****
GlobalCitizenLinda
Now that I have halted my crying, I can tell my story - when you hear/read all those stories of unarmed civilians being shot/harmed/killed by law enforcement, you, as a racial minority, wonder when you will find yourself in that situation and what you would do to come out of it alive.
Just over two hours ago, I found myself being placed in the back of a police cruiser and answering questions from 3 police officers who had pulled out behind my car in two police vehicles.
What was my crime: apparently someone (the only person I had last seen in my vicinity was a middle-aged white male) had called the police and told them that I was trying to steal a car packed in the parking lot of an auto-mechanic shop.
How did I end up in this situation: my car was having problems so I dropped it off at the workshop of my regular mechanic. This repair shop is just a street away from where I live and a few feet from where I can catch and get off that public city bus.
The neighborhood is at the edge of the largest public university and so the majority of the residents are students, university employees, or those who work in the two very large hospitals (university hospital and a huge private hospital); my mechanic’s shop is just opposite the offices of the city’s local NBC TV affiliate; multiple restaurants and eatery/restaurants of different price structures abound …
… so people are always walking around and this would not be a good place to commit a robbery in broad day light from a shop that is adjacent to a fast food joint.
I started the day very early (5.00 a.m.) so that I could get my two buses to get to work on time; my car was at the mechanic’s shop during the course of the day, the mechanic gives me a call and says the repairs have been completed and that I could pick up the car any time. I inform him that the bus would get me to the shop after hours and he offers to leave the car key hidden in a place where I could pick it (spare one was at home) when I got off the bus.
A few hours later, I get to the shop, call the mechanic and he guides me to locate the car key; I am seated in my car talking to my mechanic telling him that whatever repairs he had made were not sufficient as the car had refused to start & that I would leave it on the lot for him to look over; just then I see two police cruisers pull up behind me.
Two officers approach my car – one on either side of the car; one police officer asks to me to roll the window down while another asks me what I am doing and is touching the belt where his pistol is hanging.
I am confused at this time about who to answer first; at this time all the recent episodes of police interaction with minorities are flashing through my mind. One persistent thought was that “hey, whatever you do, don’t make any sudden moves that will get you killed, you have to get through this situation alive”.
Of course, this is when I realize that whatever trouble was happening to the car meant that the automatic windows could not roll down, so I decide to open the driver’s door. I made sure that my hands could be seen and that I repeated each question from the officers; was asked what I am doing – I said I came on the bus and I am picking up my car. One officer asked me are you sure that this is your car because someone called you in that you are trying to steal cars here…. this is not your car … you are trying to steal two cars …. how come car won’t start?
My response was that whatever repairs the mechanic made failed and I just informed him of the same … do you want to talk to him? Officer: no, why are you picking up your car now when mechanic is not here? Me: because the bus got here after hours and I really need to run errands so mechanic told me to take it – errand in this case being trying to go to a money transfer place and send my family money because my father was hospitalized.
Another officer: can we see your ID? Which was inside my bag … so I asked for permission to get it. When I handed them the ID, then I was ordered to step out of the car and one officer pulled both my hands behind my back and took me to the back of one of the police cruisers and closed the door – thank heavens I was not hand cuffed.
Police officers call in my information for a check about the registration of the car and also if I have any outstanding legal issues or tickets. Police record comes back clean. Once again, they tell me that a person called me in as a suspicious person stealing cars but that all my information checked out and so I could go. I left my car there and I walked away crying & asking myself this question:
What about me made someone immediately think that I am a thief rather that a “damsel in distress?”
If I had looked different, could the person who called in the police report have first thought that maybe I was having car trouble rather than the first thought being that I am a thief trying to steal two cars …. all by my lonesome self?
Questions, questions…questions.
Something that has always bothered me about these incidents in the news about fatal shootings of unarmed people (especially racial minorities) is the role that ordinary citizens played in bringing about the subsequent killings.
Who do we immediately think of as suspicious and how is this feeling influenced by our biases and stereotypes? Of course I could not go to send money to my family to help with my hospitalized father. I just proceeded walking home to resume the errand tomorrow because I think my luck for today may have just run out.
That is a day in the life of this immigrant.
