Mary Mitchell

The reason cops might, and I stress the word might, be more trigger happy while dealing with black males is because a black male fits the profile of a cop killer. As for the anger that seems to be coming from you when I read this article. Now you know how I and other whites feel when we have to read about another black on white crime. The latest being a white women raped in Lakeview two days ago, with the discription of the rapist being a black male in his 20's with braided hair. So if you're looking for sympathy because three black guys in New York, who have 17 arrests on their records between them, were shot, keep looking.

MITCHELL COMMENT:

Now Jerry, why would any black person expect sympathy from you.

To answer your question, years of entitlement programs would make blacks expect sympathy from me or anyone else.

Jerry-Once again I will defer to the words of Tim Wise. He gets to the point much better than I. Another excerpt.

"Personal Experiences and the Problem of Selective Memory"

First, those who rationalize their racism on the basis of their personal experiences with members of the group they dislike, are being highly selective when it comes to the experiences from which they think we should draw conclusions. After all, if their negative experiences with blacks "prove" that blacks are bad people, then by definition, anyone who had had good experiences with black people would be able to say that all blacks are good people: an argument every bit as silly, but just as logical, given the original line of reasoning.

Second, to draw conclusions about large groups (in the case of black folks, some 36 million people, and for Latinos, another 37 million or so in the U.S.), based on one's experiences with a handful of people from those groups is the very definition of statistical illiteracy. Even if you had encountered dozens of folks from a particular group who, for whatever reason, had rubbed you the wrong way, this would be such a small and obviously unrepresentative sample, that to reach any conclusions about that group as a whole would be absurd. This is among the reasons that it's nonsensical to harbor generalized dislike or suspicion of Muslims, as Muslims, or Arabs as Arabs, in the wake of 9/11. After all, nineteen such persons, out of 1.5 billion Muslims on planet Earth and hundreds of millions of Arabs is the walking, talking definition of an unrepresentative sample. Not to mention, we never reach generalized conclusions about whites when they engage in acts of terrorism, and indeed, did not in the wake of Oklahoma City, or the crimes of the Unabomber, or the Olympic Park Bomber, or any of the dozens of abortion clinic bombings over the past two decades, all of which were committed by whites, so far as we can tell. ...
And no, data doesn't strengthen the argument either.

It is typically at this point that the unapologetic racist shifts gears, noting that their beliefs are not solely the result of personal experiences, but rather, are also rooted in an appreciation of crime statistics, indicating that black folks commit a disproportionate share of violent crime, relative to their percentage of the population. While this is true (because of the high correlation between concentrated poverty and crowded urban conditions on the one hand, and crime on the other), it still doesn't mean that fearing black people as a group makes sense (1). After all, with 30.1 million African Americans over the age of twelve in the U.S. (2) (and thus, eligible for consideration in crime data), if blacks commit a million violent crimes a year (the rough total for the most recent year on record) (3), this means that even if we assumed each crime had a unique perpetrator (in other words, if there were no multiple offenders--obviously not the case), the maximum percentage of blacks who were violent criminals, as a share of all blacks, would be 3.3 percent. Meaning that at least 96.7 percent will not commit a violent crime this year, let alone against a white person, let alone against a white stranger, let alone against us (4).

So, if the three percent of blacks who will commit a violent crime in a given year, somehow prove that blacks are dangerous and to be avoided, then why don't the 97 percent who won't commit such a crime, equally prove that blacks are non-violent and perfectly safe to be around? After all, why should the acts of a maximum of a million people, be seen as a better indicator of what the group is like, than the non-acts of the other 29 million or so?

And of course, if we are to take statistics such as these to indicate a group's dangerousness, then whites should have intense bias against other whites. After all, we are five times more likely to be victimized violently by another white person than by a black person (5), and each year, far more people are killed by occupational diseases and injuries--resulting from inadequate safety and health standards in white owned corporations--than are killed in street-level homicides, let alone those committed by blacks (6). Yet rarely do whites seek to avoid other whites because of our documented predisposition to corporate fraud and misconduct (think Enron, think the S&L swindle, think Bhopal, India).

I think the majority of cops are racist. I drive on Route 22 in Lincolnshire every day - probably 400 times when you count both ways. I would guess I see people pulled over 20 times or so each year - 95% of the time, the person in the car is black. If you've ever been in Lincolnshire, I would guess the town is 99% white.

