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Standing while black in Brookline
By adamg on Sat, 11/21/2015 - 5:06pm
Wicked Local Brookline reports a Smythe Street resident found it suspicious that a "large black man" was just standing there, so when she went up to him to ask if he needed anything and he replied "no," she called police - who responded and found "he checked out OK."
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Comments
But
Racism isn't a thing anymore. I read about that on the internet.
Wait ...
Did you ask A White Man if it was racist? Because that seems to be the default on the internet - it isn't racist because A White Man doesn't think it is racist.
Because there is "real racism" out there. Somewhere. Not here.
Well
If I'm a white man (check!), do I get to judge things to be racist, or am I only allowed to explain how things aren't racist? I think I missed that day at orientation.
Yes, yes you do!
You can even make a big deal out of things that the people of color around you don't think are any big deal, because WHITE!
I'm curious
where it is that I sign up for this secret cabal of White Men. I'm missing out on a what with my naive approach of simple hard work, personal responsibility, and the expectation of the same of everyone else. I'm a little too pale and too male to race-bait or throw around accusations of sexism, so this White Privilege thing I keep hearing about must be the ticket.
No, you're not
Otherwise, you'd do the required reading to learn and understand exactly what white male privilege is.
Unless you just have a fetish for being thought a blind fool.
Please do tell me
more about myself. You're obviously much more qualified than I am to know what my background is and what's what inside my own head. And everyone else's.
What I know, by virtue of being neither blind nor stupid, is that "white male privilege" is, among other things, a go-to excuse for anyone both gullible enough to believe, and defective enough to want to believe, that because they don't have something, someone else must have stolen it from them. Any idea that they don't have it because they didn't earn it is, of course, just beyond the pale, because White Male Privilege.
Got a low score on your SAT's? Can't be because you didn't listen in class, didn't do your homework, and didn't give a rat's ass in school; must be because the test is racist.
Didn't get into a good college? Must be because of racism, you see, because the SAT was racist and they didn't lower the bar for you to accommodate that fact, because White Male Privilege.
Didn't get hired for the cushy job? Can't be that your C-'s in community college flag you as bad hire. Must be White Male Privilege that's keeping you down. After all, you would have that Ivy League degree in your hands and all the attendant secret handshakes, if only it wasn't for that racist SAT test that obliquely kept you out of the Old Boys Club.
Didn't qualify for a car loan? Can't be because you've got a shit income and no collateral, must be because of racism. After all, racism got you the shit job and no collateral (see above), so it's racist to keep holding it against you, because White Male Privilege.
How am I doing so far? Do I have the gist of it?
Nope
You don't understand the concept of white privilege at all. Not even a little.
You're so full of shit. Do
You're so full of shit. Do some research first, Burzum II:
JUL 14 2015
CFPB and DOJ Reach Resolution with Honda to Address Discriminatory Auto Loan Pricing: http://www.consumerfinance.gov/newsroom/cfpb-and-doj-reach-resolution-wi...
Go do ALL the research first. I've already given your ass enough privilege by sending you cursory links from Google.
http://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2014/05/the-racist-housing-p...
When's the last time someone called the cops on you
While you were just standing out on the street?
Twice since I moved to Boston
And I'm unmistakenly of european decent (dark hair, fair skin, blue eyes).
People who think that every injustice in the world is predicated by racial or gender bias are as silly as those who think none of them are.
Sneeches all.
You started off OK...
Then went full breitbart on us. Don't ever go full breitbart.
And as a fairly priveledged white male myself, to not understand that you have a certain leg up by merely the color of your skin shows you're really not as smart as you let on.
Don't believe everything you think.
See that's the terminology right there
that gets me. If we say someone "has a leg up," then that implies that the default is some kind of equality in misery that They (the rich/the white/the male/the whatever) have on Us (the "poor"/the non-white/the female).
It's telling people that they're victims by virtue of how they were born. It's fundamentally immoral to do that to anyone. If there's statutues on the books and court rulings saying "blacks can't X because they're disadvantaged," how in the world is it conscionable for activists and progressives to adopt that same idea as their battle cry?
