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Listening to Bikram Yoga While Black

Stacko

Penultimate Amazing
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The white spaces defense force continues its uncalled for work.

Ezekiel Phillips claims that he was sitting in his car, resting before his yoga class and listening to a Bikram Yoga CD, when a white woman confronted him, telling him that he didn’t belong in the area.

“You’re not supposed to be here. This is a good neighborhood,” he recalled to FOX 11.

“At that moment I’m like, ‘wait hold up’. Have a good day ma’am. Namaste. And I rolled my window up,” he said.

…

Phillips decided to stick it out. “I thought about it. ‘If I leave, it’s looking like I’m guilty of whatever she’s talking about.”

Police arrived and Phillips wasn’t charged with anything.
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The call to the police - one that resulted in cops arriving - might be entertaining to hear ;)

"Uh ... uh ... there's a man out here considering the 'Salute to the sun' yoga position. Please send help! "

Seriously. What did she say to 911 to warrant the arrival of cops? If the story is as stated why wasn't she busted for wasting police time?
 
When she got her phone out, he got his out and got out of his car. Her perception was that she was being threatened. He was just thinking, "Hey, you can walk up to me and start filming me, I can walk up and start filming you."

The police said he didn't do anything wrong, but they also say she did the right thing ... "if you see something, say something."

I think the phones led to some escalation.

Per video link in RawStory article.
 
GlennB said:
"Uh ... uh ... there's a man out here considering the 'Salute to the sun' yoga position. Please send help! "
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She said he was "attacking" people. Asked what she meant by that, she said he was handing out business cards ...
 
That’s the shocking thing to me, that the police are responding to these calls. Are the callers lying about crimes being in progress? I can’t imagine that it’s policy to respond to every call.

“There’s a black guy that looks suspicious. He’s just sitting in a car.” Doesn’t seem like something the police should be involved in at all.

In my opinion. We fight these frivolous calls by making an example of those who make them.


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The neighbor's comment is priceless: "this behavior is Trumpish".

Also a nice touch: the TV station sent a black reporter down to the bigot's house. She didn't open the door for comments. The TV station really should have followed up with sending a white reporter the next day, to see if it makes a difference.
 
Minoosh said:
She said he was "attacking" people. Asked what she meant by that, she said he was handing out business cards ...
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Yes, incredible. After that explanation, the 911 dispatcher should have sent the medics and let her stay for a couple of days in the loony bin.
 
Magneto was right about these idiots

Minoosh said:
She said he was "attacking" people. Asked what she meant by that, she said he was handing out business cards ...
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So, let's see...We've got Black Nightcrawler, Black Juggernaut, and now Black Gambit...

DO people get that when we say that the X-Men are an analogy for the Civil Rights Movement, we don't mean that black people have actual mutant superpowers?
 
ddt said:
Yes, incredible. After that explanation, the 911 dispatcher should have sent the medics and let her stay for a couple of days in the loony bin.
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Oh, sooner or later that will happen. The woman seemed genuinely freaked out in the 911 call. The perception of danger becomes a self-fulfiling prophecy. See the OP for potential starting points in such a conversation.
 
Mumbles said:
DO people get that when we say that the X-Men are an analogy for the Civil Rights Movement, we don't mean that black people have actual mutant superpowers?
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Do you mean Negros aren't magic? Color me surprised!
 
ddt said:
The TV station really should have followed up with sending a white reporter the next day, to see if it makes a difference.
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:confused: So this man was singled out solely because of his race?

This is America, man, that's not how we work.
 
GlennB said:
The call to the police - one that resulted in cops arriving - might be entertaining to hear ;)

"Uh ... uh ... there's a man out here considering the 'Salute to the sun' yoga position. Please send help! "

Seriously. What did she say to 911 to warrant the arrival of cops? If the story is as stated why wasn't she busted for wasting police time?
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Are you suggesting that the P.D. should not have responded to this?
Perhaps you are not, yet I have seen that sentiment expressed frequently in these "........ing while black" threads, and I find it to be a poorly thought out argument.

The P.D. are not necessarily responding to someone "handing out business cards" ,"mowing a lawn", or "using their own pool", they are responding to a report of a situation that may be escalating. This response is as much in the interest of the safety of one party as it is for the other.
Would we prefer that the story ended with the police disregarding the call, and the young man being shot dead by the woman who was confronting him?
 
Distracted1 said:
Are you suggesting that the P.D. should not have responded to this?
Perhaps you are not, yet I have seen that sentiment expressed frequently in these "........ing while black" threads, and I find it to be a poorly thought out argument.

The P.D. are not necessarily responding to someone "handing out business cards" ,"mowing a lawn", or "using their own pool", they are responding to a report of a situation that may be escalating. This response is as much in the interest of the safety of one party as it is for the other.
Would we prefer that the story ended with the police disregarding the call, and the young man being shot dead by the woman who was confronting him?
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The police should respond to a confrontation in progress. They should not respond to a call of a guy sitting in his car, quietly minding his own business. And since she initiated the confrontation, and escalated it, I think she maybe should be charged. With something.

Although IME cops love these 'see something, say something' calls because it gives them opportunity to check out random people for outstanding warrants or other violations they can think up.
 
Thermal said:
The police should respond to a confrontation in progress. They should not respond to a call of a guy sitting in his car, quietly minding his own business. And since she initiated the confrontation, and escalated it, I think she maybe should be charged. With something.

Although IME cops love these 'see something, say something' calls because it gives them opportunity to check out random people for outstanding warrants or other violations they can think up.
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And how are they to charge the woman if they do not show up to the call in the first place?
 
They should respond, if for nothing else than to cite her. If she told the truth during the call, they should have just hung up. If she lied or grossly exaggerated, charge her accordingly on the spot.
 
Thermal said:
They should respond, if for nothing else than to cite her. If she told the truth during the call, they should have just hung up. If she lied or grossly exaggerated, charge her accordingly on the spot.
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I think it is generally considered a bad idea to foster in a population a hesitance to contact authorities due to a fear of becoming a target of those authorities themselves. No?
 
Distracted1 said:
I think it is generally considered a bad idea to foster in a population a hesitance to contact authorities due to a fear of becoming a target of those authorities themselves. No?
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I get your point, which is true, but the flip side is a population abusing police to harrass others at your whim. I find it eerily police-state-ish to be questioned by armed cops when I have done nothing remotely wrong.

On a related note, this man, Phillips, said he stayed put out of fear he would look guilty if he left. Do you think that sort of preemptive defensiveness is healthy in a free society?
 
I don't know if it is necessarily "healthy", but a consideration of how my actions (however innocent) may appear to others is something I consider prudent. I don't find it sinister that I might find myself in a situation wherein I might have to appeal to some variety of arbiter if an unfounded accusation were to be made against me, regardless of how flimsy the accusations may be.
 
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