Althouse: "Racism? By whom? This video of Texas cops stopping a black professor is a racial 'Rorschach test.'"

November 4, 2015

"Racism? By whom? This video of Texas cops stopping a black professor is a racial 'Rorschach test.'"

University of North Texas professor Dorothy Bland: "Walking while black is a crime in many jurisdictions... May God have mercy on our nation."

Police chief: "If we didn’t have the video, these officers would have serious allegations against them... Every white officer that stops an African American does not constitute racial profiling."

103 comments:

Big Mike said...: And a truck driver who didn't see her, and ran over her, would be a dirty racist, too.; 11/4/15, 9:49 AM
Abdul Abulbul Amir said...: Another day, another racial hoax.; 11/4/15, 9:54 AM
Sebastian said...: "Every white officer that stops an African American does not constitute racial profiling"

White privilege talking. Get with the Prog program, buddy.; 11/4/15, 9:58 AM
Rick said...: Four points:

1. I've never been stopped for walking on the wrong side of the road. Anyone else?

2. It says a lot that this event made headlines as a racial incident, and that this type of "racism" is enough to earn a professor Victim Points.

3. It's possible for everyone to be a wrong.

4. It's possible for everyone's wrongness to be small.; 11/4/15, 10:04 AM
exhelodrvr1 said...: Next thing they're going to try and tell us is that not every male college student is a rapist!!; 11/4/15, 10:05 AM
PoNyman said...: The initial stop seemed to be ok. She was walking in the street in the wrong direction and, as a runner, I can say that seeing traffic coming towards you is very important. So yes, having someone, even the police, advise her to walk in a safer manner I think is to the good. That said, asking for ID is crazy. It puts people on the defensive and makes a simple everybody is happy stop a serious stop. I'm not sure why they were asking, if it is dept policy or what, but it puts her in a position to refuse a police request (which she didn't do) which is quite daunting for most people.; 11/4/15, 10:06 AM
Anonymous said...: Of course, she is able to walk by herself, safely, in that neighborhood because it is vigilantly patrolled by good cops. I doubt she will be stopped again. She should have takes those good fellows some coffee and doughnuts the next day. But no, she chooses to whine in print. She deserves obloquy.; 11/4/15, 10:07 AM
Matt Sablan said...: "1. I've never been stopped for walking on the wrong side of the road. Anyone else?"

-- No. But I thought she was walking *in the middle* of the road, in which case, I could see someone trying to get her to move.; 11/4/15, 10:09 AM
madAsHell said...: So, like the Jackie woman at Virginia that accuses the man of rape, Ms. Bland will not face any consequence for her false accusations. Sure, the article mentions a petition, but that will mean little to a tenured professor, and dean.

I'm starting to think that all such accusations are false, and may be a form of projection.; 11/4/15, 10:09 AM
Ann Althouse said...: "Every white officer that stops an African American does not constitute racial profiling."

Can we just get it straight that the proper way to write this is: "Not every white officer who stops an African American constitutes racial profiling"?; 11/4/15, 10:14 AM
Anonymous said...: I've been given a ticket for walking in the middle of the road, not merely stopped.

What she was doing was stupid. And after she nearly got hit by a truck, any officer seeing it had a duty to stop her.

She needs to check her black female privilege, and stop whining when people call her on being stupid.; 11/4/15, 10:17 AM
Ann Althouse said...: "1. I've never been stopped for walking on the wrong side of the road. Anyone else?"

1. I wouldn't walk in the road where there's a sidewalk.

2. If I were walking in the road, I wouldn't take a path that would obstruct traffic.

3. If I were walking in the road and any vehicle came up behind me, I'd notice and move to the side so they could pass. I wouldn't keep walking in a position that required it to drive at the pace I was walking.

4. If I were flapping my arms up and down for exercise and I knew I was being closely followed by a vehicle, I wouldn't continue flapping.; 11/4/15, 10:18 AM
gerry said...: This comment has been removed by the author.; 11/4/15, 10:19 AM
Wince said...: Wouldn't that be...

"Not every stop of an African American by a white officer constitutes racial profiling"?; 11/4/15, 10:20 AM
DanTheMan said...: Asking for ID from everybody you stop is pretty standard. It's CYA for the department... imagine the outrage if you stopped a wanted rapist, and you let walk away because you didn't even ask their name...
Dan; 11/4/15, 10:21 AM
lgv said...: She's fortunate to be alive. Many, but not all, cops are killers. Three of the six cops indicted in the Freddie Gray incident were black. It's not just racism. Cops just like to kill people.