Also, speak for yourself. Maybe you had everything handed to you on a silver spoon and you have some vague reason to feel guilty about it. That's not the case for everyone with skin lighter than a certain threshold. I didn't exactly work my way up from the bottom of the coal mines, but from day zero there was a path up and a path down. Now you'll rightly say that I had family expectations and such and such pointing out which path was which, but guess what: that had exactly nothing to do with the fact that none of them was black.
So I ask again, if there's some secret handshake I don't know about that lowers the bar I had to cross to sit in the chair I'm sitting in today, do tell.
Lemme try to 'splain it a different way
Last week I was finishing a meal at a restaurant and late for a movie. I had 7/8ths of a beer still in front of me. Being a cheap, penny-pinching SOB, I decided to sneak the bottle out of the restaurant and into the movie. Not a classy move, nor legal, nor something I felt proud of and wish to repeat, but bear with me.
So, at the movie, nobody even gave me a 2nd look to see if I was bringing in outside food or drink. Because I'm an old white guy. But if they had, and if they had spotted the beer, they would have said, "Excuse me, you can't bring that in, I can throw it out for you right here." Had I been a young black guy, they might have been quite a bit more aggressive, possibly throwing me out, or even calling the cops.
But even if they they called the cops on me, the cop would most likely have rolled his eyes and told me not to do it again, at worst written me some kind of ticket. Because I'm an old white guy. Had I been a young black guy, he might have arrested me.
But even if they had called the cops, and even if the cop had arrested me, he likely would have been respectful. Because I'm an old white guy. Had I been a young black guy, I might have been slammed to the pavement before being cuffed.
And even if I had been arrested, the judge would probably have looked at me and told me not to be an ass and let me go. Because I'm a old white guy. Had I been a young black guy, I might have a trespassing and disorderly conduct and resisting arrest rap on my record.
And that, right there, is an example of white privilege. The consequences to me for having done something kinda trashy and mildly illegal were nonexistent. Had I been a young black guy, they might have been quite a bit worse.
If you look like me, and you don't recognize all the times you're being handed a break, up and down the line, simply because of accident of birth, then you are perhaps part of the problem.
so
i agree with you in principle but using an entirely hypothetical situation based off of the fact you brought a beer into a movie theater doesnt really prove anything
"prove" vs "illustrate"
It wasn't meant to prove anything; it was meant to illustrate a point.
Do you think it's true or false that, whether dealing with a store clerk, a bank loan officer, or a cop, white people catch a lot of breaks that black people don't?
are you illiterate
or did you intentionally ignore the fact that i said i agree with you in principle
I'm illiterate
Did you make the assertion that my story proves nothing? Was I out of line addressing that assertion by pointing out that I didn't set out to prove anything?
If the point of your story
is that we should enforce the laws equally or that we shouldn't have BS rules about outside food and drinks at movie theaters, I'm all with you.
If the point of your story is that Old White Guys can get away with shit they shouldn't be doing, and make a point of doing so, then you're not exactly part of the solution either.
The 'solution' wasn't the topic at hand.
You breathlessly proclaimed white male privilege didn't exist.
Bob walked you through a pretty accurate hypothetical.
Then you blame him for not being part of the solution?!?
Thanks for playing, Roman.
Nothing accurate about that...
It was one of the dumbest things I ever read...figures you think it's great though.
Really?
Can you seriously, with a straight face, deny that white people catch breaks right and left simply for being white, whether it's doing something they shouldn't be doing (as I freely admit I was), doing something that is perfectly legal but looks kind of suspicious, trying to hail a taxi in the rain, applying for a job, asking to borrow a tool from AutoZone, renting an apartment, or applying for bank loan?
Really?
I'm telling you with a straight face
that there's plenty of shady-looking white people I wouldn't hold the door to my building for, rent to, lend to, or hire. For instance, the white guy begging for change where Rt 2 lets out by Alewife isn't getting a penny out of me. Call me a racist, but it isn't happening.
