Obama, Jimmy Carter, Colorism, Racism and Color Arousal

As reported by MSNBC, We’ve seen this play before. Democrats accuses Republicans of racism. Republicans fire back. Democrats retreat. So it went Wednesday, when former President Jimmy Carter, 84, fingered racism for fueling the hysterical tone of many of President Obama’s critics. More HERE

AAPP: Candidly, I have a few concerns regarding President Barack Obama and his enabling of many white Americans to be color aroused bigots.

Let's take a look back at the past few days...

Why is it that Barack Obama does not see the 'You lie' outburst as color aroused bigotry? yet, a former 'good ol boy' Democrat like former President Jimmy Carter can tell it like it is.

Why did Barack Obama distance himself from former president Jimmy Carter, rather than just taking care of the bigger economic problems of our nation? Speaking of bigger problems, Why did President Barack Obama really need to call Kanye West out of his name, and call him a Jackass? For that matter, why does President Barack Obama call out black folks but refuse to call out these white wing bigots when they subject all Americans too their collective color aroused bigotry?

OK Yes, Barack Obama is President and he is human with human opinions, but he is also suppose to be a role model for kids.

Mr. President, thanks for calling Kanye West a jackass. As if we already didn't know... I expect more of our President. I would expect this type of Sister Soldier moment from Bill Clinton or for that matter George W. Bush, not Barack Obama.

Kayne West (L) jumps onstage after Taylor Swift Photo: GETTY

Candidly the one the Ptresident should have really called a Jack Ass is the one who called him a Liar in front of millions of Americans -Joe Wilson.

Now he is a real jackass!

Now Barack Obama through his spokesman, are publicly disagreeing with former President Jimmy Carters assessment regarding racism, colorism, or color arousal. You see President Carter recently said, "I think an overwhelming portion of the intensely demonstrated animosity toward President Barack Obama is based on the fact that he is a black man," Carter told NBC News. Read: Carter: Wilson Comments 'Based on Racism'

AAPP says: Jimmy Carter was right when he said, "racism inclination still exists. And I think it's bubbled up to the surface because of the belief among many white people, not just in the South but around the country, that African-Americans are not qualified to lead this great country. It's an abominable circumstance, and it grieves me and concerns me very deeply."

Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy

Now it looks like Barack obama and Michael Steele, who blogger riPPA calls the Signifying Monkey are the apologist for white color arousal, bigotry or what some call racism. Let's call them "the racism enablers"

Read more at: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/04/16/10-most-offensive-tea-par_n_187554.html

Get this, as reported by Reuters, Carter's remark also drew the condemnation of Michael Steele, the first African-American to become chairman of the Republican National Committee.

"President Carter is flat out wrong. This isn't about race. It is about policy," he said in a statement. "This is a pathetic distraction by Democrats to shift attention away from the president's wildly unpopular government-run healthcare plan that the American people simply oppose."

I guess Barack Obama and other national leaders will continue to play this myth that racism is not playing out 'big time' in America since Barack Obama was elected. But we don't have to listen to Barack Obama or his spokesman, lets see how its' playing out in America.

Read what one progressive black blogger has to say about all of this. Also listen to some of America's real black voices rather than the voices of bozos like Newt Gingrich or Michael Steele.

Listen to the African American Political Slugfest HERE

NAACP Joins Fight For Federal Taser Standards

The Publisher of Tasered While Black says: Finally the National Office of the NAACP is discussing the issue of Black folks getting Tasered While Black. We salute the fact that Ben Jealous has joined in this fight. I hope that the National office of the NAACP's new involvement is sincere, and is not just another PR effort that they have been famous for in the past.

Let's see if the NAACP will join the already established effort of the Afrospear and Tasered While Black to gain a Congressional Taser Hearings or will they go it alone, and establish a new effort for PR purposes... Only time will tell.

Benjamin Jealous

As reported on the NAACP Website and the Afro Newspaper in Baltimore Maryland, (September 17, 2009) - The NAACP is renewing a push for federal standards on police use of force after the shooting of an unarmed Black man by two White police officers inside a church while day care children watched, the Associated Press reported.

According to witnesses, the man was surrendering but officials in Rockford, Ill., deny this description of events, saying Mark Anthony Barmore attempted to grab an officer's gun after they cornered him in the church.