I love the "do you know I am" routine. Awesome, you did a executive course at Harvard. "my education or property-owner status didn’t matter." Actually, it did. Once you gave them the information, everything was OK. She's just another attention seeker through victimhood type. I think Ron Kirk got it right.; 11/4/15, 10:21 AM
Gusty Winds said...: And this is a professor, once again demonstrating the stupidity that oozes from our national self-proclaimed, prestigious intellectuals. The cops had to stop and tell this smarter than everyone else professor, to use safety methods we try and teach children.

And what's with the arm flapping? She must have been listening to Morris Day and the Time.; 11/4/15, 10:23 AM
MadisonMan said...: I've been given a ticket for walking in the middle of the road, not merely stopped.

I have to ask: Why were you walking in the middle of the road?

Now everyone knows about Dorothy Bland, teaching at a backwater School somewhere in the middle of nowhere. Mission Accomplished!; 11/4/15, 10:23 AM
Original Mike said...: Why do all of these incidents start out with the "victim" walking down the middle of the road? There were good sidewalks on each side. She was trolling for a confrontation.; 11/4/15, 10:26 AM
Nichevo said...: http://althouse.blogspot.com/2015/11/racism-by-whom-this-video-of-texas-cops.html?showComment=1446653653396#c3433754417823492985

No, Ann, your grammar is shitty there too.; 11/4/15, 10:30 AM
Gusty Winds said...: Ann Althouse said... If I were walking in the road and any vehicle came up behind me, I'd notice and move to the side so they could pass. I wouldn't keep walking in a position that required it to drive at the pace I was walking.

You can tell a lot about people in the way they cross the road, or deal with cars in a busy parking lot. Some slow their pace and don't even bother to quick step as if ownership of that little piece of public land somehow validates their pride and sense of being. Others do what they can to get out of the way of cars as quickly as possible. The former are idiots.

Spandex clad bicyclists are the worst when is comes to ownership of the road, which were really built for cars.; 11/4/15, 10:31 AM
Nichevo said...: Many blacks seem to trail their coats. Oops, was that racist? So sad.; 11/4/15, 10:32 AM
Bob Boyd said...: Maybe she's just angling for a free beer.
If that's the case then I can respect her. Hell, it was worth a try.; 11/4/15, 10:32 AM
PoNyman said...: A 'papers, please' norm for many interactions with police, I believe, leads to a greater evil than the very slim chance of nabbing someone. As any society, we will always be trying to weigh the balance between complete freedom and complete safety. So a request for ID in this particular stop without some mitigating factor and without the intent to issue a warning or a ticket crosses my line. The stop itself doesn't. CYA is not a good reason in cases like this.; 11/4/15, 10:33 AM
Holding My Nose said...: I watched the video and it seemed to me that Prof. Bland got worked up as the encounter went on. At first she seemed to not have a problem but by the time the cops were done with her she seems to have gotten into a bit of a snit. Then she came out with her charges of racism and "walking while black". As the Sheriff noted it's fortunate that the cops had a video to support them or they would probably have gone under the PC bus.; 11/4/15, 10:34 AM
Nonapod said...: I'm surprised at how many people seem to be unaware that when there's no sidewalks present you're supposed to walk toward oncoming traffic. I constantly see people walking with traffic.; 11/4/15, 10:37 AM
Tank said...: Original Mike said...

Why do all of these incidents start out with the "victim" walking down the middle of the road? There were good sidewalks on each side. She was trolling for a confrontation.

Lots of people prefer to jog or walk in the street. Usually it's easier on the feet and knees than the concrete sidewalks, and less likely to have raised sections which can trip you. When caught up in exercise, especially with headphones on, people tend to drift out into the middle of the street. I'm not endorsing it, just noticing. I see this all the time.

This looked like a rather pleasant interaction, with some annoyance at being asked for ID; I suspect this is just SOP for recordkeeping best practices.; 11/4/15, 10:37 AM
Gabriel said...: @Ann:Can we just get it straight that the proper way to write this is: "Not every white officer who stops an African American constitutes racial profiling"?

"All that glisters is not gold—
Often have you heard that told.
Many a man his life hath sold
But my outside to behold.
Gilded tombs do worms enfold."

Good enough for Shakespeare, good enough for the rest of us.; 11/4/15, 10:37 AM
Original Mike said...: "Lots of people prefer to jog or walk in the street. Usually it's easier on the feet and knees than the concrete sidewalks, and less likely to have raised sections which can trip you. When caught up in exercise, especially with headphones on, people tend to drift out into the middle of the street."

We have a name for these people; road kill.; 11/4/15, 10:41 AM
CWJ said...: Like the original clock boy story, it's a local story covered by national media. Why? Clickbait for WAPO. I particularly noticed the inserted irrelevant photos of Freddy Gray and Trayvon Martin (held by mother). It takes a lot of work generating controversy, otherwise things might resolve themselves on their own. Can't have that.; 11/4/15, 10:43 AM
Wince said...: Do you know how I first learned you are supposed to walk on the side of oncoming traffic if there is no sidewalk?