Yes, of course, I am crying again.
White House.gov
Dear NM, I haven’t had a chance to read your post yet, but I know it must have been a difficult one to write. As a person of color, I am truly shocked at the various incidents against Blacks that have been in the news lately. The UVA incident made me cry as well. The video of the white guy running away from beneath the noses of the police, who were too busy holding and hurting a Black student, who had done nothing wrong, was such a slap in the face. I know in my heart of hearts that there are good people out there who condemn these kinds of actions, including policemen, but it’s hard to believe that some days. But its so important to hold on to that belief, otherwise life would not be worth living.
Take care, friend. Know that you are not alone. With love to all my TOD friends.
Sorry, I meant NW, Nerdy :)
Congrats on first rchakras
Just finished reading this. Linda, I am so very sorry. What a traumatic experience it must have been. So thankful that it ended well, but I’m sure you’re haunted by what could have been. What a world we live in…
Congratulations on your first place on this heart-rending post rchakras.
“Iranians have already made their choice: Engage with dignity. It’s high time for the US and its allies to chose: pressure or agreement.”
Shorter Zarid Zarif - It’s high time for the US and its allies to shit or get off the pot.
h/t Bobfr
Bringing over from Bobfr
TY nospin!
Linda I am so sorry this was done to you.. that you were put through such crap. I’ll not comment further as my emotions take over on this subject, but more (((((((((((Linda))))))))))) hugs for you.
Thank you Nerdy for front paging this.
Thank you very much, NW, for featuring GCLinda’s gut-wrenching story.
Thank you, again, GCLinda for sharing it with us and I hope you’ve managed to have a few peaceful moments since yesterday and that all the support you are receiving will help a bit with the horror you experienced.
Thank you JER. She looks lovely.
I’m in love with her dress! She looks so beautiful!
Oh! how so very lovely is our First Lady Michelle Obama!!!
You GO Michelle and make yo Mama Proud!
Thanks JER & Good morning :-)
It has dawned on me these last couple days that in 2008’s Primary campaign season besides the anger I felt for HRC’s campaign dirty tricks and lies I noticed her goals and experience more closely aligned with her position as FLOTUS rather than the Jr Senator of NY. When she was Senator she sought to keep her head down and work hard, to toe the line and do what was expected of a Jr. and propose legislation for celebratory days and names for buildings. It was as if she was just trying to stay not controversial for a future Prez run. She continued that strategy in my opinion as SOS visiting foreign countries, but no spectacular attempts to change history like Secretary Kerry. Besides not trusting her to preserve PBO’s progress I worry that her Prez goals are still along the line of a FLOTUS. Michelle Obama has been working in the areas I have heard HRC mention that are important to her. I remember when PBO took office he had bigger goals encompassing all peoples rather than just AAs. I worry our party is resting on their laurels and putting all their eggs in one basket with Hillary. I really do not see her as a visionary leader of the free world, but more as an ambassador to a country or some other role that could use her experience and gifts and temperament.
I agree. I don’t actually have a sense of what her goals might be as POTUS. It seems to me that she just wants to be POTUS rather than wanting to do something as POTUS, if that makes sense. But i could be wronging her because I haven’t paid much attention lately. I’d rather think about what our current president is doing!
Very powerful post for our TODer, NW. Thank you, both.
Josh isn’t playing.
Priceless.
The WHPC are always rooting for a Foreign over Our Own POTUS.
Shameful wicked idiots.
John Boehner is going to Israel at the end of the month, they can keep him as far as I am concern.
So glad this illuminating post came through, NW. It must have been in the pipeline last night when I saw the title but got an error message. Dear Linda, I’m outraged that this happened to you and that such stories unfold on a daily basis in this racist country. Old white people like me who marched in the Civil Rights Movement are not done marching and speaking out with you. Bless you.
{{{{{Judith}}}}}
Jesus, Linda. It’s just so heartbreaking.
Great post, NW!
Vice President Joe Biden addresses the National Conference on Health and Domestic Violence in Washington, DC. - http://www.msnbc.com/shift/watch/biden-at-domestic-violence-conference-415809091506
Dear Linda, I am so so very sorry for what happened to you. I am sorry for the pain, the tears, the rage, the frustration, the feeling of shame, and the hurt that you must have felt. I hold you in the warmest and most comforting hug. Most of all, I am grateful that you are alive after such horror. I am grateful that you lived to see another day.
