Somebody needs some sensitivity training and it's not the Capitol police officer who was simply doing his job—protecting the security of everyone in the Capitol. I know I wasn't there and I'm not going to claim to know every single fact of the case, but it seems clear to me that McKinney freaked out for no good reason and now she's trying to get off the hook by declaring the officer a racist.

McKinney knows the drill. The officers are supposed to stop anyone not wearing a badge—it's a checkpoint of sorts. OK, members of Congress often get away with not wearing their badges becuase the officers recognize them. Fine. On the particular day in question, McKinney wasn't wearing her badge, and the officer in question didn't recognize her. Maybe he didn't get a good look as she went by. Maybe she cut her hair. Maybe she had her head down. Maybe the officer was having a brain fart. There are a million and one explanations for why the office might not have recognized her. So what does he do? He calls after her to double check her identity--maybe ask to see a badge. In other words, he was doing his job. McKinney doesn't respond. Maybe she didn't hear him (maybe because she was on the phone). Maybe she thought he was talking to someone else. Maybe she just didn't give a shit (she's a member of Congress after all and doesn't have to stop for nobody). Again, there are plenty of possible explanations. But when she doesn't respond after several requests from the officer, he grabs her. I don't think anybody has claimed he attacked her or roughed her up. It seems he merely grabbed her arm so he could see who it was.

Put yourself in the officer's shoes for a moment. Your job is to protect the Capitol and only allow certain people through. Here is this woman you don't recognize who just walks on in and when you call after her, she doesn't respond. What do you do? I guess if you're a pussy-footed liberal you take the risk and let her go lest you be deemed a racist for doing your job. But if you have any sense at all, you do exactly what this officer did.

What did McKinney do in response? Did she say, "Excuse me sir, but I'm a United States Congresswoman. Here's my badge." No, she hits the officer with her cellphone. What the hell is wrong with this lady? She freaked out for no good reason (that her long gone ancestors might have been slaves is not a good reason for hitting a police officer). Now she's got a bunch of her racist friends together to play the demagoguery card. These people are what is wrong with society. These people are big part of why there is such a divide between black and white in this country. And when I say these people, I'm referring to the likes of McKinney, Jesse Jackson, Al Sharpton, etc.— not all (or even most black people), just the few who rely on racism for employment.

Blatant racism is almost non-existent anymore. Even the more sublte versions are hard to find today. Unless of course, your livelihood depends on fighting racism. Then you've got to find it in every nook and cranny of life—whether real or imagined—otherwise you're out of a job.

Posted by Hey Paul   |   Wednesday, April 05, 2006