Also, I've got the good sense to call the cops ahead of time if the something legitimate the I'm doing really does look suspicious, and no, I'm not arguing with you that blacks have a harder time hailing taxis. I am telling you that I refuse to refer to white people not having a hard time getting a cab as "getting a break". See above.
Now I have a question for you: Can you tell me with a straight face that you have never judged a man on the street by the way he dresses and carries himself? Never seen a guy of any race standing on a street corner in the middle of the day for no apparent reason and with no apparent purpose, and thought to yourself, this probably ain't kosher?
Whoosh....
Of course. Me too. That, of course, has no bearing on the question of whether, everything else being equal, the white guy is going to be slightly more likely to have the door held for him, or have a slightly easier time getting the apartment, loan, or job. The study has been done over and over again, with identical lease applications / loan applications / resumes but black vs white photos attached and a clear difference in outcomes.
If, as numerous studies have shown, a white guy has an easier time getting a taxi than an identically dressed and identically gesturing black guy standing on the same street corner, how could one call that anything other than the white guy "getting a break," or "experiencing an advantage," or "enjoying the benefit of race-based privilege?"
Of course I have. And I've even called the cops on such a person. What does that have to do with the existence or lack thereof of race-based privilege?
OK and
I'm pretty sure you can find negative correlations for other "disadvantaged" groups for a suitable definition of disadvantage. Jews in the early days of film and TV used to change their names to make themselves more marketable. "No Irish Need Apply" Hell, I've been accused of being a drunk just because my name comes from east of the Danube.
Everyone's got some millstone around their necks if they look hard enough. Everyone's special, which means no one really is and no one really does.
And by the way, how do we get from there to here, which is the comment at the top of this thread saying white people's opinions matter less because they're not properly disadvantaged? How precisely is that in any way justified.
Reduction of scale
Yes, that's quite some millstone of having to change your last name to get into the entertainment industry. Does that come on a single gold monofilament with the option for silver if you want to accessorize?
Meanwhile, black Americans weren't given a millstone. They were chained to it and told to push it and then were "allowed" to take it home with them in the 60's. Sure, it's gotten smaller because they have to drag it everywhere, but fifty years later and only some of them have gotten it small enough to just barely fit in their pockets...HEY! What's that in your pocket, son? Hands where I can see them!!
Meaning that
we're all racists for not cutting minorities slack in other places? White people, of course, don't get a vote on which minorities, how much slack, and in what places, you see, because they're insufficiently oppressed to have an opinion. WTF.
How many ways can I say this: The answer to unequal enforcement of laws and standards is not more unequal enforcement, just in a different place to "balance it out a little".
WellDeserved: A marketplace for privilege
Maybe you'll be better able to understand it in terms of money?
Probably not, since your denial and willful ignorance have been pretty epic, but here goes:
A self-indulgent parody piece that doesn't explain anything
mastabatory bay area fluff
You explained nothing...
This nonsense you wrote is full of assumptions and generalizations... Really dumb.
Keep posting
But consider reading Proverbs 17:28, first.
Really?
You post a story about you getting away with being kind of a jerk and claim it's evidence of structural racism?
that's exactly right
That's precisely right.
Structural racism means that, for the same level of being kind of a jerk, a white guy is more likely to get away with it than a black guy.
citation needed
Any actual evidence that you described the results population of your hypothetical scenario accurately? Because it sounds like you simply made up a 'just-so' story. Maybe you're right, and blacks would be hassled more. Maybe though, the strongest statistical indicator would be age, or gender, or mode of dress, or reaction to authority.
What's funny or maybe not
What's funny or maybe not funny is that your post itself exudes white male privilege and you don't even see it which pretty much sums up the privilege,
Looks like the definition of WMP has changed a bit
So, sneaking a beer out of a restaurant and into a movie theater is an example of white male privilege?