An episode of "Adam-12".

In almost a PSA rather than part of the plot, Reed and Malloy stop two young woman walking with the traffic.

As I remember, they returned to the squad car essentially acknowledging the two girls were hotties.

Of course, that was an example of sexual harassment.; 11/4/15, 10:45 AM
TosaGuy said...: I run on the road all the time. I also run facing traffic and wear bright/reflective clothing. I also never wear headphones.

Good thing I only have a masters. Turns out one loses that bit of information when they have a PhD.; 11/4/15, 10:45 AM
Hagar said...: A long time ago now, I did get some tickets for "driving while young and male," and several more when I went to driving a "furrin' sporty car" with 3 coats of wax on it at the same time as the ABQ PD put on an unofficial patriotic drive to help out Detroit, which was having troubles at the time, by ticketing "imports" for anything they could think of.

Black people - and the media - need to get over this idea that blacks are the only people shit happens to. They my be getting more than their share, but what is going on now is that a lot of it is intentionally provoked, and I do not think that is helpful to the cause.

And walking in the middle of the street is dangerous, even in a residential neighborhood.

My street is used by a lot of people to avoid going through the traffic light at the arterial street behind us, and we have even school busses barrelling up through here at 40 - 50 mph with parked cars and trucks on both sides so that they cannot see all that well.; 11/4/15, 10:54 AM
Etienne said...: Once you hyphenate your Americanism, you are a foreigner.

Put them on the boat and send them back to their hyphened homeland.; 11/4/15, 10:55 AM
Char Char Binks, Esq. said...: PoNyman said...
"...asking for ID is crazy. It puts people on the defensive and makes a simple everybody is happy stop a serious stop."

You're quite simply wrong. Asking for ID is SOP, and she wasn't obligated to give it. It's called ASKING. And it didn't put Bland on the defensive; she was on the offensive when she started her walk trying to get cops involved in some racial outrage.

Rick said...

"3. It's possible for everyone to be a wrong.

4. It's possible for everyone's wrongness to be small."

How were the cops wrong? Are they just default wrong because they're white? Is that a big wrongness, or a small wrongness? And Bland's wrongness was small only in comparison with someone like Michael Brown who assaulted a cop after he told him to get out of the street. Niggas gon' nig.; 11/4/15, 11:02 AM
Rick said...: Original Mike said...
Why do all of these incidents start out with the "victim" walking down the middle of the road

This one didn't. She's clearly walking on the side along with traffic (if there were any at least). At one point she walks further into the road to avoid a puddle. But she had moved further right when the car first came up behind her and by the time she's avoiding the puddle the police car had stopped.

If you've seen the video the streets are wide and mostly unobstructed by parked cars. There is plenty of room to pass.; 11/4/15, 11:04 AM
n.n said...: Bland's logic can be extrapolated as: any time an individual is stopped, but not another, it must be because of prejudice. If she chooses to color the selected individual, then it can only be because she practices class diversity.; 11/4/15, 11:04 AM
Gusty Winds said...: "“Motorists are less likely to stop for an African American pedestrian in a crosswalk,” Kunkle wrote, citing a recent study. “A black pedestrian’s wait time at the curb was about 32 percent longer than a white person’s. Black pedestrians were about twice as likely as white pedestrians to be passed by multiple vehicles.”

Total bullshit. And, I wonder if the study took into account that African-American Pedestrians take 32% longer to cross the street. Or what does "less likely to stop for and African-American in a cross walk mean? Drivers are running over people while they are in the middle of the street? Or people are playing frogger as they are crossing the street?

I started three sentences in the above paragraph with conjunctions.; 11/4/15, 11:13 AM
bleh said...: Wow, that video tells quite a story. And according to the police chief, it is department policy to ask for ID in situations like that. This woman's ridiculous interpretation of the interaction is not respectable. I hope she loses her cushy job.

Remember when the original story in Ferguson was that Michael Brown was asked to walk on the sidewalk instead of the street, when in reality Darren Wilson was responding to a robbery complaint? The narrative was better when the cop was just being nosy and harassing black people.; 11/4/15, 11:14 AM
Rusty said...: I'm often castigated by bicycle riders for walking my dog on the wrong side of the bicycle path.
To which I respond.
"Go fuck yourself."; 11/4/15, 11:15 AM
Jimmy said...: Another glorious example of an American intellectual following the Party line. We older folks used to make fun of the Soviet Union and other communist countries for exactly the same behavior.
Critical thinking? Na, not at most universities. Free Speech, Na, its against the Party line.
Always stick with the Party line, its the best way to show how free you are.; 11/4/15, 11:16 AM
Rick said...: Ann Althouse said...

