*A few years ago, before I got married and settled in, I was driving a little sports car in a small town on the Main Line (Philly's equivalent to Beverly Hills), when a local police cruiser came out of nowhere with its lights flashing behind me. Even back then, before the focus on racial profiling, I knew that I had been pulled over a time or two for no other reason than DWB. So I pulled over, got my papers in order, and politely asked the officer what I did wrong.
He was very polite as well. And after going over my papers, making eye contact, and exchanging a few words, he told me that I was driving rather "aggressively" and to be more careful down the road.
Of course I knew why I was really stopped; knew that he was lying, but I sucked it up and kept it popping.
That little anecdote is a perfect segue into the following story:
"FORT PIERCE, Fla. (AP) — Twelve people have said they witnessed a local police department's fatal shooting of a black motorist over the weekend, but none has stepped forward to say what they saw, a Florida sheriff investigating the death said Monday.
St. Lucie County Sheriff Ken Mascara said he and his detectives passed out cards, but no one has called.
"We need our community's help," Mascara said. "We aren't interested in rumors or gossip; we are looking to find the truth."
Fort Pierce Police Chief Diane Hobley-Burney asked the sheriff's office to conduct the investigation into Saturday night's shooting of 21-year-old Demarcus Semer so that it would be impartial, Mascara said.
The sheriff said Semer had just begun work at a tech company after working as a bank teller, had no criminal record and was "well-respected in the community." Semer also played quarterback and receiver at Fort Pierce Central High in 2012 and 2013.
Mascara did not identify or reveal the races of the two officers, but described them as well-respected veterans. He said they would be interviewed by Wednesday. He said the officers were not wearing body cameras and their cars were not equipped with dashboard cameras.
The confrontation began after an officer tried to pull Semer over for a traffic violation and he wouldn't stop until a second officer arrived, Mascara said. While stopped and talking to the officers, Semer began pulling away, clipping one officer in the leg and dragging the other in the car window, he said.
Semer eventually pulled over again, got out of the car and tried to flee, at which point both officers opened fire, Mascara said. Semer died at the scene. The sheriff said he didn't know why Semer would have tried to flee. He said no weapons or drugs were found on him, but investigators are getting a search warrant to inspect the car, hoping that will provide some explanation for Semer's behavior. Autopsy results are also pending, he said.
Mascara said his detectives will conduct a fair, open and thorough investigation. He said the results will be turned over to local prosecutors, who will decide whether to bring charges against the officers to a grand jury.
Josh Shaffer, the Fort Pierce Central football coach, was quoted by Treasure Coast Newspapers as saying Semer was "a brilliant young man who was so personable."
"He was a real leader who could make a connection with about anyone," Shaffer said. "He cares about everyone."
Semer's grandfather, Elijah Smith, of Fort Pierce, was quoted by the newspaper as saying that Semer had been with a group of friends practicing rap music before the shooting.
"He was a nice, good young man," Smith said." [Source]
No one knows exactly what happened to Demarcus Semer in Ft Pierce, Florida Saturday night. And as was the case with another Florida teen in the news recently, only his killers are alive to tell their side of the story.
Stories like this is why, in spite of my background (no criminal record, officer of the court, active member of my community), I was probably just as scared and as apprehensive as Demarcus Semer was Saturday night. But I was lucky, I knew the rules a little better than he did. I knew about "the talk".
If you don't know what the talk is and you are raising an African American male, you might want to learn about it really fast. It might save you a lot of grief down the road.
*Pic from washingtonmonthly.com
33 comments:
THE TALK: "Don't wear a hoodie. Don't try to break up a fight. Don't talk back to cops. Don't ask for help. But they're all variations of a single theme: Don't give them an excuse to kill you."
Here's what's wrong with his country? Young white boys aren't as likely as young black boys to receive "the talk."
As for Tamir Rice, to have "the talk" or not to have "the talk" wouldn't have mattered, unless he had been told not to play with guns in public places: He didn't know that playing with a toy gun was excuse enough for the cops to take his live.
I've been in the room when "the talk" was administered, and it really made me feel like crawling in the corner to hide. Not that that would've helped anything, but that was honestly how I felt.
-Doug in Oakland
"He didn't know that playing with a toy gun was excuse enough for the cops to take his live."
Seriously, are Black children supposed to be so stupid that such things have to be explained? Or is Black culture so fucked up that Black children expect to be able to take Airsoft guns, pull the orange tips to make them look real (yes that is the actual gun Rice had) and wave them around without consequences?
You're simply unfit for civilization. How that shakes out... gonna be quite a show.
@JB: "You're simply unfit for civilization. How that shakes out... gonna be quite a show."
Nah, the "show" is yet to start. Here's what I know, one day you'll get your turn.
