Well this is a good look for Milwaukee...

[Brewtown Andy]

I can attest that none of this is exaggerated in the least.  And they aren't even the most ridiculous complaints of these outrageous helicopter parents, but the best ones aren't racial and I don't want pull this thread off-topic.

I'd be okay with it for this kind of entertainment value.

[rocket surgeon]

   " We all agree that racial profiling is never acceptable"   

another broad brush statement that is another example of how the left will use the "R" word as a weapon.  of course there are appropriate times when racial profiling is necessary.  when it is used to help keep society safe; to help find a rapist, robber, terrorist, criminal, etc.   

so NO, we all do not agree-i love(actually not) when that statement is used as a preclude-establishing a faulty conclusion before leading into the subject.  it's presumptive and misleading.  it's like, oh, now that you set that boundary, but but but...wait.  maybe you and your friends agree, but leave the rest of us to make up our own minds please and we will tell you if we agree or not

[GGGG]

   " We all agree that racial profiling is never acceptable"   

another broad brush statement that is another example of how the left will use the "R" word as a weapon.  of course there are appropriate times when racial profiling is necessary.  when it is used to help keep society safe; to help find a rapist, robber, terrorist, criminal, etc.   

I think you need to look up the term racial profiling because it is NEVER appropriate.  Racial profiling means using someone's race as the sole reason to suspect someone of a crime, etc.  It doesn't mean that if someone matches the description of a criminal or terrorist that race can't be part of that description.

[warriorchick]

I'd be okay with it for this kind of entertainment value.

Okay, if only to distract people and keep this thread from turning ugly.

Here is the most recent one:  A woman complained that this semester, her daughter had 8:00 classes every morning and and also, some evening classes. "At this point, I had to step in. How is she supposed to find time to study with a schedule like that?"

[mu03eng]

Okay, if only to distract people and keep this thread from turning ugly.

Here is the most recent one:  A woman complained that this semester, her daughter had 8:00 classes every morning and and also, some evening classes. "At this point, I had to step in. How is she supposed to find time to study with a schedule like that?"

With a straight face you should have responded with "tell her to get some cocaine and study all night like everyone else"  Could have been the greatest moment in anything ever

[Benny B]

I think you need to look up the term racial profiling because it is NEVER appropriate.  Racial profiling means using someone's race as the sole reason to suspect someone of a crime, etc.  It doesn't mean that if someone matches the description of a criminal or terrorist that race can't be part of that description.

On Thursday, I drove through a Border Patrol checkpoint on I-8 in east San Diego County.  I can wholeheartedly assure you that they were racially profiling EVERYONE.  Fortunately, I don't look like an illegal immigrant, so we got the polite hand that waved us through.

Here's the kicker... the Border Patrol agent who was deciding who to wave through and who to direct to the "examination station" was clearly of Latino ancestry.

[mu_hilltopper]

There was absolutely no reason to be afraid topper.  Why would they be frightened?  The person they thought might be a thief turned out to be a NBA athlete who just wanted to buy a watch.  If anything they should have been relieved.

But frightened?  Nope. 

And it wouldn't change my mind one iota if it were a 60 year old grandmother.

So again, we now have your apologist scenario, versus the words of John Henson and the actual implication of the owner that Henson was the victim of racial profiling.

Except I've given you extremely plausible reasons to be, for a time, frightened, to which your retort is just "No."   This is compounded by stubbornness to realize a 60 year old grandmother just might not have the capacity to snap out of a traumatic episode as quickly as you'd like her to, so .. racism!   It indicates an unwillingness accept the possible validity of certainly viable alternatives.

This is the crux of why the (for lack of a better phrase) racism recognition movement moves slowly or not at all.  The staunch belief that all gray episodes like this are pound-on-the-table racism and the perpetrators must be outed and punished (and often, very disproportionately.)  Instead, prosecute cases without so many caveats, where there's no need to parse and do somersaults to find the one sentence someone said that could be might be maybe racism .. do that, and agreement will follow.  Meanwhile, cases like these don't unify, they solidify and yield the "race hustler" pejorative, since so much is marked as racism when there are other alternatives that are less damning.

Also .. It's a good point that you added the word "implication" of the owner that he was racially profiled, because .. that's all he did.  He didn't say Henson was profiled, he just said RP was wrong.  I get it, the context was this episode, yet .. he chose those words quite purposely in his well crafted public relations statement for maximum mea cupla.

