Northern Lights — What”s playing in your head?
When I heard Al Sharpton say on TV that he had heard a tape of a protester on March 20 calling Rep. Cleaver the “n” word I was reminded of something that ex-Oakland Mayor Jerry Brown said a few years ago about some folks in his city. Brown said that they were not responding to current events, but to “old movies of civil rights struggles that kept playing over and over in their heads.” The recent events between a protester and three African-American congressmen in DC brought that insightful comment back to me.
My concern is that I have not seen even one tape so far where I hear Rep. Cleaver being called any name. If there were racial epithets flying through the air that day as the Congressmen have said then certainly with all the media converged on the capital, with all the camera cell phones in the crowd, there must be at least one tape of some part of this incident. I can”t imagine any network or cable news organization not running that tape if in fact it does exist. So where is it? Why don”t they play it for us? Wouldn”t that be the right and fair thing to do before we condemn this protester?
I have watched the video of that incident several times now and what I see may not be what you see. I see an upset, obviously angry protester cupping his hands around his mouth, shouting into Rep. Cleaver”s face and I see Rep. Cleaver pulling back. Then I see Rep. Cleaver angrily responding to the protester. I do not see the protester spitting, although certainly he might have done so between those cupped hands. But, perhaps he was just cupping his hands around his mouth so that he would be heard above the sea of other protesters yelling at the congressman. I did see Rep. Cleaver wiping his face, but is that proof that he was intentionally spat on?
Now I am not so na?ve that I believe words like the “n” word are not used anymore, I have heard that word many times, especially while living in Oakland, although mostly used between African-Americans. I have also been called honky a few times and been told by a neighbor that “all white people are stupid.” People do get called racial epithets sometimes in this country and it is entirely possible the protester did call the congressman the “n” word, but maybe not. I don”t know because I wasn”t there and most of the people chastising this protester were not there either, so how do they know? They don”t.
I would like to see a full investigation into this incident. Put all the parties under oath and ask them all the pertinent questions, interview law enforcement officers that were at the scene, investigate any tapes or other evidence that exist from that day. Only then would I be willing to stand in judgment of these protesters or these politicians. To condemn this protester without his day in court, without any discovery or evidence seems patently un-American to me and beneath us as a country.
So if you think you heard Rep. Cleaver being called the “n” word I would like to see your evidence. If you don”t have any objective evidence to back up your accusations then I think you have to ask yourselves this question: What”s playing in my head?
Mary Becker is a former San Francisco business owner who now lives in Lake County and enjoys providing her perspective.
