Althouse: "My Vassar College Faculty ID affords me free smoothies, free printing paper, paid leave, and access to one of the most beautiful libraries on Earth."

November 30, 2014

"My Vassar College Faculty ID affords me free smoothies, free printing paper, paid leave, and access to one of the most beautiful libraries on Earth."

"It guarantees that I have really good health care and more disposable income than anyone in my Mississippi family. But way more than I want to admit, I'm wondering what price we pay for these kinds of ID's, and what that price has to do with the extrajudicial disciplining and killing of young black human beings. You have a Michigan State Faculty ID, and seven-year old Aiyana Stanley-Jones was killed in a police raid. You have a Wilberforce University Faculty ID and 12-year-old Tamir Rice was shot dead by police for holding a BB gun. I have a Vassar College Faculty ID and police murdered Shereese Francis while she lay face-down on a mattress. You have a University of Missouri Student ID and Mike Brown's unarmed 18-year-old black body lay dead in the street for four and a half hours. But. 'We are winning,' my mentor, Adisa Ajamu, often tells me. 'Improvisation, Transcendence, and Resilience — the DNA of the Black experience — are just synonyms for fighting preparedness for the long winter of war.'"

From "My Vassar College Faculty ID Makes Everything OK," by Kiese Laymon, who is an English professor at Vassar College and the author of "How to Slowly Kill Yourself and Others in America" and other books.

105 comments:

Bob R said...: I don't speak category error.; 11/30/14, 7:26 AM
John henry said...: I fail to see the connection between the two.

John Henry; 11/30/14, 7:31 AM
Laslo Spatula said...: A chosen life in academia or government means a life spent amongst bureaucracy, i.e. the mendacity of mediocre and petty minds. To be intelligent in such circumstances is to see idiocy in high relief.

I am Laslo.; 11/30/14, 7:36 AM
Grackle said...: She's honed her grievance to fine point. Maybe fewer smoothies would have helped her a avoid issues with her weight. Maybe some time in Africa would be a really good thing for her perspective. We have the most cossetted negro population on the planet, but they will never stop with the whining. It does grow tiresome.; 11/30/14, 7:38 AM
The Drill SGT said...: Doing solo traffic stops is stressful for police. I'm a 60+ y/o White man who always talks politely to cops (black or white) and keeps his hands in sight.

To do anything else is terminally stupid. Not because the police are racist, but you don't know what was just announced as an APB, or that your car resembles ..., or if the guy had a bad day.; 11/30/14, 7:41 AM
Vet66 said...: African Americans are unique in their ability to disavow the moral imperatives of MLK and the pastors who preach peace from the pulpits. The Chinese, by comparison, have excelled in their ability to adapt from the early days of helping build the railroad from Sacramento over the Sierras and becoming members of the communities that blossomed where the trains stopped for water and commerce. Quiet patience and perseverance allowed them to succeed in a capitalist system. People from India, Pakistan, Syria, Lebanon, and other countries where freedom is non-existent adapt and assimilate in a country that has universal opportunities based on rewards for hard work and education. It is a puzzle that African-Americans in the big cities seem to embrace the tribalism they left in Africa at the hands of other Africans involved in the slave trade. MLK's "I have a dream" speech and Mandela's imprisonment seems to phase many young African Americans in a negative way embracing violence instead of achievement. Ferguson is another example of a city smoldering in the ruins of anger and self-loathing. Pity...!; 11/30/14, 7:42 AM
Tim said...: Anyone who packs on 129 pounds and blames it on racism....... lost any right to preach to me.; 11/30/14, 7:44 AM
kcom said...: "or if the guy had a bad day."

Or which of his co-workers didn't make it home one day under the exact same, seemingly-benign, circumstances.; 11/30/14, 7:45 AM
Xmas said...: Well, that was depressing.

Poughkeepsie apparently does have a terrible disparity in black versus white arrest rates. I'm not sure if that's shocking or surprising. Upstate New York is economically depressed, full of dying cities that lost their manufacturing base.

That anecdote about Daniel Patrick Moynihan was interesting. Looking into it, the New York Times has an article about the building seizure and the Senator's denial that he had ever said something like that. It's nice to see that the "misinterpret and revolt" process documented so nicely.; 11/30/14, 7:48 AM
ron winkleheimer said...: What the Drill Sgt said.

Be polite, keep hands on the steering wheel. Cops have guns. Antagonizing them for no reason at all is stupid.