I’m young, but as a Black person, I know what it’s like when a white neighbor calls the cops on you because “you look suspicious.” I know that feeling of fear. I know that shaking and trembling. I know that visceral pain. I know that feeling of shame. I know that scar that lives within you forever, so that when you’re in a majority white neighborhood you hold your keys out so they know you’re not a thief. I shouldn’t have to do that. No Black person should ever have to do that in a country where we say “all men are created equal.” Unfortunately, this is the society we live in.
I just want you to know, Linda, that here on TOD you are cared for and are in a safe place. Thank you for sharing. Thank you for everything you do in the world. I will keep you, your father, and the rest of your family in my thoughts and continue to send positive wishes.
{{{{{{{Linda}}}}}}}}
OMG, NW, I’ve held my keys out too!
It’s sad how we condition ourselves this way and it doesn’t matter whether you live in the North, South, East or West.
White America has given Black American’s PTSD. (now everybody, don’t think I’m talking ’bout all of y’all per se)
“It’s sad how we condition ourselves this way and it doesn’t matter whether you live in the North, South, East or West.” - This, GGail. All of this. You got it right.
Black people, young and old, know that feeling from the most liberal of states to the most conservative of states and every state in between. It’s like a form of PTSD as you say. It haunts you, it stays with you, you constantly have to check everything around you so that the white person feels safe, and your own safety and well being comes last because you’re always having to say or think, don’t fear me. I won’t harm you. I’m human too.
{{{{{{ GGail }}}}}}
Yes, you feel me {{{{{{Nerdy Wonka}}}}}
{{{{{ NerdyWonka }}}}}
{{{{{{{ MP }}}}}}
NW, thanks you for taking the time to write this powerful, wonderful and encouraging words to Linda as well as to the TOD family. Linda, <3 <3 <3 {{{{{{Linda & NW}}}}}}
Co-sign!
Nerdy, endless thanks for posting this.
Linda, I just don’t know what to say, I wish I could just hug you and make the whole damn pain of this go away. Reading through this, all I could think was that it would never, ever happen to me because of my white skin, and that this is still the way of the world in 2015 is too depressing for words.
I am just so sorry you experienced this, I can’t begin to imagine the hurt and despair.
Thinking of you Linda, sending you love.
GlobalCitizenLinda, all I can say is Lord have mercy. I am glad you were not hurt, but I can imagine what you were feeling..
I speak nothing of the emotional fear you must have been going through.OMG!!!!!
bella, here is the article that you were trying to post on the last thread
http://www.utsandiego.com/news/2015/mar/20/us-first-lady-in-cambodia-to-promote-girls/
IEM REAP, Cambodia (AP) — U.S. first lady Michelle Obama traveled Friday from Japan to Cambodia — a journey from one of Asia’s richest countries to one of its poorest — as part of a campaign to help millions of girls around the world stay in school.
Mrs. Obama arrived in the city of Siem Reap, home to Cambodia’s famed Angkor Wat temple complex, where she planned to sightsee following activities Saturday focused on the U.S.-led education initiative “Let Girls Learn.”
Thank you GGail.
My pleasure anniebella :-)
BTW, President Rouhani RT’d this ….
bbl …. keeping you in my thoughts GCLinda …..
NW, thank you for posting Linda’s tale of horror.
First of all, he’s a Republican. My second reason is self-explanatory.
Jacqueline, I am sure he is a good old family values man. :)
You are? Ha! :)
I’m more interested in “Sex before Sixty”.
Don, Don, Don :-)
Just getting back to the blog … and now I’m falling off my chair! Thanks for the laugh, Don.
Great Post NW.
Linda, you are in my thoughts and prayers.
Linda, what happened to you was despicable and shameful and I can only imagine the fear that gripped you and continues to follow you. I just want you to know how much you’re loved and supported here in this virtual family. I had a friend who was mauled and arrested during a civil rights protest in Atlanta in the 60’s. She was put into a cold cell and was so frightened she thought she couldn’t hold it together. Then she heard her friend singing in the next cell and her fears subsided because she knew she wasn’t alone. I hope you’re hearing us singing because until the day that there is justice and fairness in these United States we have to sing for and with each other.