Looks like the bar has been lowered - a lot.
Plenty of white and black and
Plenty of white and black and hispanics who were not privileged growing up but became upstanding citizens with plenty of money and good careers when they became adults BECAUSE THEY HAD A STRONG WILL TO DO GOOD IN SCHOOL AND WORK HARD AND WHO HAD EVERPESENT LOVING ROLE MODELS IN THEIR LIVES WHEN THEY WERE YOUNG.
AND THEY POSTED ABOUT IT IN ALL CAPS, WHICH
...makes it twice as true, amirite?
You're missing an essential point, Maria. When people are systematically discriminated against, it isn't enough to do good in school and work hard and yadda yadda yadda. If you're systematically discriminated against, you can do all that, and you'll still catch a bunch of shit. You'll still get questioned just for standing on a street corner harming nobody. Google, for god's sake, there are way too many cases of good-school-doing, hard-working, respectable people in every conceivable way, who still got body-slammed for the crime of being black. Google "James Blake" just to use one fairly recent example -- you really will not get any more squeaky clean than that. Now explain to me what James Blake did wrong. I'm waiting to hear.
Standing While black????????
If he were a large white guy would it had. Been a problem..
..What if he was a under cover cop ... Maybe people should mind there business ... I personally think she was Rasist.... Idk its crazy too me.. She took upo. Herself to call the police if he wSnt doing anytbing illegal..
Loitering is the act of
Loitering is the act of remaining in a particular public place for a protracted time without an apparent purpose. Under certain circumstances, it is illegal in various jurisdictions.
Not in Brookline
First of all, loitering laws usually go after groups of people, not individuals. Second of all, here is a link to Brookline's town bylaws. Nothing I can find about loitering.
Loitering can be illegal, but wasn't in this case.
There is no law against loitering in Mass.
There is NO law against loitering in Massachusetts, despite what the signs on the M.B.T.A. seem to think. They cite: https://malegislature.gov/Laws/GeneralLaws/PartIV/TitleI/Chapter272/Sect...
Which does not criminalize loitering.
Wait just a minute
Someone should tell the Transit Police they can't kick you out of the station for loitering
What about
https://malegislature.gov/Laws/GeneralLaws/PartI/TitleXXII/Chapter161/Se...
Trying to defend this, sadly
It's entirely possible this woman is a bigot. I've lived in Brookline; there are many bigots.
But there is a difference between accusing someone of something due to their race and simply using their race as a descriptor. The police need to know what the person looks like in order to find that person. So using their race as a descriptor along with their gender, clothing, height, etc is descriptive and not racist on it's own.
As to why she called the police in the first place it's entirely possible it was solely to his race. But we don't know that for sure from the one sentence blurb. (I'm surprised she didn't describe him as a "renter", something Brookline fears far more then blacks.)
Sure
The universe is a wondrous place capable of an infinite number of permutations. Truly, in this life, anything is possible.
She's still probably a racist, tho.
Yeah
probably
Brookline is probably one out
Brookline is probably one out of a few towns in Massachusetts with a very low population of African American people. I thought Brookline had no bigots as far as I can remember, It's home of JFK's birthplace, Dukakis, and many more liberal famous types. .
im guessing
you dont get west of 128 much
E: partially out of my own curiosity and also to qualify my remark i did some very basic research. roughly 25% of the commonwealth's african american population lives in boston proper (to the tune of roughly 155k or so). now if we add in the surrounding cities like somerville, cambridge, going up into lynn, et cetera, im sure that gets significantly higher i havent looked but i would assume that a large concentration of that demographic is centered very close to boston.
im not trying to win an argument (since i dont think we are having one) but i've lived in a lot of different areas in massachusetts and i have to say the farther west you go, for the most part, the less diverse looking it seems to get.