Didn't Chris Rock do a bit on this?

http://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=chris+rock+how+not+to+get+beat+by+the+police&qpvt=chris+rock+how+not+to+get+beat+by+the+police&FORM=VDRE#view=detail&mid=D9E4618DED677DC344DFD9E4618DED677DC344DF; 11/30/14, 7:49 AM
Rocco said...: So college faculty IDs require blood sacrifice to function? How often does its smoothie power need to be replenished with the blood of innocents?; 11/30/14, 7:51 AM
I'm Full of Soup said...: I have never had a smoothie. Should I feel deprived?; 11/30/14, 7:52 AM
Jaq said...: Here is a similar set of complaints.

One example, a woman complains about being catcalled.

A man replies I hate Capitalism. One day we will end it.; 11/30/14, 7:54 AM
campy said...: "Poughkeepsie apparently does have a terrible disparity in black versus white arrest rates."

Do they also have a disparity in male versus female arrest rates? Is it larger or smaller than the "terrible" one?; 11/30/14, 7:57 AM
Wince said...: This mentality on the left is not good news for Democrats in 2016.

Rage on, Kiese!; 11/30/14, 7:57 AM
rhhardin said...: Soap opera women, black division.; 11/30/14, 7:59 AM
kcom said...: Wouldn't it be great if police were required to arrest as many women as men every year. Equality!; 11/30/14, 8:00 AM
JAORE said...: So, did he roll through the stop sign? I had a younger, black friend with whom I could, carefully, discuss matters of race. One day he was in a foul mood. It seems he had gotten a ticket for "driving while black". In truth he'd been ticketed for an expired tag. But he insisted no one but black men get such tickets. He was not impressed that I'd gotten that same ticket on a motorcycle the previous month.; 11/30/14, 8:01 AM
FleetUSA said...: And what is that faculty member doing to see that AA kids are getting better educations? Maybe she can contribute some of her excess earnings to charter schools or good private schools for scholarships to those who can't afford it.; 11/30/14, 8:03 AM
Fernandinande said...: Make Big M o n e y with Pitiful Blather!; 11/30/14, 8:05 AM
Gahrie said...: "Poughkeepsie apparently does have a terrible disparity in black versus white arrest rates."

I wonder how the arrest rate compares with the crime rate committed by Blacks and Whites?

Who is willing to bet that Blacks committ a higher percentage of crime than Whites?; 11/30/14, 8:06 AM
donald said...: This was in Alabama, right? Georgia? Mississippi?

Two things, there is no way anybody should live in a place like that.

Second, I don't believe her fat ass.; 11/30/14, 8:06 AM
Original Mike said...: I'm wondering what price we pay for English professors.; 11/30/14, 8:07 AM
Paco Wové said...: "Mike Brown's unarmed 18-year-old black body"

As compared to his green body or blue body?; 11/30/14, 8:13 AM
NotWhoIUsedtoBe said...: So resign!; 11/30/14, 8:28 AM
Jaq said...: Imagine if we lived in an authentic world free of white oppression. Wouldn't that be great? I am sure his call for the execution of homosexuals in Britain, of all places, are the natural consequence of imperialism.; 11/30/14, 8:28 AM
Laslo Spatula said...: These stories are horrible, but not uncommon: I have heard many like them from my 'Emotional Support Negro.'

I am Laslo.; 11/30/14, 8:30 AM
acm said...: A few commenters seem to think Laymon is a woman. Laymon is in fact a man.; 11/30/14, 8:31 AM
Abdul Abulbul Amir said...: @ Xmas

Black males at roughly 6% of the population commit roughly 50% of the murders.

So for black males to be disproportionately arrested it it more than 6% of all arrests or more than 50%?; 11/30/14, 8:31 AM
Laslo Spatula said...: My 'Emotional Support Negro' helps me through the assorted traumas of everyday white living. If I see what I perceive as a threatening black youth approaching me on the street I consult with my 'Emotional Support Negro' on how I should properly handle the situation, emotionally.

I am Laslo.; 11/30/14, 8:35 AM
Michael said...: Hyperbole may work on rich white girl students residing there in that hell hole but it doesn't much work on a reader from the south. It is too bad that he was born in 1974 and that he missed the civil rights movement. And it is too bad he has chosen to live in the racist north. He would have none of those horrible made up experiences had he chosen to live and teach at Millsaps or Vanderbilt or Savannah State. He would be embarassed to write such bullshit if he lived in the south.; 11/30/14, 8:47 AM
Laslo Spatula said...: I once spent a night in jail -- the arrest was, underneath it all, due to emotional issues that stemmed from my childhood, I don't want to get into it now, other than to say I don't have to forgive my Uncle if I don't want to, that is my emotional decision to make -- anyway: when I was in jail overnight three men threatened to gang-rape me. However, my 'Emotional Support Negro' told me to not be such a Pussy and to fight back, so I did, THEN they raped me. My 'Emotional Support Negro' was right: knowing that I had fought back made the rape hurt a little less, emotionally.