1. I wouldn't walk in the road where there's a sidewalk.

Would it be unreasonable to choose the street so her arm exercises wouldn't interfere with casual walkers? Why would this matter?

2. If I were walking in the road, I wouldn't take a path that would obstruct traffic.

This isn't shown in the video. There is no traffic other than the police car, the road is unobstructed. There is plenty of room for traffic.

3. If I were walking in the road and any vehicle came up behind me, I'd notice and move to the side so they could pass. I wouldn't keep walking in a position that required it to drive at the pace I was walking.

She does move to the side, at the 12-15 second point. Even before that though there is plenty of room to pass. They are certainly not constricted by her pace.

4. If I were flapping my arms up and down for exercise and I knew I was being closely followed by a vehicle, I wouldn't continue flapping.

I don't see why this matters given the available passing space.; 11/4/15, 11:17 AM
clint said...: Ann Althouse said...
"Every white officer that stops an African American does not constitute racial profiling."

Can we just get it straight that the proper way to write this is: "Not every white officer who stops an African American constitutes racial profiling"?

11/4/15, 10:14 AM

If you pay close attention, you'll notice that most of the time editors will "clean up" their quotes -- fixing the grammar to make them easier to read. The poor grammar in the quote is supposed to signal to you the reader which of the people quoted is right and which one is a racist bumpkin.

The effect is actually not that subtle, once you start to notice it.; 11/4/15, 11:20 AM
Sal said...: “Motorists are less likely to stop for an African American pedestrian in a crosswalk,” Kunkle wrote...

In my experience, black people have their own crosswalks, which only they can see. Second, although most of the world's fastest sprinters are black, it takes them 3 times longer to cross the street than a non-black.; 11/4/15, 11:20 AM
Char Char Binks, Esq. said...: Ann, how Rashomon-like, as it's called in the linked article, was this? I know you have views on that.; 11/4/15, 11:24 AM
Matt said...: Prof. Bland was walking in the middle of the street, when there was a sidewalk, and waving her arms. To me, this behavior is rude. Walking in the middle of the street forces cars to slow down or stop just because you don't want to walk on the sidewalk. Other than cutting in line, I can't think of a better example of inconsiderate behavior.

I'm beginning to wonder, though, if other cultures in America have different definitions of rude. Taking out the criminal law issues, are there people who think Prof. Bland's behavior was completely innocuous? If so, the cultural divide between different cultures in America is wider than I thought.; 11/4/15, 11:24 AM
damikesc said...: Spandex clad bicyclists are the worst when is comes to ownership of the road, which were really built for cars.

I'll go further and say cyclists have NO right to the road, since the lion's share of road funding is off of gas taxes.; 11/4/15, 11:29 AM
damikesc said...: I'm beginning to wonder, though, if other cultures in America have different definitions of rude. Taking out the criminal law issues, are there people who think Prof. Bland's behavior was completely innocuous? If so, the cultural divide between different cultures in America is wider than I thought.

Hate to be rude, but blacks here seem oblivious to any semblance of courtesy in parking lots. If you see two cars blocking the entire lane to chat with each other, they tend to be black. If you are waiting for somebody to cross the road in the parking lot, it is usually a black person.

Not sure why, but that's the reality here.; 11/4/15, 11:30 AM
I Callahan said...: Three of the six cops indicted in the Freddie Gray incident were black. It's not just racism. Cops just like to kill people.

My father was a cop in Detroit for 25 years, all of those on the street - no desk job. He never killed a single person.

You're a blithering idiot.; 11/4/15, 11:33 AM
Tank said...: @I Callahan

I think he was joking.; 11/4/15, 11:38 AM
Tank said...: Original Mike said...

"Lots of people prefer to jog or walk in the street. Usually it's easier on the feet and knees than the concrete sidewalks, and less likely to have raised sections which can trip you. When caught up in exercise, especially with headphones on, people tend to drift out into the middle of the street."

We have a name for these people; road kill.

Especially at night in the suburbs. Some people, dressed so darkly, you see just as you are passing them (hopefully).; 11/4/15, 11:40 AM
campy said...: "He never killed a single person."

How many married people did he kill?; 11/4/15, 11:40 AM
I Callahan said...: I think he was joking.

If that's the case, I take it back. If that's the case. It's really hard to tell there.; 11/4/15, 11:41 AM
I Callahan said...: :0, Campy!!; 11/4/15, 11:42 AM
Mary Beth said...: If you've seen the video the streets are wide and mostly unobstructed by parked cars. There is plenty of room to pass.

