I have two stories on racism on my mind as I write this.  The first is from a few weeks ago, concerning an incident at a Philly Swim Club:

Camp: Private Pa. pool turned away minority kids

Members and officials of a private swimming pool in a Philadelphia suburb reacted to a visiting group of minority children by asking them not to return and pulling other kids out of the water, according to a day camp director who said Thursday that parents are considering legal action against the pool.  

The pool claims the kids were unruly and the pool was noisy and crowded, prompting them to cancel their contract.

The other issue, of course, is the recent arrest of Henry Louis Gates, Jr for disorderly conduct in Cambridge.  In that situation, Gates was seen breaking into his own house, prompting a neighbor to call the police. 

In both cases the immediate response and accusation was the same:  Racism.  The kids were mostly minority, so of course the swim club was a snooty all white club getting rid of the low lifes.  And Gates, instead of thanking the officer for checking up on the suspicious entry, proceeded to loudly accuse him of racial profiling.

In both cases, there certainly could be true racial issues, but as the facts come out, it is seems less likely, particularly in Gates’s case.

I will admit that the Swim club is harder to parse, but at the same time, the complaints stem from reports of racist comments, which could be true or could be fabricated.  I have to note that initial reports were vague, and more recent interviews included very detailed allegations, which makes it possible that someone is padding the allegations. They are also driven by the use of the word “complexion” by the club president:

“There was concern that a lot of kids would change the complexion … and the atmosphere of the club.”

This was taken to mean the primary meaning of the word:

• 1. the natural color, texture, and appearance of the skin, esp. of the face: a clear, smooth, rosy complexion. 

And not the secondary meaning which makes sense in context:

• 2. appearance; aspect; character: His confession put a different complexion on things. 

Never mind that the club members have a completely different view of what happened:

“This has nothing to do with race,” member Lori Slowinski said. “I paid my money for a private swim club…if they’re gonna have it out to camps, then I want my money back.”

Jim Flynn went right to the club president after the kids took the plunge into the 110,000 gallon pool. “I was the first person to talk to the president, because the pool was overcrowded,” said Flynn. “As members we have nothing to hide. There’s good people here.”

..

Members are angry the club, which is advertising open enrollment, inked deals with three camps to have campers come in and swim. They say members were not notified about allowing the camps to attend the club.

Now, if you want to make the case that this was a case of privilege, I am there.  But at the same time, it was a private club where the members have some rights and some expectation of exclusivity.

The case of Gates is more easy to parse, but only if you accept the police report, which so far witnesses (except Gates) are standing by.

Gates was forced to break into his home when his front door would not open, the result of a previous break in.

A neighbor reports it and the police responded.  Seeing a man in the house he investigated and was immediately badgered.  Read through the report, it is a shocking representation of racism…on the part of Gates.  He ignored any appearance of reasonableness, responsibility and frankly common sense.

Put it this way, wouldn’t you prefer that the police check on a break in on your property?  Wouldn’t you be grateful and be willing to show ID to prove that it was a mistake?

Or do you berate a guy just doing his job and accuse him of being racist, including following him out and publicly yelling at him with more senseless accusations?

His accusations are more absurd when you discover that the cop has a sterling reputation and is actually one of the instructors who teaches classes on the dangers of profiling:

The perfect crime, my friends. If you were a racist eager to harass prominent black intellectuals, what better cover story could there be than teaching tolerance to new recruits for years on end? Besides giving Reggie Lewis CPR in a desperate bid to save his life, I mean.

Clearly we’re dealing with a criminal genius of unusual cunning here.

Cambridge Sgt. James Crowley has taught a class about racial profiling for five years at the Lowell Police Academy after being hand-picked for the job by former police Commissioner Ronny Watson, who is black, said Academy Director Thomas Fleming.

Sorry, this seems to be Gates’ fault completely.  Now…did he deserve a disorderly conduct arrest?  Perhaps not.  But it helps his case not that he is misrepresenting what happened so blatantly, claiming he was arrested for “being black at home“.  He wasn’t.  He was being rude and obnoxious.

He claims that: 

“I think Sgt. Crowley was angry that I didn’t follow his initial orders—his demand—his order—to step outside my house because I was protected as long as I was in the house because he didn’t have a warrant.”

He didn’t need one.  He had a report of a break in, he had probably cause to make a reasonable search.

“I think what he really wanted to do was throw me down and put handcuffs on me because he was terrified that I could be dangerous to him and that I was causing violence in my own home—though obviously he didn’t know it was my home.”

So, he feels that it is irresponsible to be concerned when a break in has happened, and he admits that there were violent signs, that the officer cannot show some caution for his safety.  The officer actually had the right to detain him, in cuffs until his ID was established.

Instead the officer by all accounts never drew a gun or raised his voice.  Only Gates was yelling, making it pretty clear who was the provocateur.

In this case there was a stereotyped presumption:  By Gates.  He presumed that any white officer approaching a black man must obviously be doing so for the sole purpose of race.

All other details are irrelevant.  A black suspect + a white cop = racism.  note that the accusations and belligerence began way ahead of the arrest and actually cases the arrest, not the man’s actions.

Gates suffers from the same presumption Obama and his supporters leveraged for the campaign:  Assume it is racism in every possible case, unless overwhelmingly shown it is not, and then make the burden of proof so high that it can never fully be met.  Note that Obama even fell into this himself, saying the police acted “stupidly” when he didn’t even know the facts.

This is more proof that liberals in America not only do not want an end to racism, they will do anything they can to make sure it never ends, even if they have to fabricate it.

As long as they have racism they can blame white people for everything and they can keep power.  I have been writing about this for years, and it never seems to change.  And generally white America is too scared of the stigma of racism to protest.

I applaud the cop, Crowley for standing by his actions and refusing to cave in and admit fault where there was none.

I am concerned.  I am concerned that my children face a world where their words and actions will be constantly scrutinized and presumed to be racist. 

You should be too.

Previously:

• Racism and Feminism in America: The sad truth
• Seattle Schools, where diversity = Blame whites for everything (and make some money)
• The Obama speech: More interesting reactions.
• Racism Straight Up
• Can the Democrats win without the race card?
• Will the Bradley effect become the Obama effect?
• The race baiting continues, making me wonder if Obama can win without it
• Hope and change…but the same old race baiting

A few other interesting posts:

Memeorandum

Sister Toldjah

Hot Air

Michelle Malkin and here

Don Surber

Stop The ACLU