I am Laslo.; 11/30/14, 8:49 AM
bleh said...: What the hell did I just read?

I know a black guy, a lawyer, who says similar things. He imagines racially charged incidents in his daily life, as if every white person is out to get him. He frequently gets into angry confrontations with whites and whines about his perceived mistreatment and how he has to work harder than whites just to get where he is. He does this in person and on Facebook, which I'm sure his employer loves. His victimhood then becomes something of a self-fulfilling prophecy, because no one wants to be around or work with a whiny, pious, paranoid, self-righteous douche.

Best I can figure, it gives him something to talk about and makes him feel superior. And it's a warning to others. Don't mess with me, I'm black. You don't want me to cry racism even louder than I've already been doing, right?; 11/30/14, 8:49 AM
Bob Ellison said...: Laslo, "Emotional Support Negro" made me laugh out loud.; 11/30/14, 8:53 AM
NotWhoIUsedtoBe said...: is it ok to come to althouse just for betamax? is that wrong?; 11/30/14, 8:54 AM
bleh said...: Oh - my friend also uses the honorific "Esq." to refer to himself. It's even part of his personal email address. So narcissism might be part of the explanation.; 11/30/14, 8:57 AM
Laslo Spatula said...: Sometimes late at night I am overwhelmed by feelings of shame over my privileges as a white man in America. Once, I asked my 'Emotional Support Negro' to spoon with me, just a little while, until the feelings subsided. He said "Don't be such a little Bitch' and went out to the living room to watch SportsCenter. It hurt a little at first, but then I realized my Emotional Support Negro' was right, emotionally. I am a work in progress.

I am Laslo.; 11/30/14, 8:58 AM
pst314 said...: David Hampton "African Americans are unique in their ability to disavow the moral imperatives of MLK and the pastors who preach peace from the pulpits...."

What? Have you never noticed what white "progressives" say and do? In the dictionary, under "sick f*ck", it says "see white leftist".; 11/30/14, 9:07 AM
pst314 said...: "an English professor at Vassar College"
Most English professors nowadays are incapable of serious thought, and Vassar is notorious as a cesspool of far-left cant and indoctrination.; 11/30/14, 9:08 AM
NotWhoIUsedtoBe said...: If you think that accepting a position in the educated class makes you complicit in oppression then don't do it.

Pretending to feel guilty does nothing, and tells me that you are a hypocrite. Being an open hypocrite doesn't help.; 11/30/14, 9:08 AM
Laslo Spatula said...: I was in traffic at a red light behind a black man in a Lexus talking on his cell phone. The light turned green but he didn't seem to see it and didn't move. Maybe it was an important call, so I didn't want to honk the horn, honking the horn seems overly aggressive to me, so I waited but then the light turned red again.

When it returned to green the black man in the Lexus was still talking on the phone, so I tapped on the horn lightly and smiled, so if he looked in his mirror he would see that I was smiling, not angry, and that it was a 'friendly' little honk.

Well, he set down his phone, flipped me off, and then drove on his way. I thought I had successfully navigated the situation without resorting to unneeded aggression but my Emotional Support Negro said I was a 'little bitch' and that he was embarrassed to be my Emotional Support Negro sometimes. And he was right, emotionally: my Emotional Support Negro's feelings matter, too.

I am Laslo.; 11/30/14, 9:16 AM
CWJ said...: Keep picking at that wound. Otherwise it might heal.; 11/30/14, 9:26 AM
Carol said...: Smoothie: Maximal calorie punch with minimal digestive effort.; 11/30/14, 9:29 AM
Laslo Spatula said...: I hate it when this happens: I was in a crowded parking lot looking for a parking space when I saw a parked car's tail-lights light up. I patiently pulled to the side to give him room to back out, and turned on my turn-signal so everyone would understand that I was waiting for that spot.

Well, once he pulled out a black man in a Mazda zipped in, taking my spot. He probably didn't see me -- it happens -- so I started to move on to find another spot when my Emotional Support Negro called me a "Pussy Bitch." I didn't understand, but then my Emotional Support Negro said I was "Driving While White" and that the parking spot in question was OUR parking space.

I didn't see what it mattered now, but my Emotional Support Negro told me I needed to go back and challenge the black driver if I ever wanted any Respect in this world.

So: I got out of my car as the black driver got out of his, and I said "Maybe you didn't see me, but I was waiting for that spot." The black driver looked at me, laughed, and started walking.

"You just going to take that?" my Emotional Support Negro asked, so I realized I needed to do more so as to be emotionally honest with myself, my Emotional Support Negro was right about these things.

I followed the black driver a few steps and then tapped him on his shoulder: "That was my spot, I think."

