Yo Mama…Jungle Monkey…”Stupidly”…Your Thoughts?

Guest Post from: The California Guy.

Yo Mama…Jungle Monkey…Stupidly…Your Thoughts?

“If you don’t know, to add to all the complexity of the Gates arrest a couple of weeks back, a different Boston cop [NOT Sgt. Crowley] has been suspended for sending an email in which he referred to Dr. Henry Louis Gates as a ‘jungle monkey.’

Damn…

But that’s not why I’m writing this: I want your thoughts on the larger issues surrounding all of this [with my comments thrown in to chum the water]…

Do we live in a more post-racial America, one different from our parents?

[I believe that the racial issues today are just as complex as they always have been, but that the way to see things and the strategies to move forward are very different from the ‘March on Washington’ days; I even believe they are different from the ‘Million Man March’ days. When we as Black people see our country as a static picture of 60’s/70’s marches, besides being blind to the new challenges and missing the new nuances for change, we become even more nihilistic in our outlook and poison our own souls and those around us. There are REAL issues regarding race in America, but they ain’t just like the old ones…]

Did Dr. Gates overreact?

[How would you feel if after a 15-hour international flight and a stuck door, a police office knocked on you door and asked to see your ID because someone reported that a person had been seen breaking into your home? BUT how would you feel if you came to your home and found it ransacked, and a stranger told you they saw someone shaking your door and trying to open your windows, but they didn’t call the cops because they weren’t sure what to do and didn’t want to be deemed ‘racist?’]

Did Sgt. James Crowley overreact?

[Although a middle-aged Black man talking about my mama would get me quite angry, I STILL don’t know how a person can be arrested for disturbing the peace in his/her own home.]

What’s up with President Obama’s ‘stupidly’ comment?

[Okay, I know our president is of African American culture and perspective; I SURELY would have said something just like what he said to my family and friends (and did so, in not so eloquent words). I am sure others who are not AA would have thought/said the same thing (and I know that there are many who see things differently). My ding against our dear President is that he needed to be a more prudent Black man in this situation, and kept his blessed mouth shut.]

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