Teaser: It sure does seem like many people in the world feel like being black in certain spaces is a crime. Or that lawyer guy from New York who was threatening to call ICE on a random employee. What a waste of time and tax payers money! Should there be a fine for Racist calls to police?

Today’s podcast ask the question if the isn’t a fine for racism aren’t we really saying that it is fine for racism?

Today we will talk about:

We will look at the evidence and see if these are isolated incidents or there is a larger pattern of white people calling the police on folks who are just existing?

We will try to understand what happens and what recourse law enforcement has when those calls are made. We will look at police options, and at what they at time do, which support racist class?

Lastly we will look at how would this fine for racist calls look, and examine what we would do with those fines to push back on systemic racism.

Welcome back to the podcast! We are going to attempt a different ordering of material for the podcast so we are going to start right into the content you came here for and then talk activism, self-care and community stuff more towards the end!

First thing: How often do these racist calls to police happen?

Well upon a cursory glance after a google search at least daily!

As of May 19th there was the man who was a Black real estate investor that had inspecting the house – that he was buying. A woman Tiffany Albert called the police on the guy just taking pictures of the home he was planning to buy.

On May 17th there was a white man in NY Aaron Schlossberg threatened to call the ICE on someone simply speaking Spanish. It is interesting to note that he speaks Spanish and is willing to do so for extra money.

On May 16th there was the now infamous BBQ Becky incident where a woman Michelle Snider called the police on a family for using a charcoal grill and claiming they couldn’t use it. She was later seen crying as the officer showed up (seemingly out of nowhere).

On May 15th there was another white person who called the police at a Hobby Lobby for “resembling” at thief (being black?). Brian Spurlock was attempting to return a cutting machine with a receipt, original packaging, and everything else needed for a return. When the manager said he had to call corporate – he instead called police. And the police did a background check and though there were no issue. The officer allowed him to get his return but still threatened to kick him out if he didn’t leave right after for “trespassing”

Sarah Braasch, the white student who called campus police on Lolade Siyonbola after she committed the unforgivable crime of napping in her own dormitory’s common room.

Campus officers said they checked Siyonbola’s ID against the university system and let her go, and later informed Braasch that her call was “not a police matter.” But the late-night incident has set off a bigger conversation about what Yale alum and writer A.T. McWilliams called the “white space” of his alma mater.

Here are the things that black people can’t do in the United States in 2018 without a white bystander calling the police on them:

eat at a Waffle House;

work out at a gym; Two black men had the police called on them at LA Fitness saying they hadn’t paid – they had. Working out while black.

move into a new apartment at night; Called police on former white house staffer – crime moving while black

golf with friends; 5 black women weren’t playing fast enough and had the police called on them.

fly on a plane; A black woman was called because their arms were touching – crime being black and larger framed.

shop for a prom outfit; 3 black teens at Nordstrom Rack – crime shopping while black

buy a money order to pay the rent; They didn’t get their money order because of a claim of fraud also were black and police were called. – crime trying to pay your rent.

check out of an Airbnb; Four friends were leaving their AirBNB when they left were accused of stealing when they checked out. Because they were black.

Second: The people here is that systemic racism allows for this behavior. The fact that people can call the police on someone at a bbq – a 911 call at that shows how this problem has little or no consequences with or from police officers.

Their recourse is to not show up to these call, which does carry some risk associated with complaints to local government. While the police can risk not coming I also don’t see people making these type of complaints go. There is an sense of entitlement that comes with a person making these calls that I frankly do not think will stop with a simple no show to a frivolous racist 911 call.

The problem here is too deep within that person making that call. They feel as thought they should be able to expect the police to show up and fix this problem. That is the deeper problem which needs to be addressed.

Not to say these calls are not happening without a social cost.

The lawyer from NY has found himself on the streets needing to answer questions from reporters as he was quickly able to be connected with his public persona. He has been seen running from reporter and claiming they are detaining him – or attacking him – which if you see is ludicrous.

He has also had his NY office the site of parties. There has been a few Latinx parties outside his office. And at another time a food truck and a mariachi band was hired to play outside his office to shame him.

The woman who called the police at the BBQ has become the subject of a few memes which I really suggest you check out if you have the time google BBQ Becky. There is one where she is on the phone crying and running away from the women soldiers from Black Panther. Another shows her in the crowd and on the phone during the civil rights march. Her identity is also known and it is showing indeed there is a social cost to these actions.