also i laughed because while i was looking it up it said massachusetts has the highest concentration by % of irish ethnicity in the country. maybe im just being silly but really all it made me think of was popped collar high school and college bros that identify as irish because they love getting wasted on 3/17 (which is a noble endeavor, so im not knocking it)
Sadly, I didn't disagree with
Sadly, I didn't disagree with your analysis of the lack of diversity in most mass towns, then you took a completely off topic cheap shot at Mass Irish people as a bunch of drunks while otherwise bemoaning prejudice. So predictable. So pathetic. You either hate prejudice or you don't.
eat my potato bitch
Speaking of predictable and pathetic, im glad you decided to conflate my remark that is specifically directed towards college age bros latching on to a history they only care about one day a year- with racism. i want you to reread what i said and apologize you sensationalist fucking bitch
Also you two bit piece of garbage, i dont need you to agree with me. Do research yourself. I didnt express an opinion. I half assedly looked up some numbers and made an educated guess. Do you also agree that the sky is blue? In the future, i will solicit when i feel i need you to agree with me on quantifiable things. Until then check yourself.
Oh Adam!
-Bitch
-Fucking bitch
-Piece of garbage
Now if I called you or your crew those names they would get deleted and I would get banned. Waiting to see if you enforce your rules.
i call it
Like i see it
My advice in the future would be to not take a joke about college kids being silly and try to paint me as a bigot with it
Until then, those that do will be called out.
Also iirc bitches and garbage arent protected classes so unfortunately the aclu wont swoop in to save you.
Im also curious where the rules are, do me a favor and link them pls so i can follow them better in the future
Well then
you sound like a moron. Eat my ass bitch.
thank you
For the written consent
Both of you shut up
Particularly, give it a rest with the b word. It's sexist and misogynistic language. Doesn't matter if you're a woman or a man, doesn't matter if you're talking about a woman or a man, doesn't matter if you (think you) are not sexist. You can't use that word without having a sexist effect, no matter what your intentions. So both of you, shut up.
Speaking of Giving it a Rest
Haaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!
oh and as a side note
I never made a claim about how i feel regarding prejudice. You either read my posts, or you dont.
You dont.
You decide to make up shit to suit some idiotic agenda or chip on your shoulder. But thanks PC principal.
This is why I don't register
This is why I don't register and prefer to remain an anon... no rules for registered users. You are disturbing, scumquistador. Any other ethnic groups you feel like attacking next? Do you have a problem with Latinos? How about Koreans or Native Americans? Any derogatory remarks about gay people? The hate-filled rhetoric and nasty comments are getting worse and worse on this site. And please, I already know I don't have to read the comments... just hoping to add my 2 cents so perhaps Adam would please ask people to tone it down a bit.
lol
dont read the comments if they trigger you so bad
also fwiw, i am latino
so yes i hate latinos
i would also like you to point out which ethnic groups i've attacked
No apology, but keep it
No apology, but keep it classy, bro.
I don't often agree with Scumquistador...
... but when I do, like right here, right now, he (she?) is AWESOME! ;-)
A good resource
Check out the NYTimes's census mapping tool. It's a good way to visualize these sorts of data. For instance …
Counties in Mass by % African American:
Suffolk 20%
Hampden 8%
Plymouth, Nantucket 7%
Norfolk 5%
Middlesex, Worcester 4%
Bristol, Dukes (Vineyard), Berkshire 3%
Barnstable (Cape), Hampshire, 2%
Franklin 1%
There are plurality-black areas in Boston, Randolph, Cambridge, Brockton and Springfield
(FWIW, there are plurality Asian areas in Boston and Lowell and plurality Hispanic areas in Boston, Lynn, Salem, Lowell, Framingham, Worcester, Chelsea, Revere, Springfield, Holyoke and New Bedford)
I agree
I agree
Go by Fenway today and you'll
Go by Fenway today and you'll understand the Irish % a bit better.
A descriptor of what exactly?
Yes, "black man" can be used as to describe someone who is acting suspiciously (looking in car windows, for instance). Simply standing on a sidewalk isn't something to call the cops about, but the local bi-polars make the call about anything that makes them nervous. Black men make them nervous.
