The Race Card

[Busa_05]

Wow, dude, are you a rookie? When I was rookie I had your attitude somewhat.

I had been in the fleet with a widely mixed group of friends, in college and so forth, but my eyes were never opened so wide as the day I actually started be "in" and seeing the seedy side of things: the hate, the racism, the day to day deplorable conditions that some folks live in, rampant child abuse, a seeming epidemic of child sexual abuse and exploitation, and so forth. The point is, I was so fuggin naive and thought I was so worldy because of my previous "life experience." Yeah, anyway, in college I started a kind of loose dating relationship with a girl who really opened my eyes. We had alot of good conversations and I really didn't realize the prejudice that still existed then and the way some groups of folks were still treated, even right there on campus. She was "victimized," treated poorly at times, and she really got pissed off about it. So did I, but still, I was shocked. I couldn't believe that people were still being treated that way. I mean, c'mon! It was the 90's already! Jesus, I was so naive.

My eyes were really slammed wide open the first time "on the job" that I was accused by dudes of harrassing them because of their skin color, or "C'mon, man, admit it. You're arresting me because I'm black. You aint arrestin' that dude over there, right? 'Cause he's white, right? C'mon, man. Just admit it."

Nothing could have been farther from the truth. I was arresting the "dudes" because they had broken the law. After awhile my blood would boil when I would here that crap, because I heard it on a daily basis. I worked in Milwaukee, on the North side, where the majority of the pop. was african american, so, of course, I heard that about fifty thousand times on any given night/day. After awhile you kind of get tunnel vision, all you think about is how sick you are of being accused of being racist or prejudice or a member of the Klan, or of being called "whitey" or "cracker" or "white boy" or  "white meat." Especially when my skin is not light by any means. I'm a 1/4 native american, and look just like my dad. Yet still, I was a "white boy."

But I think what we should remember is that we hear that when we are at work, sometimes the folks really believe what they are saying and sometimes they say it to get under our skin, just to get a rise, throw off our train of thought, fug up our "game." But what about the folks who on a day to day basis are called niggers, spics, blackies, beaners, wet backs...are victims of prejudice...you know what sirissac, we may not see it, but it happens. Whether we choose not to see it, or we are lucky enough to not to have to see it, it happens. Every day. Think about the guys who grew up hearing stories from their grandparents, even their parents. Sins of our father, sins that still happen today.

Take it with a grain of salt dude. I get the impression you're a rookie, because being somewhat seasoned myself, I'm past that, and I think all the senior agents I work with now are passed it as well. The next time you hear "the race card played" tell the dude(s) "playing it" that you're sorry they feel that way. You might even apologize to them for the shid they might have had to put up with in their lives, then remind them that they've broken the law, so they are still getting a citation or arrested...

You might look into an update on Verbal Judo, or some classes on race issues. It might help. Talk your feelings over with someone you trust to be the voice of reason. I had a great partner at the time, and after confiding in him I was ashamed that I had been getting angry with what I percieved as slights, or insults. I thought of Jeanette, that girl from college, and the shid she put up with, and I really was ashamed of myself. Tunnel vision is a nasty, dangerous thing. Think it over, talk it over, take some classes...or just reflect. You carry too much authority and discretion as an officer to be getting upset, pissed off...it throws you off course and you might end up making a decision for the wrong reasons or get distracted and not be taking in your surroundings completely; go from the yellow zone to the white zone - from ready to clueless in the beat on one off kilter comment. Think about it, bro.

Jason



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[Devious]

Why does it always have to be race related. What happened in N.O. was due to most of "those" people being poor. Being black was just a small part of it. Just because they were black meant just that, they were black. The problem was that they did not have the means to leave soon enough. However, the looting was uncalled for by anyone poor, Black or Hispanic or White. A means to survive is one thing. But the material items was just greed, anger and ignorance.

David

 

[BusaSamurai]

Ok now lets see you had to sit in a differant section of a movie theater. Well I for one did not make you do that . All through time people have to learn from there mistakes and to work it out we can all sit here and go back and forth on who is right or who is wrong . In the end we will not get anywhere and the ones actually causing the problem get what they want . Think about it , if everyonefrom differant culters keep arguing and fighting amongst there selves that keeps all the eyes and attention off the goverment and the rulers of this world.Until man can actually stand together as one and tell the goverments of the world that we are not going to put up with this shxx anymore then we will continue to pay tp much for gas,taxes,cost of living etc,etc. And we will continue to sit back and complain about it.If you have watched any of the coverage on the hurrican you will notice that it is bias on both sides . First they only show blacks looting so that pisses off the white man and then the otherside gets on the news and complains (jesse Jackson) that the pres. is slow on getting help down there because the people are black. So that keeps both sides so pre accupioed on being pissed at each other that we dont pay attention to whats actually going on ..I live in the south and can be called a full blooded redneck but the bottom line is that in the end we ALL end up in the same place wether we like it or not .