Starbuck closed for Bias training – which lead to a very sad whitelash against the inconvenience of a few people needing to get coffee from a different location – like for a WHOLE DAY!

The woman from Yale is also dealing with her issues related to calling the police on a tired sleeping grad student in a common area too.

Lastly – Do I think these things are systemic fixes? Well first off I really want to laud the people doing this work and making sure these crimes have a cost to them. Good people doing good work is making a difference in that there is no systemic fix for these issues at this time.

However – I think societally we can do better and NEED a better more permanent fix. So I am proposing a two part solution.

First there should be a fine of $1000 whenever calls like this happen. There needs to be a cost associated with racist calls to the police. The main problem is there is no immediate social cost to these people being able to call the police to enforce their racist thoughts of how things should be.

The fine should be used as a form of community reparations. These funds should go to help fix problems associated with systemic racism. They could be used to help schools which are under funded. Or pay for lighting in neighbors, or community development projects – OR community bbqs! Or scholarships for grad school students. Or for the guy in NY forced pro-bono work for people stuck in immigration hell. These types of acts of reconciliation would go a long way to make a difference.

Lastly that person should also be forced into a long community dialog series or Anti-racism/social justice training. They should have to pay for that and they should have to attend – or have to pay 25% of their annual income or serve 500 hours of community service to again a related need area. The training facilitator should be well compensated for their efforts no matter what. But this would hope to help root out the deep problem inside this person. They need to be cured of their racism.

The community efforts do help in making people re-think their public racist acts, but it doesn’t solve the issue of their mind and heart issue. These people need to get education to rethink these notions and ideas. Because as Michelle noted – education alone isn’t enough. The NY lawyer has his JD. The BBQ Becky lady has her PhD in Chemical Engineering. The person at Yale – it at YALE and is a grad student too!

They need to learn and understand the repercussions of their actions in a systemically racist society. While it might not work – these efforts have worked at times in the past.

Punishment doesn’t always deter the crime. Reconciliation and restitution are what is really needed in these cases. People need the opportunity to think and understand differently. When people are sick in a communalist society we rally around the person and do our best to heal them and make them whole. That is what is needed. Making a person who public engages in racist 911 calls into Anti-racists are something we need to consider. It isn’t enough to treat the symptom we need to find a cure.

As far as the podcast goes we have been up to some interesting new things! We have a social media liason now! You may also have noticed that the podcast has now a Facebook Page, a Instagram Page AND a new Twitter Account! With all these things we are getting more and more ways to reach out and connect with you our listeners. Glad to have them part of our team! Please remember you can email me at [email protected] or leave me a voicemail at 860-576-9393. I would love to hear your thoughts!

Also remember to rate and review us on Apple Podcasts, or Stitcher, or if you could please share the podcast on social media, All these things go a long way to making a significant difference for us here at the inclusive activism podcast. Also please subscribe to our podcasts on iTunes, Stitcher, Overcast, Player FM, Pocket Casts or Google Play as these are great ways for me to show “proof of work to potential sponsors”. It would also go a long way in getting my producer Sara paid for her work someday too!

So checking in on my Activism:

Doing COM101 the DI&E program at Pvcc currently

Spoke at a city budget hearing on trying to get dollars from policing to peaceing

Did Healing Racism Series on Free Speech and Hate Speech.

Met with my Anytown Curriculum Board – Finally for the first time this year!

Self Care:

Lift X3 a week which has been a source of serious frustration

Cardio has failed pretty hard – one once this week

And Meditated for 3X for at least 10-15 mins and will need to get another day in

I’ve been getting my supplements in pretty regularly thank goodness

Training Tank has been going well but the fact that it is so warm has been hard too

Need more and better rest though

Lastly for the Recommendation of the Podcast:

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So in review major points of this podcast were:

SO if this made you think something, if you have a question or even more shocking a critique let me know. You can call me at 860-576-9393

This space is a place to talk back ask me questions, hit me with scenarios of how to react to situations real time. Depending on how good your stuff is I will give it my “first take response” or if it’s good it might be a future podcast!

Also as always if you’re interested in booking me to bring the power of inclusive activism to your organization you can always do so at [email protected] or you can learn more about this organization at www.inclusiveactivism.com