The point is, though, that all other things being equal, police are statistically more likely to pull over people of color (POC) than white people. Other factors like tinted windows, hoodies and bumper stickers are frequently used as pretense. The real reason the police suspected the driver was probably race.
Plus, getting pulled over is one thing - how people are treated by the police during the stop is another. So is the likelihood of a stop for a minor violation turning into a search of the vehicle, being asked to step out of the vehicle, etc.
I once worked on a case where an SUV was initially stopped because the new car registration hanging in the back window couldn't be seen through the heavy tinting. The initial stop was probably justified. But what made the cop suspect there might be drugs in the car was the fact that there was a medallion of a Mexican Catholic saint hanging from the rear view mirror. The cops and prosecutors got away with the search and seizure because the highway patrol officer testified that it was the "patron saint of drug runners" or some such. It was, IMHO, all a fancy and legal way of saying "yeah, they were Mexican so I knew they probably had drugs on them."
I agree. I do think that racial profiling does exist to a certain degree. I do not think it exists to the degree many would have us believe.
You didn't say it doesn't exist, but you do seem to be trying to minimize it. It doesn't just exist in individuals. It isn't confined to a few people here and there. It is more widespread and institutionalized than that.
I am minimizing it because it is a minimal problem. I disagree with the rest of what you are saying and do not see evidence of racism being institutionalized (unless you are referring to affirmative action which is what I would consider institutionalized racism).
The problem here is that even when there is clearly racism involved people will say that they're just "pulling the race card" and blame the victim. The case of Professor Gates is, indeed, a case in point. The man was arrested in his own home. It wouldn't have happened had he been white. To deny that racism played a role in it is.... Well, that's my point - even when racism is staring people in the face, they deny that it's racism.
He was arrested for disorderly conduct. He freaked out at the officer and immediately cried race. If he acted in a calm manner and was more polite (like I would be in the same situation), then he wouldn't have had a problem. You are assuming that the particular case was racially motivated when the evidence points to the contrary. If Officer Crowley was a former KKK member or a known racist, it would be a different story, but from officer testimonies from black and white officers, Crowley was an upstanding officer who is "good and fair". Read more specific quotes about him later in this post.
On what grounds do you assert that it was "discovered to have no racial bias or motivation involved"?
Because I've read and seen all sides of the story. No racial bias was shown at all. The police officer acted under standard operating protocol.
The charges against Gates were dropped and the mayor called him to apologize.
Yep, it was a good PR move on their part. Just because charges were dropped it doesn't mean it was racially motivated. As we all know, people will get as far away from being labeled a racist as possible, and even though the officer and police department in question were not guilty of racial bias, it's just easier and safer to get as far away from the accusation as possible. This just goes to show how people are always tiptoeing around whenever someone cries "racial discrimination".
But who gets to decide when something is racist?
Good question. In my opinion, the people group who can cry racism and be most politically correct and accepted are blacks. We don't tolerate white people crying racism and oftentimes dismiss a white person crying racism as being racist themselves! Oh the irony!
Also, it's not right to dismiss people's experiences as "something unfortunate." Being racial profiled isn't "something unfortunate." Unfortunate would be a tornado or a hurricane. Being treated differently because of the color of your skin isn't "something unfortunate" that could happen to anyone.
Except you are ASSUMING that there is racial profiling involved. What if, instead of assuming racial profiling, you considered other, more logical factors?
The problem here is that people dismiss discrimination, disproportionate treatment, racial profiling, etc, as merely something that could happen to anyone, like getting in a car accident. And then they say there is no racism.
I dismiss cases where there is no clear demonstration or evidence of racial profiling as in the case of professor Gates. Otherwise, cases of real racism are horrible situations indeed and I agree with your assessment of the real cases.
The facts are that these things don't happen to anyone. It's not a matter of fortune (chance). It's a matter of intent. Cops decide who they're going to arrest; prosecutors determine who they're going to charge; judges hand out sentences; neighbors choose to call the cops or not, etc.
I agree, but instead of assuming motivation, start off with an unbiased position.
When people who have real life experiences of being treated badly more often than well by police; when a majority of people of a certain race are saying that they don't trust police or other authority figures; when all the experiments and studies show that certain people are treated differently based on their race....It's ignorant and unkind to shrug claims of racism off as "playing the race card."
The evidence of racism is there. We need to quit denying it.
I agree, there are racist people of all races in the US. I deny that there is some sort of institutionalized, underlying racism just looking to stick it to the black person, however. That's where you and I differ. For example:
there are about a million acts of violent (rape, murder, robbery with aggravation, manslaughter) black/white crime in the United States each year. About 90% of those crimes involve a black perpetrator and a white victim.
If I was to accept your position and assume that all cases of black/white crime are racially motivated, then we are left with the situation that black people are way more racist than white people. But instead, you would try to have me believe that ONLY white people commit crimes against black people because of racial motivation. I believe your position is hypocritical at best. In my opinion, race has MUCH less to do with crimes than you or others on this thread would have me believe. If you were consistent in your application, you would have to assume that black people are more racist when given the actual data.
Henry Louis Gates had a right to question the police officer who was in Henry Louis Gates' home without invitation or warrant. When the police officer refused to answer his question and did not accept Gates' ID as proof that Gates' wasn't burglarizing his own home, Gates had every reason to suspect that the cop was being racist and every right to call the cop on it.
You have the story confused. Gates was verbally assaulting the police officer. The police officer at the point knew it was Gate's home. Gates was warned for being disorderly. He didn't stop and was then arrested for disorderly conduct. Here's some exerts from wiki on the topic:
Sgt. Leon Lashley, a black officer who was present at Gates's arrest, said he supported Sgt. Crowley's actions "100 percent."[31] Lashley added that he thought it would have gone differently, with no arrest, if he had been the first officer to arrive on the scene and the initial encounter with Gates had been "black man to black man."[36] Another officer in the Cambridge police department said "racism is not part of it, and that is what is frustrating."[32]
Sgt. James Crowley's supporters noted he was chosen by a black police commissioner to serve as an instructor for a Lowell Police Academy course entitled "Racial Profiling", which Crowley has taught since 2004. While working as a campus police officer at Brandeis University in 1993, Crowley had tried to revive African American Boston Celtics star Reggie Lewis with mouth-to-mouth resuscitation after the latter suffered a fatal heart attack.[33] Crowley received public support from many police officers, including African Americans, who portrayed him as a good and fair officer.
All the evidence points to Crowley not being a racist. Gates was the racist person in this situation who immediately reacted to being questioned by a white officer. Read what black officer Leon Lashley had to say about the situation in the above.
No person should have to suffer the police to trample all over their rights just because of their skin color. The suggestion that he's racist because he calls out racism when he is the victim of it is victim blaming.
From the evidence I've looked at, Crowley was the innocent party. I believe you are the one who is blaming the victim.
This is illogical. Again, the point is that people of color are much more likely to be stopped than white people. Just because some white people are stopped, doesn't negate that fact. And you were probably treated better during the stop, anyway.
Yes there are racist people among all racial groups. Crying racist whenever something bad happens and ignoring the facts doesn't help anyone though. If the facts show that a situation was racially motivated, then a cry of racism is entirely in order, but automatically assuming that something is racially motivated when the evidence points to the contrary is silly. In the story of prof Gates, all the evidence points to Crowley not being the racist that Gates, the media, and others smeared him to be.
Here's a quote from Larry Elder from his book
The Ten Things You Can't Say in America:
