(NYT) Unwritten Law for blacks - -Rule #1: Quiet Politeness. #2: Frequent Use of the Word “Sir”

[tj2001]

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/24/us/24blacks.html

... Mr. Vivian, the diversity trainer in Atlanta, said that what happened to Professor Gates was “age old” in America, but that what was different this time was that it happened in a so-called post-racial America. Mr. Vivian, 47, said that he had been unfairly stopped by the police in the past, but that he lived by “an unwritten code” for dealing with these incidents. And Dr. Gates certainly did not obey the code, he said.

Quiet politeness is rule No. 1 in surviving an incident of racial profiling, he said. So is the frequent use of the word, “sir.”

“People used to say, ‘Look, there’s a Colin Powell. There’s an Oprah Winfrey.’ Now they say, ‘There’s a black president.’ I say, I’m happy to see the exceptions. There’s always an exception. But I’m interested in how society treats the average person.”

That there is a well-known code of behavior familiar to most minorities who are stopped by the police, Mr. Vivian said, is testament enough of a problem. “It clearly says that we have a lot of work to do,” he said.

------------------------------------------------------

and ignorantia legis neminem excusat

[Captain Hilts]

1. I do the same thing, and I'm white. nt

[WeDidIt]

3. I've had run ins with jerk cops, so I'm the same as you. n/t

[Captain Hilts]

7. The Va. Beach police are THE worst. They start out shouting at you.

Norfolk, Washington DC, Toronto, Moscow, etc. are not as bad.

You DON'T engage in dialogue or debate.

[PretzelWarrior]

5. but you won't be targeted by skin color the way black people are

in this country and that is a blindingly obvious FACT!

[Captain Hilts]

9. We're not talking about targeting here.

And, yes, minorities - and young men are targeted, especially if they're young men.

[Liquorice]

6. Me too. People who don't want to get arrested or have any trouble normally do. nt

[Captain Hilts]

11. I was pulled over in Ontario on the 401 for driving with a VA license plate.

They clearly wanted to see if I fit a profile for cigarette smuggling.

[Tuesday Afternoon]

8. me too

I was raised that way.

[emilyg]

24. So do I.

[spin]

33. Most White people follow that rule...

those that don't get arrested.

I watched this happen during a traffic stop across the street from where a live a month ago. The three people in the car were white as were the officers. The lady passenger was arrested (I believe for drug possession.) The driver was polite and cooperative with the police and was eventually allowed to leave. The other passenger was belligerent and mouthy. The arresting officer was polite and warned him several times. But the idiot kept on mouthing off. The cuffs finally went on and he spent the night in jail.

I'm not saying that the police are always fair to everybody, far from it. I've learned through the years that things go a lot easier if you are polite when you are stopped.

Many cops are racist. If you're a minority, you don't want to give them an excuse to bust your ass. Copping an attitude might piss off a cop who actually was fair, let alone one who was looking for an excuse.

[Captain Hilts]

46. It's a chance no one can take. nt

[Scout]

49. same here, whether city cop, county sherriff or state trooper

sir or ma'am, and if you disagree do so calmly and politely. i've never been even threatened with arrest.

i've encountered cops at abortion clinic defenses and as an escort, and in traffic stops, and as witness to car accidents.

i'm a white woman.

[Sarah Ibarruri]

2. Great article. You need to repost this in the a.m. when everyone will be looking at it nt

[TexasObserver]

4. Absolutely correct.

[Cha]

10. It was a freakin' bolt outta

the blue..you kinda just go on intincts when you're being arrested in your own house after showing ID and asking for a badge number and the name of the arresting officer.

[Mind_your_head]

15. Not to mention that the Professor had to be bone-tired

after something like a 18-21 hour (door-to-door) travel time coming back from China, then he gets home and he can't get in the house (at first)....then he sees police on his doorstep asking for ID! Thinking, "Now What?" or "What's Next?!", well, an arrest and a national kerfuffle THAT's what happened next! :facepalm:

Yep, the Crowley should have just have checked the ID, said "Have a good night, SIR" and left.

Geez, the poor guy (Professor Gates) just probably wanted to unpack, take a shower and go off to bed!

edit to add: that Crowley should have addressed CITIZEN Gates (whom Crowley is paid by to "defend & protect" - which he did by 'checking out the possible burglery call' as "Sir")

Politeness/courtesy/respect and "doing ones job/living ones life. It cuts both ways.

[Cha]

16. OMG..I didn't even

think of that! Of course..I'd be outta my mind with tiredness..I know I got coming home from a road trip to Georgia last summer..like a zombie.

The onus was definetly on the officer to diffuse the situation and another officer might have..perhaps one less egomaniacal.

[Uzybone]

12. But I'm the one who called you!

"A concerned neighbor had called the police to report a suspicious character. And that was not the first time Mr. Medley said he had been wrongly apprehended. A call Mr. Medley placed to 911 several years ago about a burglary resulted with the police showing up to frisk him.

“But I’m the one who called you!” he said he remembers pleading with the officers."

[lexanman]

13. Its frightening

how so many of us have become subservient to police and other "authority". No one wants to do the hard and right thing and stand up. People of color have it worse because of profiling, so they experience it much more often. We really have become a sheeple society and deserve the government we get.

