professor Gates? Let's put ourselves in Professor Gates' position.

While he was returning home after a very long flight from China, he couldn't get into his home because something was wrong with his door. Professor Gates had to push the door open to gain entry. He then sat his suitcases down and was calling Harvard University to report the door problem when the policeman knocked at his door. The policeman said he was investigating a possible burglary and wanted to see Gate's identification...in his own home. Gates asked to see Officer Crowley's identification and asked how long he had been on the force. He also asked the officer if he looked like a burglar in his polo shirt and walking with a cane? He asked how many burglars did he know who opened the door when someone knocked?
Somehow the officer expected the professor to have a cheerful attitude when having to prove that he lived in the home and being suspected of burglarizing his own home.
He produced identification that proved that he lived in the home and yet, he was still was arrested for tumultuous conduct or disorderly conduct.

If you look at the arrest practices associated with disorderly conduct in the Boston and Cambridge area, you might find it to be similarly to San Jose's own 647F arrest practices. Too often African American and Latino encounters with the police are distasteful, rude, and poorly handled. I have frequently driven down a street and continue to see young African American or Latino males sitting on the curb, being
handcuffed because of a fix -it ticket or because they fit the racial descriptions of a suspect.

The one thing I can say to Professor Gates is that he will not get an apology from Officer Crowley or the police department.....just as it is the policy of San Jose's Chief Davis and his department to issue no apologies for their misdeeds when interacting with communities of color in San Jose. There is a feeling of entitlement running through many police departments as they interact with communities of color thus putting a damper on apologies coming from those departments.

As president Obama said, this can be a teachable moment. As a result, I call on our leaders in the city of San Jose to convene a courageous conversation about race as it relates to the police/community interactions. If our leaders fail to have this conversation then we can expect to see further antagonism, mistrust and problems develop between the police department and the communities of color in San Jose. This is one sore that we dare not let fester.

Rev. Jethroe Moore II
President,
San Jose/Silicon Valley NAACP

The Intelligence of a Man

Intense media coverage, under daily fire from the far right wing hand of the Republican Party as well as some within his own party, I have to say that so far President Obama has done a fair job dodging the proverbial "bullets" from his critic's! That being said with the proposal and successful passing of maybe one of the biggest spending budgets of all time, the President has really put himself where most others don't like to be placed-in the cross-hairs of their enemies. But it is almost as if President Obama is daring people to come out and be aggressive, as if to feed his passion to compete! Almost like he thrives on the pressure!

But now the meat needs to be dissected from this enormous document. Just for the proof, just like he promised a closer nation where we all can grow, so why not know if the money that we spend is really on health care and social services programs. So I guess we all can get a posted copy of the facts? Maybe we can get some sort of plain version of where the money is going. For instance, what are the higher taxes doing? Have our schools improved, or is it just a nice way to regain some lost money that we didn't decide to gradually tax (increase) over time! And how do we really recuperate from this?

All in all if it's not a good plan and it's the same old thing and the economy never rebounds that just could leave more room for the President’s critics to open fire on him and his presidency. But if you haven't learned anything else from this man our Pres is that at least he seems to be sort of comfortable under pressure, cool under fire if you will.

So maybe that's why everything will succeed or maybe it's just the perfect set up? Only time will tell us how everything will pan until then my friends all of you haters, enemies, pundits will have to continue to lose to Mr. Obama and his steady clutch performance. His calm from all your hatred and verbal abuse and finally lose again to his brash intelligent answers. Almost reminds of another Chicago legend of the 90's named Michael Jordan and I think he also owned loser alley!

Who Do You Trust?

When the world gives you lemons you’re supposed to make lemonade, right? Well, what if you have to ask a neighbor to borrow some sugar?

I ask this question in an effort to understand why Blacks or African Americans (or however a person of African descent in this country wants to be identified) can treat their own people in the professional world the way they do?

I was recently let go from my job of 2 plus years at a “prominent” black attorneys law firm (The Law Offices of John L. Burris) because of a personal relationship between the head attorney and the office manager. While working at this firm, it was a well-known fact that the two had been involved romantically, and the unwritten rule is “if I have to choose between her and anyone else it’s her” regardless of the issue!

With that said, I am a young black male student who is confident and quiet about how I handle my business and affairs. The only thing wrong with this is that in most black communities it seen as a weakness to be a quiet individual who does not complain. So, at the Law Offices of John L. Burris, I was seen as an outcast, which is okay with me, but most blacks don’t like that outcast role or even to be thought of as un-cool! Personally, I see this as defense mechanism against all the insecurities that we have as a people, which in return makes other races not able to deal with the “colorful” personalities that make black people seem slightly obnoxious and dim witted.

