Posted on 11/20/2005 12:18:16 PM PST by Diana in Wisconsin
Whenever there's a racial incident involving an African American in an overwhelmingly white suburb, it's another embarrassing reminder that the ugly history of separation between the races in America can erupt into the open at any time.
It's a reminder to whites, that is. African Americans don't have to be reminded. They are aware of that possibility every day of their lives.
No African American, no matter how high he or she may rise, is ever safe from being subjected to racial fears - or far worse - from whites for simply being "in the wrong place at the wrong time."
It shows just how far we have to go in the 21st century that there are still public areas so blindingly white they would be considered "the wrong place" for African Americans to be.
Blatant racism toward African Americans for daring to venture into white enclaves is downright un-American. But, let's take a moment also to pity the poor white people.
Take the recent incident involving Milwaukee Ald. Michael McGee. McGee, like his father before him, is a passionate, in-your-face battler against racism on behalf of the African Americans he represents.
No one would expect him to remain silent after police rousted him out of a parking lot of a Blockbuster store in suburban Wauwatosa and then, a block or so away, pulled him over, handcuffed and arrested him for disorderly conduct and had his car towed away.
He filed a complaint claiming he was roughed up and had his head slammed against the hood of his car while being cuffed by the police for doing what comes naturally - making a short, fiery, public speech, really just a few succinct words.
The incident started when employees at Blockbuster called Wauwatosa police because they said a "suspicious" car was in the parking lot of the store after closing time. Golly, I wonder what could be suspicious about a car in a lighted parking lot occupied by an African American.
The fact that it was an African American employee who made the call doesn't change anything, except to make the story sadder.
The police, who arrived within minutes, told McGee, who was in the car with a woman, that the employees inside were afraid to leave the store.
There are several interesting facts in that sentence. One is that there is so little actual crime in Wauwatosa that police have time to respond instantly to a report of the presence of a vehicle in a parking lot.
It could be worse. There are video stores in this country where African Americans are allowed to come right into the stores and rent videos.
Apparently, if anything that terrifying ever happened in Wauwatosa, the entire staff would run screaming into the night. The Wauwatosa Police Department would have to don riot gear and seal off the area to make sure nobody escaped with a copy of "Coach Carter."
McGee agreed to leave the parking lot so the employees could make a run for safety. But, McGee being McGee, before he drove away, he made a short public address to the retail employees to admonish them about presuming that any black man they see must be a criminal.
Locked securely behind thick plate glass, the employees told police they could only make out one short word McGee employed, but that was enough for the police to decide McGee's conduct had been disorderly.
If a black man sitting in a parking lot is enough to frighten the good citizens of Wauwatosa, one directly addressing them with strong language could traumatize their tender sensibilities for the rest of their lives.
This is not the first time Wauwatosa has been terrorized by the presence of African Americans up close. Because the suburb is directly adjacent to Milwaukee, there have been border crossings before.
My wife and I were caught in the middle of what the media described in 2002 as "a near riot" of young black teenagers who were turned away from a sold-out showing of the popular movie "Barbershop" at Mayfair Mall.
To us, it looked a lot more like a large, friendly crowd of young blacks milling around a jammed hallway because they couldn't get into the movie.
To prevent so many African Americans from ever again congregating in Wauwatosa, the mall hired extra security to follow and harass African-American teenagers for months.
Resenting such heavy-handed racial tactics, we prefer to see movies elsewhere now. We've gone back a few times, and it appears Wauwatosa succeeded in driving away most theater customers - black or white.
You really have to pity the poor white people who are desperate to seal themselves off from the real world. Their world is getting smaller and smaller.
People just don't want thugs in their communities, regardless of ethnicity. The left understands this just fine. Look at where they themselves live for evidence.
If this writer really believes this boatload of crap he is spewing, I double dog dare him to walk down at Galen and Green Sts. in S.E. Washington DC at 11PM.
He will soon learn a white man in a black neighborhood is in a lot more danger than a black man in a white neighborhood.
The most a black man has to fear is arrest. The White man probably wont come out alive, and certainly not with the money he went in with.
