Not "Everybody's All- American."

James Blake is an All American guy. He grew up in a solid middle class family in Connecticut, attended Harvard University, and spent much of his formative years in the very suburban town of Fairfield. Most important of all, though, he was a world class tennis player. He reached as high as number four on the tour and earned over seven million dollars in prize money.

James speaks "really well", looks very neat and "clean", and carries himself like a true gentleman. 
He is the kind of Negro that Joe Biden would gush over.

So imagine how poor James Blake felt when he was treated like just another Mike Brown or Eric Garner on the streets of New York recently.

"Five white undercover cops slammed retired black tennis star James Blake to the ground outside his midtown hotel Wednesday in a violent case of mistaken identity.

The 35-year-old Blake, once ranked No. 4 in the world, suffered a cut to his left elbow and bruises to his left leg as the law enforcement quintet handcuffed and held him for 15 minutes outside the Grand Hyatt.

"It was definitely scary and definitely crazy," said Blake, adding that none of the men initially identified themselves as a police officer. His right eye appeared a bit red hours later at the hotel.

The cops were investigating a credit card fraud operation when they took Blake to the ground around noon."

Five undercover cops for a credit card fraud case?! My goodness, no wonder crime is on the rise in New York. You would think that they would find better way to utilize the NYPD's manpower.

Poor Mrs. Blake must have been beside herself. What? How dare they? He is not like those other blacks. He married me for crying out loud! Let me stop.

Anyway, fortunately someone recognized the former tennis star and the police reluctantly let him go.

As is to be expected, poor James was not feeling very All American after the incident.

“In my mind there's probably a race factor involved, but no matter what there's no reason for anybody to do that to anybody,” Blake said. “You'd think they could say, 'Hey, we want to talk to you. We are looking into something.’ I was just standing there. I wasn't running. It's not even close (to be okay). It's blatantly unnecessary.”

Now now James, don't go playing the "race card', America has been very good to you.

"A police source said Blake was misidentified as a suspect wanted for buying a cellphone with a bogus credit card. A man who was standing near Blake was arrested in connection with the scam, police said.

“Once Blake was properly identified and found to have no connection to the investigation, he was released from police custody immediately,” the NYPD said in a statement." [Source]

Well James, look at the bright side. You could have been some poor unknown black man minding his business in New York City, when New York's finest decided to act on their all black men look alike conditioning. Trust me when I tell you, your experience would have been a whole lot different.

Now go and enjoy the rest of the US Open with your friends.  Maybe your buddy John Mayer will write a song about the incident.

*Pic from Wikipedia.













 

It's the dreads!

I am posting a little earlier than usual tonight because I want to watch the entire republican debate. The national media has all but declared the republican candidate the next president of these divided states, so I want to see how my new leader handles himself (himself, because it won't be Michele Bachmann) under the lights.

It looks like it's going to come down to the secessionist versus the weirdo. May the best man win. You will be inheriting one hell of a country. Mass killings in West Virginia and Nevada, (real sweetheart of a guy that West Virginia shooter, he killed five people [including a pregnant woman] because he was turned down by the Army) shootings and gun violence in urban A-merry-ca on the rise, and a country do deeply divided along ethnic, racial,and economic lines, that the stew in the melting pot is getting more bitter by the day.

Finally,I am so glad that I kept my training up for my racism chasing, because I knew that it was just a matter of time before the Big R went running by me. (h/t to a fellow field hand up in NYC for turning me on to this story.)

 "Labor Day is typically a joyous time for me and the Caribbean community of New York City. This year, it turned chaotic for many, including for myself and a close colleague. As always, I enjoyed marching with family and friends in the West Indian-American Day Carnival Parade down Eastern Parkway in Brooklyn. Upon the conclusion of the parade route, members of the group I was marching with, which included Kirsten John Foy, director of community relations for Public Advocate Bill de Blasio, sought to return to the Brooklyn Museum to attend a luncheon reception marking the close of the carnival.

Upon showing our credentials, we were given permission by a supervising officer near the library at Grand Army Plaza to enter a barricaded area, which was meant for elected officials and dignitaries, and make our way back to the museum. After walking several hundred yards and passing through an initial police checkpoint without any issues, we encountered three police officers standing on the sidewalk who informed us that this was a restricted area to civilians. I identified myself as a council member to the officers and explained that we were trying to get to the event.

The officers were immediately resistant. I showed the officers my council badge, and Foy explained that we were given permission by a higher ranking officer to be in the barricaded area. The officers still refused to acknowledge my credentials, as well as those of Foy, who was also trying to show his credentials at this time. They told me to have the officers who had given us permission relay their approval to them.

I attempted to reach two higher ranking officers which were just on the other side of the barricaded area, at which point I was pushed for the first time. I stepped back, asked not to be pushed, and said that I would be calling a local police chief to explain the situation. I was then pushed again. When I got on the phone with the chief, the group, which had swelled to 10-15 officers, formed a human barricade of sorts - and began physically pushing us more. Neither Foy nor I ever pushed them back; we only continued to try to dialogue with them about who we were and why we were there.

It was at this point, as video has now shown, that Foy was kicked in the back of the knee, pushed to the ground and handcuffed by officers. Shortly after, when I turned around briefly, I too was grabbed by the arm and placed in handcuffs. We were then led in separate directions, initially to the 78th Precinct headquarters. Then, after the intervention of several officials, we were taken to the Union Temple of Brooklyn, which is across from the library. After being held there for 40 to 60 minutes, we were released with no charges.

So what comes next? If I were not an elected official, I would have been taken to central booking and charged, no questions asked. That fact makes clear to me how serious the situation is for our young black and Latino men who suffer from this police culture every single day. While the actions of the select number of police officers involved here do not represent the entire NYPD, they do reflect a stop-and-frisk policy that unfairly targets people based on race and appearance.
Not only is this unproductive, it has not been proved to be effective in curbing violence in our communities. The increasing violence in my district alone is proof positive to me of this failure." [Source]

Oh come on now councilman, the NYPD was just doing their job, they would have stopped anybody who was trying to get into that restricted area....

...."According to Williams, [in pic] he and Foy finished marching in the parade and tried to walk to a Brooklyn Museum reception for dignitaries on a route that went through a zone frozen by police.

In past years, Williams said, cops opened the zone for elected officials to pass. They did so Monday for de Blasio, who is white and whose presence was not challenged.

Williams said ranking police allowed him, Foy and a group of about 10 people to enter the zone. When they had walked about 150 yards, they encountered uniformed cops who ordered them to turn back, Williams said..." [Source]

Oh.

Well maybe you should lose those dreads, Negro. We don't need elected officials frightening those hard working police officers.