 

[theemrrdkill]

dammmm ... n here i thought ..this "post" was about .. racing ... Busa vs Jetta .. or sumthin.. along those lines..

 

[MACH5]

I am a black male in the south, so unfortunately I do come across racial issues a little bit more than I would prefer to. But let's put some things into the right perspective here. When you are dealing with a people that saw over 400 years of oppression, and regardless of how surpressed it appears to be today are still seeing aspects of racism. I hope no one here would try to deny that. You are going to have those feelings in a person. Let's say that you were running a race against someone and their friends held you back for 400 plus years and then said go ahead and catch him, would you blame yourself for not being able to catch him or would you blame the person that held you back all that time. When you are making one of your traffic stops on a black person, think about the fact that there are some subconscience issues at work here and all that person sees in you is part of the system that they feel has kept them back all this time.

 

[MET]

All I can say is I'm staying out of St. Paul.  Dude...you got some serious issues.  You can't spell, your grammar is horrible, your a racist, you posted this in general bike topics, and your just on the wrong board period.

Guys.....don't judge us Minnesotans by this guy please.

No Sled we won't.............

 

[MET]

This is what I mean.  I can't bring up the race issue and the main reason, I am white.  Black people bring it up all the time, no problems there.  I think that is bullshit.  How is it that it is okay for a certain race to have certain groups, organizations, grants, etc..  Blacks have Jet magazine, United ***** College fund, scholarships for blacks, the list goes on and on.  No one thinks that is prejudice, but oh boy, if you were to have a magazine exclusively for whites, White boy College fund, scholarships for whites, etc... you would be a racist and labeled a member of the klan for crying out loud.
    I am not prejudice, on the basis of color.  To me color has nothing to do with what I think of a man.  It is in his actions.  
    I have many friends that are black, native american, and or hispanic.  They are damn good people.  
    I apologize if I seemed to generalize and group all blacks together, that was not intended.  I was specifically talking about those who are always so quick to use the race card.  I in no way meant that all blacks use the race card and I apologize if it was taken that way.
    This is a touchy subject and I knew that before posting this.  A few of you have made coment to staying out of St Paul or that you see how I am.  If your one of people who use the race card, then your one of the people I am talking about, then you can go pound sand for all I care.
    I hope all of you who read this post don't take it the wrong way, like some have already.  I am a hard working, god fearing, redblooded American, who is just trying to raise my family in a messed up world.  I can't see the race issue getting any better and I hate to see what it looks like twenty years from now.  When are we as americans going to drop this color issue?

Thanks for the clarification..........

 

[cache]

all that person sees in you is part of the system that they feel has kept them back all this time.

and as long as people continue to think the way he does, it will never go away..

 

[Wag]

This subject is touchy as hell.  Most of us would much rather sweep it under the rug, myself, but it needs discussion.  Every time it gets discussed, something else comes out of it which is revelatory and worth pondering.  The thought-provoking nature of this topic can reward us with enlightenment, despite the difficulties in talking about it.

Discussion of it can also cause damage, unfortunately.  It can be easy to go off half-cocked and emotional without setting the brains to "Function."  But again, discussion can easily bring about new ideas and concepts to the betterment of us all.

I'm as white as they come.  Blonde hair, blue eyes, german blood, german name; the works.  I don't have a prejudiced bone in my body but that was not always the case.  My mother's family is a group of Missouri rednecks in the most extreme sense of the word, "Redneck."  The only reason we can't call them Hillbillies is because they aren't THAT inbred.

Just kidding, really!  

 Still, they are as racist a group of people as you can possibly find in the world.  I've forgotten ten times more racist jokes than any of you will ever hear and they all came from that group of my mother's family.  As an impressionable child, it would have been easy for me to become a Nazi-thinking nutball just like my racist pig uncles.  If you're wondering, no, I don't have a great deal of love for them.

One of the things which tempered me somewhat and kept me from becoming that racist azz was that from age 7 to age 16, I grew up on the Navajo Indian Reservation in Window Rock, AZ.  At the time, the population was about 2% white.  (Now, I think it is about 3% white.)  Picture this, however, if you will.  A small-for-his-size white kid with snow white hair and at age 8, wearing some pretty geeky-looking glasses.  

