On Beer (Summits)
Remember how, during the 2000 Presidential campaign, George W. Bush was described as a likable character because he was "a guy you could have a beer with?"
The kerfuffle in recent weeks spiraling out of the arrest of Henry Louis Gates, Jr. has culminated in this "beer summit", where President Obama invited Mr. Gates and arresting officer Sgt. James Crowley (along with Veep Joe Biden) for a conciliatory meeting where they could sit and chill.
Why is it that it took Obama to make good on Bush's inherent beer-y promise? And why, instead of being totally disgusted by this, am I actually pleased?
Here's the thing: it's not like it's some great pow-wow to put the idea of racism to rest for this country forever (not to mention a great photo-op). From the moment I heard about it, it struck me as something for these particular guys to get over their own shit: Gates for being loud and obnoxious, Obama for escalating it even further on the national stage, and Crowley for, well, I already went over that. (So just why the heck did Biden tag along? Did he just want to feel important?)
That's really where I want to leave it, but I know the media dare not dream to leave it there.
What has happened in the intervening days is that the woman who made the 911 call has come forward to set the record straight. The tape of the 911 call has been made public, and so Ms. Whalen feels she can defend her reputation against those (like me) who at best implied and at worst outright accused her of being a major link in a chain of racism.
What really happened? She never described the men entering the house as "black", and in fact only mentioned any sort of race when pressed by the 911 dispatcher. What did she say? They "might be hispanic". She also apparently didn't describe any backpacks, but did mention that they had luggage -- as is fitting from the fact that they had just returned from the airport. She was also very carefuly to mention that they just seemed to be having trouble with the door, but didn't want to take any chances.
How did that turn into "two black men with backpacks breaking into a house"? Did the dispatcher do some judicious editing? Piss-poor quotations by overzealous media? A bit of news to come out of this was that Whalen actually had direct contact with Sgt. Crowley around the time of the arrest, where he claims the mention of the race came from their conversation. She denies this, and said that he only told her to stay where she was. So did the officer have other motivations...?
Something else to consider: maybe this was just meant to happen. The officer's name is Jim Crow(ley), after all.
(And, to furthrr clarify my meaning, I don't think it means anything save an opportunity for an ultimately positive outcome to be associated with the name.)
Next time, I plan on talking about something that is actually going to matter to everyone, and not add any further to the distraction.
~Sean
The kerfuffle in recent weeks spiraling out of the arrest of Henry Louis Gates, Jr. has culminated in this "beer summit", where President Obama invited Mr. Gates and arresting officer Sgt. James Crowley (along with Veep Joe Biden) for a conciliatory meeting where they could sit and chill.
Why is it that it took Obama to make good on Bush's inherent beer-y promise? And why, instead of being totally disgusted by this, am I actually pleased?
Here's the thing: it's not like it's some great pow-wow to put the idea of racism to rest for this country forever (not to mention a great photo-op). From the moment I heard about it, it struck me as something for these particular guys to get over their own shit: Gates for being loud and obnoxious, Obama for escalating it even further on the national stage, and Crowley for, well, I already went over that. (So just why the heck did Biden tag along? Did he just want to feel important?)
That's really where I want to leave it, but I know the media dare not dream to leave it there.
What has happened in the intervening days is that the woman who made the 911 call has come forward to set the record straight. The tape of the 911 call has been made public, and so Ms. Whalen feels she can defend her reputation against those (like me) who at best implied and at worst outright accused her of being a major link in a chain of racism.
What really happened? She never described the men entering the house as "black", and in fact only mentioned any sort of race when pressed by the 911 dispatcher. What did she say? They "might be hispanic". She also apparently didn't describe any backpacks, but did mention that they had luggage -- as is fitting from the fact that they had just returned from the airport. She was also very carefuly to mention that they just seemed to be having trouble with the door, but didn't want to take any chances.
How did that turn into "two black men with backpacks breaking into a house"? Did the dispatcher do some judicious editing? Piss-poor quotations by overzealous media? A bit of news to come out of this was that Whalen actually had direct contact with Sgt. Crowley around the time of the arrest, where he claims the mention of the race came from their conversation. She denies this, and said that he only told her to stay where she was. So did the officer have other motivations...?
Something else to consider: maybe this was just meant to happen. The officer's name is Jim Crow(ley), after all.
(And, to furthrr clarify my meaning, I don't think it means anything save an opportunity for an ultimately positive outcome to be associated with the name.)
Next time, I plan on talking about something that is actually going to matter to everyone, and not add any further to the distraction.
~Sean