Americanpolitics

Twenty-five (25) year old Omar J. Edwards, a black New York City cop dies as the result of being shot in the back by another officer while chasing someone he had caught breaking into his parked car.

True, Omar was in pursuit of the alleged criminal, true also Omar had his gun out. My question is, was this a situation of racial profiling, which immediately had the white cop jumping to the conclusion that the “black man” was the criminal.

Did the white cop identify himself before he started firing? Did he just assume that the black man with the gun was the one in the wrong and decided, without warning to “eliminate” the problem? Was Omar in street clothes or his uniform since he was just getting off work when this incident happened? There are so many unanswered questions.

While it seems the only race that is immune to the ill effects of racial profiling, in America, are white people, Blacks, Latinos, South Asians, Muslims, Arabs and Native Americans all fall prey to the discrimination that racial profiling perpetuates on one level or another.

This racial profiling has crossed lines into dress lately with a growing concern for those young Americans who dress in baggy clothes or “gang colors”; all are caught up in the racial profiling assault.

According to Wikipedia on-line, racial profiling is the inclusion of racial or ethnic characteristics in determining whether a person is considered likely to commit a particular type of crime or an illegal act or to behave in a “predictable” manner.

In this broad definition, the potential, probable and apparent abuse by law enforcement has come to light. More productive means of profiling alternatives, such as passport profiling, behavior profiling, driving errors, even criminal history would be better suited and less all inclusive of any particular race or ethnic background

There are 24 listed cues that an officer watches for in determining “probable cause” to stop and detain you for DUI and they are as follows:

Problems Maintaining Proper Lane Position, such as weaving, drifting, swerving, turning with a wide radius; speed and breaking problems such as stopping beyond a limit line, alternating between speeding and slowing down, drive ten miles under the speed limit; vigilance problems, in terms of, signaling inconsistent with driving action, driving into opposing or crossing traffic and judgment problems such as turning illegally, driving on other than the designated roadway or you can simply look impaired.

To be stopped based on racial profiling is not listed in this list however, driving while black or brown has been an issue for quite sometime now especially in certain neighborhoods. Be it under the guise of DUI or any other traffic violation, the availability of the right of an officer to stop and search with “probable cause”, based solely on racial profiling, is an injustice and has been abused to the point of recognition because a “probable cause” stop can be easily manufactured in the minds of the officer who simply wants to stop on the basis of racial profiling.

What racial profiling does is re-enforce negative concepts that have been pre-determined regarding a person of a particular race or ethnic background; lumping them all in the same category of “potential” criminals, terrorist or illegal aliens and allowing for illegal searches, traffic stops and outright harassment. This is not good for a positive self image which could and does result in acting out just because you are already viewed as criminal on some level.

In the United States, the government does not even have the right to conduct racial profiling. The Fourth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution guarantees the right to be safe from unreasonable search and seizure without “probable cause”. The amendment specifically requires search and arrest warrants be judicially sanctioned, supported by “probable cause” and be limited in scope according to specific information supplied by a law enforcement officer who has sworn by it and is therefore accountable to the issuing court. Being black/brown and driving or Muslim and flying does not, in and of itself, constitute “probable cause”.

While the Bill of Rights, Fourth Amendment, which primarily applies to criminal law, only restricted the power of the federal government, The Supreme Court of the United States has ruled that the Fourth Amendment is applicable to state governments by way of the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment. Moreover, all state constitutions contain an analogous provision.

So how does racial profiling fit into this legality. Civil rights advocates are against the use of racial profiling tactics by the police. Some argue that the disproportionate number of convicted minorities is due to “racial profiling.”

In saying this however, they are admitting that had it not been for the illegal racial profiling, those arrested for crimes would be free to continue their criminal behavior because it was as a result of racial profiling that they are now convicted criminal.

Conversely, it is argued that including race as one of the several factors in suspect profiling is generally supported by the law enforcement community within the Western world. It is claimed that profiling based on any characteristic is a time-tested and universal police tool, and that excluding race as a factor is insensible.