If someone has their back to you and is listening to headphones, you can't be sure they know you're there and won't veer off to the left suddenly.; 11/4/15, 11:42 AM
Owen said...: Hilarious. Both the incident and the comments. My own view: (1) TosaGuy says it well. You don't screw with cars, they are big and blind. Stay out of their way, assume they're driven by drunks. You wear strobe lights, you should be paranoid to the max. I say that as a bicyclist, motorcyclist and pedestrian. And a driver. (2) I wonder if this woman was cruising for a bruising, like Saint Michael Brown, he of blessed memory, who provoked his cop encounter by walking down the middle of the road? What was her rationale for needlessly endangering herself and obstructing traffic? As a motorist if I have to dodge pedestrians I will have to slow (risking a rear-end collision) and veer (risking a collision with oncoming traffic) so we are all facing greater risk: why? This Social Justice Warrior has increased net system risk, why exactly? (3) thank God the cops had their cameras running. Bring it! (4) will she suffer any consequences? If all she did was write a false letter it is "merely" defamation but maybe not actionable. But if she filed a false complaint? That might be worth pursuing; or using to get her fired. (5) journalism is supposed to be at least a little ethical, bringing the people the truth. What then was this?; 11/4/15, 11:44 AM
AllenS said...: America would have been better off, if the cops had shot the bitch.; 11/4/15, 11:50 AM
dbp said...: Sidewalk: What could this name possibly mean? I run on roads and face traffic whenever possible*. When there is a sidewalk, I run on the sidewalk unless I happen to be running barefoot--the sidewalks are invariably covered in gravel around here and the roads are clean.

If a police officer ever gives me a hard time about running in the road when there is a sidewalk or running with traffic on the rare stretches where that happens, I do not plan on giving him a hard time about it.

*One rural route has three right turns all in about 200 hundred yards. I stay to the right since otherwise I would have to wait to cross the road three times to do it legally. There is a wide shoulder and cars are never delayed by me.; 11/4/15, 11:54 AM
Lem Vibe Bandit said...: A baseless charge of racism should be taken just as seriously damming as a legitimate racism charge.

To do otherwise is to go backwards.; 11/4/15, 11:56 AM
Levi Starks said...: This one is indeed a close call, but I'm going with the black lady. I live in a neighborhood that looks much like hers, and I often prefer the street because it tends to be a more regular surface. I do usually travel facing traffic, for my personal safety, but not always. I find the very idea that I would be stopped by the police to be absurd. We didn't see the supposed truck she impeded, I'm OK with the police checking her welbeing, but once they determined she wasn't intoxicated, or otherwise impaired, and informed her that it would be safer to walk facing traffic, they should have said have a nice day and left. Asking for ID in this situation was a way to extend an already uncomfortable encounter.
So, both parties made mistakes, the lady made amateur mistakes, the police made professional mistakes.; 11/4/15, 12:05 PM
Bill said...: @Lem A baseless charge of racism should be taken just as seriously damming as a legitimate racism charge.

Spot-on. And the baseless "hater" smear should be recognized for what it is, too.; 11/4/15, 12:05 PM
Michael said...: Most children are taught to walk facing traffic, not with traffic. One would think that the professor would have known this very simple rule.
That said, the cops should have just driven on by. If a middle aged woman does not know the basics it is too late and too much of a waste of time to try to bring her up to speed.

It is just amazing how often these encounters with police are encounters with police.; 11/4/15, 12:09 PM
MadisonMan said...: since the lion's share of road funding is off of gas taxes.

It's as if people on bikes don't also drive cars and pay gas taxes!; 11/4/15, 12:12 PM
Big Mike said...: @Levi, the police were polite and professional. The woman is a jerk. If you and she both were run over by a truck driver who didn't see you until too late, you'd be seriously inconveniencing those truck drivers. Learn to think about other people besides yourself.; 11/4/15, 12:14 PM
traditionalguy said...: Cultural differences seem to be at the root of many racial misunderstandings. The African American instinct seems to be to wander around and cut corners across the grass like a free range human. The Teutonic instinct seems to be to walk in straight lines to a right angle corners and stay on the paved sidewalks.

Neither one understands how the other thinks. Law enforcement here acts on instinct at first encounter until ID interaction is politely made... what more can a wanderer ask for.

At my College campus the sidewalks were nicely laid out, but within a year or two from installation the dirt path shortcuts in use are accepted and paved over too.; 11/4/15, 12:17 PM
rcocean said...: What kind of fool walks in the road with her BACK facing traffic? The cops should have ignored her - and let her be run over. Even a six year old know you walk facing traffic.

Plus she's flapping her arm while walking? What's up with that? If you want to get your heart-rate up, walk faster.; 11/4/15, 12:22 PM
Unknown said...: Why did the professor not cross the road? Because she did not have the brains of a chicken.; 11/4/15, 12:24 PM
Rob said...: Seeing Professor Bland flapping her arms made me want to go back and see "Birdman" again.; 11/4/15, 12:27 PM
Hammond X. Gritzkofe said...: Shift Supervisor, reading shift report: "so..'stopped person jogging in street in traffic direction and flailing arms; reminded them to jog against traffic for their safety.' Male or female?"