My question, as a former
My question, as a former POLICE DISPATCHER is: "Police responded"??....OK, and, um...Why? .....Instead, how about "Ma'am, what is the "large black man" doing to arouse suspicion? Has he threatened you? Made any suspicious statements? ...No?...Then, other than the fact that you live in that "Oh-so-lovely-and-better-and-more-IMPORTANT-than-everyone-else-on-the-planet" area of Brookline, why should we send a police officer to respond to you?????????"
Meanwhile, if there had been a report of "baby choking" or "deranged man stabbing people" back at wherever the officer had been dispatched from?...."Sorry, folks. Mrs. Paranoid Country-Club Racist has our closest Officer presently preoccupied with her more important big scary black man issue..."
Too bad the "scary black guy" didn't walk her back to her home and take a dump on her doorstep. At least then there'd be a REASON to violate this man's civil/constitutional rights. What a jackass and what total FAIL by Brookline (especially the PD)...
It is Brookline
The story may be incomplete, she may have said that he parked his car on the street and she was afraid that he was going to leave it there overnight.
It Is Brookline
They call the police there because birds are being birds.
Standing while feathered.
This brings up an interesting
This brings up an interesting question. What, if anything is the legal obligation of the police in a case like this. From what I understand the police can not just pick and choose what calls they're going to respond to.
I'm a 'privileged' white male
and was stopped by Brookline police because somebody who apparently looked like me was acting 'suspicious', according to a concerned citizen who dialled 911. And, as a teenager living in JP, Brookline cops would frequently stop and question me and my white friends, especially coming to or from the pool at Cleveland Circle (Boston/Brighton), or around Coolidge Corner or Brookline Village, where we sometimes hung out. So, although anecdotal, I'd say 'suspicious' characters of all kinds run the risk of a concerned Brookline resident dialling 911 on them.
I was
Stop and pulled out my car in Brookline as a teen driving through because "I should have been in that neighborhood." Mind you I live a mile down the street in Westie. I was also pulled out of my car in mattapan by two black cops for the same reason. Literally asked, "you're white what the hell are you doing here, buying drugs?"
"youre white"
Too bad that sounds like it was before the days of dash cams and easily recorded audio
Does not exactly look like
Does not exactly look like the toniest part of Brookline, for what that's worth.
Must of been one of those
Must of been one of those Herald commenting, tea bagging, Charlie Baker voting, running over cyclist while SUV driving, pro cop mouth breathing conservatives that are so common in Brookline.
But there's more
This is all on the same link of recent Brookline police logs. No idea if the woman was accusing someone of something, but it looks like all of Brookline is either horrible scoff-laws, or just nutty moonbats. You decide:
Spying: A caller reported a man in a study cube at the Main Library who had been looking at home surveillance information and photographs. The caller was concerned for the kids. He was described as a balding white man in his 40s, with glasses, jeans and a blue parka.
Leaf blower: An Oakland Road resident called to report a leaf blower scofflaw at 12:16 p.m.
Turkeys: Someone reported a group of turkeys, one of whom appeared hurt, at Beacon Street and Dean Road at 2:47 p.m.
Leaf blowers: A resident of Stetson Street called twice about a leaf-blower that exceeded the decibel limit. Police said it checked out O.K. A resident of the 1500 block of Beacon Street reported a leaf blower starting before 8 a.m. A caller reported hearing a leaf blower coming from the area of Fire Station 1 at Route 9 and Washington Street at 7:39 a.m.
No admittance: A Naples Road resident reported that a black woman in an orange hat and green coat tried to get into her building as she was leaving. The woman also tried to get into a building three doors down.
I noticed that "spying"
I noticed that "spying" report too. Freakish. I hope they tracked down the caller and questioned him a good long while about what he's doing shoulder surfing in the library. What the heck is going on in Brookline these days ? Something in the water ? TJs have a sale on stupid flakes ?