[mu_hilltopper]

On Thursday, I drove through a Border Patrol checkpoint on I-8 in east San Diego County.  I can wholeheartedly assure you that they were racially profiling EVERYONE.  Fortunately, I don't look like an illegal immigrant, so we got the polite hand that waved us through.

I've only been through the border once .. I think it was 1975 and I was 6 years old on a tourist bus trip to Tijuana.

I distinctly remember everyone stepping off the return bus and being instructed to say "I am a citizen of the United States of America" to the patrol guy.

I thought for sure I was going to ef it up and not get back in!   

[JWags85]

With a straight face you should have responded with "tell her to get some cocaine and study all night like everyone else"  Could have been the greatest moment in anything ever

[Benny B]

I've only been through the border once .. I think it was 1975 and I was 6 years old on a tourist bus trip to Tijuana.

I distinctly remember everyone stepping off the return bus and being instructed to say "I am a citizen of the United States of America" to the patrol guy.

I thought for sure I was going to ef it up and not get back in!   

I'm going to dispense with my usual "6 year-old in Tijuana" joke to simply reiterate and clarify that the checkpoint was on I-8.... 13 miles from the US-Mexico border (as the crow flies).

[mu03eng]

Except I've given you extremely plausible reasons to be, for a time, frightened, to which your retort is just "No."   This is compounded by stubbornness to realize a 60 year old grandmother just might not have the capacity to snap out of a traumatic episode as quickly as you'd like her to, so .. racism!   It indicates an unwillingness accept the possible validity of certainly viable alternatives.

This is the crux of why the (for lack of a better phrase) racism recognition movement moves slowly or not at all.  The staunch belief that all gray episodes like this are pound-on-the-table racism and the perpetrators must be outed and punished (and often, very disproportionately.)  Instead, prosecute cases without so many caveats, where there's no need to parse and do somersaults to find the one sentence someone said that could be might be maybe racism .. do that, and agreement will follow.  Meanwhile, cases like these don't unify, they solidify and yield the "race hustler" pejorative, since so much is marked as racism when there are other alternatives that are less damning.

Also .. It's a good point that you added the word "implication" of the owner that he was racially profiled, because .. that's all he did.  He didn't say Henson was profiled, he just said RP was wrong.  I get it, the context was this episode, yet .. he chose those words quite purposely in his well crafted public relations statement for maximum mea cupla.

Best case, this was pretty bad customer service....worst case their was a racial component to this.  I don't know how you prove this was racist and I tend to agree making everything racist actually retards the process of moving beyond race.

We don't know that the employees even saw Henson, if not I'm not sure how it can be racist but it seems like a bit of a stretch.

Back to the customer service piece, this is where the owner really has the work to do.  Even if everything else is 100% bad confluence of events, once Henson is identified by police the sales force should have been doing everything to fall all over him A. because he's got a lot of money to spend and B. because he's a human being who's had a very bad experience of his own.

(Preface to this next statement, I'm not saying my total experience is comparable to Henson's...his was much worse, but the core principal of customer service is the same).  I've had several occasions where I've been in less than business formal attire for some reason and had to go some place "classy" and I've gotten crappy service as a result.  One time I was down in the Chicago burbs helping my dad with something on the house.  I was in jeans, tshirt and a ball cap so Canadian fancy, but not ritzy Chicago fancy.  After we wrapped up I was talking to them about getting my then girlfriend now wife a present and a watch was one of the things I threw out.  They mentioned a particular jewerly store I forgot was in the area that would probably have the watch I was looking for.  It was sort of on my way back home so I decided to stop by.  The people there could not have been more rude, largely ignored me and even when I managed to get someone's attention she straight up asked me if I was "just looking or actually interested in buying".  I said I had been interested in buying a watch they had but wasn't interested anymore.  Was it because I wasn't dressed well or were they just rude?  Who knows, but it was bad customer service.


It's the Julia Roberts on Rodeo Drive from Pretty Woman scenario.

[source?]

True examples from this year alone:

- my kid can't walk from Amtrak to campus alone in broad daylight.  He needs university transportation.

- a shooting victim drives from Southside and stops his car on 16th when he realized help was available at MUPD but no all campus alert was sent. My precious was in grave danger!

- my kid's Service Learning forces her to take a bus through an emerging neighborhood.