He said "F**k You," which I thought was a little more aggressive than the circumstances warranted, but I stood my ground just like my Emotional Support Negro instructed me to, I stood my ground until the black driver punched me in the face and I feel to the pavement; I seem to recall a small child in a shopping cart, laughing at me.

After that everything was hazy, and we left the parking lot. My face hurt, but my Emotional Support Negro was right, emotionally: it felt good to stand up for what was right, even if the other guy was an oppressed minority.

"Bitch, you got a glass jaw," my Emotional Support Negro said, and we decided to go to McDonalds instead.

I am Laslo.; 11/30/14, 9:45 AM
Michael K said...: "I know a black guy, a lawyer, who says similar things. He imagines racially charged incidents in his daily life, as if every white person is out to get him."

I had an interesting conversation with a black lawyer Thanksgiving night. He is the significant other of my wife's niece and we invited them both for dinner. He had something to do with the Rodney King case but we didn't get into his role.

He was very polite and we had a respectful conversation. I plan to invite them at Christmas and I will see if they come. That may be the only way I can tell if I offended him. Her mother has never invited them over although they have been together 20 years.

I had a few glasses of champagne and maybe the conversation went too far but he gave no sign of it. It is not easy to have these conversations but I find that it is easy with foreign born blacks. Just not American blacks. This guy may be an exception.; 11/30/14, 9:49 AM
Hagar said...: It was a long time ago, but I can vividly remember "driving while young," especially the time when I was not only a young male, but driving a highly waxed, low-slung British sportscar.; 11/30/14, 9:57 AM
The Godfather said...: This English professor seems to use "fuck" a lot, particularly in talking to authority figures. I have found over the course of my life that this is often not helpful.

Also, wearing a hoodie in an ID photo seems counterproductive.

Just some things to think about, Prof. Laymon.; 11/30/14, 10:13 AM
PB said...: My guess? She's overpaid.

Did she ever think that by showing her college ID she was helping to change this man's prejudice? If he had any, then seeing something that differed from what he expected would be a step in the change process.; 11/30/14, 10:15 AM
Birkel said...: This professor is almost radicalized enough to start recruiting for a terrorist organization. The professor won't be personally fighting, mind you. The professor will be radicalizing students for actual fighting.; 11/30/14, 10:22 AM
Sebastian said...: Good thing he doesn't teach logic.; 11/30/14, 10:28 AM
Fernandinande said...: Gahrie said...
"Poughkeepsie apparently does have a terrible disparity in black versus white arrest rates."
I wonder how the arrest rate compares with the crime rate committed by Blacks and Whites?

Arrest rates match NCVS reports quite closely.

The "terrible disparities" are caused by differing degrees of bad behavior, which the linked article chooses to actively ignore. Of course.; 11/30/14, 10:29 AM
Birkel said...: I am not kidding about the radicalization of the professor. This seems quite like the radicalization of certain mosques.

Anybody have any thoughts on that?; 11/30/14, 10:38 AM
Sydney said...: That made no sense to me. The author could give up the college ID and go teach in the inner city. Use the God given talents to make a difference in someone's life who needs it, not spoiled rich kids at a liberal arts school.; 11/30/14, 10:46 AM
Ann Althouse said...: When you're stopped by a traffic cop, isn't it just your driver's license he wants? Why would the faculty ID even come up? Maybe I didn't read carefully enough...; 11/30/14, 10:55 AM
Laslo Spatula said...: I was at a club downtown and went to the bar to buy more drinks for me and my date. When I returned to our seats there was a black man in my chair talking to her, with very aggressive body language. At least, I initially took it to be aggressive: I realized his cultural upbringing may be different than mine, and perhaps I was over-reacting.

However, my Emotional Support Negro said to me "Bitch, you can't let no man talk to your ho like that."

Now, I do not like the use of the term 'ho', but I realize that my Emotional Support Negro had a different cultural upbringing than mine also, so a difference in vernacular could be expected.

Anyway, with my Emotional Support Negro's encouragement I entered the conversation and introduced myself, but the black man acted as if I wasn't even there.

Of course, maybe that was part of why he talked so loud -- he could just be hard-of-hearing, but my Emotional Support Negro disagreed, called me a "Pussy" and so I interjected myself more forcefully.

This time the black man turned to me, laughed, then went back to talking to my date. My date seemed fearful, but that could've just been an aspect of her own racism coloring the encounter, this happens to white people.

I asked my Emotional Support Negro what I should do -- he must understand this situation with more cultural sensitivity than I possess -- and he suggested I hit the man over the head with a chair.

Now, I trust my Emotional Support Negro implicitly, but this certainly seemed wrong, emotionally. So I did it, I hit the black man over the head with the chair, but I took great caution to not hit too hard as to hurt him, after which he beat the shit out of me.

