Pandering to people’s fears and obsessive concern with “safety” has consequences that veer sharply off into the absurd and embarrassing.
Witness an incident at Colorado State University involving two young men of the Mohawk nation:
On a CSU Admissions tour Monday, a parent participating in the tour called campus police because she was nervous about the presence of two young men who joined the tour while it was in progress. Police responded to the call by contacting the young men, who are Native American and visiting from New Mexico, during the tour. The CSUPD spoke with the students, confirmed they were part of the tour, and allowed them to rejoin the group. Unfortunately, due to the location of the tour when the contact was made, the Admissions tour guide was unaware that police had been called or responded, and the tour group had moved on without the students, who returned to Ammons Hall briefly, then left campus to return home to New Mexico.
Clearly menacing.
The campus police are already catching a ration of shit over racial profiling, etc., which is probably misplaced. The problem is that some college mommy called the cops in the first place. Because teenagers quietly joining a group tour on a college campus are obviously threatening in some way.
“Me and my brother just stayed to ourselves the whole time,” said 19-year-old Thomas Kanewakeron Gray. “I guess that was scaring people — that we were just quiet.”
Yep. They were quiet. Too quiet.
Just this morning, Craig Rullman and I were burning powder and pondering whether the culture is really as lame as it seems these days. I think we have our answer.
Rick Schwertfeger says
These last two days on the national scene have been beyond psychedelics for me.
My son Brady graduated from the University of Montana. That university has a fair number of Native American students. Their graduation ceremony is quite impressive overall; but one of the highlights was that some of the students, and even faculty members, dressed in their indigenous clothing for the ceremony. It was quite beautiful to see them walking in and parading out; and really added to the wonderful communal feeling. Maybe these two guys should check out Montana.
lane batot says
Yup, Montana is MARVELOUS! And this post reminds me of a similar situation I found myself in long, long ago while in Montana(looonnnggg story as to why and how I got there, and was there far too short a time, alas!) when I and a friend(also mostly caucasian in appearance) went to a combined Blackfoot/Flathead pow-wow held at the University there in Missoula, Montana. We, too(trying to be respectful and non-intrusive) kept to ourselves in the background and just observed. Rather than get alarmed and call the cops(of course this was in another era altogether, AND in Montana!), no one paid us much mind, until an old Native man with silver braids approached us, sat down beside us, and began narrating all that was going on! Very kind and welcoming–we thanked him sincerely, and he moved on looking for other peripheral observers to interact with–now that’s hospitality! Too bad no one responded likewise to these Mohawk youths…..
Traven Torsvan says
“The campus police are already to catching a ration of shit over racial profiling, etc., which is probably misplaced.”
Why is it misplaced? White people calling the cops on minorities simply for the crime of existing in the wrong place at the wrong time, whether it’s black guys hanging out at a Starbucks, or talking “Mooslamic” on an airplane has been the status quo in America for ages.
JimC says
It’s misplaced because once someone calls the cops they have to investigate. The cops didn’t initiate this — some ninny did.
Traven Torsvan says
Given recent patterns of police conduct they could’ve easily escalated it.
Traven Torsvan says
I figured the racist idiot who made the report though they were MS13 or whatever ethnic bugaboo the MAGA crowd are freaking out about and it turns out:
https://www.coloradoan.com/story/news/2018/05/04/transcript-call-colorado-state-university-police-regarding-native-american-tour-members/582637002/
“Dispatch: Are they white males?
Caller: I think they’re Hispanic, I believe. One of them for sure. He said he’s from Mexico. When I asked what they were wanting to study I could tell they were making stuff up because one of them started to laugh about it.”
Breaker Morant says
I am thinking more of the Penn State outdoor club cancellation stuff in the previous post, but people have sure forgotten that there are risks to not taking risks also.
One such obvious risk is the increasing “Wimpification” of our culture.
JimC says
The most profound risk is the risk of failing to live while you’re alive…
Brian H says
exactly
Dave Allen says
Mistrust of other races is ages old and is rooted in survival instincts. The ones who wield power over us understand this principle implicitly and use it to keep their populations busy with fear and suspicion while they consolidate more power unto themselves.
I know many fine police officers who are above racial prejudice but I also know police officers are human and susceptible to the same BS that we are all fed daily.
One of the reasons I visit this website is to escape into a more honest time where brave souls ventured into the unknown or fought for something larger than themselves. It is my belief that many of them were seeking freedom from any form of government and willing to face hostile resistance from nature and men to achieve it.
It is my hope that one day there will be more trust and less fear between races and religions. Until that day comes we will all be living on a frontier of our own making.
JimC says
As you note, fear or at least wariness of the “other” is hardwired into us for survival reasons. I think it is pointless and probably counterproductive to attempt to root out “racist” impulses. Better, in my thinking, to master them — to recognize what we are feeling and determine whether it is legit or not in any particular circumstance. One of the reasons this deal set me off is that it seems highly symptomatic of people reacting to their “feelings” without actually assessing the situation and running it through a rational filter. “I feel threatened” does not mean “there is a threat.” in my view, being conditioned to live in a state of awareness is a very good thing; being conditioned to live in a state of fear for your “safety” is a very bad thing.
Matthew says
People are more concerned with their feelings than they should be today. Most of the mistakes I’ve ever made was when I followed my feelings and not my head. There is such a thing as gut instinct, but you have to be careful.
JimC says
Both working in concert is ideal.
Matthew says
That’s the tricky part getting them to work together. A basic principle of life I have is that anything taken to the extreme becomes bad. You can’t shut off your emotions. I mean literally it’s impossible. People who try that usually being just as irrational as people who let them run rampant.
lane batot says
THE MOST evilly, blindly prejudiced person I’ve ever met(who was once a boss of mine) was a former L. A. cop. I found that frightening and disillusioning, if not terribly surprising…..
Wayne says
I’ve been pondering that incident at the Starbucks with the two black men. What if one of the cops had defused the situation by simply offering to buy the men a cup of coffee, thus making them “customers?” A few bucks and a thoughtful approach would have saved Starbucks a bucketful of money. Of course, no one would have heard about it on the news.
JimC says
Yep.
That was another dumb incident that shouldn’t have happened.
Ordie_Rat says
I thank God that I was born back before all of this culturally sensitive, touchy feely , all inclusive horse sh*t started. What we are witnessing is the degradation and destruction of American culture. You can no longer celebrate your War heroes because they are either …
A. White
B. Carry a gun.
C. Aren’t culturally sensitive
and finally the biggest shame of all –
D. They are Alpha – males.
Now days to be acceptable in our society, you need to be a barista in a Giblets (GBLT) Coffee Shop wearing a pink tutu to blend in. This is what liberalism and the left has brought us to.
Ugly Hombre says
America has always been “diverse” over 400 Blacks faught in the American Revolution with Washington.
And American Indians did the same.
No real American gives a damn about the color of the hide of the American standing next to him.
Are there racist idiots in this country? Sure of all races Asian, Black, Red, White.
But damn few esp compared to other countries.
Doubt it? head on over seas somewhere live there for a few years come back and report.
Or don’t – up to you.