It won't matter that you're a social cripple, or perhaps mentally ill, or here just to feed your racial addiction, you will one day be on the receiving end of your words, and you'll have to answer the questions that you, yourself, have posed here.
This will be my last response to you, any further statements that you direct my way will come at your own peril.
Man, do I feel sorry for you, but you brought it on yourself.
Quote Little Jimmy Bold"
" Or is Black culture so fucked up that Black children expect to be able to take Airsoft guns, pull the orange tips to make them look real (yes that is the actual gun Rice had) and wave them around without consequences?"
What should the consequences be, little Jimmy?
Is Ohio not an 'open carry' state?
I thought police officers were supposed to be trained in handling situations like the one else involving Tamir Rice.
From all accounts the police drove up and just started shooting.Even if Rice had a real gun he would not have been considered a threat at the time.
What is it like living in Philadelphia?
philadelphia lawyer
Here's what's wrong with his country? Young white boys aren't as likely as young black boys to receive "the talk.
.......................
Young white males are the most violent demographic in the US.
"any further statements that you direct my way will come at your own peril."
Oooh, I'm quaking in my boots here. I dread the prospect of you posting yet another comment addressed to me. I might be forced to mock you another time.
"This will be my last response to you"
Good... assuming you can keep to that. But I suspect it's going to wind up looking more like this:
"I've talked to you, and talked to you, and talked to you until I'm blue in the face, and now I'm DONE talking to you!"
"Good, does that mean you're done spittin' on me too?"
"SHUT UP, I'm not done talking to you!"
"What should the consequences be, little Jimmy?
Is Ohio not an 'open carry' state?"
The deluded Black is unable to grasp the difference between "carry" and "brandishing". The stupid, it burns.
"Even if Rice had a real gun he would not have been considered a threat at the time."
Rice had been reported pointing the gun at people. He WAS properly considered a threat. But here's the pinnacle of delusion:
"Young white males are the most violent demographic in the US."
If you can't even acknowledge reality, you need your own separate society.
Quote Little Jimmy Bold
"The deluded Black is unable to grasp the difference between "carry" and "brandishing". The stupid, it burns."
The dimwitted white man is completely aware that his argument makes no sense whatsofuckingever, but as he can't think of a better one, he's gonna try bluffing and changing the subject as quickly as possible.
The misplaced arrogance of a white man with delusions of intellectual superiority - it burns indeed.
Black males are the most violent demographic in the US. And world.
Young white males don't need the "talk' because they know how to act around police and they know how to treat their fellow humans with kindness and respect.
"...and they know how to treat their fellow humans with kindness and respect."
Great.
when do you plan to start?
"The dimwitted white man is completely aware that his argument makes no sense whatsofuckingever, but as he can't think of a better one, he's gonna try bluffing and changing the subject as quickly as possible."
The Dunning-Kruger exemplar is completely unaware that s/he's not even trying to logically refute the position s/he opposes, but that's fine because 99.9% of the Black population would align with their tribe rather than admit a tribe member was at fault despite overwhelming evidence of it.
For those who like takedowns of bix-nood babble, I give you the dictionary definition of "brandish":
1. to shake or wave, as a weapon; flourish:
I hadn't dug into this before, but it turns out that this video of Tamir Rice waving his gun around and pointing it at people is one of the first things that turns up in a search for "Tamir Rice gun waving". This video was published a year and a half ago. Nobody who actually researches the Tamir Rice case could possibly have missed it. That video alone completely justifies approaching Rice with guns drawn, and shooting if he failed to follow orders. The kid didn't need to die, but he was too stupid to live.
The dimwitted cow is probably unaware of the logical emptiness of the text s/he no doubt labored over. However, after I laid out the details above, nobody else has any excuse.
And as long as I'm posting about TNB, and others must come here for the lulz too, I give you... Bait Phone!. Close to 70% of the US population is White, but the ones in the video are almost all "melanin-enhanced". Funny how that works.
You're simply unfit for civilization. How that shakes out... gonna be quite a show.
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I guess raping babies make you fit for society? Is that how you judge fitness?
but that's fine because 99.9% of the Black population would align with their tribe rather than admit a tribe member was at fault despite overwhelming evidence of it.
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Just like you align yourself with baby rapists and mass shooters. Funny that.
but the ones in the video are almost all "melanin-enhanced". Funny how that works.
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You really are a fucking moron. Just wow.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h-Y-1iw_3JI
James Bitch types. All the ones in this video are white, should make you feel right at home.
Ever notice that we never get any intelligent posts from our resident racist white? Nothing scientific, socially redeeming or even interesting just blah blah blah race war blah blah blah? James seems to have the intelligence level of a below average 4th grader who even uses youtube as a source. Ten again this is the same guy who used an 11th graders research paper as evidence once so what do you expect? The stupid is very strong in that one and he claims to be part of a superior culture! Ha! I'll take President Obama, Neil DeGrasse Tyson, Sylvester Gates, ect over that asshat anyday of the week and twice on Sunday.