This now brings me to my main point: Why do the majority of black people see the negative as something to embrace and not something that we should distant ourselves from?

Why is it that when someone of another race says that we need to change from within, we expect to get bailed out by some “civil rights” activist but when one of our own (please see Barack Obama) says something about taking responsibility into our own hands we want to be mad. Why is it that the vast majority of blacks embrace being loud, physically dominant, or obnoxious? And trust me if you are reading this column then you most likely don’t live in a heavily black populated area or are around these types of black people. But I, on the other hand, was born and raised in Oakland, Ca and I can tell you from living in the city with the heaviest black population in the Bay Area that it is all too evident where those negative stereotypes come from! With that being said, how do we change that which comes from inside? Those very same insecurities that got me fired are the very same insecurities that have black business’s falling apart or running on color people time! What a joke that we embrace such behavior!

So in conclusion, do we as educated black people just leave our less enlightened counterparts suffer because they don’t realize the harm they do to the race as a whole? Or, do we try to educate them on these problems? I think that there should be programs in schools just for African American students to address these problems while in school and at the very least understand that we have these inbred psychological insecurities and that they come from years of enslavement and oppression. Further, every race, not just blacks, should have to take a cultural competence class to understand the African American so that we can better understand each other!

More than politics, as usual, now is war!!

Hello Dear readers:

Sorry to leave you without a dope article to step too. Ok that might have been out of line.

But I have been gathering some info every since Sen. Obama chose Joe Bidden as his running mate. And I must admit I thought it was a good choice, maybe even the best choice. But then Sen. McCain came along and shocked the world with his selection of … Mrs. Sarah Palin! If you said “who” the first time you heard of the announcement, you’re not alone.

And I am sure by now you think that I’m going to shoot her down as unqualified, arrogant, racist or something negative, but that has been done numerous times in countless articles and we all know that I’m not your normal columnist.

Instead, let’s examine the ploy… umm politics behind the pick. First of all, she is of course new to the nation’s landscape giving her the aura of freshness that we all associated Sen. Obama and Sen. Clinton with during the democratic primaries earlier this year. This garnered so much of the national spotlight that the GOP was basically unheard of until Sen. McCain stole enough votes to win the nomination. Then she’s from a relatively unknown state in our Union that has, according to various reports, is growing stranger and more racist than certain places in the South! And she was the Governor there! This is a state that has even tried to concede from the U.S. stating that since it produces a certain amount of oil and gets very little money from the Fed government other than those oil subsidies that maybe they would be better off as their own country. How truly patriotic! Oh, did I mention she is a woman? Not to say that this disqualifies her from doing her job, hell it might make her even more qualified, but that fact that the GOP would try to steal the thunder of pro-women rights and ideas from one of their chief enemies (Sen. Clinton) to win at all cost is truly a telling sign that Sen. Obama is definitely not welcome in the White House.

Not only have the GOP turned to Busch League Tactics but also they have nothing else to build upon this coming election so now it looks as if their platform has become “Let’s bash Obama”. Which I predicted long before he had even announced that he would run for the Presidency. Not to sound bitter or anything, but I haven’t seen verbal abuse like this since Alec Baldwin cursed out his 11-year-old daughter on a phone message!

Let’s just say that the game of electing a president has changed and candidates that have no real new agenda seem to be adopting this very high school way of slandering your opponent instead of actually beating him with better ideals and plans for the future. But again we are talking about the same GOOD OLE’ PARTY and now that they are facing losing to the first African American ever. Let me make it clear that it hasn’t even been about the issues but more about the lack of experience. But maybe, just maybe, the U.S. and the world are ready for Change?

As always this Allan and I will try to better next time!

Message from National NAACP President & CEO, Ben Jealous

As Hurricane Ike tore a path of destruction through the Gulf Coast on Saturday, millions watched to see if the lessons of Hurricane Katrina would be repeated. Forty-eight hours after the storm hit, reports indicated that evacuation efforts saved thousands of lives.

Within that timeframe, our NAACP teams, trained by the American Red Cross, were on the ground in Texas and Louisiana providing aid to many of the more than one million families and victims of Ike. Our teams are doing assessments to ensure that the rights of African American victims are protected and that they receive equal treatment in the aftermath of the storm.
For many residents, it may be weeks before they can return home from cramped shelters. Others who opted to ride out the storm in their homes are waking up to find themselves cut off from clean water, food, plumbing and power.