Allow me to say that i enjoy reading your blog. I may not always agree with you,but that is not the point of reading it.

space doesn't allow me to refute your article point by point. dred scott,diallo,
reparations each would require a seperate post.

if you wish to cite police brutality, you should use the case of the person who was sodomized with the plunger.That was (unlike this case) a clearcut case of police brutality. I don't understand the logic of bringing in dred scott or diallo neither of which have anything to do with this shooting. it would be interesting if for a change
people would look at the behavior(s) of not the police,but of the "victim".

if you go to a high crime area,you could run into trouble. if you make like you are reaching for a gun,after a cop tells you to stop your vehicle,you could get shot. if you hit said cop with your vehicle after being told to stop, you could and probably should get shot. people need to remember that you and you alone are responsible for your actions and whatever consequences they bring.

As for the elderly woman in Atlanta, who let us remember was alledgely dealing crack from her house,it's simple,if you shoot at the police,you can reasonably expect them to shoot back at you.

the police weren't exchanging gunfire over a small amount of drugs. they were exchanging gunfire,because someone was shooting at them,while they were attempting to do their job.

Why in the world would or should the police "retreat"
when being fired on? do they need to see who is shooting to see if it's ok to shoot back??

one last point,these men were not unarmed. a vehicle is a weapon just as is a handgun. one should also not focus on 50 shots. while that sounds like a lot of bullets. not really. the shooting would have been over in seconds. remember you have several police officers firing at the same time.

Mary,

I beg you, please put on a bullet proof vest and come do at least a week long ride-a-long with the CPD in a Black crime ridden district. Don't go to to a nice quiet area either, choose the west or south side please. Walk in our shoes for awhile first, then see if you will bash the Police so easily (of course you still will though, you get paid to be a race baiter and stir up controversy).
As far as the Atlanta shooting goes, you forgot to mention that the Police had a search warrant which was approved by a State's Attorney and signed by a judge. Oh yeah, you also forgot that 3 Police officers got shot as well. You state that they would not have shot a white woman over a SMALL amount of drugs...did I miss something or are drugs still illegal in this country.
How do you sleep at night knowing how much you twist and turn such stories around?
God help you.

Has it ever happened that cops have raided a mafia hotspot? Or bust down a suburban party looking for drugs? I do not think so. In the haste to put a end to the so called war on drugs we (the public) have allowed this police state to take place. Now do not me wrong I have zero tolerance for thugs, the culture, gangs and illegal activity. I just would like to see fairness. There are drug users in the suburbs, there is illegal activity on the north side. When I have gone out with friends you see white men and women getting rip roaring drunk, spitting on cops, hitting them, do the police pull out their weapons and unload? Of course not. When the Cubs almost made the World Series in 2003, the scene outside Wrigley made any "riot" when the Bulls won look like pre-teens on a field trip. The police just laughed and had fun as well. Fairness is what is needed.

Read the story of Indiana State trooper Scott Patrick who was murdered a few years back by a young black thug with a rap sheet as long as your arm. Trooper Patrick had stopped to assist this human garbage. Had it been the thug killed, trooper Patrick could have looked forward to the media crucifixion that the NYC police are now enjoying. By all accounts, Scott Patrick was simply a great guy and now he's gone and we're stuck supporting this bum who can work out, watch TV, and receive visitors in jail. Yet, this seems to be the way you media types want the scenario to play out. Dead police, pampered black criminal. Ms. Mitchell....these criminals in New York WERE armed....it's called an automobile, and the DID attempt to use it as a weapon.

Not all questionable shootings have been to males. Latanya Haggarty was not a male. Its true her slaying wasn't as publicized nationally like Diallo or Bell's. The reason the so-called high profile Black Leaders and media did not become as outraged over her slaying and Robert Russ's slaying is because ALL Chicago Police officiers involved in the shootings were African-American.

Mitchell Comment:

I wrote several articles about the Haggerty shooting calling for the polcie officers to be held accountable.

I agree, Mary. While it's common to hear of cops "accidentally" shooting Black folks, it's extremely rare to hear of police inadvertently killing a White.