However, both sides agree Barmore ran when officers approached him in the church parking lot, highlighting the suspicion and fear that can poison relationships between police and minority communities across the country.

"There are no national standards for the use of force (or) training for use of force," Benjamin Todd Jealous, president and CEO of the NAACP, said Sept. 11.
 MORE HERE

White, Anti Post Racial, Anti -Obama Movement, Guns and Black Folk

Let's call it, like it is. A anti-post racial, 99.9 % White Anti Obama movement marched to the U.S. Capitol today to protest Obama health care reform, higher taxes and what they see as out-of-control government spending. One has to wonder where these folks were for eight years when George W. Bush was detroying America? I guess Castro is right.

The conservative advocacy group made its way from California, hosting rallies in about 30 cities. CNN has full Coverage.

"Obamacare Condense Cream of Crap soup" reads a sign in Sparks, Nevada. In Dallas, Texas, a darker mood prevails. A homemade sign with "Obama Lies" features a bold, black swastika.

As the tour moves on, Nazi imagery becomes more prominent -- and sometimes confused. One sign at the Alamo in San Antonio, Texas, has Obama's portrait sandwiched between pictures of Adolf Hitler and communist philosopher Karl Marx. In Canton,Ohio, Obama and Hitler adorn a sign reading "Hitler made great speeches, too."

As reported by CNN, The Tea Party Express tour has been free of violence, but occasional outbursts of vitriolic hatred toward the president combined with some menacing outward appearances often overshadow the more moderate tea partyers. iReport.com: Weigh in on health care

In Louisville, Kentucky, two young men in camouflage fatigues roamed the crowd trying to recruit new members for their militia called the Ohio Valley Freedom Fighters. They bear signs reading "AK-47s: today's pitchfork" and "Quit worrying. Start your militia training today."

In Jackson, Michigan, a young man didn't need a sign. He was carrying the real thing: A loaded AK-47 assault rifle and two loaded handguns.

"I don't want a revolution. I don't want a civil war," he said. "But it is a possibility. It's there as an option, as a last resort." More HERE

AAPP: I wonder when President Obama and his administration will take a bolder stance on these fools carrying guns at these so called peaceful rallies? It's time for the Justice Department to stop these reckless fools. But that is just one African American Political Pundit's opinion. Then again, check out the recommended arms that white groups are stock piling against black folks. Maybe, just maybe black folks should start arming ourselves - JUST IN CASE.

What is your opinion?

This whole situation is so disgusting its laughable. I wonder what Richard Pryor would say about public option health care and guns? We can get a sense of that HERE.

----

African American Political Pundit is a 2008 DNCC Credentialed Democratic National Convention Blogger. He is also a BlackTalk Radio and BlogTalkRadio host, who shares this blog platform with others interested in candid, honest, reciprocal conversation about political and social issues impacting our diverse American communities.

Join in on the conversation every Monday, Wednesday, Friday and Sunday at 10:00 PM EST on African American Political Pundit's "Political Slugfest Show."

If you can handle the truth!

Black Woman Tased In Back - While on Her Knees

Another American Post-Racial Moment

This one out of Cincinnati.

Cincinnati police say the preliminary investigations says Officer Anthony Plummer's actions were not in compliance with Cincinnati Police Departments policies and procedures. Also, the tasing investigation has been recommended to be conducted by the internal investigation section.

Cincinnati police arrested and used a Taser on Celeste Thomas, the daughter of Cincinnati city councilman Cecil Thomas, early Sunday morning.

Her arrest report indicates that Thomas had marks on her upper back from the Taser's barbs.

"It is my understanding that she was on her knees when she was Tased in the back," said Cecil Thomas.



Official comment from the Cincinnati Police Department was not immediately forthcoming. Councilman Thomas, however, said that in a phone call with a senior officer early Sunday morning he was told that police would be reviewing the incident.

A source with knowledge of the incident tells 9News that the officer who used the Taser is Anthony Plummer.

Plummer was investigated by the Cincinnati’s Citizen Complaint Authority in a 2006 complaint stemming from another Tasing incident in which use of excessive force was alleged. In that incident, Plummer was found to have used excessive force.

