Racism

As you may or may not have known, on the 16th of July a police officer, Sgt James Crowley, in Cambridge responded to a 911 call which indicated a possible break in at the residence of Henry Gates a Harvard Professor.

Gates, "a top African-American scholar", and a friend were returning home from a trip to China. During the trip Gates lost the key to his residence and upon returning decided to break into his own house. Now I don't know that shoving my shoulder into the front door and destroying the frame would have been the way I would do it, but last I checked, it's perfectly legal to break your own stuff. As long as you aren't hurting anyone else in the process, you're good.

A concerned neighbor, Lucia Whalen, who I would love to have as my neighbor on account of her concern for the general safety of the neighborhood as a whole, called 911 when she observed the supposed break in "at a distance". She did mention that one of the individuals "looked Hispanic" but also that she "wasn't really sure".

Sgt Crowley responded to the call in uniform. When he arrived at the residence he called into the house asking for the individual he could see through the front door window to come out on to the porch. Gates, as he later learned, replied that he would not comply and demanded identification, which Crowley freely gave. Upon learning that there was an officer present Gates brought up the fact that he was "a Black man living in America" and that this was all a race issue. Sgt Crowley asked Gates to join him outside because he couldn't transmit back to his office due to the closed space and Gates' yelling. To this Gates replied, "ya, I'll speak to your mama outside". Gates also indicated on several occations that he was "not the type of person you mess" with and that Officer Crowley didn't, "know who he was"

There was some more back and forth between the officer and Gates but due to the excessive loud arguing and disturbance, Gates was arrested for "Disorderly Conduct".

I'd like to leave it there, I really would. But before I go on, it should be known that all Gates had to do was prove , professionally and with respect for a uniformed officer, that he was rightfully in the house and that would have been the end of it. Certainly one would have appreciated such a speedy response if someone had actually been breaking into your home, why not take it in the same fashion?

As easy as it would have been to leave the whole thing alone as a, shall we say agrevated misunderstanding, it turns out that Gates is a personal friend of our recently elected fearless leader. I don't know about you, but as an older brother, when my little brother calls me up and asks me to beat up the school bully, I'm going to tell him to take care of it on his own. I'm not using the term "big brother" lightly here either. What kind of society are we living in when you can make a personal call to The President of the United States and ask him to demand an appology from an officer that was rightly doing his job. And oh, by the way, Sgt Crowley has been called upon as a guest speaker several times to teach classes on racial tollerance and embracing the diverse culture in Cambridge.

I know this has been all over the news and Jay Leno is going to be telling jokes about it until the next guy takes office, but I've just got to say that it's this "reverse racism" that is keeping racism alive today. I've heard a lot of negitive feedback on the term reverse racism. Somehow people are bringing up old issues from a past that we only know about today through history books as new issues every single day. I'm not saying that racism doesn't exist. Sadly, it does. But why? When was the last time a white man actually owned a black man? When was the last Irish migration? The last Japanese internment camps closed 60 years ago. The most recently in the spotlight are those from the Middle East on account of some a relitive few individuals who are haild by their own people as being extremeists that pervert the teachings they say they are upholding.

The key to ridding the world from racism is education. Oh wait, Gates is "a top African-American scholar"... This guy is responsible for the teaching and shaping of the minds of our future leaders and if you ask him to step outside to talk he replies, "I'll speak with your mama outside" This is what I'm talking about, not just at the lower levels of our society but at all levels. We're all Americans, people. I don't tell anyone that I'm an Irish-American. I'm not Irish. Sure I'm proud of where my ancestors came from but I'm more proud of where I came from. If Ireland gets in a war, the only reason I'll ever be there is if America sends me to back them up. If Angola or Zimbabwe or The Congo gets in a war do you think our "African-American" populace is going to catch a flight down there and sign up to fight the bad guys? I don't think so. And just to make drive the point, several countries in Africa are in some sort of cival war...

So now Officer Crowley, Henery Gates, and our very own President Obama are going to meet at the White House to discuss the events and "have a couple of beers". This is where we're at folks. After your big brother beats up your enemy, be sure to invite him back to your place for some beers.

I suppose it's time to make what has become my monthly, ish, update.

What's going on, you might ask? Well for those playing at home we're running on 4 months that I've been waiting for my visa. I was supposed to be out of Riga on the tails of May. But some Syriain dude has gotten it in his mind that I'm better suited to stick it out in good 'ol Latvia for a while longer. Not a bad place to be stuck, really. The warm weather is great, the women are beautiful, and I'm putting in some serious time on my bike. The only part that sucks is the not knowing what's going to happen to me, or where I'm going. I'm slated to go to Syria, but if that takes too much longer, I'm getting pulled from that and sent somewhere else. If I go somewhere else, it could be another two months of not knowing where to or when it is that I'll be going. Now don't get me wrong, I love being spontainious and the excitement of knowing I'll be in some random part of the world in three months is great, but it's hard to make plans, ya know? I can't plan on staying here. I can't make plans for back home. I'm just trying to enjoy the time that I have left. So far, I think I'm doing a pretty good job of that. ;)

We just wrapped up another inspection. I rocked the house, again. *happy dance* Nothing like getting recognized for a job well done. Making up for 5 months of slacking off in two weeks is just as hard as it sounds. haha. But seriously, I can't believe how jacked up some of this stuff is. And at the highest levels of our command. It's rediculous. I've got tons of shit I don't need and not enough of the gear that I do need. Whatever, I'm going to get it all straightened out.

Still don't have my stuff. It's been a long time but if you remember my last post, I talked about the Latvian packing ninjas that came and lovingly wrapped my earthly possesions with paper and sent it to a warehouse pending orders to Syria. I gotta say that living on two weeks worth of clothes is one of those thing that nobody likes to do. I've gotten to the point where I think I'm just going to go buy some new clothes. Shoes for sure though, the ones I bought at payless May 08 are falling apart. lol

That's about it for now kiddies, be sure to check back in next month for the what I hope will be the end all be all answer to the unanserable question, "where is Aaron's visa?"