Posted on 07/24/2013 8:53:45 PM PDT by NaturalBornConservative
“There are very few African-American men who haven’t had the experience of walking across the street and hearing the locks click on the doors of cars. That happens to me, at least before I was a senator.” ~ Potus 44
Don’t Patronize Me Bro
- By: Larry Walker, II -
Whatever you do, don’t listen to anything Potus 44 says, period. The truth is that there are very few Black men who haven’t experienced an auto theft, or attempted carjacking. Both have happened to me, twice in my early 20’s and again in my late 30’s.
This past week, diving headlong into Bizarro World, Potus 44 fabricated a story berating the clicking sound of car doors locking as somehow hurtful to the feelings of Black folks. No, seriously. And although it may not have been his intent, in so saying, he affirmed that he really didn’t know what he was doing when he took the job of President, and that there is really no need to take anything he says seriously ever again.
I don’t know who he thinks he is, or what glass bubble he’s been living in, but leaving your car doors unlocked, giving the benefit of the doubt to an approaching stranger, regardless of the age, race or sex of that stranger, is advice only a person completely devoid of common sense would fathom. The impression that the clicking sound of car doors locking is (or ever has been) in any sense racist must rank among the top 10 dumbest notions any Potus has uttered to date.
True racist experiences that I haven’t faced on my own, I have been taught by my father, who grew up in Harlem in the 40’s and 50’s, and lived in Detroit in the late 50’s and early 1960’s. I don’t have any use for the race-baiting rhetoric of Potus 44, who appears to know very little about the Black experience. It’s like listening to an alien, from a Galaxy light-years in the past, trying to explain to me what it’s like to be human. Sometimes I just have to shake my head and wonder whether this guy even believes himself.
Now I don’t know how your car doors operate, but in every car I’ve owned for nearly the last two decades the locks have engaged automatically, either when all the doors are shut or upon ignition, and fortunately so. I say fortunately because of an incident I experienced in my own life.
An Average Day in 1997
The year was 1997, and the incident which follows occurred inside of the Atlanta Metropolitan Area. I had just gotten off work and decided to stop at the corner gas station to fill up. After filling the tank, in an after thought, I decided to get something from inside to carry me through the meeting I was headed to. Not wanting to hog up space at the pump, I decided to park at the back of station and walk to the store. After the purchase, I returned to my car, got inside and sat for a couple of seconds, a thousand thoughts racing through my head. Then suddenly, a suspicious person emerged from the bushes at the front of the car, and passed by the passenger side. I gave the benefit of the doubt that this was just some harmless guy heading to the store from some sort of shortcut. But I was wrong.
As I observed through the rearview mirror, instead of heading into the store, this lunatic headed straight for my rear passenger door and proceeded to pull the latch two or three times. I literally couldn’t believe it was happening, especially in broad daylight. Luckily the door was locked. But then, before I could even react, my mind still half engaged in where I was coming from and where I was headed, he quickly moved to the front passenger side door and started tugging at the latch. Fortunately that door was locked as well.
I had no idea who this man was, but it was clear he represented an imminent threat. When he couldn’t open that door he scurried around the back of the car, heading for the driver’s side doors. That’s when my survival instincts kicked in. I fired up the engine and jolted the car backwards attempting to scare him away. I didn’t want to run the guy over, because that would have only led to my detainment at the very least, and possibly jail time. After backing up just enough, I shifted into drive and sped off, frantically, tires screeching. As I did so, like a zombie this fool was still grasping for my door latch.
Can you imagine what you would do if some violent looking, drugged-up, crack zombie, without warning suddenly jumped into your backseat? I didn’t know whether this guy had a gun or a knife or what his intentions were which is precisely why I fled the scene. I wanted to run into the store and warn them, but the perpetrator was standing in between, with that I don’t give a damn look on his face. He looked like he didn’t have a care in the world, like he was just going to help himself to whatever he wanted, whenever he wanted it, and when he couldn’t get to me, he simply headed towards the next unsuspecting victim.