Your articles are case studies in institutional racism 101

I totally agree with your story Mary and I am not a black person. The one thing that Jerry forgot to mention on his story is that the cops will get away with their crimes and the 'black guys' will not once they are caught and prosecuted. Why the cops are beyond the laws are are completely unfair and wrong in this or any other cases.

Mary, Have you ever interviewed a police officer invloved in a shooting? It's easy for you to sit behind your keyboard and spew garbage and point a racist finger toward those you know nothing about. I wonder if you'd feel differently if a family of yours had fired those shots in New York City?

It is "HARD" to read two phrases of the column without relaxing and calming the things that we have to calm!
(for our own spirit!)*

I read up until the point "unacceptable" from the NY mayor.

White , Red, Yellow, and Blue Black...How many peoples have to die before you stand up for "YOURSELVES" and one "ANOTHER"? A coward people "WE" are not.....I hate you!

To Jerry.
You are an embarrassment to mankind.

I really don't understand people like you Jerry. All over the internet, white racists are quoting statistics about black men raping white women.

According to the Sexual Assault Statistics on About.com, two thirds (66%) of rapes are commited by someone the victim knows. Almost half of all rapes (47%) are commited by a close friend or acquaintance of the victim. Why would a white woman fear rape from a black man when she's not even safe around her closes friends and family?

It seems to me that if white men were really interested in protecting white women, they'd be warning their women about the REAL perpetrators.

If it is true that these three guys had 17 arrests between them, their shooting may be just the result of another bad decision by the alleged victims. It is not reasonable to suppose that Black, White and Hispanic officers sat around and planned to execute some innocent black youth for no reason. That thought train leads to paranoia and madness. Also remember when you cite the errors of the law as in Dred Scott, that the law also corrected those errors. You can't have it both ways and bringing up that case serves no apparent purpose here other than race baiting. I am bothered because that is not a productive purpose and you should know better. Yes there are some issues and if you have solutions; bring them on. Any one can squawk, find a fix. As for me, I'll just note that the homicide rate, including those killed by police is much larger in parts of Africa where both the citizenry and the police are majority black so racism would appear to be less of an issue than paranoid clashes between the powerful and the powerless.

We as a community cannot continue to say that the police do not do enough to prevent crime in our comunities and then when something happens, immediately rush to judge the police. It's as if we do not believe that a man is dead unless he gets shot by someone in authority or of another race. Nor am I buying into the "all cops are brutal" garbage. If Al Sharpton got robbed, he'd call the police, NOT Mary Mitchell. I think that we should hold off on the race baiting and see what the facts really were. It does appear from their actions that this was no group of choir boys. Trying to run over a police officer would be expected to leave someone dead or hurt; I'm glad it was the perpetrator and not the police.

Let's count the murders in New York and then compare those against the number of incidents such as this to see where our indignation may be most needed. We needn't start with New York or even a whole city, lets try Englewood in Chicago or Maywood to the west. When you want to be righteously indignant, it is first important to be right.

Mitchell Comment:

I find it interesting that we know the number of times the young black men were arrested, but still don't know what laws they allegedly broke that night that would have caused six undercover police officers to follow them to their car. Also, why should history--events that actually occurred in the past and appear to parallel events occurring today be considered race baiting? Are black people suppose to forget the wrongs of the past and ignore the wrongs of the present, too?

