It's a scene I've become all too familiar with since childhood: Al Sharpton blasting the city of New York, and America, for holding on the vestiges of racism. Michael Griffiths, Yussuf Hawkins, Tawana Brawley, Amadou Diallo, Abner Louima -- these are names that Mr. Sharpton has seared into the consciousness of my city, a reminder that there's something bigger and more dangerous than the gentrification of NYC. And for the most part, I applaud Mr. Sharpton's vigilantism.
Except not this time.
Except not this time.
On Sunday of this week a group of cops fired 50 shots at three unarmed men who were exiting a seedy strip club in Queens. They were celebrating a bridegrooms last few hours of freedom (though he already had two kids with his fiancee) at a club known for drug dealing and prostitution. The driver of the vehicle, Sean Bell, was drunk and got behind the wheel of a car and knocked into a police vehicle twice, and then apparently tried to run an undercover officer over as well.
While 50 shots is excessive, my heart isn't bleeding for the victims. These guys weren't leaving a church social, they were drunk and getting behind the wheel of a car at 4am after being in a brothel, hours before one of them was to walk down the aisle of a church to get married. I know lots of guys do this, but it doesn't make it right.
But what really pisses me off about Al Sharpton's visiblity in this dicey situation (these boys -- the victims and the cops -- are not saints) is his lack of visibility when gay people of color are attacked. Earlier this summer NY performer Kevin Aviance was gay bashed in the East Village and nowhere was Mr. Sharpton and his crew to be seen denoucing the crime. Almost two months ago another gay black man was chased onto a highway in Brooklyn by two thugs and again, Mr. Sharpton remained conspicuously invisible.
The double standard by which everyone, even victims, judge others' right to life and happiness is sickeningly transparent.
6 comments:
I truly hope Al doesn't embrass himself and take african americans five steps back as he did in the Tawana Brawley case years ago. He is so quick to jump on the racial bandwagon when it's convenient and it makes a good story. Weddings, little girls upstate...far better than a gay man being chased out of a rest stop who was just taken off live support.
Here are the facts so far:
1) The police were are mixed ethnicities and races.
2) They've worked in these seedy situations before.
3) This was the first time any of them discharged bullets from their weapons.
4) Sean Bell and his friends chose to go to a seedy club known for drugs and prostitution
5) A fourth man in their group is missing.
6) The victims car slammed into a police car as they tried to get away.
Is it possible that these African American men were actually up to something? 50 bullets were excessive, but let's wait for the facts before we label this as a lynching. Michael Sandy was just taken off life support and nobody cared, but Mr. Guzman's grogginess is a good enough reason for his sister to keep police from talking to him and getting to the botton of the situation. Hmmmm.
Good points.
Al is oftentimes hoist on his own petard.
Actually, Al Sharpton has been quite vocal in supporting gays.
Sharpton supports same-sex marriage and has spearheaded an effort to bridge black lgbts and the traditional black church. He is working on an anti-homophobia initiative in NYC. Also, his sister is a lesbian and he has spoken on the importance of coming out and is trying to get more black church leaders to confront AIDS. Rev. Al was also on the cover of NEXT, the NYC gay mag, and honored by one of the local lgbt groups.
As a black gay man, I must say that often black leaders--especially clergy--are sometimes held to higher standards than their non-black counterparts. Many white gay men actually do not realize how much gay-positve work some of them have done, such as the Congressional Black Caucus, most of members score very high from the HRC. If you live in NYC, I'm surprised that you do not know about Sharpton but below are blog posts that link to plenty of articles.
Also, when it comes to police brutality, blacks and Hispanics are often the receiving end and black/Latino lgbts even more so. Please don't try to rationalize police brutality when you don't even known that Sharpton has been a huge friend to the NYC LGBT community. Either research your topics or stay on familiar territory, like Madonna or the Roxy.
Sharpton AIDS
Sharpton Criticizing Homophobic Churches
Sharpton at Black LGBT Church Summit
Sharpton in the Advocate
He hasnt been vocal enough for my liking, Rob. The fact remains that two black gay men have been bashed in the last year and Al Sharpton hasn't raised a fuss. And as a Latino myself, I am well aware of the raw deal we get from those in law enforcement.
That said, I'm familiar on much more than Madonna and the Roxy. Don't be rude.
And yes, I could stand to research topics more, I wish I had the time!! So thanks for the links and please keep coming back to check my ego.
Al Sharpton is, if nothing else, an opportunistic professional racist just like Jackson.
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