- and one for you Chi. Some mom instructed her Frosh to take LIMO from McCormick to Jimmy John's because that parking lot is too dangerous.  My instructions to jsglow jr, punch that kid in the nose if he tries to get on Glowmobile.

Just a taste.

Holy Hell. When I went off to college my parents gave me a skillet, $50, and a note that said "good luck!" They have since called me on my birthday (every year), holidays, and once a month otherwise (barring major events like my aunt getting cancer or my grandma dying). I can't imagine having parents so obnoxiously involved in my business. I graduate from grad school in the spring.

Caveat, I am one of 16 children.

[source?]

With a straight face you should have responded with "tell her to get some cocaine and study all night like everyone else"  Could have been the greatest moment in anything ever

All the cool kids are doing adderall these days.

[Buzzed]

IMO the employees were prejudiced against JH, not necessarily racist.  I believe racist and prejudiced are not one in the same.  Words and actions are important.  Do these jewelry employees in their everyday life walk around committing consistent acts of hate against AA?  My guess is no.  In this insistence, did they use use race to prejudge JH and his friend and overreact?  It sounds like yes they did.

For whatever reason this thread struck a chord with me.  Reinko is spot on.  The employee was prejudice not necessarily racist, and there IS a difference.

The employee sized Henson up and he was a triple threat: black, male, and young.  A decision was made that he was going to rob the place and was not a customer.  The rest is background noise.  Bad move on their part because they missed one of the most important cues not easy to discern from appearance alone; he is very wealthy.

I am glad this story is getting a lot of attention, especially on here.  Better to hear Henson's story than negative nightly news stories that reinforces stereotypes.  Just a reminder of the old saying "don't judge a book by its cover" or for the more holy, "judge not, lest ye be judged."

[GGGG]

Except I've given you extremely plausible reasons to be, for a time, frightened, to which your retort is just "No."   This is compounded by stubbornness to realize a 60 year old grandmother just might not have the capacity to snap out of a traumatic episode as quickly as you'd like her to, so .. racism!   It indicates an unwillingness accept the possible validity of certainly viable alternatives.

Because IMO it isn't a "plausible reason."

There is absolutely NO reason that I can think of why this would be classified as a "traumatic experience" that they would need a police presence. 

This is the crux of why the (for lack of a better phrase) racism recognition movement moves slowly or not at all.  The staunch belief that all gray episodes like this are pound-on-the-table racism and the perpetrators must be outed and punished (and often, very disproportionately.)  Instead, prosecute cases without so many caveats, where there's no need to parse and do somersaults to find the one sentence someone said that could be might be maybe racism .. do that, and agreement will follow.  Meanwhile, cases like these don't unify, they solidify and yield the "race hustler" pejorative, since so much is marked as racism when there are other alternatives that are less damning.

Right.  The black guys really don't know when it is racism.  It is only racism when the white guys can't come up with a better explanation.

I'm am not saying that these people should be outed and punished.  I never said anyone should lose their job over this, and I certainly don't think they should be forced to close.  I actually think both sides are handling this very well and turning it into a learning experience is the best possible outcome.

[warriorchick]

Fortunately, I don't look like an illegal immigrant, so we got the polite hand that waved us through.

I don't know....I bet you look a lot like one of those Canadians that are clearly up to no good....

[warriorchick]

With a straight face you should have responded with "tell her to get some cocaine and study all night like everyone else"  Could have been the greatest moment in anything ever

Yeah, not in front of MU administration I am not...

Although I was tempted to say, "Hmmm...maybe she could study at any point between 8:50 a.m. and 6:00 p.m.?  I don't know; sounds like that requires more time management skills than your kid obviously has..."

[rocket surgeon]

I think you need to look up the term racial profiling because it is NEVER appropriate.  Racial profiling means using someone's race as the sole reason to suspect someone of a crime, etc.  It doesn't mean that if someone matches the description of a criminal or terrorist that race can't be part of that description.

alrighty then-tell that to obama et.al.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/volokh-conspiracy/wp/2014/12/07/obama-administration-decides-to-continue-racial-profiling-in-immigration-law-enforcement/

it may not be right or proper, BUT, if it is used to keep people safe?  here we go-your wife and/or kids have been violated by a fill-in-the-blank_______________ person who looks like_________, is ______________ about X foot tall, weighing X lbs wearing....

[StillAWarrior]

This is compounded by stubbornness to realize a 60 year old grandmother just might not have the capacity to snap out of a traumatic episode as quickly as you'd like her to, so .. racism!