So -- anyway -- I ended up in jail again, and several guys threatened to gang-rape me, but I had learned my Emotional Support Negro's lesson from our last time in jail and I went in punching, and I think I landed a few strong blows before I was gang-raped.

And -- like before -- knowing that I had fought back made the rape hurt a little less, emotionally. Indeed, I think I made my Emotional Support Negro proud, which made me feel good, too, except for the sitting-down part.

I am Laslo.; 11/30/14, 10:58 AM
The Drill SGT said...: Ann Althouse said...
When you're stopped by a traffic cop, isn't it just your driver's license he wants? Why would the faculty ID even come up? Maybe I didn't read carefully enough...

But, but the truth is in the story telling, not the actual, you know, facts...

He's a Story Teller, I mean English Prof... there you go thinking like a lawyer again...; 11/30/14, 10:59 AM
JAORE said...: Perhaps he whips out his college FACULTY id because, in his mind, he must prove that he's a non-dangerous black man and not deserving of a beating. Because, you know, either blacks don't have id or just owning a DL is an invitation to a whuppin'.; 11/30/14, 11:04 AM
JAORE said...: Birkel, you have a point about certain schools v Mosques. Certain churches too.; 11/30/14, 11:07 AM
Xmas said...: Ann, follow the link, "I laughed, said no, and shamefully showed him my license and my ID, just like Lanre Akinsiku. "

It's just a way to signify to the police officer that you should be in the neighborhood of the school even though the officer thinks you look out of place. I gobstruck by all the terrible things that implies.; 11/30/14, 11:09 AM
pst314 said...: Ann Althouse "When you're stopped by a traffic cop, isn't it just your driver's license he wants? Why would the faculty ID even come up?"

That's the "Don't you know who I am?" attitude, so common in academia.; 11/30/14, 11:21 AM
William said...: I'm sure he's had some bad experiences, but they were apparently negotiable. If he wants a really, really bad life, he should try living as a bookish, chubby man in neighborhood like Bed Stuy. Or maybe did at one time and now all his impotent rage is directed at white authority figures because they're the ones who--mostly--don't use violence as a negotiating tactic.........Black people who claim to speak truth to power become surprisingly mush mouthed in the presence of Suge Knight and the local Crips representative.; 11/30/14, 11:27 AM
Achilles said...: The cost of that smoothee and ID? 12 college students need to carry 5 figures of non-dischargeable debt.; 11/30/14, 11:49 AM
Charlie Currie said...: I owned a BB gun when I was a kid - look just like a Colt 1911 - if I had even thought of taking it to the playground I would no longer have owned a BB gun - I had parents who acted like parents.; 11/30/14, 11:57 AM
Laslo Spatula said...: I awoke one morning to the sound of my Emotional Support Negro sobbing. This gave me quite a scare, as I had never seen him as anything but strong and in charge of his emotions. I asked him what was wrong, but he just wiped his eyes, sat erect, and said "Nothing's wrong."

Finally! A chance for ME to support my Emotional Support Negro: white people cry a lot, so I felt I had a lot to offer in this situation. I offered him a box of tissues, but he held up his hand.

"Don't need those, Little Bitch."

I knew he was speaking harshly to me as a defense mechanism: being white, I understand defense mechanisms, and as such I recognize that black people have them, too, even if they express them differently due to the variance in cultural upbringings.

"It's OK," I said gently, not wanting to jar his fragile state.

"I gotta take a piss," he replied, then got up and went down the hallway to do so.

While he was away I contemplated all of the myriad of emotional healing techniques that I have learned as an introspective white man, and decided that a direct approach would be appropriate, even though I'm not really good at the direct approach in general -- it is, after all, one of the reasons I have an Emotional Support Negro in the first place.

When my Emotional Support Negro returned from urinating I told him he needed to face whatever was affecting him, and it had to be done in a straightforward and timely manner, I wish I remembered the name of the book that advice was in.

"You wanna know what's bothering me?" he asked.

"Yes," I replied, "I do. Sincerely."

He kind of winced a little when I said "sincerely" but he then continued to talk.

"My brother just got a job."

"That's great!" I said, making a point to show encouragement at his emotional openness.
"Yeah. He got a job as a 'Emotional Support Negro'.

"That's wonderful!" I said, keeping up the spirit of encouragement and the freedom to speak safely.

"Yeah: he's gonna be a 'Emotional Support Negro' for a University Professor."

"That's fantastic!" I said, continuing to draw him out of the shell of his cultural upbringing."

"A black professor."

"?"

"A MAN black professor."

I did not know what to say, so I simply nodded my encouragement.

"Yeah, my brother is going to be a 'Emotional Support Negro' for a male black University professor. Of Gender Studies."