On the other hand police are allowing their personal, racist preferences to guide them in their decisions on just who to stop and search, which is an abuse of the rule and an invitation to harass a specific racial group. As with the case of Omar J. Edwards, no stop was made just bullets flying. Those bullets did not come from Edwards because even though his gun was in his hand, he never fired a shot.

In the United States, statistically, black drivers are much more likely to have their car stopped and searched than white drivers. One explanation for this observation is that police officers have a racist preference, making them more likely to search a car driven by a black motorist and racial profiling aids in this preference to stop black drivers.

To say that police officers have no racial preferences is a lie. Police officers are only human and they are not immune to racial/ethnic biases. For this reason, race should never be considered the primary or motivating factor for suspicion except in the case of a “be on the lookout”, where hair color, height, weight, distinguishing marks and race would be a means of identifying a suspect. Even in this scenario abuse of power has been observed in that police have stopped and questioned blacks who did not even fit the description of the “be on the lookout” that was issued.

Critics claim racial profiling prevailed in the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing, as law enforcement initially focused time and resources on two men of Middle Eastern descent when in actuality, Timothy McVeigh was identified and arrested fewer than two days after the attack.

In the case of Assem Bayaa, a man of Middle Eastern descent, who boarded a plane in Los Angeles in 2001, but was asked, by the pilot, to disembark the plane because he made other passengers uncomfortable, the district judge ruled that a pilot’s discretion “does not grant them a license to discriminate”.

Racial profiling is racist, discriminatory, biased and subjective and should not be used in the broadest interpretations being used today. Being a cop is hard but when you expect the worst from people, that’s exactly what you get. Try being on guard but expecting the best and see where that leads.

And that’s the way I see it!!!

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Race conscious Americans are rearing their ugly heads in the attempt at showing Judge Sotomayor as not worthy of holding the position of the next Supreme Court Justice. What they fail to recognized is their own culpability in this age old debate of race in America.

If the laws that were initially put on the books for affirmative action where adhere to in the spirit of the law, where all people were given the same chances, instead of the letter of the law with quota filling and inequality, we would not be having this conversation in the first place.

If hate and racism did not exist in the hearts and minds of mankind, we would not need affirmative action and we would not be having this conversation. Yet, it is what it is and with this conversation regarding Judge Sotomayor’s words, it is obvious it is what it will always be and that is Americans are not ready for any truths when it comes to race relations. Americans are still intent on division, hate, irrationality, ignorance and intolerance, just to name a few of the insensitive manifestations of racism in America.

I, for one, am sick and tired of this conversation because it leads nowhere based on what’s real in America and around the world. Grow up people and recognized that for every action there is a reaction and the actions of white America has brought us to this point. While racism happens everywhere, I live in America and I am sick and tired of being sick and tired about race relations here.

Truth be told, Judge Sotomayor’s words were not a bad choice. It was a candid remark, taken out of context just like people take scripture out of context to mean what they want it to mean. In the way of being candid, it was honest and direct in a way that people find, at this point, either refreshing (which I found her words to be) or distasteful (which a number of people are deciding) but they were honest and truthful words nonetheless.

As old as some of those Supreme Court Justices are I am sure that they have partaken in racial discrimination when discrimination was “acceptable”. Some may have even worn robes (metaphorical) other than the robes they now wear.

With the election of Obama to the office of Presidency, stupid me hoped that we, as Americans, were entering into a new era of positive race relations but instead I feel a distinctive ten steps backwards and I have personally and easily given up that hope. While conservatives are saying that Sotomayor’s strong identification with such race-based approaches to the law is perhaps the strongest argument against her confirmation, citing that her views put her outside an “evolving consensus” that such race-conscious public policy is growing obsolete, I say these are lies and that race consciousness is and will be a recurring nightmare here in America.

The very fact that in referring to Obama as the first “African American” president shows how race conscious American’s are. I say they are grabbing at straws in an effort to discredit her many years as a public servant so stop the madness. While in a perfect society justice should be “colorblind” we do not live in that perfect society therefore those rules do not apply.

Politics – Yours and Mine

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Judge Sonia Sotomayor’s nomination for federal judge of the Supreme Court has put Republicans in a precarious position with the threats they have made towards staging a filibuster. A point blank rejection of this Hispanic woman could do irrevocable damage to their party with the alienation of both Hispanic and women voters.