Additionally, sources tell 9News that Plummer was terminated for issues related to excessive force but reinstated last year after arbitration. More HERE

SCLC Fort Worth calls for FBI federal investigation into the taser death of Michael Patrick Jacobs

On August 22, 2009, Rev. Kyev Tatum, President of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference - Fort Worth Chapter wrote a letter to President Barack Obama requesting a FBI federal investigation into the taser death of Michael Patrick Jacobs while in custody of the Fort Worth Police Department.

Rev. Tatum noted that the death was caused because of excessive deadly force to a mentally challenge African-American young man. He also noted that the crime was a hate crime because the officers, which were all white refused to assist this young man by providing CPR when he was unconscious. The officers also threaten the young man's mother with deadly force when she reached out to assist her son. Read the letter sent to President Obama below.



This blogger, who is also publisher of the blog Tasered While Black supports Rev. Tatum's efforts and urges all readers of this blog to send letters to the President and to the U.S. Attorney General to investigate this case.

We also urge you to sign the petition to hold Congressional Hearings into Taser Use and Abuse in America.

Here is the letter from Rev. Kyev Tatum, President of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference - Fort Worth Chapter written to President Barack Obama:


Dear Mr. President:

The Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) Fort Worth Chapter is requesting a FBI federal investigation into the taser death of Michael Patrick Jacobs while in custody of the Fort Worth Police Department.

We believe the death was caused because of excessive deadly force to a mentally challenge African-American young man.

This crime was a hate crime because the officers, which were all white refused to assist this young man by providing CPR when he was unconscious. The officers also threaten the young man's mother with deadly force when she reached out to assist her son. One white male officer put his hand on his gun and told her "she better get back."

Supportive News Story:

http://www.star-telegram.com/news/story/1550263.html

It appears the Mayor and other city officers are trying to cover up the facts in this cause.

We are requesting an immediate investigation of this case.

I can be reached at 817-966-7625.

Sincerely,

Rev. Kyev Tatum,
President
Southern Christian Leadership Conference - Fort Worth Chapter
7510 John T White Road
Fort Worth, Texas 76120
817-966-7625

Cc: SCLC National Office
Afrosphere
Dallas South

AAPP says: Sign the petition to hold Congressional Taser Hearings into Taser Torture today!

Govt' Goes Post-Racial Want Blacks To Go Camping

I plan to go camping next week. Not just because the United States Government is going post racial and wants black folks to camp. The fact is, I was a regular camper back in the day. Yet, I haven't gone camping in years. I haven't been following my little brothers footsteps. He has been camping for years. he got me actively involved in camping many years ago. Speaking of camping, there is a great new black blogger and a website that I have been following as they talk about the black camping experience.

Both are great sites, both are looking at the black camping experience in differing yet positive directions. One of the best new blogs is Camping In Color.

It's new black blogger who have created a black camping blog and have begun to provide a basic Camping 101. This husband and wife blogging duo are a African American couple, with over thirty years of family camping experience.



The Camping In Color
Camping Consultants

The Camping in color duo say; Back in the 70's we began camping as young adults. We became hooked! While we were reminded of our childhood experiences, this was different. It became our cabin in the woods, but without the mortgage. They also point out that their family would pack up after work on Friday and head to the lake. We would swim, fish, and ride bikes together, and my favorite the campfire. Check this out, new blogging couple went home each weekend feeling refreshed, and with great memories of the time we spent together.

The publishers of the blog, Camping in Color, would soon bring others, nieces, nephews, friends and other family. All of whom still camp today and take their own families. They say their blogs goal is about infusing the American family, particular the black American family with the appreciation of nature. They want to awaken our senses and motivate us to Camp in Color. They have done it successfully with this African American Political Pundit. I can't wait to read more of their upcoming post. Read More about the blog Camping in Color HERE


There is also another website called Out Door Afro.


Rue
Publisher
Out Door Afro

Rue who is creator of this website says: It's simple: I want more African Americans out of the gym; off the couch and into the Great Outdoors to try activities incorrectly perceived to be “something other people do”, such as bicycling, skiing, camping, and hiking.

Rue says she is a 30-something African American woman who has enjoyed a lifetime of outdoor sports and fun all over California and want to share the secret of how affordable, healthful, and gratifying these lesser-explored activities are. I recognize some black people do head out into the sun, snow, and mountains, but most times I venture out, I see very few people who look like me. So come out and join me for fitness, lasting memories, and inspiration through nature! Read More HERE

OK, I'm ready to go Camping In Color. It's an Out Door Afro thang.