[Feron]

23. True.

Probably a good time to post this YT video about your rights when questioned by police:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yqMjMPlXzdA&feature=channel_page

[burning rain]

14. That's been my approach, too...

with one exception. Once while I was walking with a can of soda in hand, a cop rolled up and asked what I was drinking. It was totally unexpected so I hadn't engaged my "don't be a smartass" mode. I showed the can's label and replied, "A soda." Copper said nothing so I continued, "Do you need to drink some?" Copper embarrasedly replied, "No" and drove off.

[LisaL]

17. Oh for crying out loud. How about simply being polite to someone

who is just trying to do his job?

[Mind_your_head]

18. Oh for crying out loud. How about simply being polite to someone

who is just trying to live their life?

[LisaL]

19. I've seen no indication the police officer wasn't polite.

[Mind_your_head]

20. LisaL, it's not "polite" to arrest someone in their own home

after they have shown you proof that they indeed live there and are, in fact, the person that they say they are.

I'm sure YOU wouldn't like it if it happened to you.

If you think that is something you would like, please PM me your address and you I'll "arrange" the experience for you.

Peace,
M_Y_H

[LisaL]

27. Filing a false police report is a crime.

[Mind_your_head]

32. Who filed a false police report? n/t

OH....oh, oh, oh......

I "get it now".....you're referring to me saying I could "arrange" for you to get a 'police visit'.

:rofl:

All I have to say to you.....dear keyboard warrior LisaL is "BOO".

[EFerrari]

36. Besides the fact that he arrested Dr. Gates and all?

[emilyg]

25. Polite to a cop? C'mon you're on DU.

[LisaL]

26. And so? Only rude and obnoxious posters are allowed on DU?

[emilyg]

28. Of course not. i have seen a lot of hatred

for cops on DU.

[SmileyRose]

29. Who filed a false report???

If that's what you are upset about then send them to go arrest the neighbor who called because he/she/it has never made the effort to find out who lived next door.

[LisaL]

30. Hah? I am not suggesting anyone did.

I am responding to a poster asking me for my address with apparent intent to arrange some sort of false altercation with the police in my home.

[SmileyRose]

31. My bad.

sorry I misunderstood.

[Mind_your_head]

34. Thanks for running and "end run" for a sheeple.

Y'all stick together like glue, I see.

[Mind_your_head]

37. Oh, you SURE RUN SCARED when it might happen to YOU!

LAMER!

[LisaL]

44. Well I sure as hell wouldn't be yelling "Don't you know who I

am?" if the policeman came to door, if that is what you are trying to imply. I've talked with the police on a number of occasions and I've always been polite.
One would think that being polite with public servants is an obvious thing to do and should have nothing to do with race.

[Mind_your_head]

45. Yeah, b/c NO ONE would know you.(or *me*)

In Professor Gates case, he was a HIGH PROFILE person in Cambridge/ at Harvard.

[EmeraldCityGrl]

21. K&R

[Lars39]

22. You know, I've been thinking how I probably would have reacted if I was Gates.

I've got an Old West kind of mentality sometimes...I would have told them to get the hell off my property, cops or no cops.

[masuki bance]

35. Why? nt

[spin]

38. I would have shown ID, explained what had happened...

and thanked the officer for doing his job. I would have said, "I'm glad you showed up to check the situation out. You might have caught someone attempting to rob me."

If the officer was an asshole after that point, I would have still continued to be polite. Had that failed I would have dialed 911 and explained the situation politely and asked for a supervisor. I definitely would never step outside my home with witnesses watching and be belligerent to an officer. That may be giving him the excuse he is looking for.

Homey don't play dat.

[Mind_your_head]

39. Yeah, one must treat "assholes" gingerly....

especially those "special ones" earning $40,000-$50,000/year carrying a badge and a gun.

NOT all police are goofs/assholes.....but c'mon. These officers often don't have the training/foresight.....frankly someone, like Prof. Gates has a TOTALLY different mindset than someone who is a Gen X/Gen Y'er.

It's getting 'dangerous' out there/here....

[ControlledDemolition]

40. Just 'blacks'? What about Native Americans?

By some estimates 30-35 million were wiped out during 'European Settlement'. That's at least five holocausts!

[Mind_your_head]

41. Native Americans aren't the "chosen people"

so they/you don't count.

:sarcasm:

[ControlledDemolition]

42. I know what you're saying. Why aren't people calling other people...

... Native American holocaust deniers?

I suppose there are rules... and then there are other rules. One set of rules is convenient to promote what Poppy Bush was once caught referring to as 'The New World Order'.

[Mythsaje]

43. Generally good advice for anyone in that situation...

Probably more so for minority victims... I mean "suspects."

[JTFrog]

47. “It clearly says that we have a lot of work to do,”

That there is a well-known code of behavior familiar to most minorities who are stopped by the police, Mr. Vivian said, is testament enough of a problem.

“It clearly says that we have a lot of work to do,” he said.

[PVnRT]

48. I heard on PBS news last night a great quote

"The only ones living in post-racial America are the Obama family in the White House."

There's something to be said for some truth in that statement.