This message is more so for Jerry than it is for you Ms. Mitchell. Jerry, what do you mean a black male fits the profile of a cop killer? Haven't your mommy or daddy taught you better than to racially profile? The answer to this question is evident. Jerry, the problem with racial profiling is simple and takes using a miniscule quantity of common sense. Not all of the people who you racially profile are crime prone. Michael Jordan, Denzel Washington, Samuel L. Jackson, Colin Powell, Tiger Woods, Sen. Barack Obama, etc. are not seeking to murder or maim law enforcement officers! They have better things to do like counting all the money that you do not have access to Jerry! By the way, the above list is composed of Black males. Jerry, you are just a scary white man. You probably are a police officer voicing your racial bias through this semi-secure electronic medium. Your kind cannot fool me at all. I actually see the invisible Jerry. Do you hear me? Now moving right along, what about the white woman raped in Lakeview a few days ago? She was raped by an adult criminal who happened to be Black. So what! What about the white Catholic priests who molest and rape so many black and white kids? You seem to be silent on that issue Jerry. You only want to talk about what you feel comfortable talking about. And that is the black male. Well find something else to talk about. I have not mentioned the dozens and dozens of white male serial killers and white males who get angry when they get the boot from the post office and go get a gun and kill everyone who is within walking distance! Ms. Mitchell is not looking for sympathy from you Mr. Jerry because you are not a sympathetic individual. Your mom told me this. What Ms. Mitchell is saying is that no matter what color the officer is who does the shooting the common denominator in the shooting is always a black male. What doses that tell you Jerry? Whites do not respect the rights of blacks! The 3 guys could have had 1 million arrests between them, does that relate to what happened or what is alleged to have happened outside that strip club Jerry? Listen, before you decide to come on this kind lady's blog again running your large mouth, please get your notes together so that we might possibly be able to engage in a scholarly discussion! Right now you have not taken any notes, you are talking jibberish! On an end note, if I go to hell when I die I will beg the devil to drag your butt right along with me you racist toad!

You madame have crossed some imaginary lines that allow for no comment sense.
Regarding the incident in Atlanta. Officers serving a "NO KNOCK" warrant usually DO NOT KNOCK prior to entering. If you are a Police Officer working in a crime ridden area and serving a search warrant at any address and you are not only met with a subject not just firing a weapon at you, but shooting you and your partners.........under what liberal stretch of the imagination do you think any person, anywhere is going to take the time to determine the age of the person who has just shot you????? Just like you believe this woman shouldn't have waited to see if they were the real police before opening fire, why and where is it stated, mandated that the police should wait until they are shot at or shot before they reurn fire. Police Officers are payed to do alot of things, but being target pratices is not one of them. Furthermore what ever substance that might have been recovered from this location was not done so until after this tragic event. It was not that the Police Officers were shooting their way into this house to recover two bags of crack and three bags of marijuana, the recovering of these items was after the fact. Unlike how you portray it in your column. I challenge you and anyone else to prove if circumstances were exactly alike and the female was White and took the same actions, that police would not have shot back.. The blatant brutality that happens in Black Communities are created by the same people who do drive bys on an almost daily basic, the same people that wander aimlessly up and down the streets selling dope, the same people that cause Black senior citizens to scurry for safety come sundown, the same people that little children have to try and navigate through coming and going to school, the same people that you look for when you park your car at night and want to enter into you house with some relative safety. No one is saying that the death of this lady was a good thing, it became absolutely necessary after the first shot was fired

Mary, I am convinced that Jerry can’t possibly exist because he has no compassion for black people, and hides behind his keyboard to say mindless and insensitive things that even the most Neanderthal would never espouse. The latest incident in Queens was just a bad case of policing and now there is an effort to create some fictitious fourth person who was going to get a gun. Please note, going to get a gun. Last I check this does not mean an immediate threat, and would not have put an officer in jeopardy. Let alone a group being shot at 50 times and among the victims, no gun has been recovered. And we need to question that, if the cops say 50 then was probably more.

At least one and maybe two of the cops involved in the shooting may have been under the influence. There were cops at the strip club doing undercover work. The question of the kind of work they specifically were conducting and how it fits into police business has never been explained in the media or examined. Were the cops required to submit urine samples, or blood test to determine whether they were intoxicated? These are questions that should be asked.

At the wee hours of the morning and the set winding down, nobody in the media has asked any of those questions yet. Instead now they want to go the standard BS line about some said ‘yo go and get my gun�. Guys are at strip clubs late either drinking/and still under the delusion that they might get lucky with one of the ladies. You mix booze and testosterone together late at night and you get boys behaving badly and in this case it’s boys behaving deadly. Much to the NYC’s credit it has aggressively clean-up areas (and continues to do so) where late night vices were an issue.

No gun has ever been recovered and now the news stories are creating the some phantom person who they think had a gun, but disappeared from the scene. One things for sure, the phantom person was not in the car that was riddled with bullets. This person miraculously just vanished. Let me try that excuse one day and see if anybody will believe me when I place the blame on some phantom. It is so ridiculous, and yet it is being used as something plausible to explain just bad police work. There is such reluctance for people to call a spade a spade and acknowledge that this is what happens because of racial profiling.