"I am sure he can be of a LOT of assistance," I said, nodding my head.

"You don't understand: white people are easy -- you just tell them what a person with a spine would do. But..."

"...But?"

"But a black brother with no spine: that's gonna be WORK."

I did not know what else to say, so I got us two Forties from the refrigerator. It is sometimes emotionally OK to drink together, quietly.

I am Laslo.; 11/30/14, 12:28 PM
pm317 said...: Ann, follow the link, "I laughed, said no, and shamefully showed him my license and my ID, just like Lanre Akinsiku. "

In that linked article, the author conveniently overlooks that Brown assaulted the police officer and he had before assaulted a shopkeeper and had drugs in his body.. on and on. Why do they do that? All these encounters have to be dealt with case by case and generalizing and twisting it to suit their message only distorts the perception further.

Why walk on the middle of the street; why hit a police officer; why not stop when he says stop? why give them a reason to stop you? ..why not ask these questions instead of exaggerating your own experience and lying by omission on others?; 11/30/14, 12:30 PM
Laslo Spatula said...: John Lynch said...
is it ok to come to althouse just for betamax? is that wrong?

Come for the betamax, stay for the Laslo. Hopefully.

I am Laslo.; 11/30/14, 12:45 PM
rcocean said...: "When you're stopped by a traffic cop, isn't it just your driver's license he wants? Why would the faculty ID even come up? Maybe I didn't read carefully enough..."

I just show him my "white privilege card". After that, the cop usually apologizes and wishes me a nice day. I'm sure the Vassar ID Card has the same effect, although it doesn't work in some part of America, like Cambridge.; 11/30/14, 12:51 PM
pm317 said...: Doing solo traffic stops is stressful for police.

A young cop flagged/stopped me for speeding on a quiet road in the outskirts of a town in Northern VA one day. He was visibly nervous (and I was a 30 something Indian looking female). I was doing 45+ on a 35 MPH road..Maybe it was his first day on the job.; 11/30/14, 12:53 PM
richard mcenroe said...: Yeah, Ann, you should check your College Privilege too!

Or you could acknowledge you earned those bennies through your own hard work and not one person of color ever missed a smoothie because you ordered a large instead of a medium...; 11/30/14, 12:56 PM
richard mcenroe said...: "So college faculty IDs require blood sacrifice to function? How often does its smoothie power need to be replenished with the blood of innocents?"

Oh, never. Just the souls and consciences of the students. It's a sweet sweet racket.; 11/30/14, 12:57 PM
richard mcenroe said...: Can I get my White Privilege card printed on the back of a Concealed Carry Permit? Saves space in my wallet(can't put it on the back of my NRA card, that's the Dana Loesch pinup this year).; 11/30/14, 1:00 PM
richard mcenroe said...: " He was not impressed that I'd gotten that same ticket on a motorcycle the previous month."

Well, you had a helmet on, he probably thought you were black, and once he'd pulled you over he HAD to write you up for something...; 11/30/14, 1:01 PM
jr565 said...: Um, what is the connection between his ID and some random person shot far away?; 11/30/14, 1:59 PM
jr565 said...: And maybe just maybe the school shouldn't be offering free smoothies as one of the perks. Instead lower costs by not providing bullshit freebies.
Not that that's his point. but since he's going all over the place, I figure I'm allowed the same latitude.; 11/30/14, 2:00 PM
chickelit said...: Vassar Clemency: World's tiniest violinist; 11/30/14, 2:01 PM
jr565 said...: Her ID has literally nothing to do with extrajudicial disciplining and killing of young black human beings.; 11/30/14, 2:02 PM
jr565 said...: The cop gave him a ticket for running a stop sign. So now I'm wondering, did he in fact run the stop sign?
IF he did, is he suggesting that his blackness should allow him to run stop signs?
He mentioned he got YET another ticket. Maybe he's not a very good driver.
There are black people who will run stop signs. Or speed. Or not behave traffic rules. And there will be cops who are white who pull them over for such infractions.
It doesn't mean that every time such a scenario occurs it's a replaying of Emmett Till.