THIS!!!!!!
March On Together!
JG, I’m singing with you
GCL, forgive me having to report on my failure to inform, on a topic not as pressing as your own, but I am seeing I gave some wrong information on the Equinox yesterday. The MOON did go into Aries, immediately on the eclipse, but the SUN will not actually enter the sign of Aries until 6:45pm EST (3:45pm PST) tonight/today. This is not Jim Maynard’s error, MightyP claims full sheepish embarrassment. There is no excuse. <3
http://www.pattymurray.com/act/support-the-21st-century-womens-health-act
Linda, I am so sorry to hear of your horrible experience. You are in my thoughts.
B. Todd Jones, the first Senate-confirmed head of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, announced Friday that he would step down at the end of the month.
“I will truly miss leading and working side by side with these men and women in their pursuit of ATF’s unique law-enforcement and regulatory mission,” Jones said in announcing his resignation, as quoted by the Wall Street Journal.
Jones, a former U.S. attorney, was tapped as the agency’s acting director in the wake of the 2011 Fast and Furious scandal. The Senate confirmed Jones to head up the ATF in 2013, the first time that body had done so since being given the power to confirm the agency’s director in 2006.
His resignation comes after the Obama administration abandoned plans to ban rifle ammunition that can pierce law enforcement officers’ bulletproof vests amid blowback from members of Congress and a public outcry.
—-
I doubt the last sentence has anything to do with his leaving……
Why is David Patraeus still advising this Administration ? Cut him loose…geesh…
He is saying that Iran backed Shia militias are our biggest threat.
Keep your friends close, and your enemies closer.
Linda -
I. Am. SO. FUCKING. ENRAGED. Right. Now.
Seven Fucking Hells. I don’t even have the words to express what I’m feeling at the moment after reading that. I’m shaking. I want to go find these two ……. fuckwads, and shake the living shit out of them and ask,
“DID YOU LEAVE YOUR BRAINS AT HOME? Does basic knowledge of logic and physics not accompany you on a daily basis? Are they not required for your job to Serve and PROTECT?
“Situation: Someone reports ‘FEMALE trying to steal TWO cars.’ That right there alone is COMICAL and doesn’t make logical sense, due to the fact one human can only operate ONE AUTO AT A TIME. Apparently, you AUTOMATICALLY believed this was possible.
“Seriously? Do females in your world naturally come with X-Men Mutant™ talents like being able to operate an automobile REMOTELY? Or is her Mutant™ talent TELEKINESES and she can STEAL CARS WITH HER MIND? Where was she hiding her TOW TRUCK, in her VAGINA?
“The blatant lack of professional judgement in this case should cause you BOTH to lose your jobs.
“As far as putting her in the back of a squad car, as horrible as that is, it’s likely the safest thing you could have done for HER, so YOU wouldn’t assume she was going for her Magical Alien Rocket Launcher when she scratched her nose, and automatically open fire on her.
“I’m surprised you didn’t just assume she had Super Magic VooDoo Powers™, like Angela Basset in American Horror Story - Coven.
“WHAT THE FUCK WERE YOU THINKING????”
I need a drink, and it’s not even noon here.
Tally girl, I almost choked on my chicken salad. Only you could make this statement and have us nodding our heads & howling at the same time.
Thanks!! I love you girl!!
I love you back <3
:D :D :D
:D
Linda, i just read your horrific account and I am so sorry you had to go through this.
Whenever it seems that maybe America has closed the racial gap an inch or two and found some truth, a story like yours presents a clearer picture.
The police were called because you were experiencing difficulty with your car. Not to help you, but to suspect you. Unbearable.
I am reminded of Professor Gates fumbling for the keys to his house.
I am 72 and foolishly thought when we elected President Obama that a corner had been turned.
2:25 ET: The President hosts the Second-Annual White House Student Film Festival
He’s talking now! :) Thanks Chips!