Govt' Goes Post-Racial Want's Black To Camp

I plan to go camping next week. Not just because the United States Government is going post racial and wants black folks to camp. The fact is, I was a regular camper back in the day. Yet, I haven't gone camping in years. I haven't been following my little brothers footsteps. He has been camping for years. he got me actively involved in camping many years ago. Speaking of camping, there is a great new black blogger and a website that I have been following as they talk about the black camping experience.

Both are great sites, both are looking at the black camping experience in differing yet positive directions. One of the best new blogs is Camping In Color.

It's new black blogger who have created a black camping blog and have begun to provide a basic Camping 101. This husband and wife blogging duo are a African American couple, with over thirty years of family camping experience.



The Camping In Color
Camping Consultants

The Camping in color duo say; Back in the 70's we began camping as young adults. We became hooked! While we were reminded of our childhood experiences, this was different. It became our cabin in the woods, but without the mortgage. They also point out that their family would pack up after work on Friday and head to the lake. We would swim, fish, and ride bikes together, and my favorite the campfire. Check this out, new blogging couple went home each weekend feeling refreshed, and with great memories of the time we spent together.

The publishers of the blog, Camping in Color, would soon bring others, nieces, nephews, friends and other family. All of whom still camp today and take their own families. They say their blogs goal is about infusing the American family, particular the black American family with the appreciation of nature. They want to awaken our senses and motivate us to Camp in Color. They have done it successfully with this African American Political Pundit. I can't wait to read more of their upcoming post. Read More about the blog Camping in Color HERE


There is also another website called Out Door Afro.


Rue
Publisher
Out Door Afro

Rue who is creator of this website says: It's simple: I want more African Americans out of the gym; off the couch and into the Great Outdoors to try activities incorrectly perceived to be “something other people do”, such as bicycling, skiing, camping, and hiking.

Rue says she is a 30-something African American woman who has enjoyed a lifetime of outdoor sports and fun all over California and want to share the secret of how affordable, healthful, and gratifying these lesser-explored activities are. I recognize some black people do head out into the sun, snow, and mountains, but most times I venture out, I see very few people who look like me. So come out and join me for fitness, lasting memories, and inspiration through nature! Read More HERE

OK, I'm ready to go Camping In Color. It's an Out Door Afro thang.

Inmates in the US - Tasered While Handcuffed or Restrained

No Post Racial prison in the US.



Another reason for congressional hearings on Taser Torture In America - A Call For Congressional Hearings.

As reported by By Tami Abdollah at the LA Times, The U.S. Department of Justice is conducting an investigation into Orange County's troubled jail system, examining a decade's worth of allegations that deputies mistreated inmates and used excessive force to keep control.



Officials from the department's Civil Rights Division are seeking to determine whether incidents of violence by jail personnel amount to a pattern of violating inmates' rights, the Sheriff's Department confirmed.

The Orange County district attorney criticized deputies earlier this year for a "code of silence" that he said hampered prosecutors' ability to investigate possible criminal activities.

Among recent cases: An inmate was stomped to death by fellow prisoners after a deputy allegedly told them falsely that the man was a child molester. A county grand jury later criticized the Sheriff's Department for trying to impede the investigation into the death and concluded that there was evidence of rampant abuse at the Theo Lacy Jail in Orange.

The department has also been criticized for using Taser stun guns on handcuffed or restrained inmates. More HERE

Yet another reason why black bloggers have called for 'Congressional Taser Torture Hearings. Visit the Electronic Village, afrospear blog, NewsOne, Electrocuted While Black, Tasered While Black and this blog for more insight into the tasing of black folks in America. As tasers turn out to be America's 21st Century whips of terror.

Don't forget to sign the petition against Taser Torture In America.

Visit Tasered While Black and this blog often.

Tasered While Latino

More reasons for a Congressional Hearing on Taser Use In America. It's becoming clearer that it's not only Tasered While Black it's also Tasered While Latino. It truly is time for Congressional Hearings.

