Sunday, March 27, 2016

Delivering the mail while black.

*If folks are wondering why a lot of minorities-- particularly in urban areas-- do not trust or respect the police, the following story might give you a better understanding of what drives their negative perceptions of the boys in blue. 

"Late in the afternoon on St. Patrick’s Day, Glen Grays, a 27-year-old African-American mail carrier, was making his rounds in Crown Heights, in Brooklyn, about to leave a package at 999 President Street. Mr. Grays prides himself on getting to know the community he serves, he told me on Wednesday. He figures out who is sick, or old, or enfeebled, and makes sure that their parcels, especially if they contain medication — “I can shake a box and usually figure that out,” he said — land directly at the doors of the people waiting for them, even if they live in fourth- or fifth-floor apartments, in walk-up buildings.
 
On this afternoon, Mr. Grays was descending the steps of his mail truck backward, as postal workers often do to minimize wear and tear on the knees, when out of the corner of his eye he noticed a car making a sharp right turn onto President from Franklin Avenue. Mr. Grays shouted at the driver, climbing back up the steps to avoid getting sideswiped. The black car, in Mr. Grays’s telling, came tearing back his way in reverse. The driver said to him, Mr. Grays recounted, “I have the right of way because I’m law enforcement.” The unmarked car held four plainclothes police officers, according to the Brooklyn borough president’s office, which has taken an interest in the case.
 
By the time Mr. Grays arrived at the front door of 999 President Street, the police were approaching him. A video of the incident, taken by an observer on the street, begins at this point and shows Mr. Grays, in his postal uniform, as he is handcuffed, frisked and taken to the unmarked car. The officers tell him to stop resisting, even though there is no evidence in the video of resistance. What the video does not show, Mr. Grays said, is what happened next, after he was placed in the back seat of the unmarked car, with his hands cuffed and without a seatbelt, compelling him to leave the mail truck unattended. The driver, who had turned around to taunt him, hit the vehicle in front of them, Mr. Grays said, causing him to bang his shoulder against the front seat. Mr. Grays was then taken to the 71st Precinct station, where he was issued a summons for disorderly conduct that will require him to appear in court. He was then released." [More here]
 
Wow, the man is a federal employee and getting his grind on (in his uniform no less), and a bunch of out of control cops with huge chips on their shoulders decide to show him who is the boss. It's sad, really, but this is the mindset of far too many of the people roaming the streets in uniforms these days. It's a tough job, and it takes a special type of person to do it, so when these bad apples ruin it for the whole bunch it makes those honest hard working police officers out there have a tougher job on their hands.
 
We are living in an age when conservatives are trying to teach children that racism no longer exists  and that America has never really been a racist country. 
 
Still, when we see incidents like the one with Mr. Grays happening on a daily basis, we can't help but wonder what country they are living in.   
 
*Pic from the washingtonpost.com
 
 
 
    

  

29 comments:

Anonymous said...

I used to think people became cops "to protect and serve."

Now I know better.

People become cops because they made C's in high school and they like to push people around.

Livin' in the BRA said...

"Still, when we see incidents like the one with Mr. Grays happening on a daily basis, we can't help but wonder what country they are living in"

We do not see incidents like the one with Mr. Grays happening on a daily basis. We see incidents like this on a daily basis:

http://nypost.com/2016/03/20/man-arrested-for-allegedly-slashing-woman-in-neck/

We know what country we live in: Black Run America

Stanley said...

Fuck white people. I'm moving to Barbados.

dinthebeast said...

http://www.theonion.com/search?q=career+in+law+enforcement+

-Doug in Oakland

dinthebeast said...

Sorry, that should have been:

http://www.theonion.com/article/insecure-frustrated-bully-with-something-to-prove--33427
-Doug in Oakland

ctrl+halt+del said...


Surely someone can come up with a cure for Neuropeonosis. Is there even a test for it?

StillaPanther2 said...

Stanley, don't leave. Encourage others to be smart about living among people that feel somehow they are superior. Remember some of us baby boomers had to be in the forefront of this social experiment called integration. We had to prove that we too could learn the American way. That is where the backlash is coming from.

When the majority attack the minority- that is a sign of fear. Again, I emphasize with their plight. It is not easy losing your rank in America. You lead by example. If Blacks had a moratorium on crime and other calamities, we can put the police out of business. Four plainclothes police only means that someone is doing some petty or foolish crime in the area. These guys have to have numbers. Why do we continue to allow our sons be fodder.

I am not condoning the police actions, but it is long past time for my people master living in America. After all my people freed and enslaved took the worst that the majority had. Get strong Brother.

Anonymous said...

Y'all some motherfuckers.

Anonymous said...

MY PREDICTION: We are going to learn very soon that the reason those cops arrested Mr. Grays is because he has been stealing people's mail for a long time.

Mark this post.

Anonymous said...

@ Stanley -

Is that a promise? And will you be taking 10 or 15 of your relatives with you, by chance?

:D

Josh said...