Beat cop: "Female."

Supervisor: "Age?"

Beat Cop: "Umm, middle age, I guess."

Supervisor: "Got a name?"

Beat Cop: "Didn't ask."

Supervisor: "Live in the neighborhood?"

Beat Cop: "Don't Know."

Supervisor: "Race?"

Beat Cop: "Umm, Black. Couldn't tell till she turned around after we flagged her, cause she had a hood up. It was kinda misty out."

Supervisor: "OK, well you know it's standard procedure to ask anybody we come in contact with for identification and make a record of their name and numbers. Then you call in for a warrants check. Never know who you're gonna find out there. So.. I'm gonna let this go with a verbal warning this time, but next time it will go in writing in your personnel record. Understand?

Beat Cop: "Yes sir. Got it, Sarg."; 11/4/15, 12:29 PM
Fernandinande said...: Black woman stopped for impeding traffic, not ticketed and nothing happens = national news.

"Black black blackity black."

"I was dressed in a gray hooded “Boston” sweatshirt, black leggings, white socks, plus black-and-white Nike running shoes."

So they couldn't tell her race from behind.

"I don’t remember getting a decent answer before one of the officers asked me where I lived and for identification."

Terrible memory, more likely just lying.

"Black black blackity black."

Apparently you can't repeat it too often.; 11/4/15, 12:38 PM
damikesc said...: It's as if people on bikes don't also drive cars and pay gas taxes!

Their CARS belong.

Their BIKES do not.; 11/4/15, 12:44 PM
Michael said...: damikesc

Get them to change the law. Until then I think you should watch your temper. Typing in all caps leads to running bikes off the road. Felony. Slammer. Noisy place.; 11/4/15, 12:55 PM
Fernandinande said...: This comment has been removed by the author.; 11/4/15, 12:57 PM
Fernandinande said...: AA: Can we just get it straight that the proper way to write this is: "Not every white officer who stops an African American constitutes racial profiling"?

That's still incorrect, unless you're claiming that officers, the people rather than their actions, can constitute racial profiling.

Heck, even using the phrase "African American" is incorrect, because you're using a political label to describe someone's race. In case you hadn't noticed, not all Africans are black, and some blacks in America aren't Americans.

Or are you implying that black non-Americans, Canadians or Africans, don't count?

"Not every stop of a black person by white cops constitutes racial profiling." Easy.; 11/4/15, 1:01 PM
James Pawlak said...: It was NOT "racial profiling:; But, one incident of a "probability statement" as supported by such as (Rev.) Jessie Jackson.; 11/4/15, 1:01 PM
Ignorance is Bliss said...: Ann Althouse said...

Can we just get it straight that the proper way to write this is: "Not every white officer who stops an African American constitutes racial profiling"?

Only if we believe that an officer constitutes racial profiling.

How about Not every incident in which a white officer stops an African American constitutes racial profiling.

Or maybe Not every time that a white officer stops an African American constitutes racial profiling.; 11/4/15, 1:09 PM
Gabriel said...: @MadisonMan:It's as if people on bikes don't also drive cars and pay gas taxes!

Don't mention the fungibility of money, you'll just give them no reason to live.

I vote for tolls whenever it comes up for a vote (which is pretty much never), they are the fairest way possible to pay for roads. Unfortunately, being fungible, profitable routes get raided to pay for light rail and the like.; 11/4/15, 2:31 PM
jacksonjay said...: The damned hoodie is the giveaway?

"... I had no interest in my life’s story playing out like Trayvon Martin’s death."

Busted you troll!; 11/4/15, 2:44 PM
holdfast said...: Clearly "Obeying Common-Sense Rules" = "Acting White". And we don't want that now, do we?

Haven't the po-po figured out that they are being trolled? It's a two-fer - blacktavists get to proclaim how they are exempt from the legal and societal norms by acting like, well, idiots, and then when the cops are dumb/courageous enough to call them on it, the blacktavists get to cry racism, become a celebrity and maybe even get to see the President.; 11/4/15, 2:47 PM
jacksonjay said...: "I refuse to let this incident ruin my life."

This crazy bitch ditint count on a dash cam video, huh?; 11/4/15, 2:50 PM
Brando said...: First, the profiling that takes place is profiling of men, not women, so nice try lady! You can't play the victim card here, much as that may earn you points in your academic enclave.