As reported by blogger, When I Write, In their own backyard at a Baptism, police in Manassas didn’t exactly kick in the door and wave the .44, but they did taser a pregnant woman and a 55 year-old man . I can’t wait to see if Barack Obama will invite this family for Tecate on the White House lawn. Police were responding to “a noise complaint at a child’s baptism party. By the time they left, a grandfather and a pregnant woman had been Tasered… The 55-year-old homeowner is a church family counselor and a bible study teacher.
More HERE

Two white police officers who fatally shot of a 73-year-old black man in Louisiana have resigned

The Grio.com is reporting how two white police officers involved in the fatal shooting of a 73-year-old black man in northern Louisiana have resigned from the force.

As reported by Howard Witt at the Chicago Tribune, Tasered While Black, Field Negro, BlackPerspective.net, and Pam's House Blend, and many other bloggers. The Feb. 20 shooting of Bernard Monroe Sr. sparked protests and at least two investigations.

Officer Tim Cox, who shot Monroe in his yard, and Officer Joey Henry, who was present at the time of the shooting, have decided to pursue other employment, said Homer city attorney Jim Colvin.

"Tim Cox told me he is moving to St. Tammany Parish and I think will be training canines for police departments," Colvin said. "I don't know what Joey Henry is going to do."

Both officers had been on paid administrative leave after the shooting, which is still under investigation by the FBI and state police.

"They should have been gone," said Rev. Willie Young, head of the Claiborne Parish NAACP, on Wednesday. "I don't think taxpayers should have been paying their salaries all this time."

Monroe, who was mute after losing his larynx to cancer, was cooking on a grill in his yard with relatives and friends when the police officers arrived. In a report to state authorities, Homer police said Cox and Henry chased Monroe's 38-year-old son, Shaun, from a suspected drug deal blocks away to his father's house.

Witnesses disputed that account, saying the younger Monroe was talking to his sister-in-law in a truck outside the house when officers arrived.

There was a scuffle between the officers and Shaun, in which Shaun was shocked with a Taser. Police said the elder Monroe then pulled a gun on them and Cox fired his weapon. Witnesses claim Bernard Monroe was unarmed as he walked toward his porch. More HERE

Enough Taser Torture in America. Sign the Petition for Congressional Hearings on Taser Abuse.

Visit the blog Tasered While Black for more information on this and other Tasering Incidents.

Louis Gates and other Elitist Black Folk

My first reaction when I heard about the incident about Louis Gates was you got to be kidding me. I like many bloggers were not a happy campers. I like many was feeling sorry for Henry Louis Gates. I thought like many black folks that the Cambridge Police had gone over the line. There were a number of bloggers who raised questions early about Louis Gates motives.

Some Black conservatives and conservative bloggers are decoding the Henry Louis Gates Jr. Arrest and asking...Why did Louis Gates have to yell, "Why, because I'm a black man in America?

For me, I respected Louis Gates until I read my own home town newspaper, The Boston Globe, and read how Louis Gates, 58, the director of Harvard’s W.E.B. Du Bois Institute for African and African American Research attacked black nationalism and is now into the black us (Harvard Educated) vs them (Black Nationalist) politics.

Now his "Harvard University buddy, President Barack Obama is coming out regarding his arrest in Cambridge, Mass. More HERE

I have lost a tad bit of respect for Gates and Obama. They only talk "Black" when the "black Harvard crowd" get what average black folks with no "Haravrd degrees" get everyday. If you have a dregree from a lowly HBCU, State College or heaven forbid no degree, you get no respect in "President Obama's Fantasy Post Racial America."

I wish Barack Obama showed Outrage when black folks got murdered by police, like the 73-year-old black.. and everyone knows race was a factor in the police shooting of unarmed elderly grandfather who what shot in cold blood in that small town in Homer Louisiana. Or the black guy that got shot in the back by the Oakland Transit Authority? Let's not even talk about black man that get shot and killed by police and was shot 12 times from behind. No that crime by police was not the Harvard type of crime, it was not politically sexy, Oh, has President Barack Obama even been down to New Orleans? Don't get me started...

Get this, Gates said that as a man who is “half white,’’ who was married to a white woman for more than two decades, and whose children are part white, “I don’t walk around calling white people racist. . . . Nobody knows me as some lunatic black nationalist who’s walking around beating up on white people. This is just not my profile.’’

AAPP: WTF! "Half White" WTF! Married to a white woman for more than two decades, and whose children are part white! What lunatic black nationalist who’s walking around beating up on white people is this guy talking about? Why is Louis Gates creating (as blogtalkradio host Black Achievement noted, a boogie men for whites? Black nationalist are bad, I'm one of you. Why you treating me like this? I Married a white woman for more than two decades, and my children are part white, why would you do this to me? I'm one of you.