Close to 70% of the US population is White, but the ones in the video are almost all "melanin-enhanced". Funny how that works.
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Editing? The stoooopid in this one is particularly strong.
Ben Carson is doubling down on his earlier complaints about Harriet Tubman on our money.
Previously, he'd made comments defending Andrew Jackson's worthiness to remain on the $20 bill. Fair enough. I'm a Democrat, and like most modern-day Democrats, though he's arguably the founder of my party, I don't find Jackson's legacy -- Indian Removal Act, dismantling of the central bank, general irrational hostility toward the central government -- to be particularly admirable. But it's utterly unsurprising that at least some conservatives might genuinely like him and feel like he's worth defending.
Now, however, Carson is going a step further in his wingnutty crusade. He's trotting out the usual sky-is-falling panic about the national debt, which Republicans transparently use whenever possible as an excuse to cut government spending that benefits people they don't like. (Mysteriously, they never suggest we must hike taxes on rich people to reduce the national debt. Weird, huh?)
And here's the kicker. Because the United State government has a debt, like pretty much all national governments, that means taxpayers are in a state of "slavery" and our currency is a reminder of that slavery. And, therefore -- saints preserve us! -- Harriet Tubman is now the face of slavery.
Carson said that Tubman would be “turning over in her grave if she knew she would be the new face of American debt slavery.”
“It is amazing how, just as the currency dwindles down to near worthlessness,” he continued, “all of a sudden the Government wants to invoke Harriet Tubman as a symbol on the twenty dollar bill. Let us not disgrace Harriet Tubman by symbolically linking her with a nearly bankrupt instrument of slavery and debt,” he concluded.
Excellent work, Dr. Ben. This offensive, nonsensical argument will greatly please all the racist Bill O'Reilly viewers. I'm sure your job offer from Fox News will be arriving shortly.
Blacks get stopped more often due to an inherent criminal nature which every policeman is aware of. Plus the fact they deal drugs more often, assault old ladies and generally cause trouble as a rule.
Thanks anon, wasn't aware of my inherent criminal nature. Thank god the cops know this about me and are ready to act.
Just wow, such insightful comments Field.
But we do need to thank you anon for admitting cops have an inherent bias against blah folks, as if we didn't already know it.heh heh
Racists are a rather pathetic lot.
Trump sweeps all states tonight.
Trump won Pennsylvania!
@Field: "Racists are a rather pathetic lot."
True, and the Internet has made them all Jamie Bold, as they can say here what they don't have the courage to say to our face.
That not only makes them a "pathetic lot," but a cowardly lot as well.
Yup, been talking this same noise for years.
Technology has brought out the absolute WORST in racists!!
I don't know about that Doc, they've always been pretty vile.
"True, and the Internet has made them all Jamie Bold, as they can say here what they don't have the courage to say to our face.
That not only makes them a "pathetic lot," but a cowardly lot as well."
*hand clap*
FN: Racists are a rather pathetic lot.
I don't think that most of us whites are racist, it's just that we're indifferent to blacks.
I( have to agree with the indifference comment. most blacks are self destructive and want yt for the bailout. I say so what if they need help. let them live in their own stupidity and squalor. Most are ill educated, cannot speak english, cannot read and in general are little better than a big blob of useless flesh.
"I guess raping babies make you fit for society?"
White people throw baby-rapers in jail specifically to remove them from society. I've explained this several times, and asked some very pointed questions about the monomania, without effecting any change in the flow of nonsense. The rapist is in jail. What am I supposed to do about it? This repetition makes no sense.
Then I realized: this isn't about me. It's about this Black poster being a sick fuck who gets off on the idea of raping babies, and is projecting this outward.
"Just like you align yourself with baby rapists"
There's the stupid again.
"and mass shooters."
Your insane illogic and hatred makes Dylan Roof into a much more sympathetic figure, I have to admit. When repeated explanations have no effect on your demented thinking and hatred, the only protection is to keep you away. Dead is away.
"Ever notice that we never get any intelligent posts from our resident racist white?"
Ever notice that you clowns can't explain why I'm wrong? You can't understand explanations of anything you're hostile to, either. You judge on purely racial grounds; in other words, you are blindly racist.
"Editing? The stoooopid in this one is particularly strong."
"teh stupid™" really fits the name. Like somebody would get 25 phone-grabbers on video, and edit out all except one White and leave all the Blacks. We know the lamestream media "e-races" the descriptions of Black perps. Maybe "teh stupid™" really doesn't understand that Black people get a color pass for bad behavior; that would truly be ironic.
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