Can't we just all get along?

Wow, I knew it was going to be awhile before I blogged again, but I didn't expect it to be this long! So much has happened, and I will update it at some point, but I had to write about something going on right now.

It has to do with beer. I love beer. Good beer. If you know me well enough you know that anyway. This is about where and why beer is being consumed today. Yes, I need to weigh in on the Prof. Gates vs. Officer Crowley fiasco.

When I first heard the report it irked me. As the situation has grown it's bothered me more and more to the point now that I am angry. Really angry. Honestly, is my tax money being spent on a whiny man's refusal to let a situation pass? Come on people. Get real. People are dying. People are starving. People are being forced out of their homes. And President Obama is having a beer with a stuffy Harvard professor and a decorated Cambridge police officer. I hope he's off the clock.

OK, once again I am lost in time....now it's almost 10 days later since I started this post and the story is finally out of the headlines. I am no longer angry, but still very disturbed by this whole big thing. Here's what I think.
Prominent Harvard professor is stuffy with a big chip on his shoulder. He is cranky after a long flight home from China.
Officer is just trying to do his job. Asks for ID. Gets lip from snotty professor. Gets angry.
Officer realizes he can let it pass.
Cranky professor doesn't know when to quit. Looks down on "cop" and doesn't respect the badge or the fact that he is trying to protect the neighborhood and keeps giving lip. After all, doesn't this cop know who he is?
Officer says enough is enough and arrests professor knowing he is opening a can of worms.
Professor sees opportunities and dollar signs and yells loudly to press and anyone that will listen.

So what's behind it all? Probably a book deal and a speaking tour for the professor.
Big kudos to the police union and the Cambridge police dept for sticking behind their officer. They could have easily just made an apology and let it slip under the rug. But they didn't. They stood by Officer Crowley. I am guessing this is because a lot of the situation was recorded and they had good evidence.

Then Obama decides to weigh in. Says the Cambridge police acted stupidly, though he admits he didn't know all the facts. Come on Mr. President....you have been in this game long enough to know the news clips are going to omit the disclaimer.

And who else weighs in? Governor Patrick. Called the situation "every black man's nightmare".
Really? So if your house looks like it's being broken into, do you want people to call the police? Or just let it go since you might be harassed?

My only point is this-if we all say we want equality, it has to be all around. The us vs. them has to stop on both sides.

Officer Crowley was judged by the professor immediately and labeled as a racist. He didn't know this officer. Why did he immediately start calling him racist? I don't care who you are. You don't yell at a police officer. And it is even more wrong to think you can do whatever you want and get away with it because of who you are.

Which means this is more a class issue. The prominent professor judging the cop, who is lower on the scale of human decency, in the professors eyes. Obvious from the statements which included "you don't know who you're f-ing with" that spewed from the professors mouth.

Do I think there is still racism in this country? Sure. Is it still a problem? In pockets, I am sure it still is. In Cambridge? Highly unlikely. A very diverse community, with a black female mayor is the last place racism will thrive. I don't doubt it's still there, but not as a huge rampant problem.

So stop crying foul. The only one who made this about race is you professor. Go write your book.