Negro Please!

Why is Gates and and President Barack Obama playing this elitist black thing?

Ask yourself why Barack Obama is sticking up from his Harvard buddy, but cannot say one damn thing about a black man who got shot in the back in Oakland or black folks who get tasered to death while black. I don't get how President Obama, could be weighing in on the arrest of Harvard scholar Henry Louis Gates Jr but cannot even speak about the attack on black America since he has been elected.

Get this Barack Obama said last night that Cambridge police “acted stupidly’’ when they handcuffed Gates even after he showed proof that he lived in the house. Obama scolds Cambridge police.

Police acted 'stupidly' in Gates arrest, Obama says - sounds like black elitism to me ... Now all of a sudden, Henry Louis Gates Jr is one of the “1 Million Black Men In Jail. Whatever!

Read more at African American Political Pundit.com

There are a lot of thoughts from all corners from the blog theBlack Snob to many others.

What are do you think? What are your thoughts?

Louis Gates and other Elitist Black Folk

My first reaction when I heard about the incident about Louis Gates was you got to be kidding me. I like many bloggers were not a happy campers. I like many was feeling sorry for Henry Louis Gates. I thought like many black folks that the Cambridge Police had gone over the line. There were a number of bloggers who raised questions early about Louis Gates motives.

Some Black conservatives and conservative bloggers are decoding the Henry Louis Gates Jr. Arrest and asking...Why did Louis Gates have to yell, "Why, because I'm a black man in America?

For me, I respected Louis Gates until I read my own home town newspaper, The Boston Globe, and read how Louis Gates, 58, the director of Harvard’s W.E.B. Du Bois Institute for African and African American Research attacked black nationalism and is now into the black us (Harvard Educated) vs them (Black Nationalist) politics.

Now his "Harvard University buddy, President Barack Obama is coming out regarding his arrest in Cambridge, Mass. More HERE

I have lost a tad bit of respect for Gates and Obama. They only talk "Black" when the "black Harvard crowd" get what average black folks with no "Haravrd degrees" get everyday. If you have a dregree from a lowly HBCU, State College or heaven forbid no degree, you get no respect in "President Obama's Fantasy Post Racial America."

I wish Barack Obama showed Outrage when black folks got murdered by police, like the 73-year-old black.. and everyone knows race was a factor in the police shooting of unarmed elderly grandfather who what shot in cold blood in that small town in Homer Louisiana. Or the black guy that got shot in the back by the Oakland Transit Authority? Let's not even talk about black man that get shot and killed by police and was shot 12 times from behind. No that crime by police was not the Harvard type of crime, it was not politically sexy, Oh, has President Barack Obama even been down to New Orleans? Don't get me started...

Get this, Gates said that as a man who is “half white,’’ who was married to a white woman for more than two decades, and whose children are part white, “I don’t walk around calling white people racist. . . . Nobody knows me as some lunatic black nationalist who’s walking around beating up on white people. This is just not my profile.’’

AAPP: WTF! "Half White" WTF! Married to a white woman for more than two decades, and whose children are part white! What lunatic black nationalist who’s walking around beating up on white people is this guy talking about? Why is Louis Gates creating (as blogtalkradio host Black Achievement noted, a boogie men for whites? Black nationalist are bad, I'm one of you. Why you treating me like this? I Married a white woman for more than two decades, and my children are part white, why would you do this to me? I'm one of you.

Negro Please!

Why is Gates and and President Barack Obama playing this elitist black thing?

Ask yourself why Barack Obama is sticking up from his Harvard buddy, but cannot say one damn thing about a black man who got shot in the back in Oakland or black folks who get tasered to death while black. I don't get how President Obama, could be weighing in on the arrest of Harvard scholar Henry Louis Gates Jr but cannot even speak about the attack on black America since he has been elected.

Get this Barack Obama said last night that Cambridge police “acted stupidly’’ when they handcuffed Gates even after he showed proof that he lived in the house. Obama scolds Cambridge police.

Police acted 'stupidly' in Gates arrest, Obama says - sounds like black elitism to me ... Now all of a sudden, Henry Louis Gates Jr is one of the “1 Million Black Men In Jail. Whatever!