Had the ‘white person call the cops on me’ thing happen when I was 15 in Toronto; cops stopped me as I was about to catch the bus to go meet my mother after school. The cops asked me questions, then let me go-apparently, the person who was watching from a building thought that I was a person who’d committed thefts in the area. Of course, I wasn’t, but well, who can tell one person from the other (especially if they’re black?)
With regards to recent events mentioned in this article, we need to do something like this to make our police better in North America:
Law enforcement in Japan: Conditions of service
Until we get this kind of training here, we’re all fucked the next time we meet a police officer, be we black, white, brown, yellow, red, male, female, young, and old.
Reality ….
Bibi ain’t got no government yet ….
Oh, and then there’s this ….
Am truly hopeful that Bibi will fail to form a government, because, now all Israelis know just how despicable he is and how harshly America is going to treat him for all the damage he has inflicted on Israel, on the potential of a democratic Jewish State and a peaceful co-existence of a Jewish State with a Palestinian State.
BTW …
Netanyahu Tactics Anger Many U.S. Jews, Deepening a Divide
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/03/21/us/netanyahu-tactics-anger-many-us-jews-deepening-a-divide.html
Bob, some of the Israeli press has been announcing that Moshe Kachlon will be given the Finance ministry if he joins Bibi.
Same promise was made in 2013—made and broken.
Will Kachlon fall for it again?
If you read my comments last week Kachlon and Michael Oren are both Kulanu and for different reasons just may stand up to Bibi. Maybe. Big if. Not very likely. But they are giving Bibi and Company some uneasy moments.
Likud cannot get to 61 without Kulanu or Yesh Atid. If those 2 stand strong this thing could turn around. Probably not. But worth noting.
And it looks like the rethugs are doing their own thing over the State Dept.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/03/20/john-boehner-israel_n_6909790.html
The GOP war on The President continues. McConnell is advising all the Governors that they don’t need to follow EPA regs.
Boehner is taking a delegation to Israel with the stated purpose of scuttling an Iran deal.
Loretta Lynch still roadblocked.
Grim.
Vicki, are you getting these headlines from HuffPo articles?
No. The NY Times, mostly. Calling it a GOP War On PBO is my own headline.
Oh, okay
Sedition maybe?
I want you to reflect for a minute on two ideas. #1 Netanyahu has let it out of the bag that what is known as “Israel” is a US military base in Palestine originally concieved as a low key strategic Middle East operations center. #2 Boehner is the third in line to the US Presidency. Let that sink in, in the context of Boehner’s plans to meet with rasict terrorist Netanyahu in “Israel”
What you suggest is too horrible to contemplate……DOGS!
I have no worries because PBO and his team are totally on top of this.
Thanks so much Nerdy for front-paging Linda’s story. I’m hoping your words can bring her some measure of validation and comfort in knowing that there are many of us who can relate to what she’s been through and are ready to stand by her at times like this.
Hey HF, welcome back :-)
Thanks GGail! :)
Linda, I’m so very sorry to hear about your horrible experience. It made me wonder about all the people making calls to the police. Are they really concerned citizens or simply accomplices in brutalizing and the murder of Black people? I’m so glad you got out of there physically in one piece. The mind will heal.
[Moving to closer proximity of the library!]
HONOLULU — A sprawling beachfront home used in the filming of the 1980s television show “Magnum, P.I.” has sold for $8.7 million to a close friend of President Barack Obama.
An attorney for Marty Nesbitt said Thursday that his client bought the property. Seth Madorsky says Nesbitt didn’t have any partners or co-investors in the deal. [……]
Nesbitt is a Chicago businessman who served as treasurer for Obama’s first presidential run. He is the chairman of the Barack Obama Foundation, which will build the president’s future library.
.
http://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/hawaiis-magnum-pi-home-sold-to-obamas-close-friend/ar-BBivlyC
Linda, I am so sorry you went through this. I wonder if you can take it further; maybe see if you can get a lawyer to get a copy of the 911 call. I think people that call in false information should be held accountable. That man visiting from India was reported by someone who didn’t think he belonged in the area. This is happening too often now. Sometimes we have to hit them in the pocketbook for them to get the message. Stay strong.
Good suggestion regarding the recording, misspat.
It’s good to “see” you :-)
He sold his soul just to win an election. Who can trust him now??