Sad, really.  Hell, even the few white kids thought I was goofy-looking!  

But what was really sad was the number of times I was harrassed by indian kids for the simple fact that I was a white boy.  A bilagona (sp?).  A term as derogatory as niggger ever was.  An Navajo kid pulled a knife on me on the school bus one time.  I was in third grade.  Scared the he!! outta me, to be sure.  (As an aside, that same guy contacted me about three years ago and apologized for that, if you can believe it!)

Why do I tell you all of that?  So I can tell you this.  Just as there were more than my fair share of life experiences where I was treated with racism and prejudice, there were just as many times when I was treated with decency and respect by people of other races.  Other beliefs and skin colors.  Other views of life.  

I've come to believe it's never about racism, it's about respect.  And respect is one of those things you're taught to have for other people at a young age, regardless of anything to do with their appearance.  How they dress, wear their makeup, how they smell, how they carry themselves, how they speak, where they live, their sexual preferences, and yes, what color their skin is.

Most racist people were taught to be racist by their parents.  They were not taught to have respect for people who deserve it.  They were taught to judge people by their skin color alone.  No, I take that back.  They were taught to hate people based on their skin color alone.  To hate that which they do not understand.  To despise that which is different from themselves.  To consider themselves better than the other guy because they have a 'better' skin color.

As I implied above, people of all races are prejudicial and racist.  Whites are not any more racist than Blacks, Asians, Latinos, etc.  We are, in fact, all very much the same in that regard.  The one Sioux indian who lived on the reservation was harrassed by racist Navajos just as much as the white guys were harrassed by racist Navajos. And treated well by the non-racist Navajos.

In my never-to-be-humble opinion, the only thing worse than racial prejudice is religious prejudice which starts more wars.  Still, racism affects us daily and more constantly and will be many centuries before it is completely extirpated from our little world here.

--Wag--

 

[Relsek]

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[Relsek]

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[da busa guy]

i think when we quit becoming hyphenated Americans a lot of this will go away ,African-Americans,Irish-Americans,Jewish-Americans, etc. become just an American (well,at least in this country) btw: my real dad was a Cherokee and my mom is of Irish decent, my step father adapted me so i have a German last name now, but i am an American,only. just my .000002 worth

 

[larrycivic]

i think when we quit becoming hyphenated Americans a lot of this will go away ,African-Americans,Irish-Americans,Jewish-Americans, etc. become just an American (well,at least in this country)     [/QUOTE]

+1



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[Busa_05]

As I implied above, people of all races are prejudicial and racist.  Whites are not any more racist than Blacks, Asians, Latinos, etc.  We are, in fact, all very much the same in that regard.  The one Sioux indian who lived on the reservation was harrassed by racist Navajos just as much as the white guys were harrassed by racist Navajos.  And treated well by the non-racist Navajos.

+1
My dad and his native blood line stem from the Blackfeet nation, but I grew up in farmington, new mexico on a navajo reservation, then later near the Shoshone reservation in Sheridan, WY...I was getting my ass kicked by natives and white kids. I'm glad those days are over. On another note, when we moved to Algoma, WI, a town of about 2,000 folks (being generous)...I was called...yeah, pretty much every slang term there was at the time (fairly common was the term "wagon burner")...closed minds, not used to any color but paper white skin...Ah, well, you know...as many have said here, it is a multi-faceted issue and, thus, will spawn multi-faceted arguments and views.



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[Aughtsix]

What I think most people miss in their fascination with the shiny coin of racism is that it has two sides...

 

[Turbo-Torch]

Very well thought out post.

Not to make light of the matter but I have to say this had me cracking up:

An Navajo kid pulled a knife on me on the school bus one time. I was in third grade. Scared the he!! outta me, to be sure. (As an aside, that same guy contacted me about three years ago and apologized for that, if you can believe it!)
[/QUOTE]

I'm picturing you as Dan McGraff in that scene from Billy Madison! Did you cross his name off the list?

 

[Con5179]

one of my best friends is black and we both agree that we all have to take a good hard look at ourselves in the mirror....

 

[mjn]

I'll use the same phrase that has been uttered here a few times already........touchy subject!

I, however, do not detect any "racial" undertones in sirissac's initial post. Yea, maybe he could have worded it a little different, but I do see a lot of truth in it.

I am the guy that SHOULD be the stereotypical racist. Self procaimed redneck, cowboy roots..all that shid.

Couldn't be further from the truth.