Read more at African American Political Pundit.com

There are a lot of thoughts from all corners from the blog theBlack Snob to many others.

What are do you think? What are your thoughts?

Gates in Cuffs: Scenes from 'Post-Racial' America

Source: Huffington Post - Rick Horowitz

Two guys I don't recognize trying to force the front door of the neighbor's house? You bet I'd be suspicious.

Would I call the cops? If I were a good neighbor myself, a conscientious neighbor, I probably would. At least I'd like to think I would. After all, somebody's breaking into that house -- I can't just sit there and do nothing, can I?

And I'd like to think I'd make the call no matter how dark or light the intruders' skin tone happens to be. But I don't know that. I can't be sure that's how I'd react.

Especially when I don't happen to know that one of the two dark-skinned guys trying to force the front door of my neighbor's house is: my neighbor!

"Everybody should know his neighbors" -- that's nice, as a theory. As a goal. In the real world, everybody doesn't know his neighbors. I've lived in the same house, on the same block, for nearly two decades; I can recognize exactly three of my neighbors. One of them died last winter. I didn't find out about it until this spring.

So much for knowing.

So the call to the Cambridge cops? No problem.

* * *

Call comes in to the Cambridge cops -- break-in in progress? You bet I'd send out a squad. Maybe two, just to be on the safe side.

You can't have people forcing their way into other people's houses, can you?

And I'd like to think that the dispatcher makes exactly the same decision regardless of what he or she might have been told about the intruders' skin color. Your job is to protect the community; the last thing you're thinking -- at this point, anyway -- is that one of these guys trying to force the front door actually lives in the house.

So the cops going out to investigate? No problem.

* * *

Just back from an out-of-town trip -- an out-of-country trip, in fact -- and I'm tired from all the traveling and happy to be home but my front door doesn't work and I try to force it and it still doesn't work, so I go around to the back door and finally get into the house and now there are cops at the front door and they want to know who I am and what I'm doing there. Am I ticked off? You bet I'm ticked off.

And I'd like to think that in the middle of my being ticked off, I might stop for just a moment and consider the possibility that the Cambridge cops are merely doing their job, and that the sight of two unknown men -- two unknown men of any color -- trying to force a front door might have seemed worth investigating.

Even as I'd like to think that in the middle of doing their jobs, the Cambridge cops might have stopped for just a moment to consider the possibility that this guy is exactly who he says he is, exactly who his I.D. cards say he is, and that he's entitled to be exactly where he is --

-- and what's more, that this might not be the first time in the guy's life that he's had to explain who he is and why he is where he is, simply because of the color of his skin --

-- and that maybe you cut him some slack.

You apologize for the misunderstanding. You give the guy your name and your badge number, even if the guy isn't asking politely anymore. Then you apologize again, and then you leave. End of story.

You don't put him in cuffs and arrest him for disorderly conduct.

Big problem. More HERE

Post Racial Cambridge - Henry Louis Gates, Jr., ARRESTED

The new Post Racial in America?

As reported by the Huffington Post, this booking photo released by the Cambridge, Mass., Police Dept., shows Harvard scholar Henry Louis Gates, Jr., who was arrested while trying to force open the locked front door of his home near Harvard University Thursday, July 16, 2009. Gates, a pre-eminent African-American scholar, is accusing Cambridge police of racism after he was arrested on a disorderly conduct charge after police said he "exhibited loud and tumultuous behavior." He was released later that day on his own recognizance and arraignment was scheduled for Aug. 26. (AP Photo/Cambridge Police Dept.)

My home town newspaper the Boston Globe reports, Harvard's Gates arrested at his Cambridge home

Harvard professor Henry Louis Gates Jr. told police he was targeted because "I'm a black man in America" when arrested for "tumultuous behavior" last week. (Boston Globe, 5:55 p.m.) Gallery Who is Henry Louis Gates, Jr.

• PDF Police report of incident and arrest

Bloggers like Oliver Willis is following the arrest of Henry Louis Gates, as are other bloggers like The Daily Voice,The Savvy Sista, The Greenwich Diva, Mo' Kelly Report, and Blog-AroundHarlem.com.

There is more, the Huffington Post reports, police responding to a call about "two black males" breaking into a home near Harvard University ended up arresting the man who lives there – Henry Louis Gates Jr., the nation's pre-eminent black scholar.

