Racial Profiling in the Name of the Lord. Let the church say Amen.

A screenshot taken from a viral video involving officers of the Huntsville Police Department

Here we go again.

You know the drill.

Young black men stalked, profiled, arrested (if lucky) for walking, shopping, seeking help, going to church, while black.

Neighborhood watch,  police (on or off duty) acted appropriately.

The latest case of racial profiling happened in  Huntsville, Alabama, nicknamed the Rocket City because of it's close association with the U.S. military and NASA.  Huntsville is also known for its abundance of churches.  A friend once described the city to a Canadian saying if you see something tall and it has a cross on it, it's a church, if it doesn't it's a rocket.

The Church pictured above is First Baptist Church,  it is a beautiful edifice not only on the outside but inside as well.  According to the Huntsville Police Department and reported by the media,  Joshua Chukwuedozie Ude, 23, was arrested in the parking lot of the church, located at 600 Governors Drive, after Huntsville police said he was questioned about disruptive behavior during a service inside. Police said he became uncooperative and refused to leave. 

According to a statement on the First Baptist Church website that is not what happened.  The young men were taking pictures of the outside of the church (no crime), an usher invited them to attend service, initially they declined (should have followed their first instinct), decided to take him up on the invitation to see inside, walked down to the front row, sat down, took some pictures, and left. Unfortunately, their appearance inside the sanctuary made some members nervous and they alerted HPD and that's when all hell broke out in the parking lot.

Why did the young men make some members nervous and HPD react they way they did?  For the answer, we have to look no further than THE  ATTACK MACHINE, who says "people  in Huntsville are giving benefit of doubt to a guy screaming he was arrested for going to church when you know that wasn't what he was stopped for."

What we know:

• These guys appeared at the church, took video, alarmed people.
• This guy was under arrest
• He is fighting them from the minute the video starts
• They were not going to let him go.
• He kicks them

Here is what we can assume:

• The cops were alerted to this incident, they did not just spawn out of nowhere
• The cops told this guy he was under arrest
• He was combatitve (sic)
• They were not there to “go to church”
• This guy will get a check.

Amazingly if this guy puts a bullet in these cops, the same people whining about this would be the first grieving for a fallen officer.

"This guy" didn't have a gun, he had a camera (thank God).  The only ones with guns were the police.  You know, the people who are trained to protect and serve?  Amazingly if these young men had run the police probably would have shot them and been acquitted.

Let's go back to the: These guys appeared at the church, took video, alarmed people declaratory statement. Why did these guys appearing at a church alarm people? Could it be the media enabled racial stereotype of the dangerous black man?  I could understand their fear if black men had a documented history of violence towards whites, you know like slavery, lynchings, and bombing churches.  

If there is any race of people who should fear another race of people and wonder if they are friend or foe,  it's black people.  What if black people automatically assumed every white person was a member of the KKK and wanted to bring back Slavery? 

"There is a mean spirit on the loose, not only in Alabama, but America, and that's what makes this election so important". Alabama State Senator Hank Sanders (D. Selma)

"Remembering the Legacy of A. Phillip Randolph on Labor Day"

the grio.com

 

“We are the advance guard of a massive moral revolution for jobs and freedom. This revolution reverberates throughout the land, touching every village where black men are segregated, oppressed and exploited,” the 74-year-old A. Philip Randolph told the estimated 250,000 people gathered at the Lincoln Memorial for the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom fifty years ago on August 28, 1963.

The idea for the March on Washington began in December 1940

A. Philip Randolph led the planning for a March on Washington that was slated to take place on July 1, 1941. When President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed an executive order banning military contractors from discriminating on the basis of “race, creed, color, or national origin,” Randolph called off the march — but the power of a black march on Washington was now a reality.

Labor Day Must Read(s)

Why I oppose military intervention in Syria

This is not about humanitarianism. It is about geopolitics and the control of natural resources. If Syria was not located in an oil rich region, there would be no calls for military action. Thousands of innocent civilians are dying in the Central Republic of Congo, Nigeria and many other countries around the world. Yet, the US does nothing. Clearly, this is not about protecting civilians.

Tavis Smiley:  Obama "Dishonoring" MKL's Memory with push for war in Syria

 “There’s the issue of violence. War, Dr. King would say were he here, is not the answer. We cannot worship at the altar of retaliation,” Smiley said. “It’s either non-violent co-existence or violent co-annihilation, Dr. King would say were he here.”

9 Cases That Prove We don't live in a Post Racial America

At the 50th anniversary of the March on Washington, speakers continually reminded us of how far we’ve come since the original march, but judging from just a few stories in the last 30 days, we haven’t come nearly as far as some seem to think.

GOP: it's all about slavery.  Update: Obama's Speech Today (Blast from the past)

This is Labor Day. Alan Grayson is up with a great offering, What Robert Kennedy Said.
But here's the bottom line: What the Republicans are fighting against, the reason they are pursuing a scorched earth policy that would rather see every last bit of progress in this country come to a grinding halt than give one inch to a government that might regulate them, is to ensure that what they have built over the past 30 years is never taken away.

Wishing all my readers, lurkers and commentators a safe and happy Labor Day.