Second, what did the cops do that was so bad--ask for ID? That's sort of a routine thing--you never know if you're going to nab some fugitive. But from the sound of things they were entirely professional with her and even polite (and some cops can be rude at times, though rudeness is something mature adults will have to encounter and handle in their own mature fashion. Apparently not for the permanently chip-on-shoulder types).

Third, where exactly does she get the idea that her race got her worse treatment? Does she know these same cops don't stop white people, or check their IDs? Clearly if you go through life looking to be offended, it's not hard to find something to do it. It may get you some attention among the SJW crowd, but it's a hollow victory. It makes life a lot harder to get through.

And are blacks really better off with cops avoiding them entirely? Is that really not going to have negative consequencess for them?

This woman sounds like the real bigot here. Maybe she shouldn't be teaching.; 11/4/15, 2:56 PM
William said...: She's a teacher of journalism. I see no evidence here that she's capable of telling an objective, unbiased story. What does she teach her students? Perhaps she should teach agitprop. ......Also, isn't it as much a provocation for her to take out her camera and photograph the cops and their squad car as for the cops to ask her for identification?; 11/4/15, 3:56 PM
Scott said...: What is it with Blacks walking down the middle of the road? Hope it doesn't catch on. Next thing you know they'll be flapping their arms....; 11/4/15, 4:36 PM
jr565 said...: Althouse wrote:
"1. I've never been stopped for walking on the wrong side of the road. Anyone else?"

1. I wouldn't walk in the road where there's a sidewalk.

2. If I were walking in the road, I wouldn't take a path that would obstruct traffic.

3. If I were walking in the road and any vehicle came up behind me, I'd notice and move to the side so they could pass. I wouldn't keep walking in a position that required it to drive at the pace I was walking.

4. If I were flapping my arms up and down for exercise and I knew I was being closely followed by a vehicle, I wouldn't continue flapping.

all totally reasonable responses. At one point in the video she is walking down the middle of the street, CLEARLY oblivious to what is going on behind her, if you walk in the direction of traffic you probably shouldn't be walking in the middle of the street.

But of course, that is merely your white privilege talking and not plain common sense. Those racist cops!; 11/4/15, 4:50 PM
The Godfather said...: My impression from the video is that the Prof treated this encounter as racial harrassment before the cops did anything that could possibly be called objectionable. Now, you could conclude from that either that Blacks have been victims of police racism for so long that their natural reaction is to expect racism in any encounter with the police, or that this privileged Black person was looking for a chance to make an ideological point. I don't know which interpretation is correct, but the video makes clear that these two cops did everything right, and can't be held responsible for the sins of Bull Conner.; 11/4/15, 4:56 PM
jr565 said...: Ponyman wrote:
A 'papers, please' norm for many interactions with police, I believe, leads to a greater evil than the very slim chance of nabbing someone. As any society, we will always be trying to weigh the balance between complete freedom and complete safety. So a request for ID in this particular stop without some mitigating factor and without the intent to issue a warning or a ticket crosses my line. The stop itself doesn't. CYA is not a good reason in cases like this.

with respects, that is bull crap. If cops have to interact with people they need to document the interaction.
Imagine if they were asked what they did and they said "we stopped some lady and told her to walk up,the other side of the street." Where's the proof? Or did you just sit in your squad car and then make up this story.

Or even worse, that lady you stopped tuned put to have outstanding warrants and is wanted for a cop murder. Why didn't you get her name?
When I used to work in IT we needed to write up a ticket for any interaction, no matter how slight. And if we didn't it would often come back to haunt us. As in, the partner called about the open issue and you don't even have a ticket. YOURE FIRED!

So, just for the sake of figuring out who they are talking to, and to dot their i's and cross their t's, asking for ID is necessary.; 11/4/15, 4:57 PM
Michael said...: This woman like so many others of her race missed the chance to be oppressed, missed the opportunity to display real bravery before the dogs and the firehoses, missed the opportunity to march in the humid south, missed the entire horror of the Jim Crow era. Her behavior here does no honor to those who did not miss those things in those very bad times.; 11/4/15, 5:05 PM
Quaestor said...: “Motorists are less likely to stop for an African American pedestrian in a crosswalk,” Kunkle wrote, citing a recent study.

If the recent study was conducted by anyone with the critical thinking skills of Diane Bland (a professor of journalism, for gawd's sake!) then I would also expect studies that conclude UFOs come from Atlantis reliable.; 11/4/15, 5:05 PM
jr565 said...: "... I had no interest in my life’s story playing out like Trayvon Martin’s death."

the better example would be Michael Browns death, since tray on wasn't killed by cops. But regardless - you don't want the incident to become like treyvon Martin and look what happens? IT DOESNT. Because you didn't do anything that caused the issue to escalate. And when that doesn't happen, it's very unlikely that it will.
Congrats!; 11/4/15, 5:06 PM
Quaestor said...: In most jurisdictions it is illegal to walk in the road if a suitable paved sidewalk is available.

