--- On Thu, 7/23/09, Joanna <123hop at comcast.net> wrote:
I also remember that when I was in cop
> shop (state park ranger school), the cops (who were our
> teachers) warned us about people having irrational reactions
> and that we should be very cool about this.
[WS:] I heard pretty much the same thing from a (black) cop taking the same class as I did at SJSU. Basically what you said amounts to that if you act out of a conventional role you are risking an arrest. That is if you are black and act as an "uppity n-word" then you are more likely to be arrested than when you act as a black hoodlum. Likewise, if you are white you can get away with acting "uppity" (that is conventionally 'expected') but you risk an arrest when you act like a hoodlum. That certainly explains why Mr. Gates was arrested - he acted as 'uppity n-word.'
>
> 3. At last, this shows that Obama still has some buttons
> that can be pushed. He's not a total droid. He's much too
> careful a speaker to come out and explicitly call the cops
> stupid unless a very raw nerve was struck.
> Interesting,
[WS:] I do not really understand the urge to denounce Mr. Obama on this list. He is a very likable character, intelligent, thoughtful, outspoken, respectful of others and personally on 'our side' of most issues. I really like the guy, or at least his public persona. It is not Mr. Obama that is a problem, but the institutional design of the US government that acts as an executive committee of the business class. Given the institutional constraints that his office faces, I think he is doing 'helluva job.'
Wojtek