Gates had forced his way through the front door because it was jammed, his lawyer said. Colleagues call the arrest last Thursday afternoon a clear case of racial profiling.

Cambridge police say they responded to the well-maintained two-story home after a woman reported seeing "two black males with backpacks on the porch," with one "wedging his shoulder into the door as if he was trying to force entry."

By the time police arrived, Gates was already inside. Police say he refused to come outside to speak with an officer, who told him he was investigating a report of a break-in.

"Why, because I'm a black man in America?" Gates said, according to a police report written by Sgt. James Crowley. The Cambridge police refused to comment on the arrest Monday.

Gates – the director of Harvard's W.E.B. Du Bois Institute for African and African American Research – initially refused to show the officer his identification, but then gave him a Harvard University ID card, according to police.

"Gates continued to yell at me, accusing me of racial bias and continued to tell me that I had not heard the last of him," the officer wrote.

Gates said he turned over his driver's license and Harvard ID – both with his photos – and repeatedly asked for the name and badge number of the officer, who refused. He said he then followed the officer as he left his house onto his front porch, where he was handcuffed in front of other officers, Gates said in a statement released by his attorney, fellow Harvard scholar Charles Ogletree, on a Web site Gates oversees, TheRoot.com

Check out what grass roots folks have to say on my blogtalkradio program about Henry Louis Gates Jr., the nation's pre-eminent black scholar at: http://tobtr.com/s/590154.

Statement on Behalf of Henry Louis Gates, Jr. -- by Charles Ogletree

This brief statement is being submitted on behalf of my client, friend, and colleague, Professor Henry Louis Gates, Jr. This is a statement concerning the arrest of Professor Gates. On July 16, 2009, Professor Henry Louis Gates, Jr., 58, the Alphonse Fletcher University Professor of Harvard University, was headed from Logan airport to his home [in] Cambridge after spending a week in China, where he was filming his new PBS documentary entitled “Faces of America.” Professor Gates was driven to his home by a driver for a local car company. Professor Gates attempted to enter his front door, but the door was damaged. Professor Gates then entered his rear door with his key, turned off his alarm, and again attempted to open the front door. With the help of his driver they were able to force the front door open, and then the driver carried Professor Gates’ luggage into his home.

Professor Gates immediately called the Harvard Real Estate office to report the damage to his door and requested that it be repaired immediately. As he was talking to the Harvard Real Estate office on his portable phone in his house, he observed a uniformed officer on his front porch. When Professor Gates opened the door, the officer immediately asked him to step outside. Professor Gates remained inside his home and asked the officer why he was there. The officer indicated that he was responding to a 911 call about a breaking and entering in progress at this address. Professor Gates informed the officer that he lived there and was a faculty member at Harvard University. The officer then asked Professor Gates whether he could prove that he lived there and taught at Harvard. Professor Gates said that he could, and turned to walk into his kitchen, where he had left his wallet. The officer followed him. Professor Gates handed both his Harvard University identification and his valid Massachusetts driver’s license to the officer. Both include Professor Gates’ photograph, and the license includes his address.

Professor Gates then asked the police officer if he would give him his name and his badge number. He made this request several times. The officer did not produce any identification nor did he respond to Professor Gates’ request for this information. After an additional request by Professor Gates for the officer’s name and badge number, the officer then turned and left the kitchen of Professor Gates’ home without ever acknowledging who he was or if there were charges against Professor Gates. As Professor Gates followed the officer to his own front door, he was astonished to see several police officers gathered on his front porch. Professor Gates asked the officer’s colleagues for his name and badge number. As Professor Gates stepped onto his front porch, the officer who had been inside and who had examined his identification, said to him, “Thank you for accommodating my earlier request,” and then placed Professor Gates under arrest. He was handcuffed on his own front porch.

Professor Gates was taken to the Cambridge Police Station where he remained for approximately 4 hours before being released that evening. Professor Gates’ counsel has been cooperating with the Middlesex District Attorneys Office, and the City of Cambridge, and is hopeful that this matter will be resolved promptly. Professor Gates will not be making any other statements concerning this matter at this time.

Read the police report here.

Check out the blog African American Political Pundit for more information.

AAPP: I'm surprised he was not Tasered While Black