Living While Black

Walking while black, driving while black, living while black all will draw the attention of the constablary. Sad, but true.

I thought that I first learned of the arrest of Professor Henry Louis Gates in the blog Down With Tyranny, but I may be mistaken about how initally heard about this.
Yes it is 2009.
Yes a man of African descent is President of these United States. We are living a Virginia Slims commercial.
Those old enough to grok that reference are old enough to remember a time when there was no racial profiling. Not a time when it didn't exist, but a time when there was no name associated with the practice. DWB and WWB were not uncommon and people of African descent expected it and still expect it, even now. Certainly we all now know that E. Max Frye was prescient with Amos and Andrew. Virtually every description of Professor Gates contains the words "well known academic"

The term well known academic is laughable in a society that heaps scorn upon those who have no fear of literature and literacy. Yes, Professor Gates has read a book or two and as David Simon's Brother Mouzone character said "What's the most dangerous thing in the world. A nigger with a library card".


I don't hate the police, honestly some of my best friends are on the force. I must say that when I am stopped for walking or driving while black, I liberally sprinkle the conversation with the compliant sound of "Yes Sir" and "No, Sir". It does not help matters if you are right, but have been perforated by a police office who senses anger and perceives an angry black man as a threat.

I have relatives who would be quick to make a scene. While I am not the most confrontational person in the world, I am hardly "Steppin Fetchit". I am more likely to oppose wrongs to others and I am prone to walk away from wrongs to me. If I want to know the name and badge number of the officer that just came to my house, I will simply call the station to find out because if I say that I want to send a letter of praise, I will get the information I want. Kill them with kindness. I also probably already have photographed that big number from the back of his car.

Saying the words you have messed with the wrong person to an armed police officer is not always a cogent choice, but no blood was spilled. Sadly there are people who believe that this dust up gives them license to make death threats and a police officer used the expression "jungle monkey" in a mass email, but he says he isn't a racist.

Professor Gates over-reacted. I am pretty sure that he would like the dialog to continue but with him as a contributor, not as a focal point. He said he should have been funnier in his kitchen. Sgt. Crowley over-reacted, but now his kids have an "in" at Harvard. But remember, this is the Boston area.

Tom Yawkey's Red Sox were the last team in baseball to add an African American. Pumpsie Green first took the field as a Red Sox player in 1959, 12 years after Jackie Robinson.

Just so we are clear, there are no African American players on the current Boston Red Sox roster.

This is not really a Tom Yawkeyism, this is really due to the fact that African American kids just aren't playing baseball as much these days. My team, the Baltimore Orioles have one African American on the major league roster. Let's face it, it will be quite some time before some one fields a team that will challenge the 1971 Pirates level of African American roster density.