I cannot stand to see my people do this. If anyone should know better…
He’s certainly alienated me.
GCL, I hope you’ll have the opportunity to see the heartfelt comments from your TOD community.
Here’s my response (posted this morning on the overnight thread):
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
http://theobamadiary.com/2015/03/19/a-tweet-or-two-265/#comment-1289979
There is so much messed up about US law enforcement — their absolute power and the swagger they display while exercising their damn “authority.” Hope that police training reminds the officer to say to themselves when they encounter a citizen that they are a public servant, not that they have absolute power over that person at that moment in time.
Agree with you about your gender — if this had happened to a young Black man (let’s imagine Barack Obama in 1985), the outcome could have escalated quickly into a heartwrenchingly tragic situation.
And WTF would that nosy bystander call the police — what an a**hole — police should be required to let “informers” know that the “informer” needs to re-evaluate what that person considers “suspicious” — yes, diversity training for our ignorant citizens would be a good start.
This could have happened to any member of TODville who resides in the US — I would be shaking rage after this incident, after a long exhausting day of fighting with a disabled car, unresolved problem and having to deal with unnegotiable bus schedules — just can’t see how officers could consider a single woman a threat in any way.
Thank you, GLC for sharing with us, who share your outrage.
I hope the story of your experience reaches a larger audience. ((( GCL )))
https://twitter.com/Yardarm756DD
This id the right one…Disregard the above link.
Linda, your moving account of your awful treatment by the cops reminds me that even in my neighborhood which voted > 90% for President Obama TWICE, I should write a note to my neighborhood watch list that we are welcoming two young men to live with us for 6 weeks. They will be in the world-premiere show, Soul Harmony, about Sonny Til and the Orioles from Baltimore. My neighbors are nice, liberal people but a couple of them get jumpy about seeing people they don’t know, and we want them to know these guys are our guests. We will be meeting Monte and Joshua for the first time on Monday. If you’re near Portland, OR between April 18th and May 3rd, come see Soul Harmony.
LL’s new post:
http://theobamadiary.com/2015/03/20/on-racetogether-and-conversations-we-dont-have/
I may be an atheist now, but I was raised a Jew and I like of my heritage. As such, I always felt like I was afforded an understanding of the state of bigotry in America that not everyone gets. I am a member of a minority, but you can’t tell at a glance. This meant that, my experience growing up, was such that bigoted whites didn’t know not to say certain things around me that they wouldn’t say around a black person, or a Hispanic person, or a woman or anyone else whose demographic is plain to see. Even so, I am shocked at the amount of racism that has come out of the woodwork in the last few years. It has depressed me and disillusioned me about many of my fellow Americans. It hurts my feelings to see it and makes the world seem less hopeful to me sometimes. I am raising my kids to be different than that. I think it’s going to take for growing over several more generations. It’s very upsetting to realize that.
My experience as well, lackewasright.
Unfortunately, I feel your pain. For real. Just know that you did nothing wrong and there’s nothing you could have done differently.
There are hate filled people out in the world who will harm you any chance they get. The most you can do is be on guard and get out of the situation as quickly as possible with the least damage.
That’s my philosophy.
{{Linda}}, I’m so sorry you had to experience this. I will keep you in my thoughts and prayers.
Seems the situation could have been handled a lot better. They could have asked you for your ID and registration to car. They could have run the plates to verify the car was yours. Something better than just outright accusing you and then cuffing you like that. How traumatic for you. So you expect to pick up your damn car, car wouldn’t even start, you were then accused of stealing YOUR car, cuffed and put in back of police vehicle. Then to top it off, you had to walk home upset - they couldn’t even drop you off? Did they even say sorry???
How upsetting.
You should at least file a complaint, maybe it would help them rethink certain policies.
I’m so sorry you went through that.
Dear GCLinda:
NerdyW said it the way I feel it, so I’ll borrow her words from above.
http://theobamadiary.com/2015/03/20/this-is-the-pain-that-racism-causes-2/#comment-1290077
Truly sorry that you had to experience that kind of fear and pain… and that such a scenario can be repeated at any moment you are on the road. {{{GCL}}}
This was a very powerful testimony. Thank you.