Wed Nov 9, 6:33 PM ET A Milwaukee alderman was arrested overnight after a confrontation at a local video store. Workers at the blockbuster at 61st and North called police, saying there was a suspicious man sitting in a parked car outside. The man turned out to be Alderman Michael McGee, who told police he was waiting for a friend. After the officers left, McGee said he told the video store workers he was angry they called police and drove away. Officers pulled McGee's car over a short time later and arrested him on charges of disorderly conduct and resisting arrest.
Fri Nov 11,12:36 PM ET Fists flew in Wauwatosa at a protest over a Milwaukee alderman's arrest. A man who said he was there to support police shouted during the demonstration. Alderman Michael McGee Jr. is contesting a disorderly conduct citation filed earlier this week after an incident at a video store. Four people were taken into custody and then released. Police are still considering charges. "There's two sides to everything, and we'll get to the bottom of it. We just want to make sure that the truth is told, and we'll respond in an appropriate manner," Wauwatosa Police Chief Barry Weber said. WISN 12 News spoke on the phone with the man who made a comment to alderman McGee's father, triggering the melee. He said he's praying for the people at the protest, and hopes they are praying for him.
Yea well this ain't no ordinary self-loathing Liberal-Socialist we're talking about here, this is Joel McNally!!
Don't know if the sucker's still working for the Urinal-Bentinel, or, has left for redder pastures such as the rag outa Madtown this pap appears.
"The police, who arrived within minutes, told McGee, who was in the car with a woman, that the employees inside were afraid to leave the store."
Now a "good" urinalist would've wanted to know the name of the woman in McGee's car *&* the reason she was with him at a time when the store was closing.
Funny how the salient question(s) are completely *lost* in the diversion the age-old Milwaukee favorite miscreant created, eh?
I'll bet'cha one thing, though
...Mrs. McGee didn't miss a thing. ;^)
Tell that to any white suburbanite who happens to stumble into Cabrini Green or East St. Louis after dark. Yeah, the poor "African-American" skulking around the Heights might get harrassed -- pulled over, carded, tailed -- but most suburban housewives aren't likely to pull out a gat and cap 'em. Not so in reverse.
So spare me the tired old "Wrong place at the wrong time" argument.
joel mcnally: too much of a liberal hack for even the milwauke journal.
Condoleezza Rice and Michael Steele would agree.
Was McGee in fact waiting for a friend? If so you would think that the friend would say something.
"No one would expect him to remain silent after police rousted him out of a parking lot of a Blockbuster store in suburban Wauwatosa and then, a block or so away, pulled him over, handcuffed and arrested him for disorderly conduct and had his car towed away."
Of course, that's not how it happened.
Jr Mcgee was sitting in his car for approx 15-20 minutes before the police got there.
He was with a woman (not his wife).
He was politely asked to leave by the police because someone from the store saw only the car - not the color of the person inside it- and was nervous.
When the cop was pulling away, mcgee got out of his car and yelled an obscenity direted towards the people inside the store. THAT is why he received a disorderly conduct citation.
Plus, his initial story about why he wa there turned out to be a lie. And his accusation that he was 'roughed up by the police' to the point he was bleeding from his forehead was a lie - his mug shot doesn't show one scratch.
Joel McNally is an idiot.
That turned out to be a lie, apparently.
He was in the car with a woman for 15-20 minutes before police arrived.
Michael McGee is married.
The woman he was with was not his wife.
Odd how he doesn't mention that.
Oh, so separation (between the races) is forced, never volunteery? And nowhere more so than in America? Very interesting.
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It's a reminder to whites, that is. African Americans don't have to be reminded. They are aware of that possibility every day of their lives.
Wait...wait...wait...but aren't most crimes against black -- and whites for that matter -- by blacks?
McNally has always been an idiot. His next coherent column will be his first.
:-D )))
Guess what, Joel: they would probably still be smiling as they mugged you too. If you were lucky.
I think it would be fun to a demographic analysis of Chappaqua,NY.......or the Beacon Hill section of Boston.
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