KHH1

By Julissa Catalan

Charles Blow is a respected Brooklyn-based writer. An op-ed columnist for The New York Times, he also is a recently published author who often writes about race—including the deaths of Eric Garner and Michael Brown. He is Black and bisexual. He is also a single father of three boys—one of whom is a Biology major at Yale University.

In his most recent column, “Library Visit, Then Held at Gunpoint”, Blow recounts the story of his son being racially profiled by Yale campus police.

“This is the scenario I have always dreaded: my son at the wrong end of a gun barrel, face down on the concrete,” Blow wrote. “I had always dreaded the moment that we would share stories about encounters with the police in which our lives hung in the balance, intergenerational stories of joining the inglorious ‘club.’”

According to Blow’s son, he was walking back to his dorm from the library when he noticed a cop jogging toward him, saying ‘I got him’ into this radio.

The officer then yelled, “Hey, turn around!”

When the student did, he saw a gun pointed at him.

“At this point, I stopped looking directly at the officer, and looked down toward the pavement. I dropped to my knees first, with my hands raised, then laid down on my stomach,” Blow’s son Tahj, who is not named in his father’s column but has been identified in other news reports, told him.

After complying with the officers—which, as Blow wrote, he had taught his son to do should a situation like this ever arise—including answering a slew of questions and showing his student ID, he was let go.

The real suspect was found a short while later.

On Monday, Yale released a statement saying that Blow’s son was detained because he closely resembled the physical description of the suspect.

“Let us be clear: We have great faith in the Yale Police Department and admire the professionalism that its officers display on a daily basis to keep our campus safe. What happened … is not a replay of what happened in Ferguson; Staten Island; Cleveland; or so many other places in our time and over time in the United States. The officer, who himself is African-American, was responding to a specific description relayed by individuals who had reported a crime in progress,” the statement read. “Even though the officer’s decision to stop and detain the student may have been reasonable, the fact that he drew his weapon during the stop requires a careful review.”

Blow writes: “Now, don’t get me wrong: If indeed my son matched the description of a suspect, I would have had no problem with him being questioned appropriately. School is his community, his home away from home, and he would have appreciated reasonable efforts to keep it safe. The stop is not the problem; the method of the stop is the problem.”

The man in question was suspected of burglary—a non-violent crime.

He then asked the most basic question of all: “Why was a gun drawn first? Why was he not immediately told why he was being detained? Why not ask for ID first?

“What if my son had panicked under the stress, having never had a gun pointed at him before, and made what the officer considered a ‘suspicious’ movement? Had I come close to losing him? Triggers cannot be unpulled. Bullets cannot be called back.”

Immediately after the incident, and before writing his column, Blow to took to Twitter to vent about the prejudice his son had just endured.


So, my son, a 3rd year chem major at Yale was just accosted – at GUN POINT – by a Yale policeman bc he “fit the description” of a suspect…

— Charles M. Blow (@CharlesMBlow) January 25, 2015




He was let go when they realized he was a college student and not a criminal ( he was leaving the library!) He’s shaken, but I’m fuming! — Charles M. Blow (@CharlesMBlow) January 25, 2015




This is exactly why I have NO PATIENCE for ppl trying to convince me that the fear these young blk men feel isn’t real #RacialBattleFatigue

— Charles M. Blow (@CharlesMBlow) January 25, 2015




Recent events reinforce what many have been saying for years: have a convo w your children abt what to do when interacting with authorities. — Charles M. Blow (@CharlesMBlow) January 25, 2015




BTW, my son corrected me: He’s a Biology major, not a chemistry major. Dad’s fault… :)

— Charles M. Blow (@CharlesMBlow) January 25, 2015

He also tweeted the hashtags #ICantBreathe and #BlackLivesMatter.

Charles Blow’s son released his own statement on Jan. 28. Blow posted it to his Twitter account.


My son posted his own statement. So proud of this kid, his maturity and concern for others… pic.twitter.com/KfLLFLAPOD

— Charles M. Blow (@CharlesMBlow) January 28, 2015

America Only Loc: From the right hand of God

Your copy and paste job...."BLOWS".....as you do also......and still not white...LOSER! lololol hahahahahahahah

KHH1

**Look how you grew up to act....and have the unmitigated gall to call someone else a loser*

Loki Loc: Georgia

You want profiling? In the mid-seventies, I looked like a member of ZZtop, immediately before I enlisted in the military. I was stopped and had my vehicle ransacked because I "resembled" a burglary suspect. I learned later they had NO description of the suspect, or his vehicle. I also learned I was a suspected marijuana dealer. More bullshit. While the one cop didn't pull his sidearm, he had his hand on it, gripping it. I still wonder what sort of stolen merchandise they thought they would find inside an unmounted stereo speaker.

KHH1

Welcome to the club...i had a brand new beemer backed into while I was in a store...came out and saw two white cops.....told them what happened...they started running the car to see if it was stolen...when I aksed them why would someone come up to cops and report a stolen car being hit...is that logical?...they turned red...told them to not sweat it....i have had cops follow me for periods of time until they could think of something to pull me over for...and my cars were/are nice....but they are stock...no after market wheels or window tint or nothing..just like I took it off of the lot.......by design......

KHH1

*I've got ZZ Top biker friends who tell me the same thing...one even told me that he understands why black men talk schit the way they do as a result of his experiences...and that we should go around and put fear in people every chance we get. I'm kool on that practice though...because things can get messy.......

