James Blake mistaken for a criminal, brutally arrested

[Corbon]

http://espn.go.com/new-york/tennis/stor ... t-new-york

Racism alive and well among Cops?

[Cro Morgan]

Brutally arrested? It was bad, but not that bad.

There is plenty of racism among American cops, no doubt about that, but that wasn't the case with Blake. The guy the police were looking for was black (and looked like Blake). Blake wasn't thrown to the ground (assumed guilty) just because he was black.

Bottom line: the arresting officer was a thug (and an asshole).

.... and speaking of "black" - time to throw that designation in the trash. Black people aren't black and white people aren't white. We're all the same color (different shades of brown). Until people embrace that fact there is little reason to hope.

[Vieira151]

white people aren't white..

Clearly haven't visited Scotland or Scandinavia.

And 'brutally'. I guess perhaps brutal for a first world citizen whom has never seen an arrest before.

---

What would you call those shades of brown, Cro? There'd need to be universal names so that people understand what, for example, the police are looking for in a suspect etc.

[Cro Morgan]

What would you call those shades of brown, Cro?

Brown.

[Vieira151]

Should call all different hair colours brown, too? Natural hair colours, that is.

I mean, people have different skin tones like they do hair. I don't see a problem with acknowledging a difference - I just see a problem in using that difference as prejudice.

[Corbon]

African-Americans are referred to as Black. Which doesn't describe their skin colour but their ethnic background. Southern Indians have a very dark skin tone as well, but they are still being referred to as Indians or Asians. Here is something funny.

http://nypost.com/2015/04/12/mindy-kali ... -be-black/

BTW the PBA chief was quick to defend the action of the cop.

http://abc7ny.com/sports/pba-president- ... st/985453/

So he claims that armchair journalists aren't allowed to judge cops because they aren't walking in their (the cops) shoes and that this take down wasn't racially motivated. Yet traffic stops and other forms of harrassment happen to a much higher frequency when the stopped person is black or hispanic. I want to see both a white and black cop just driving around for a month in civilian clothes in NYC and counting times they have been stopped.

http://www.psmag.com/politics-and-law/t ... s-persists

[Cro Morgan]

African-Americans are referred to as Black. Which doesn't describe their skin colour but their ethnic background.

Not true, though I would love to hear your explanation.

[Vieira151]

Yeah, I'm not sure how that is true. I always assumed it was used to describe their skin colour (must be the case, right? Everything was black and white back then!)

[Corbon]

Jesus...

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/African_American

African American, also referred to as Black American or Afro-American

[Cro Morgan]

No need to bring Jesus into this.

You strike me as someone who received high marks in school by successfully regurgitating what you read in a text book, were told by your teacher (and/or uncovered on Wikipedia).

Lots of labels attached to people, places and things over time; labels that eventually take on a meaning of their own and the truth becomes blurred/lost.

Regardless, I'm not here to argue/debate. No fun in that.

So, on a completely unrelated note:..

The funniest joke of all-time: CLICK.

[Corbon]

Well you can keep pretending that racism doesn't exist. Unless you want to question all sorts of empirical data which says otherwise and propose a "different shade" theory.

[Cro Morgan]

Well you can keep pretending that racism doesn't exist.

I said, or hinted at that when?

[Corbon]

When you clearly said that racism wasn't the reason why Blake was thrown to the ground face first. Is that the standard procedure to engage an individual who is wanted for credit card fraud (a non-violent crime), who is just standing there in a completely non-threatening manner and doesn't resist arrest in the slightest? Yes the NYPD has a history of let's call it taking action based on racial preferences so it can be assumed that Blake ethnicity had something to do with his treatment here. I am not saying that the Cop is clearly racist, I just suspect him to be. Of course he would strongly deny it when being questioned.

And I was only pointing out the obvious by linking to a Wiki article (of all sources) that in the US, African-Americans are referred to as Black and Caucasians are referred to as White, whether one likes or disagrees with it or not.

[djarvik]

Without getting into this deep:

Yes, there is racism.

No, I don't think this is necessarily the case with Blake. There is nothing to indicate that this is not a simple case of police brutality, if that. We don't know what this guy did and maybe he had got away from police before. If you ask me - identity thief's (credit card fraud) deserve exactly 47 kicks in the balls - then a Blake like take down, and maybe another 5-6 kicks in the balls right after the handcuffs go on.

I think Blake is using this as a platform to push the Racist card as he simply is pissed that HIM, the TENNIS STAR, was mistaken for a criminal that fits the description and described as "his twin", was manhandled. Easiest way to get attention/revenge is to play the racist card. He was quick to visit ALL morning shows here in NY describing his oh so horrible tackle and how this is scarring him for life.

If anything, personally, I lost some respect for Blake.

This has nothing to do with Race or the fact that officer maybe racist.

[Corbon]

Blake actually said that he didn't think his arrest was racially motivated.

http://nypost.com/2015/09/10/james-blak ... nt-racist/

Edit: I agree that identity thieves are scum but if the NYPD would use a similar standard against any fraudster, half of Wall Street would be dead by now.