Western Burbs
This reminds me of the time a Wellesley elementary school put a young African American student on a Metco bus at the end of the day....but he actually lived in Wellesley. Those liberal burbs seem to have difficulty with diversity when it is within their borders (and outside of school hours).
Wellesley, liberal? ha! You
Wellesley, liberal? ha! You're joking, right?
Liberal?
Sure thing.
My bad. You're right, they're
My bad. You're right, they're not truly liberal. I just meant many of them tend to support liberal candidates for state and national office while residing in communities that don't reflect liberal values, like diversity of any kind (racial, socioeconomic, etc). If people get hassled simply for existing as black people within their borders in the 21st century, they should re-examine their communities.
Wellesley College
It is in the town of Wellesley. It is not the town of Wellesley.
Howie Carr is a liberal, then?
"liberal burbs"
It's just like those liberals in Wellesley to give Charlie Baker 55% of the vote: http://www.wellesleyma.gov/pages/FOV1-0001FDBB/final%20results11414.pdf
And a near 50-50 tie between Scott Brown and Martha Coakley back in 2010: http://www.wellesleyma.gov/pages/FOV1-0001FDBB/final%20results%201192010...
So liberal!
Now, now
Wellesley is no Brookline, but this is not your father's Wellesley, when David Locke and Royall Switzler (remember him?) ran the joint. They actually vote for Democrats these days. Given that Baker got elected, I'm not sure a 55% vote for him was all that convincing in Wellesley.
Yikes
Thanks Adam. And I agree it's no Brookline or Cambridge or Amherst.
To others, I didn't mean to step in a minefield, but yes I think if I had to ascribe a label to Wellesley these days, when the type of old school Republican candidates Adam referenced aren't really around anymore, and given Wellesley voted for Deval Patrick and Obama twice (each) by decent margins, I'd say at the state and fed level, it's more liberal than conservative. regardless it's pretty troubling a kid could be put on a bus back to Boston simply because he wasn't white in Wellesley, or that the Brookline police would be summoned because a black person was standing in a Brookline neighborhood. It's all the more troubling when you realize that the BBJ identified these towns as having some of the highest percentages of best educated residents in the state.
True
And don't forget that they voted consistently for this guy: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barney_Frank
But 55% is considerably more than Baker won statewide. I think Wellesley is fairly center-right as far as Massachusetts goes, and certainly further right than, say, Boston. Regardless, it's certainly not unambiguously liberal.
55 percent is only slightly
55 percent is only slightly more than half last time I checked....
three-way race
Slightly more than half in a three-way race with Falchuck being the only liberal candidate.
i wouldn't exactly call the
i wouldn't exactly call the cops but i wouldn't love it if a large, suspicious looking man of any color was hanging out in front of my house.
not everything has to be racist people, geez!
And Adam just retweeted this
And Adam just retweeted this:
https://twitter.com/RobMcLaughlinWR/status/668492513393668098
Please someone tell us the rules about when it's ok to see something say something to the popo.
Oh Horrors
Somebody might MOVE IN!
That is what this sounds like to me. The last time I bought property, I was (OMG!) cycling around the neighborhood taking pictures!
It's always OK
It's always OK. The police will either check out or not check out the suspicious person, and, if they check him out, he will either check out or not.
Glass houses
Sorry, I missed it. What part of calling the police to report a stranger just standing there for an extended period of time is racist? Does anyone here actually know she only called the police because he was black as opposed to because he was a stranger, acting strangely (by just standing across the street from her house for a long time)? I'm sorry but while not illegal, it's not a usual occurrence for people to simply stand across the street from your home for an extended period of time and as responsible citizens, if we find something unusual, it's not unreasonable to call the police to investigate rather than handling a situation yourself. If anyone here has proof that this woman would not have called the police if it had been a large white man, please share. Otherwise it'd appear that many of the commenters on here may be the ones who are exhibiting prejudice behavior and jumping to conclusions.
your comment in visual form:
WOW
This white woman needs to call the cops on the WHITE males who are allegedly breaking into peoples home doing strange things. SMH!