Exiting into the street, I made a right turn and headed for an auto repair shop two blocks away to call the police. Cellular phones were uncommon at the time, so if you needed to make a call you normally had to find a pay phone, but I didn’t have time for that. I raced into the shop and told them to hurry and call the police, because some lunatic just tried to jack my car and was still out there, just down the street. The manager promptly dialed 911 and handed me the phone. I explained to the operator what happened and provided a description of the suspect.
After the call we all went outside to see what was happening. We could see the same guy, a tall thin Black male in his 30’s or 40’s wearing a white t-shirt and dark pants, out in the middle of the street walking from car to car trying to enter vehicles that were stopped at the traffic light in front of the gas station. People were backing up, turning sideways, running the red light and doing whatever they could to get away from him. It was too surreal.
Well, the police finally arrived, zeroing in on the suspect from all directions. I spoke briefly to one officer while the others took care of the miscreant.
The Lesson
When I was just a child, my father taught me that when heading to your vehicle, always have the keys in your hand ready to insert straight into the lock, open the door quickly, get inside quickly and close and lock the doors. Some lessons a father teaches should never be forgotten. Fortunately I listened, and have practiced this method ever since I started driving. I hope that anyone who hasn’t heard this before will get the message and do the same. Stay safe; keep your windows up and your doors locked, especially in crime-ridden, progressive-run, urban areas; and whatever you do don’t listen to Potus 44.
Word to the Race-Baiter in Chief
Don’t patronize me. It wouldn’t have mattered whether the individual in my story was male or female; black, white, brown, yellow or red; that’s not the point. Now this may hurt your feelings, and the feelings of fellow race-baiting rabble rousers, but that little lecture you gave the other day was the dumbest, sorriest, most pathetic waste of breath I have ever heard in my entire life. As Potus, you have a responsibility to promote the general welfare, but when you stray from your true purpose, as you so egregiously have, and begin sharing your own fears, insecurities and paranoia, which may just be byproducts of your own warped upbringing, as though all of America should be able to identify, you not only make yourself look like a fool, but complicit in the needless loss of young lives.
So here’s a suggestion for you. Since you don’t have any earthly idea what you’re talking about, you would do well to just keep your big mouth shut. As for me and my house, unless and until you come up with a solution for reducing Black-on-Black murder, and the Black crime rate in general, absolutely nothing you mutter about race, or anything else for that matter, will be taken seriously.
Photo via Fox5 San Diego: Two Men Accused of Carjacking Mustang Arrested
Related: Trayvon’s Fatal Mistake
I had an office in a downtown area that was “gentrifying” for thirteen years. I became very familiar with the ways of druggies and street people. I’ve had guys just materialize and jump into the passenger seat right when I popped the lock with the remote to get in the driver’s side. Careful where you park, especially if you’re going to return to your vehicle at night. Bushes, trees, buildings with alleyways or alcoves, park away from them. Circle the vehicle from a distance looking for the drug-addled idiots. They’ll shimmy underneath sometimes. If there is a person or persons loitering about who just don’t seem right, and I don’t care what color they are, don’t unlock the car unless you’re armed and prepared for a confrontation.
‘My car door locks automatically when the car is put into drive.’
Unfortunately, my 13 year old still dependable Buick, UNlocks the doors when put into ‘Park!’ Even that long ago on test-driving the car, I saw the possible problem of hoodlums entering uninvited. . .
I’ve trained myself to immediately power-lock the doors upon parking, and manually unlock the driver’s side to exit. Then, of course, to lock that door with the key fob.
Quite a contrast to the Pope.
PS
Also, I NEVer use the auto key fob to open the doors until I’m right next to my car to hop right in.
Can’t tell you how often I see people unlock their doors half a block away. . .
While I’m at it, can we get car manufacturers to stop the fightening ‘beep’ when some cars are automatically locked and unlocked - ???
Can’t tell you how often I’m near a car ‘going off’ & I must jump a foot off the ground - stupid and annoying and unnecessary.
I guess car companies are also racist. They offer the anti car jack feature on all cars. That’s what I call the automatic drive lock feature on newer cars.
