I was really bothered when Georgia Congresswoman Cynthia McKinney claimed racial profiling when she was stopped by Capitol police while entering the Capitol last week.
I think what bothers me the most is, as a Black man, I have been stopped by the police so many times that I actually lost count. Granted, most of these stops happened when I was under 25 years old, but the fact remained, I was mainly stopped because I was Black.
Claiming that she was stopped because she was Black, actually takes away from the hundreds of racially motivated police 'stops' that take place every day in this country. McKinney asked to be stopped because she was not wearing her Congressional lapel pin - which aids the police officers in spotting members of congress. She was also stopped because she ignored multiple efforts by the police officer to get her attention. And while I've heard several women say that she did in fact have a real "hair style" - I think she was stopped party because she looked like Sideshow Bob from the Simpsons.
Everything negative that happens to us Black people IS NOT BECAUSE OF OUR RACE!!! We have to realize this! If we spend all of our valuable time running around fighting countless, pointless battles because someone looked at us a certain way, or didn't give us enough fries with our order, or wanted to double check our ID - we will not have the strength and conviction to fight the major battles when true racial descrimination falls upon us.
Congresswoman - Just wear your freakin' pin next time!!!
TTBM
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