Miss Mitchell

It never ceases to amaze me the way you brush the Police Department with one broad stroke, yet when someone brushes the black community with one broad stroke you are up in arms! Police Officers have an extremely difficult job dealing with criminals while being judged by politicians. See the real world and the political world you write in rarely cross paths. As you did in your article you present only one side of the story and a skewed version at that. Where is the information reported that one of the subjects stated he was going to get a gun? Or the information that the man shot to death drove a 2000 pound vehicle at the officer attempting to run him down! This information is actually supported by the traffic accident at the scene. Additionally the reports have information the subject drove his vehicle at the officers on two occasions. This information just isn't convenient for your race baiting article to have the most bang for the buck. There will be many inquiries into this shooting and in the end the officers will most likely be exonerated. Not because they are the police and because it is acceptable to abuse and kill black people, but because they are community servants who took the necessary actions to save their lives when confronted by a man who was trying to take them from their families. The totality of the cirumstances are what we judge a law enforcement discision Miss Mitchell not by the color of the officers skin or that of the offenders!!

Thanks for never disappointing me with your divisive and self serving articles.

Randy

While I completely agree with your assessment, an realize that the response by "Jerry" indicates that he is a idiot. There is one thing we can take from his comment which might be useful in fighting against brutality. Its preception. The view by him, an many others (blacks and police included), is that many black males are criminals and lawless. In fact, some glorify it in music and film. It is accepted in some of our communities as the norm (which isn't true). Yes, we have to fight brutality by police, with a perception change being one important weapon. Perception can be more powerful that fact.

I don't know why black people all over the country are not marching in the streets to protest police brutality. There appears to be so much appathy concerning this issue. It does not matter if you are a young black man or an elderly black woman approaching 90 years old, you can be killed by the police. It is shameful. Please also note the words used by Mayor Bloomberg. If the police involved in that particular shooting are fired, their union representative will probably use Mayor Bloomberg comments to get them rehired (presumption of guilt, i.e., excessive force). Remember, these comments were made before an official investigation was completed.

Caucasians will never have sympathy for a black mudered by cops,because this is the status quo. Jails and prisons are built in caucasians community to create jobs for them. The last few years of this political administration has brought on an aura of hatred,and disrespect for blacks. A nation that claims to be a christian nation,is farther from God than they realize. matter of a fact,bigotry has found it way into the church.

It's going to be hard to hire cops who will serve and protect the black community. It is an unwritten law that blacks must fill the jails. There are millions of dollars of contraband(guns,drugs,alcohol,ect) flowing into the black community monthly,which spell big money. Greed and bigotry goes hand in hand.

It's going to be hard to hire cops who will serve and protect the black community. It is an unwritten law that blacks must fill the jails. There are millions of dollars of contraband(guns,drugs,alcohol,ect) flowing into the black community monthly,which spell big money. Greed and bigotry goes hand in hand.

An elderly woman,living in a high crime area fires her gun at someone who announces themselves as the police,is met by return fire by the police officers who may or may not be expecting someone else to be there.In the time it took to cut through the burglar bars and get into her apartment,she should have had time to either look out a window and see all the police cars or call for help.Those police officers were in as much danger/fear for their lives as Ms.Johnston was of hers and reacted probably with the same instinct as you or I would've had we been in a similar situation.What if she had actually shot and killed one of the police officers and she were still alive?Would we be as quick to call for her prosecution for her blatant brutality and reckless behavior?I don't think so,I believe we would be calling it something on the order of an unfortunate and tragic accident.
Ms.Mitchell,I usually read your columns and appreciate the way you usually speak about being responsible for your actions.It is a lesson we all can take notice of,regardless of race.I do think,however ,that this time you may have missed the mark.You seem to be making the statement that all police are brutal and/or racist when we both know this is not the case.
You cannot throw out the race card when it benefits you and then ignore racism when it is committed by people of your race.It is that type of inconsistent thinking that fosters the distrust and animosity between us.

Mitchell Comment:

As i've stated in the past, bad cops, corrupt cops and brutal cops are giving good cops a bad name. I do not believe that all cops are racist, but there's enough evidence to conclude that too many brutal cops are on the streets abusing citizens. This is not a race card.