Vacaman

Profiling goes both ways when it comes to color and race. The worst cops where I grew up were mexican. The worst cop I dealt with was black and a liar. The craziest gun drawing cops were white. Looks are a large portion of profiling, what's else can a cop to on?

Loki Loc: Georgia

Where I grew up, the best cops were Hispanic. Of course, almost all the cops were Hispanic.

Loki Loc: Georgia

Some black kids are unfairly profiled, because of their appearance. They look like bangers, whether they are or not. I suppose I looked the part. Long-haired, bearded college student who played music in a couple of local bars on weekends for walking around money. I also worked as a part-time proofreader/copy editor for a small religious publishing company. I suppose it never occurred to them I had no time to party, much less deal.

tony28 Loc: minnesota almost canada

I don't like the term profiling, that is not what law enforcement does. The officers watch suspicious activity or people and cars that are acting in unusual manners. That can be because they are looking for a suspect involved in a past activity, or in a probable one. A specific vehicle or type of vehicle(street racing) or gang type etc. They are doing a job that includes prevention. How is this bad or wrong. This is BS, these folks are paranoid or just whining for attention. I have been stopped because I was the wrong color in a neighborhood but the officers where doing their jobs, I was the suspicious one driving around. I lost a job because of race but I didn't cry about it I moved on to better things and held no ill will. This racial BS is all bigoted people of Color not 99.9 percent of the white population. I have done home service repair in the Chicago area north and south, anyone who has lived there understands the difference, but the only people who ever had an issue with my race were of a black color. There were not many but there were enough to leave a lasting impression. So a persons sensitivity being based on a few is wrong. Those crying foul are just unforgiving and need something more peaceful to do then trying to drum up hate and look for wrongs with others rather than looking in the mirror at that hate in themselves.

Loki Loc: Georgia

You missed my point. I was doing nothing suspicious. I was told I matched the description of a burglary suspect, when in fact there was no description of a suspect or vehicle. It was a flimsy excuse to stop me and search for drugs which I did not use or sell.

tony28 Loc: minnesota almost canada

That's my point also, I wasn't doing anything wrong either but was in an area where I didn't fit in and could have been a problem brewing. Which raised their suspicion. Now it could be looked at negatively or not, it does not bother me, I liked it at the time I was looking for a friends place which was hard to get to kind of locked in by freeway sprawl and they ended up giving us good directions. But it took us by surprise the Chicago PD are very matter a fact and you can find that a pro or con. I guess you have to see it from their eyes and feel their anxiety. Any encounter could go bad. So I sympathize with for them, guess I am glad they do the job they do, it has to be hard.

America Only Loc: From the right hand of God

Lawn Jockey....please just go some place else.....you are so damned stupid you would have to study with a group of rocket scientist to merely learn how to open an envelope.

Loser is what you are, and you know it damned good and well, there Buck Wheat.

KHH1 is not so happy...because his hair is short and nappy..

Ever wonder what is would be like to not have some astro turf on the top of your head? Does that wire looking kinked up mess just drive you insane?

I know it just sucks to be you...blame your slave owners for NOT pushing for abortion....

So how many baskets of cotton do you pick an hour? Say "hello" to "Yes Massa" and to "Yes Boss".....maybe they will give you an extra jive bone.......

Danielle Loc: Las Cruces, NM

Hey, Tony28! May I commend you a very mature and objective attitude. It doesn't matter what color of skin we were born in; there are good and bad apples in every barrel. The majority of our police officers -- Black, white, and Hispanic -- are just trying to do their jobs.

I live in a border town which is heavily Hispanic. The majority of our officers are Hispanic and bilingual. What if every white person down here threw a fit when they were stopped or investigated by a Hispanic cop? What if all of us screamed, "racial discrimination" or "cop abuse?"

A number of summers back, I worked out at a gym that closed late at night. As I was coming home, I dropped my protein drink, and as I reached for it to keep it from spilling, the car weaved somewhat. When I grabbed the wheel to correct it, it jerked the car a bit, too. I was stopped immediately by two Hispanic officers who thought I had been drinking. They questioned me and shined a flashlight throughout the car to be sure I didn't have open alcohol in the vehicle. No big deal, and more power to them. We have a lot of drunk driving here in New Mexico and a lot of deaths because of it. These guys were just doing their jobs.

The majority of officers are just doing their jobs, no matter what their race or color. Frankly, although there are some bad cops in every barrel, too, I am thankful for the majority of great men and women on the police forces nationwide. I would much rather have our city and community police than Nazi-style, military police -- the kind we're going to have if this country goes under Martial Law! Not looking forward to a UN tank on my bumper or on my front lawn! Not looking foward to heavily armed "Nazi's" shoving brutally through my car or crashing down my front door.

We've got thousands of UN tanks and NATO troops training in the United States now where they don't belong. I give the majority of our police officers a big thumbs up!

Again, thanks for your refreshingly objective viewpoint. You've got my vote!



I am so sick of this "racist" agenda.

Vacaman

I agree the term prophiling is misused. People through media has assumed this is for race only when it is not. I have been pulled over and ticketed in a neighborhood of the opposite color, I fought and lost that one. So in my experience there are bad cops and equally bad or worse judges. Does this make it solely a race issue? I beleive we need to step back and take a serious look at how children are being raised and make a contious desision to change our perception of others based on appearance. Secondly remind our kids that perception is all the police have to go by until contact is made, so act like morally and respectfully of your surroundings and fellow humans is good idea.