The NAACP and its partners need volunteers in the region to assist with the recovery effort. Sign up here to help. In addition, tell a friend. If you know someone who would be interested supporting the NAACP's efforts in Texas and Louisiana, spread the word. You can click here to send this message to your friends and family.


Sincerely,



Benjamin T. Jealous
President & CEO

And the winner is...

The world’s most influential black man of all time is… not Dr. King or Malcolm X, but Barack Obama! Yes the young, brash, thoughtful Senator has done what many of our other Afro-American/ Black men in the history of the United States of America have not been able to do and that is to unite a nation that really is ready for a dramatic change.

So, I made that statement to a group of co-workers and colleagues and got mixed reviews regarding this topic. Some of the older attorneys that I work for felt as if I had broken some type of unspoken rule when bringing up this topic but let’s explore this theory.

For starters none of “our” great black leaders have ever held an office. Surely none of them had this much impact on the voting process other than actually fighting for voting rights which is no small accomplishment, but at any point were they were not the most popular men in the country at the time. Now with all that being said, the young Senator from Illinois is only half way to the White House and yet it feels as if not only do blacks, in general, have a chance at greatness but also all minorities (communities of color) have a chance at greatness in this country. I just wonder if Mr. Obama also realizes that for him to take the White House would make him the greatest black leader in the history of the world! Yes I said it the world.

Here are just some of my points:

1. He would become the leader of the free world in which no black man ever can say they had the power to do.
2. His popularity is such that he has survived several vicious attacks on his character and has not even flinched and might have even gain some supporters who are tired of dirty politics.
3. His connection with all races and age groups.

So here it is my challenge to anyone who thinks that I am an Obama apologist (even though now my obvious Obama man-crush is showing) or that I am just saying this because I myself am black, but just think about the possibilities that will open young minority students across the board. His election to the Big House would mean that race relations around the world would improve as well as this notion that Afro-Americans can be thoughtful and intelligent.

For those of you who disagree, I would like to hear why so please send in your comments or point of views on this topic and I will easily shoot down any of the points you deem valid to make your case. Until next time dear readers…

Party Divided

Well... well... well just look at what has happened to the strong face of the Democrats. This election season’s once favored Democratic Party seems to be trying to mirror the party that it despises so much. Dirty politics, backstabbing political grandstanding and now they (some people more than others) are just tearing apart at each other with shady advertisements.

Now even worse, they turned the Tech community to help them with their slandering. What started out as good ideal for both of the candidates as a tool to reach young voters and help educate people has now become a tool in which these candidates have used to target a younger and more tech savvy generation of voters who s who can register to vote on our iPhones while drinking a latte’ at Starbucks and watching the news.

A generation that would frankly rather watch their favorite show online than on TV now have been bombarded with media clips from Jeremiah Wright (You Tube - Obama and his Religion) as if he is the poster boy for Senator Obama’s campaign. And now other media clips, videos, pictures and emails related to Senator Obama have surfaced and it seems that not so many negative ads have surfaced about Senator Clinton. There are a few funny cartoon-type pictures and a hand full of videos, but I mean those are the few small blips on the radar about Mrs. Clinton. Overall, if I were a betting man I would say that maybe there is something to these small blips, but that’s just speculation and speculation doesn’t pay the bills in this market. That’s why it seems almost inevitable that there can be only two outcomes to this: One is the Dems become so divided and disgusted that the “right” choice was not selected for the nomination and they will not vote in the numbers that has really been the story of this election season and loses no matter what candidate is selected giving way to Senator McCain. Look, the fact that other Dems are supporting Senator Obama should not be a reason for mudslinging and back room politics.

People are voting for Senator Obama for the same reasons so many others are supporting him and it is not because he’s black, smart, or cool under pressure. It’s not because he commands a room when he walks in or that he young and fresh with ideals and that his smile is infectious. It’s because of all of these qualities are embodied in one candidate and that is what scares the Republicans the most. But that will probably be the least of their worries this coming election because they already have their candidate and I am sure they are now just trying to figure out how to plan their resources while the Dems continue to bicker when this race is over and needs to just be given to the person with the best chance to take the house!

The other outcome could potentially be that the Republicans have so much dirt now on both candidates and this is when when the real election process begins because neither Barack nor Hillary will be able to withstand the pressure and fold. Look, no matter who endorses Senator Obama or Senator Clinton, whether its a politician or someone famous, that fact remains that Barack brings a freshness to the whole process and with the country getting younger and voters want to see change. Whether its Clinton or Obama, soon it won’t matter that the Dems have given enough ammo for any Republican to beat them. Hopefully all this political fighting won’t ruin the party but if we (America) just so happen to end up with the worlds second oldest man as the president, but we have been duped before!