Jeffrey Wright: Obama, race and my arrest

[babylonsister]

Commentary: Obama, race and my arrest


By Jeffrey Wright
Special to CNN


Editor's note: Jeffrey Wright is a stage and screen actor who has won a Tony, Emmy and Golden Globe. Wright has appeared in "Angels in America," "Basquiat," "The Manchurian Candidate," "Syriana," "W." and "Casino Royale."


Actor Jeffrey Wright says a nation that put a man on the moon should be able to take race out of policing.


NEW YORK (CNN) -- President Obama expressed what many Americans feel regarding the recent arrest of Harvard professor Henry Louis "Skip" Gates -- that the Cambridge, Massachusetts, police responded "stupidly."

Obama is catching some flak for that, but I applaud him for having had the courage to speak his heart and mind.

I wonder if the president himself has ever experienced the blunt end of racial profiling, or if he personally knows of anyone other than Professor Gates who has. Among African-American males in this country, the small minority is those who have not or do not.

Did some prior experience or knowledge inform his response about the Gates incident? I have no facts to back this up, but, to me, it seemed personal. If it was, I understand.

I was arrested last July in Shreveport, Louisiana, outside a bar where dozens of members of the cast and crew of the movie "W." and I had gathered to celebrate the end of filming. There was no bar brawl as widely reported -- nor even a pre-election political argument.

Nine police cars and a fire engine responded; seven people were arrested. Two of the seven suffered minor head wounds at the hands of the Shreveport police. Josh Brolin and I were pepper sprayed by cops, and while face down in the street, I was made to feel the business end of a Taser.

The truth of what led to the whole morass has never been accurately reported. I was asked to leave the bar by a white female bartender who took exception to a comment I made.

As with Professor Gates, the police in my case backed unquestioningly the suspicion of a white woman that the black man she accused must be guilty of something. Once that die of accusation was cast, a ghost of racial bias, misperception, and the potential abuse of police authority was set free to make mischief.

more...

http://www.cnn.com/2009/POLITICS/07/24/wright.police.gates/index.html

[BlooInBloo]

1. "I wonder if the president himself has ever experienced (it)" - That's what I thought too.

[babylonsister]

2. Working on the mean streets of Chicago, I don't doubt it. At the

very least, I'm sure he's heard some stories.

[cap]

8. Michelle and her family lived it.

eom

[asphalt.jungle]

3. yes he has. he describes it in the "The Audacity of Hope"

"Security guards tailing me as I shop in department stores, white couples who toss me their keys as I stand outside a restaurant waiting for the valet, police cars pulling me over for no apparent reason. I know what it's like to have people tell me I can't do something because of my color, and I know the bitter swill of swallowed-back anger."

[BlooInBloo]

4. Nice find - thanks!

[CakeGrrl]

5. And during a 60 Minutes profile, he had a conversation

with the interviewer (Steve Kroft, maybe?), while driving through Chicago, about whether his mixed race heritage made a difference there. Obama responded something to the effect of "When I try to get a cab, there's no confusion."

[Number23]

16. "When I try to get a cab, there's no confusion."

Thank you. Which is why so many of us laugh at some people's insistence that he's really bi-racial and not "really black."

Do you think that the teabaggers give a flying fish stick that his mama was a white woman?

[tavalon]

20. I think they do think of it and are disgusted

After all, it ain't right black men sleepin' with our white wimmen! :eyes:

[depakid]

19. Goes with the territory

[Karenina]

6. Excellent breakdown.

[Adsos Letter]

7. Hi babylonsister!

:blush:

.

[babylonsister]

10. Haha! Hi, Adsos!

:D What's with the :blush:?

Nice to see you here! :hi:

[PretzelWarrior]

9. WTF???? man, this is bullshit.

I had never heard this story.

[annabanana]

22. The situation is common enough that most outlets don't consider it "news". .

It's *dog bites man* stuff for the media..

[tblue37]

11. He hits the nail on the head.

And I wish that bartender in Shreveport could have the hell embarrassed out of her--and lose her job as well!

[JayMusgrove]

12. Marvelous! I think we all should here more about these incidents

which somehow I never hear about in the media.

[Cha]

13. I remember reading about that! Thank you, Jeffrey

Wright for speaking out for Pres Obama because he spoke "from his heart"! I cried all the way through that..and this is something else good that has come out of Pres Obama answering the question that was asked.

And, in other news regarding Pres Obama on this..

<snip>>

"Obama also spoke briefly with the arrested professor, Henry Louis Gates Jr., who is a friend of the president, the White House reported. He and Gates had a "positive discussion" about his call to Crowley on Friday afternoon, the White House said. Obama also invited Gates "to join him with Sgt. Crowley at the White House in the near future.""

http://www.cnn.com/2009/US/07/24/officer.gates.arrest/index.html?iref=mpstoryview

[Wednesdays]

14. K&R

:kick:

[Number23]

15. Thank you, Mr. Wright for SPEAKING OUT

More and more members of the larger culture need to hear these stories. This is still a country where all it takes is a look and a nod to get someone who's the wrong color in a heap of trouble.

[Political Tiger]

17. That's an excellent and eye-opening commentary! K&R

[Leo The Cleo]

18. The Problem is Here On DU too

There are people who feel that it is perfectly acceptable to disregard the rights of black men. People think it is perfectly acceptable to tell black men to stay in their places (in on way or another). Police abuse, racism, sexism and anti-gay abuse runs rampant in this country. Instead of saying, "that's enough," many of us say "don't say anything because it's not politically sound." Well, that's life, I suppose.

[tavalon]

21. Don't do this or that because it isn't good politically is something thrown at many of us here

Around here, the concern trolls consider everything that is left of center to be unacceptable politically.

[Blue_Tires]

23. k+r