Wednesday 9 December 2015

Walking While White


I read an account of some fella that said he was stopped and questioned by police because he was black. The police were investigating an attempted break in and were looking for a black guy wearing a puffy jacket and a knit hat. He fit the description well he didn't really because his jacket wasn't puffy and he says his hat was knitted for him especially ..... I have no idea what that has to do with anything. He was a professor and had his ID on a lanyard.

Sure there is a thing calling driving while black but not every case is that. This guy told of his fear and how he thought he was going to be killed because he was going to refuse to get into the car to be taken to a witness. Aye, very dramatic, I reckon he spends too much time on social media. If you refuse basic commands from the police then you will escalate the situation ya moron.

Witnesses aren't great with details and cops know this which is why he was stopped. We just had 3 white men in tactical gear kill 14 people in San Bernardino, that turned out to be a brown male and female. In this case the police were doing their job but this guy thought he was about to be beaten and shot 16 times or something.
Quick, something finally happened to me so I can relate to all my brothers and sisters, I must over react and post to social media.

The police brought the witness to him and he was dismissed as a suspect with no drama at all, no beatings and no shots fired.

I wonder if he called after them, "aren't you supposed to at least pistol whip me or something?"
 

If the police were looking for a white bloke and stopped him then there might have been a problem. Neighbours of the San Bernardino couple say they suspected them of suspicious activity but didn't want to call the cops for fear of racial profiling. If yer neighbours are tweakers you could get reported for all sorts of things so I wonder what these neighbours thought they had seen. 

Racial profiling if done correct is a no brainer. If the terrorists are mostly of Middle East descent then don't pay so much attention to yon Asians, if yer looking for white supremacists then don't stop black dudes. Black, white, brown and yellow all commit crimes and if the neighbourhood is mostly black then figure it out for fucks sake, our neighbourhoods are mostly white so guess what the criminals would be .... is that racist?

If the San Bernardino shooting has taught us anything it's that we don't really know who our neighbours and co-workers are, those people you smile and say hello to but don't engage them too much because they are quiet or reserved people.  That couple were well educated, he had a well paying county job, they had a young child and he was an American citizen, it seems they were also religious fanatics who wanted to kill people in the name of religion .... not wanted to but decided to. 


Back in the day when Old Knudsen wasn't doing foot patrols himself sometimes along side the police he'd find himself as a civvie walking the streets of Belfast at 4 am after doing some shift work. Walking would wind me down so I could sleep. Old Knudsen was once stopped and taken to a witness to see if he was the one that was attempting a break in, at no time did he feel victimised for being white and didn't fear for his life and that was when the police in Northern Ireland were the tough RUC rather than the wussy PSNI that we have today.
Yes, our police have guns, they don't use them very often though, even if they fear for their lives as a guy with a knife can be taken alive nearly 10 out of 10 times. 

After being dismissed by the witness the police gave me a ride home, they even trusted me to be in the backseat with their precious hats.

Another time I was stopped by an army patrol with English soldier asking for identification and what was in my bag. I didn't feel victimised for being white or even for being Irish which most these Sassenach soldiers despised, even the ones they served along side. They were doing their job. A male of fighting age walking around at night .... what kind of profiling? 

A third time a police car stopped me and we did the search, as they drove off they stopped and asked if I wanted a lift, I declined, not for the sake of my safety but because I preferred to walk. The protective embrace of the dark with no one around was something I liked, it honed my mojo by using my other senses. 

People doing their jobs. Sure some put the reputation of all in jeopardy but most are just following procedure and it isn't personal. 

Maybe Old Knudsen and the bloke who felt threatened should stop looking like such shady fuckers and there wouldn't be a problem.

   

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