And how are blacks looking into the heart of all white cops and determining racism? I don't have that power to read minds. And I'd imagine most psychics don't either. Yet blacks do?
Is this like a gaydar type thing?
Fuckign get over yourselves black folks.
Tomorrow, there will be a black person pulled over by a white cop. And he might even get killed. It doesn't mean that the cop is necessarily racist and pulled the innocent black guy over for being black.
Why are blacks being so stereotypically racist here?; 11/30/14, 3:02 PM
jr565 said...: This is like saying that blacks are more likely to be found guilty in court as if that statistic is really relevant.
When the very idea of expecting some parity is ridiculous. Every court case is unique with its own unique facts. Every jury is different, and has a make up of different ethnicities. The judge is different most times as are the prosecutors and defense attorneys. So how are you coming up with a pattern that is meaningful when it comes to race?
If every court case was the same and had the same facts, and the same juries, and those juries found one way consistently for blacks and another for whites, THEN you could say there was a bias. But that's not how court cases are run.
So too with police work. Every stop is its own unique incident. Just because it involves a black defendant and a white cop doesn't mean it always follows the same template. Sometimes the cop is a dick, and sometimes the cop is pulling defendant over who did what the cop is accusing him of (And who happens to be black).; 11/30/14, 3:09 PM
Unknown said...: The first mouth gets the score. Since the police are bound (I think) to not publicize when a case is under investigation, any corrections to facts from the first mouth is about as useful as a correction to a news story. My 17 year old son told me this week how many at his HS were upset about the poor black kind in Ferguson shot in the back by a cop. I offered an alternate story, how a 200+ man stole som cigarillos from a convenience store, then threw the clerk into a rack. He and his partner in crime then proceeded walking in the middle of the street where a cop returning from a domestic call told them to get out of the street. The guy then got close enough to the cop that he couldn't open the door, and beat him in the face through the open window. The cop went for his gun, the guy tried to grab it and got shot. The guy started to run away, then charged back. The cop told him to stop, the guy didn't. Then the cop shot and killed him. (my son said the cop should have maybe been less lethal, maybe a Taser).

The cop didn't have a taster (not trained, not issued). He did have a collapsible baton, and couldn't get it in play while he was in the car. He thought about trying to us his flashlight as a weapon, couldn't get to it. The guy had already tried to use the cop's weapon against him and was coming at him and wouldn't stop.

I asked him if thought that was anything like the story he'd heard. All he had to say was, and I quote, "Oh. That was stupid."; 11/30/14, 3:10 PM
jr565 said...: "" He was not impressed that I'd gotten that same ticket on a motorcycle the previous month."

Is that how it works?If you get a ticket for the same thing a month ago the cop can't right you a ticket now? That's good to know. So I might as well get my speeding ticket out of the way now, so that for the rest of the month I can speed to my heart's content since I met my ticket quota.; 11/30/14, 3:14 PM
jr565 said...: "When you're stopped by a traffic cop, isn't it just your driver's license he wants? Why would the faculty ID even come up? Maybe I didn't read carefully enough..."
It sounds like he was putting on airs. "Do you know who I am?! I'm a professor at Vasar!" It's like Reese Witherspoon thinking that because she's a celebrity she gets off a drunk driving charge.
Or does he think that if he didn't show the faculty ID the cop would immediately pull out the baton and start beating him?; 11/30/14, 3:19 PM
Trashhauler said...: Jesus, they should really get over themselves. Most people don't have the luxury of manufacturing guilt this way.; 11/30/14, 3:55 PM
Unknown said...: user: BDNYC

Oh - my friend also uses the honorific "Esq." to refer to himself. It's even part of his personal email address. So narcissism might be part of the explanation.

sounds like you guys are great friends.; 11/30/14, 4:01 PM
Gahrie said...: Is that how it works?If you get a ticket for the same thing a month ago the cop can't right you a ticket now? That's good to know. So I might as well get my speeding ticket out of the way now, so that for the rest of the month I can speed to my heart's content since I met my ticket quota.

jr565:

You missed the point. he was telling his Black friend that it wasn't racism that caused him to get the ticket, and that he (the commentor) had in fact gotten the same ticket himself, and presumably he's White.; 11/30/14, 4:07 PM
Zach said...: "When you're stopped by a traffic cop, isn't it just your driver's license he wants? Why would the faculty ID even come up? Maybe I didn't read carefully enough..."

Yeah, that seems really squirrely to me. In some sense, a government issued photo ID is better than nothing, but a) Vassar is a private school, and b) a traffic cop has the right to ask for a driver's license, so a driver's license is what you should give him.

Giving someone the wrong form of ID is just drawing attention to the fact that you couldn't provide the right form of ID. It invites the question of whether there's some sort of scam going on.; 11/30/14, 4:13 PM
Rick67 said...: By "extrajudicial killing of blacks" does he mean just the ones killed by police? or...?

Aw, what's the point?; 11/30/14, 4:28 PM
Zach said...: I have a university employee ID in my wallet right now, and a government lab ID, and a YMCA membership card. They only real difference is that one has an employee ID and the other has a membership number.

The only reason I would give any one of those to a cop is if there were some question of whether I had a right to be in a particular building, or if my driver's license weren't available. I don't think any one of them qualifies as a legal form of ID.; 11/30/14, 4:28 PM
jr565 said...: Gahrie wrote:
You missed the point. he was telling his Black friend that it wasn't racism that caused him to get the ticket, and that he (the commentor) had in fact gotten the same ticket himself, and presumably he's White.