This is what I don't get about this particular whitey's-against-us mindset. If incidents like these happen one a day, for instance, you'll say that racism is still alive and well -- it's everywhere! #LivingWhileBlack -- it's hard out there on a pimp. Those incidents paint the whole of America a certain way.

But there can literally be 20 separate black males who murder human beings every single fucking day of the calendar year, and twice on Sunday, but we're not allowed to use that to typecast anyone as anything...because reasons.

Do you not see the fault in the logic? Blacks kill and harass blacks orders of magnitude more than cops do, literally over a thousand times as much, but this is a problem that y'all pretend doesn't even exist. But a thousand of a few million cops go off the rails a year, and it's some pandemic that's sweeping the nation and staining the nation.

This would be the literal equivalent of an AIDS-riddled Africa complaining about a few cases of the flu.

Don't these priorities seem askew to anyone? Anyone? There were literally more people shot in Chicago over a year than all the police officers in the entire nation, regardless of race, but a spotlight is shone on every single police incident while the blinders are put on for the exponentially larger number of black criminals. And do we really need to play chicken or egg? Blacks are typecast by some moronic police solely because there are so many criminals in your communities. There was a reason the police were hard on Italians in New York and Jersey decades ago, and it wasn't anything to do with anti-Italian discrimination. For fuck's sake, enough with the "dindu nuffin" spiel. Own the root of this problem, call your own folks out, and then it makes much more sense to go after bad policing.

Omigosh said...

When you're insane, you're insane. There's something seriously wrong with the Dog Cousins from Europe.

Feel the Bern said...

Progressives aren't anti-authoritarian, they just want the right kind of authoritarianism:

The upper-middle-class climate-warriors at the heart of Sanders's movement imagine themselves victims of a world-destroying capitalist conspiracy. Incremental nationalization of the energy industry is their path to global salvation; nor is the silencing of climate dissenters too high a price to pay. Other Sanders socialists aim to shut down Trump rallies. This is not democracy but a return of authoritarian socialism, the most seductive secular religion that history has ever known.

-- Stanley Kurtz

Joder La Resistencia said...

''If folks are wondering why a lot of minorities-- particularly in urban areas-- do not trust or respect the police''



Respect and trust is a two-way street. Why are minorities not trusted or respected by the majority or even themselves?

Anonymous said...

"Why are minorities not trusted or respected by the majority or even themselves?"

Because you stinkin dog humpin' honkies are inferior feeling, vile racist devils, and the slappy coons who tapdance for whitey are no better than you wet rat.

Make Amerikkka Stoooopid Again said...

Respect and trust is a two-way street. Why are minorities not trusted or respected by the majority or even themselves?
-----------------
300+ years of racist programming and propaganda? Just a guess. Teh stooopid in this one is very strong.

Anonymous said...

What do you expect from an idiot who thinks a misogynistic asshole would make a good President?

http://www.nytimes.com/2016/03/26/us/politics/donald-trump-women.html?_r=0

Joder La Resistencia said...

This is what i'm talking about. Lack of respect for themselves or others who are not like them.

field negro said...

This from someone who supports trump for president. Rich.

Anonymous said...

Poor, poor black people. They are so much worse treated than everybody else. I feel so sorry for them. Sad, sad, poor black people.

Anonymous said...

And they dindu nuffin'.

field negro said...

Don't cry for us, redneck. We will be fine. We have made it this far.

Joder La Resistencia said...

field negro said...

This from someone who supports trump for president. Rich.


Yes.Donald J. Trump is rich and successful. Donald J. Trump built that. Just like he will rebuild the middle class and uplift those in poverty that have been hurt by obama's 8 years of trickle down big government polices that have made the rich,richer.





Anonymous said...

Black people have made it "this far"? Your blog daily proclaims blacks are the poor folks who are always put upon. So sad. Poor black folks.

Anonymous said...

who does this postman think he is anyway? By yelling at the police you signal to them civil disobedience. as a federal employee he should have known better to do this. maybe he is not post office material and should go back to picking cotton.

field negro said...

"maybe he is not post office material and should go back to picking cotton."

But then you would cry that he is taking your jobs.

Anonymous said...

to 5:43p

Don't drink the Trump kool-aid! Mr Trump lives in a marble and gold inlaid penthouse, but that doesn't mean he's inviting you home to live there too. Does he have a policy platform that will improve your life in any way?

If you want a President that is all for improving the middle class and making sure the billionaires pay their taxes too, come on over with us Berners! Sanders has a well articulated platform and has been working to improve the lives of American's for the 26 years he's held a public office. Check out some of the innovative things he did in Burlington...if you dare!

Limpbaugh said...

Trump's positions seemed to be Fox News talking points on steroids to me. Fox News has driven conservatives too crazy for the GOP to win national elections anymore.

Anonymous said...

from 3/30/16 news article:

https://news.vice.com/article/nypd-cops-who-arrested-black-mailman-have-history-of-alleged-civil-rights-violations-1