I don't know these people, and I'm not going to call anyone racist over this.  I, like some others here, believe that there can be a difference between unconscious/subconscious prejudice/bias and racism.  I'm sure others reject that notion entirely.  But I think there are a lot of very good people who actively fight those unconscious/subconscious biases and are not racists.  I think that's at the heart of some of the discussion here.  There are some on this board -- and I'd probably count myself among them -- who believe that she might have "had the capacity to snap out of the traumatic episode" if Henson had been white.  I do not believe that necessarily means she is a racist.

[Pakuni]

There are some on this board -- and I'd probably count myself among them -- who believe that she might have "had the capacity to snap out of the traumatic episode" if Henson had been white.  I do not believe that means she is a racist.

Then what does that make her? Isn't treating or reacting to someone differently on the basis of their race pretty much the definition of racism?
She may not be intentionally so, and may never consciously/intentionally act in a racist manner (or at least that she's aware of), but i don't see how you can say she treats a black customer differently from a white customer, but that's not racist.

As a somewhat related side note, I suspect we're all a little racist to one degree or another, thanks to our societal/cultural upbringings. Studies like those using the implicit bias test have shown this over and over, even showing that many African-Americans are more likely to be biased in favor of whites.
It's what it is, but it doesn't mean we shouldn't all strive to overcome our biases, and it doesn't excuse those who fail/choose not to do so.

[StillAWarrior]

Then what does that make her? Isn't treating or reacting to someone differently on the basis of their race pretty much the definition of racism?
She may not be intentionally so, and may never consciously/intentionally act in a racist manner (or at least that she's aware of), but i don't see how you can say she treats a black customer differently from a white customer, but that's not racist.

As a somewhat related side note, I suspect we're all a little racist to one degree or another, thanks to our societal/cultural upbringings. Studies like those using the implicit bias test have shown this over and over, even showing that many African-Americans are more likely to be biased in favor of whites.
It's what it is, but it doesn't mean we shouldn't all strive to overcome our biases, and it doesn't excuse those who fail/choose not to do so.

That's a fair question.  I guess I'm arguing semantics, to a certain extent.  My point is that what she felt -- fear -- is not necessarily racist.  However, treating him differently is.  I was trying to draw that distinction -- probably not very well.  We should all try to overcome our biases.

[GGGG]

As a somewhat related side note, I suspect we're all a little racist to one degree or another, thanks to our societal/cultural upbringings. Studies like those using the implicit bias test have shown this over and over, even showing that many African-Americans are more likely to be biased in favor of whites.
It's what it is, but it doesn't mean we shouldn't all strive to overcome our biases, and it doesn't excuse those who fail/choose not to do so.

Exactly.  Well stated. 

[Cooby Snacks]

Yeah, not in front of MU administration I am not...

Although I was tempted to say, "Hmmm...maybe she could study at any point between 8:50 a.m. and 6:00 p.m.?  I don't know; sounds like that requires more time management skills than your kid obviously has..."

These are amazing and need to be their own thread, unless you're worried about being outed and kicked off the parent board. Then they probably shouldn't be their own thread.

[Benny B]

All the cool kids are doing adderall these days.

It's not just for MLB pitchers anymore.

[warriorchick]

Then what does that make her? Isn't treating or reacting to someone differently on the basis of their race pretty much the definition of racism?
She may not be intentionally so, and may never consciously/intentionally act in a racist manner (or at least that she's aware of), but i don't see how you can say she treats a black customer differently from a white customer, but that's not racist.

As a somewhat related side note, I suspect we're all a little racist to one degree or another, thanks to our societal/cultural upbringings. Studies like those using the implicit bias test have shown this over and over, even showing that many African-Americans are more likely to be biased in favor of whites.
It's what it is, but it doesn't mean we shouldn't all strive to overcome our biases, and it doesn't excuse those who fail/choose not to do so.

I will have to see if I can find it on the internet somewhere, but I read an interview of Jesse Jackson maybe (5-10 years ago) where he admitted that even he gets nervous  if he is walking alone on a street and notices that there is a group of young black males walking behind him.

Edited:  Found the quote.  It was on this page, but unfortunately, the link to the original U.S. News article no longer works.

"There is nothing more painful to me ... than to walk down the street and hear footsteps and start thinking about robbery, then look around and see somebody white and feel relieved."

http://theracecardproject.com/jesse-jackson-fears-black-youths-racism-2/