(A Somewhat-Related Digression From the Open Dialogue on Race)

The Open Dialogue on Race continues with a new post on Joy-Ann Reid's blog at:

http://open.salon.com/blog/joy-ann_reid/2009/06/07/open_dialogue_on_race_part_vii_discrimination_envy         

    “BZZZZZZZZZ! "

              "THIS IS AN AMBER ALERT! 

              "REPEAT: THIS IS AN AMBER ALERT!” 

I had dozed off in front of the TV the other morning when the buzz jolted me awake.  I blinked, looked at the screen, saw the counties affected – Bucks and Montgomery Counties Pennsylvania, the mostly suburban where I live.

A child was missing.  I listened to the details – You never know, I frequent those roads, while I was driving the carpool, running errands, or out on my bike, I could have seen the car in question.  So I noted the winess's description.

“Suspects are two black men, otherwise unidentified.”

That’s when I knew. 

Maybe it was the echo of Susan Smith.  Even back in 1994 when Susan Smith’s story was first in the news, I remember thinking that her story did not ring true to me.  Smith blamed “a black man” for abducting her children.  And then it turned out she herself had drowned her boys in a lake.

Or maybe it was the memory of Charles Stuart, who claimed “a black man” had killed his pregnant wife.  Or the clearly unstable Ashley Todd, a McCain supporter who reported that “a black man” had carved a letter “B” (for Barack) into her forehead but who turned out to have cut her own face.

Or maybe the tip-off was that phrase, “otherwise unidentified.”

A day later, my hunch is confirmed.  I hear it on my car radio. 

A day after claiming via a dramatic cell phone call to 911, that two black men had rammed her car, abducted her and her daughter and thrown them in the trunk of a Cadillac, Bonnie Sweeten and her daughter Julia were found together, safe, in Disney World.

Hearing the news, I told myself the police had no choice.  Even if they too had doubts about her story, they had to put out the Amber Alert, they must pursue any possibility, they have to act.  They must investigate the witness’s account -- even as they question it -- as long as a child’s safety hangs in the balance.

But Amber Alerts and police procedure aside – and acknowledging how sick, how seriously disturbed these false-reporters are --

I have to ask this question – When will this particular lie stop repeating itself?

When will false-reporters stop believing they can get away with bald-faced lies as long as they blame it on “a black man”? 

"Otherwise unidentified."

*  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *   *  *

For information on this case: 

Please Check Out:

Open Dialogue on Race Part V

on RonP01's blog

http://open.salon.com/blog/ronp01/2009/05/25/racism_and_classism_open_dialogue_on_race_part_v#

The hypothesis is "Classism has/will replace Racism as the dominant social issue in America."

Catch up on the OPEN DIALOGUE ON RACE:

PART I:  Video: Buchanan, Cheney, and Limbaugh Attack Colin Powell

 Part II: Faith Paulsen  "Racism isn't just political -- It's personal"

Part III: Open Dialogue On Race Part III  "Code Words, Symbols, Stereotypes, & Myths"

Part IV: David A. Love  "(1) Race is a social construct.........