Judge Sotomayor comes to the table with a strong public service background and the life experience to understand just what the “spirit” of the law means, which she candidly expressed with her statement that “a wise Latina woman with the richness of her experience would more often than not reach a better conclusion than a white male who has not lived the life.” Allthough as usual, taken out of context, this statement is a hard pill to swallow for the “white male” who fears a power switch.

When I see the look in Obama’s eye in the picture above, I can’t help but to feel the “I gotcha” look in his eyes and I laugh at the “check mate” he has accomplished. So now the games begin in earnest. In the Senate, Republicans held back negativity yesterday regarding this nomination. However, Rush Limbaugh (the “unofficial voice” of the Republican Party) rose to the occasion by calling Obama’s choice as picking a “reverse racist” and a “hack”.

Here you have a straight racist showing his fear of someone else getting the “power”. I swear the more he talks the more ignorant he seems; yet Republicans hang on to his every word. What does that say about the Republican party? I think it speaks volumes on who they are.

Along with calling Judge Sotomayor a “reverse racist” he makes the statement that “Obama is the greatest living example of a reverse racist and now he has appointed one.” I say, it takes a racist to note the reversal and the sooner people recognize this truism the sooner Limbaugh’s words will be discounted!!

If confirmed, Judge Sotomayor will become the first Hispanic and the third (3rd) woman to sit on the highest court in the nation. The only thing left for the Republican party to do is to somehow find some dirt on Judge Sotomayor, which is not likely, or attempt to trip her up during Judiciary Committee hearings. I wish you well Judge Sotomayor and hope that your previous experience facing the Judiciary Committee pays off for you in this situation.

Politics – Yours and Mine!!!

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Empathy, according to Encarta Dictionary, is the ability to identify with and understand somebody else’s feelings or difficulties. A good quality to have when dealing with people and the problems they face.

Jesus taught or attempted to teach us, with his parables that the “spirit” of the laws were more important than the “letter” of the law. Although this was a lesson not readily understood by his followers, then or now, it is a lesson that needs reflection in the case of Obama’s choice for Supreme Court Justice.

Like the Sadducees in the Bible, Senator Jon Kyl has stated that before he allowed Obama to choose a thinking, feeling person; a person who shows empathy and takes into account the human aspect of a given situation (as Jesus tried to demonstrate in the case of the animal that went astray on a Sunday – would you not try to rescue the animal even though it was Sunday or the example regarding visitations to those that do not believe/sinners as opposed to those that do believe – is it more important to court and attempt to save those who do not believe or those who believe), to obtain the vacant seat as the next Supreme Court Justice he would use the tactic of filibuster to prevent this from happening or any means necessary to postponement or disrupt the nomination, if the need arose.

In my mind Sadducees (who were more interested in politics than religion and religion is for the people) represent Republicans and Pharisees (who were more in contact with the common people) represent Democrats. Let me note here that the Sadducees ceased to exist when Rome destroyed Jerusalem and the way the Republican Party is acting of late, they too may cease to exist if they do not get their act together.

Obama has stated that his wish is to find someone who has the intellect to effectively apply the law, as well as be able to see through the eyes of another; someone who uses empathy in understanding the hopes and struggles of an individual or group of people. I agree with this decision.

Laws are guidelines and there is a distinct and relevant difference between the “letter” of the law and the “spirit” of the law; a distinction that should be reflected on before decisions are made that could affect the day-to-day living of people for decades to come.
The fight over man or woman, conservative or liberal has its merits as well but the need to choose a person who understands the “spirit” of the law is crucial from my viewpoint.

Republicans are fighting every step of the way – fighting Obama and fighting amongst themselves. Obama may have his selection ready by Tuesday of this week and the games will begin once his choice is made. One senator can mount a filibuster by objecting to consider a nominee. It would then take 60 votes to overcome this filibuster to move to a final vote. Republicans have shown repeatedly that they will fight whatever Obama tries to put through and at the cost of everything – just because they can. How mature is this especially with their record over the last eight years.

And that’s the way I see it!!!!

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