I had the unfortunate luck to be working in the Bronx on some new school building for the children during the Dinkins days. I got off the Cross Bronx at Jerome Ave and stopped behind other traffic at the light. Other traffic stopped behind me so I was boxed in. I notice two suspicious youth walking down the line of cars. They were suspicious since it was too early for the homeless window washers (anther story). They paused at my passenger door; thank God I was in the habit of locking before entering that type of neighborhood. I am not sure if they tried the door or noticed I saw them on approach but the light changed and I moved on.
No doubt Obama's a liar. Here's my experience with the vehicle's I've owned over the last 20 years:
1985 Pontiac Trans Am: Doesn't lock doors Park to Drive.
1994 Ford Thunderbird Super Coupe: didn't lock doors when shifting from Park to Drive. (I distinctly remember this because I had to lock the doors manually when bringing our first child home from the hospital.)
1996 Jeep Cherokee: Didn't lock the doors when shifting from Park to Drive. I distinctly remember this because anytime we had the kids in the back seat I had to manually lock the doors AND I set the child safety lock on both doors so they couldn't open the doors themselves.
1998 Dodge Grand Caravan: Locked the doors from Park to Drive. First vehicle I had that did it. Thought it was a good feature.
2003 GMC Envoy Denali: Does lock the doors when shifting from Park to Drive (but not Park to Reverse.) This is a configurable setting on the vehicle. It can also be set to NOT lock the doors from Park to Drive.
2008 Honda Odyssey Touring: Locks the doors from Park to Reverse or Park to Drive.
Not sure exactly when auto-locking the doors started when shifting from Park to Drive or Park to Reverse but the first vehicle I had that did it was purchased in 1998.
So yes, once again it's entirely possible and entirely LIKELY that Obama's not just a liar, but a damn' liar to boot.
Bigger picture, it’s the American car manufacturers that are racist. They made the auto-door locks so loud that the offended will know when you lock your car. ...Oh and yes, we are racist also for using such a feature. Wink and nod to the “big three”!
Mine auto-lock at around 5 or 10 mph, probably to avoid that locked-out problem you describe.
>>I don’t trust strangers, period. Doesn’t matter what their age, race, gender etc. is. Anyone and everyone approaching me is evaluated. It is called situational awareness, being aware of your surroundings and the activities going on. It keeps you out of trouble.
This would be a good time to bring up Squantos’ tagline:
“Be polite, be professional, but have a plan to kill everyone you meet ...”
One employee was shot in the stomach while his vehicle was carjacked. Another employee, Chico, was shot in the face during a robbery and carjack attempt when he was filling up at a gas station.......both were black by the way.
Ergo, I embrace my 'inner rayciss'.
I'm done playing their f****g game.
My new Ford Focus makes no beeps......I've only had it just over a week so I'm still trying to figure out how everything works. When I use the key fob to lock or unlock it, I have to listen carefully to hear the locks engage. Then I still have to pull the handle to make sure they are locked..........
I cant’ count how many stories I’ve read in my lifetime ...always the same — suburban woman stops at red light, is car jacked by blacks who drag her to some area, rape her or kill her, steal the car, etc.
How many YEARS AND YEARS have we been reading these stories??
And yet somehow WE are racist for wanting to protect ourselves from this?
Illegal in our neck of the woods. Not likely to be overturned with Governor Christie in charge.
Even if you give Obama credit for telling the truth about this (a stretch already), how does he know that WHITE guys walking through parking lots don’t get the SAME reaction?
They should, and I suspect they DO.
The "painful" sound of clicking car doors is kin to the "painful" n-word and the whole panoply of "painful" blasphemies against Mohammed and the Koran. Right behind it will be the "painful" Bible verses about homosexuality.
After he became senator and then POTUS, the reaction is to grab one’s wallet.
Guy calls in to our local radio station and said that three Wal-Mart employees asked if they could help him. To him, it was their way of saying they had their eye on him, since he was black. Next guy calls in and says that if no one had helped the previous caller at Wal-Mart, he would have said they were ignoring him because he was black.
Yeah, that little bit of his race-baiting speech made me wonder, too. Now that he's President, I'll do a lot more than simply lock my doors if I see him coming down the street. Joe the Plumber saw him coming down the street, he didn't lock his door, and look what happened to him.
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