Sorry, didn't see the whole thing. Was actually responding to Richard who had quoted that one sentence. That'll teach me to not follow whole thread.; 11/30/14, 4:29 PM
Anonymous said...: The DRILL SGT: "But, but the truth is in the story telling, not the actual, you know, facts..."

****

Bingo! With the whining, puling, mewling left, it's never the facts, it's always "the narrative".; 11/30/14, 4:59 PM
Jupiter said...: "But way more than I want to admit, I'm wondering what price we pay for these kinds of ID's, and what that price has to do with the extrajudicial disciplining and killing of young black human beings."

Yeah, I'm kind of wondering the same thing.

Also, that "way more than I want to admit". What's up with that? He doesn't want to admit that he is wondering? Or, he doesn't want to admit how much he is wondering? How much is he wondering, anyway? Are there units of wonderment, like 5.7 mega-Huhs?

I am thinking maybe he should learn some English before he tries to teach it. Affirmative action much? Imagine having to sit through 50 minutes of this idiot.; 11/30/14, 5:02 PM
Anonymous said...: User: BDNYC

Oh - my friend also uses the honorific "Esq." to refer to himself. It's even part of his personal email address. So narcissism might be part of the explanation.

**********

I read that as the horrific "Esq".

And I think that's right. It's every bit as classless as snootifying oneself as putting "PhD" on your personal checks.

Ick.; 11/30/14, 5:05 PM
Char Char Binks, Esq. said...: I wish I had a Vassar card, since I don't have a race card.; 11/30/14, 5:26 PM
jr565 said...: This comment has been removed by the author.; 11/30/14, 5:37 PM
jr565 said...: I wish I had a Vassar card, since I don't have a race card.

Last time I bought a smoothie I had to pay for it. Oh to be so Vassar Privileged.; 11/30/14, 5:38 PM
Chef Mojo said...: Driving While Black? Pussies.

Try being a white guy with long hair driving through the South in an orange '75 Benz 300D with lots of Dead stickers on it. I got pulled over 5 times on a spring tour between Greensboro and Atlanta, with one arrest resulting in a 12 hour stay in the lockup at a Georgia State Police station while they confirmed that, in fact, the culinary herbs I had with me - I was cooking in the parking lots at shows to finance my tour - were not marijuana.

DVB. What a crock. Just deal. And be polite. Real simple.; 11/30/14, 6:03 PM
Chef Mojo said...: Again. Words of wisdom.

In which Frederick Wilson II explains it all for the Cracks of America.; 11/30/14, 6:05 PM
Joe Schmoe said...: I like it when douchey lawyers self-identify with Esq. Saves me a lot of hassle.

We rent out a small house. If an applicant signs their email with "Esq" by their name, we politely decline and say the house is already rented.

We decided that after showing the house to a lawyer. Let's just say we could tell it was going to be more hassle than it was going to be worth.; 11/30/14, 7:46 PM
Lyle said...: Trayvon and Mike would still be alive if they had just shown some strangers a little bit of respect.

Respect!!! Preach it and live it!; 11/30/14, 9:00 PM
The Godfather said...: @Lyle (9:00 PM): I am big on showing respect for others, but neither Martin nor Brown was killed because he didn't show respect. Both died because they violently attacked someone who was armed. Heinlein wrote that an armed society is a polite society, and I hope that as time goes on, and more good citizens go armed, that will be true. But the lesson right now is: Don't attack other people. You can get away with it a lot of times, but the one time you don't, will be your last.; 11/30/14, 10:02 PM
Lyle said...: Godfather,

I don't disagree with you. They fronted on both Zimmermann and Wilson, and jumped them.

If they had shown them respect, they wouldn't have fronted on them, and then jumped them.; 12/1/14, 1:29 AM
Robert Cook said...: "Heinlein wrote that an armed society is a polite society...."

An armed society is a violent society. An armed society is a failed society.; 12/1/14, 7:00 AM
chickelit said...: A disarmed society is an appendage of the State.; 12/1/14, 9:11 PM
Anonymous said...: If a Vassar ID is all it takes to make everything okay with the cop, then it isn't really about race at all.; 12/1/14, 10:40 PM
Kirk Parker said...: Laslo,

"I was at a club downtown and went to the bar to buy more drinks for me and my date"

Well, there's your first mistake...; 12/2/14, 4:20 AM
Kirk Parker said...: No, Cookie, it's the society where only the criminals and the Praetorian Guard (but I repeat myself) are armed.

A society where the sovereign citizens are free to arm themselves as they see fit can sort things out for themselves just fine.; 12/2/14, 4:21 AM