Diana Bland notes with evident pride that she pays taxes, taxes which pay for the construction and maintenance of the nice sidewalk that is plainly evident in the video -- the sidewalk she plainly ignores because she's TOO GODDAMNED STUPID to avail herself of the safe and legal option provided by her tax dollars. Instead of whingeing about racism she should wonder why she escaped without a misdemeanor charge.

Some years ago joggers became a problem in my small town. Every morning, at the same time normal people are making their way to work, troops of fitness zombies would appease their gods by running from Point A to Point A by way of every major thoroughfare, thus accomplishing nothing. These zombies received divine guidance that the sidewalks were anathema to the fitness gods, so they ran in the streets, causing motorists to swerve around them, sometimes into the path of oncoming traffic. Normal people began to complain. Therefore it was decided to enforce the pre-existing ordinances regarding pedestrian use of the motorways. The jogging zombies started to get stopped and ticketed by our valiant urban centurions -- a $10 fine plus court costs -- $110 in cash, payable at the Clerk's office.

The zombies consulted the fitness gods, who sent down new revelations about the detrimental health issues of asphalt.; 11/4/15, 5:31 PM
Etienne said...: That woman is the reason why the "N" word will never die.; 11/4/15, 5:38 PM
Steven Wilson said...: You know what. If you are walking in the middle of the road, unless it's a one way street, by definition and default all of the traffic traveling in one direction or the other will be approaching behind. So, it's probably not a survival tactic to walk in the middle of the road whether or not you happen to be an arm flapper.

Maybe that's another category of police stops we should investigate, being stopped for walking while flapping arms.; 11/4/15, 5:51 PM
Ctmom4 said...: The mayor, who is black, said she was looking for her "Skip Gates moment". I think he has it right. She wants her 15 minutes and her "oppressed black body" bona fides.; 11/4/15, 7:53 PM
pm317 said...: Why was she walking in the middle of the road?; 11/4/15, 9:54 PM
chickelit said...: Bland ambition; 11/4/15, 10:06 PM
William said...: Prejudice is a common human failing. Why is it only a failing of white people?......I don't think homophobia or sexism is restricted to white people. It seems to be rather more diminished in them than in other races. If I said this anywhere other than the Internet, I would be accused and convicted of bigotry.; 11/4/15, 10:35 PM
Left Bank of the Charles said...: It's curious that for several seconds at the start of the video there is picture but no sound. Seems as though the police edited that out. If they were discussing how best to give the safety lesson or how concerned for her safety they were, they would have left that in. Also, I'd be curious to hear their conversation after they got back in the police car. That was a quick cut.; 11/5/15, 12:38 AM
Carnifex said...: As was stated upthread. Nigga's gonna nig. I hate what the last eight years have done to my opinion about black people. There appears, every now and then, one with a modicum of intelligence. But that is offset by the millions streaming through our public education system.; 11/5/15, 12:54 AM
BN said...: Why don't we do it in the road?; 11/5/15, 1:17 AM
Unknown said...: She's just doing the asshole stroll.; 11/5/15, 4:53 AM
love johnson said...: Until she removed her hoodie top, who could anyone tell what race she was? If I was the cop, my question would have been why aren't you walking on the sidewalk....either of them?

The other issue most seem to have is the asking for her ID and the address check. Remember that he was a training officer with a trainee, so he was going to do everything by the book. CPD writes reports for every stop, so they were going to write this up, thus they needed all the info on her they could get.; 11/5/15, 5:39 AM
Graham Powell said...: I think "Not every white officer who stops an African American constitutes racial profiling" can't be taken seriously because of all the ridicule that "Not every man..." has taken.; 11/5/15, 8:18 AM
MaxedOutMama said...: I can only HOPE that if I am ever walking down the middle of a road waving my arms that some cops will stop to see if I am all right. I wouldn't be. I would need help, dammit, and that's what they are there for. Public safety.

No one normal walks in the middle of the street. It's either the side or the sidewalk, if available. I suspect this woman was looking for a confrontation.

Either that, or she's really, really strange. Maybe the next time we will hear of her will be when she's suing some zoo because she reached in between the bars to pet the big fuzzy striped kitty, and lost half her hand. "They should have put up signs!" she will wail on the witness stand. "They should have posted warnings 'Don't Enter The Carnivore's Cages'"

She's that type of woman. She does the STUPID and then blames other people for the results.

Considering the accidents police officers must deal with, I would think they would want to get people out of traffic. It's not fun to deal with mangled flesh. It seems to me that lowering one's own risk of being mangled flesh should be an even higher priority for the pedestrian!; 11/5/15, 9:25 AM