I don't care WHAT color you are. Makes no dam difference to me. The only thing that counts is the kind of person you are. Are you a GOOD person? Are you trustworthy?

I have had many friends of different colors. Grew up in Central Oregon, went to school with lots of Warm Springs Indians. Where I live now, we have a large population of Hispanics...great folks.

There are good and bad in every culture. Like all of you, I get frustrated with the bad in each.

I CAN"T STAND the worthless p.o.s. white supremacists in northern Idaho....I laughed when they lost thier "compound". There is no room in this country for that kind of mindset.

I get frustrated with ANY color playing the race card just to stir up shid.....take good ole' Jessie Jackson. What good has he done? Imo, all he does in perpetuate the problem.

We have issues in this area with illeagal immigrants...( I know, we all do). This pisses me off to no end.

I am sure that there are lots of different "colors" doing some really bad shid in N.O. Bad folks come in all colors.

The person that said we ALL must look in the mirror was right on. Racism in any form is just plain wrong.

We are ALL Americans. To me, that is the only thing that counts.

 

[MoosesBusa]

I am a black male in the south, so unfortunately I do come across racial issues a little bit more than I would prefer to. But let's put some things into the right perspective here. When you are dealing with a people that saw over 400 years of oppression, and regardless of how surpressed it appears to be today are still seeing aspects of racism. I hope no one here would try to deny that. You are going to have those feelings in a person. Let's say that you were running a race against someone and their friends held you back for 400 plus years and then said go ahead and catch him, would you blame yourself for not being able to catch him or would you blame the person that held you back all that time. When you are making one of your traffic stops on a black person, think about the fact that there are some subconscience issues at work here and all that person sees in you is part of the system that they feel has kept them back all this time.

You sir, were never enslaved ( By the way there are THOUSANDS of White people still enslaved to this very day but you don't hear about it) Think i'm BS'n ) Your parents were not enslaved. Your grandparents were not enslaved. Chances are great that nobody in your family has ever talked with someone that WAS! I have.
What happened 100+ years ago has NOTHING to do with todays actions and thoughts. Black people have a higher rate of uneducation and more criminal charges against them as a whole because they Keep THEMSELVES down by the thoughts and values they are passsing on to the younger generations. Before you get mad at the facts look at them. Who is more popular with the Black Culture ... Dr Dre or Dr. Ronald McNair? Dollars to donuts you have never even heard of Dr McNair.

The intention of his post was he is tired of being accused of being a racist by the black people he is arresting. I was in the ride along program with the local LE for a few years and I know what he is saying and agree with him. I've seen a guy with a bleeding arm hanging half way out of a business's window he was attempting to burgularize that says he's innocent and that it wasn't him and that "whitey" is still opressing the black man trying to keep him down while being removed from the window! It's 100% BS All of it!
There is no reason to flame him. He isn't making anything up. He isn't stating altered facts. And he DANG sure isn't saying anything deserving of being called a racist! He's tired of the BS just as I am.
Yes, I know tons of Black people, Puerto Ricans, Rednecks, Chinese and pretty much any other Nationality you want to name and i ride with all of them. My cop friends ( Even the Black guy with the ZX12R) hear the same Sh!^ about being a black man turned whitey) In my circle of friends there is no Color unless we are poking fun at each other. You'll hear things that would get each respective race shot in public coming out of our mouths followed by howling laughter! Feel free to call me a racist if it makes you happy. I know the truth and so do those that truly know me. You'd just better not get caught saying it in front of them!!
The frustrating thing for the POPO's is that the Black Officers can tell them to shut the F up. If a white cop tries it he's got himself a frivolous law suit!
As far as the foot race scenerio goes... A race is a competition between individuals. Not groups of people ( relays excepted) The person losing the race should blame himself, not his grandfather. Perhaps changing that idealogy would help things.
At the end of the day I am responsible for MY Actions, sucesses and failures as My son will be responsible for his. What happened to my Grandfather ( Who just happened to spend his boyhood being enslaved) has no consequence.

 

[Busa_05]

Very well thought out post.

Not to make light of the matter but I have to say this had me cracking up:

An Navajo kid pulled a knife on me on the school bus one time.  I was in third grade.  Scared the he!! outta me, to be sure.  (As an aside, that same guy contacted me about three years ago and apologized for that, if you can believe it!)

I'm picturing you as Dan McGraff in that scene from Billy Madison! Did you cross his name off the list?  

[/QUOTE]

Then slather on some red lip stick.

That's funny shid. I'm totally seeing that scene in my head.