Martese Johnson Not Belligerent Or Drunk At Time Of His Arrest Martese Johnson, the UVA student who was brutally assaulted by ABC officers on St. Patrick’s Day, was “polite and cordial” at the time of his arrest. Furthermore he was not intoxicated when he was slammed face first onto the ground and wounded so badly that he needed 10 stitches. USA Today reports: The 20-year-old black University of Virginia student bloodied by alcohol-control officers outside a bar last week was denied entry after a “polite and cordial” conversation because he named the wrong ZIP code for the address on the Illinois license he presented, the pub says. Johnson “did not appear to be intoxicated in the least” and simply walked off after being turned away, the Trinity Irish Pub said in a statement released Saturday night. It called reports that bar staff were “belligerent” toward Johnson or that he was belligerent to management “patently untrue.” A Breathalyzer test showed Johnson was not intoxicated. In its version of events, the pub said co-owner Kevin Badke was at the door just after midnight Wednesday to monitor the St. Patrick’s Day celebrations and be sure underage drinkers did not enter. He said the ABC had alerted the bar beforehand that it would be watched closely because “they were Irish.” Until 10 p.m., the pub admits patrons of all ages. After that, “under no circumstances do we allow anyone under the age of 21 to enter the establishment,” the statement said. Johnson had been in line to enter around 12:30 a.m., and Badke, who is from the south side of Chicago, was at the door helping check identifications. Badke asked Johnson for his ZIP code, a key question used to catch fake IDs. Johnson’s answer didn’t match the 2011 Illinois license he presented, and “probably realizing the reason for the error, stated that he had moved,” the statement said. After a brief “cordial and respectful” conversation, Badke said he couldn’t let Johnson in and handed him back his ID. “He was just disappointed he didn’t get in. He was just acting like a normal college kid,” Badke said in a interview. “It was very cordial. I actually asked him what high school he went to.” Moments after Johnson walked away, video shows three uniformed ABC special agents confronting him. While showing them his Illinois ID, he is grabbed by the neck and pushed face down onto the brick sidewalk just steps from the Trinity entrance. Johnson can be heard yelling that he was a U.Va. student. “How did this happen, you (bleeping) racists!” Johnson screams. The ABC arrest report describes Johnson as “belligerent” and “very agitated.” The arresting officers have been reassigned to administrative duties during the investigation, which Gov. Terry McAuliffe is monitoring. Yet another example of respectability politics not meaning ish, Martese was “cordial” and “respectful” and still got his head bashed open. SMH…
President Obama Says We Should Measure Progress By The Public’s Reaction To Stupidity President Barack Obama has weighed in on the controversy over SAE’s racist rant which was caught on tape. While he deems the foul clip as an act of stupidity, he says the more important matter is how the public rallied together in outrage. According to AOL reports : President Barack Obama shared his reactions to the video of University of Oklahoma fraternity brothers uttering a violent and racially-charged chant in an exclusive interview with Sam Stein of the Huffington Post released on Saturday. “Look, at any given point on any given day, somebody is doing something stupid out there,” Obama said when asked for his reaction to the viral clip. “In the age of the Internet, it’s going to attract attention. I don’t think this is the first time that somebody at a fraternity has done something stupid, racist, sexist. It won’t be the last.” The discovery of the video spurred the school’s decision to kick the fraternity, Sigma Alpha Epsilon, off campus. School President David Boren ultimately decided to expel two students over the incident too, a move the president praised. “What was heartening was the quick response from President Boren, somebody who I know well and I know who has great integrity,” he said. Two weeks after he marked the 50th anniversary of the civil rights marches at Selma with a speech in which he spoke about the advances that have been made in the fight for racial equality, Obama reflected on how a moment like the SAE chant fits into our country’s evolution. “The way we have to measure progress here is not, is there ever going to be an incident of racism in the country. It’s how does the majority of our country respond?” he said. “And on that front, there’s no doubt that the overwhelming number of students at the University of Oklahoma, and around the country, think that kind of behavior is deplorable and don’t accept it. “Frankly, 30 years ago or 40 years ago, there might have been a different reaction and more tolerance for that kind of racist chant,” he added. Do you think he’s right to celebrate our progress or do you think more needs to be done before we can applaud ourselves for reacting “correctly” to ignorance?
Media Insists On Calling Suge Knight A Rapper Suge Knight has never spit a single bar on any song ever. He’s not a rapper. He’s a mogul. A Businessman. And whether you think he’s a good or just businessman or a thief and murderer, the fact remains that Suge Knight is a mogul. Not a rapper. Yet every time he’s been mentioned since allegedly murdering someone, he’s been called a rapper. But…why? What compels the media to insist that Suge has spit bars to achieve his fame? Pure laziness probably plays a part. But it probably has something to do with the desire to pain rap and rappers as people who commit murders and act insane in court. There isn’t a distinction between a business person in the rap field and a rapper – probably because a person of color in the rap diaspora solely known for business practices is unheard of to them. I bet if Steve Stoute or Dame Dash got arrested for knifing someone up, they’d get called rappers too. For example, remember when Chris Brown was called a rapper? Exactly. It’d be great if the media stopped placing their own racist expectations on Blackness. Please and thank you. So, again: SUGE KNIGHT IS NOT A RAPPER. So stop it.
Stephen A. Smith Suggests “ALL” Black People Vote Republican In 2016 ESPN’s resident loud-mouth Stephen A. Smith spoke to at Vanderbilt University this week and discussed his thoughts on black people’s undying devotion to the democratic party. According to Stephen Ayyyeeeee…via Washington Post: What I dream is that for one election, just one, every black person in America vote Republican…. Black folks in America are telling one party, ‘We don’t give a damn about you.’ They’re telling the other party, ‘You’ve got our vote.’ Therefore, you have labeled yourself ‘disenfranchised’ because one party knows they’ve got you under their thumb. The other party knows they’ll never get you and nobody comes to address your interest. We’re all well aware that African-American political support is overtly disproportionate Democrat, but do you think it’s a good idea for ALL BLACK PEOPLE to vote GOP? Does Stephen A. Smith make a valid point? Discuss… Photo: WENN
Stephen A. Smith Suggests “ALL” Black People Vote Republican In 2016 ESPN’s resident loud-mouth Stephen A. Smith spoke to at Vanderbilt University this week and discussed his thoughts on black people’s undying devotion to the democratic party. According to Stephen Ayyyeeeee…via Washington Post: What I dream is that for one election, just one, every black person in America vote Republican…. Black folks in America are telling one party, ‘We don’t give a damn about you.’ They’re telling the other party, ‘You’ve got our vote.’ Therefore, you have labeled yourself ‘disenfranchised’ because one party knows they’ve got you under their thumb. The other party knows they’ll never get you and nobody comes to address your interest. We’re all well aware that African-American political support is overtly disproportionate Democrat, but do you think it’s a good idea for ALL BLACK PEOPLE to vote GOP? Does Stephen A. Smith make a valid point? Discuss… Photo: WENN
Mitt Romney To Fight Evander Holyfield For Charity Yup, you read it right… Via NYPost Mitt Romney is throwing his hat into the ring — the boxing ring. The former presidential candidate will strap on the gloves and duke it out with former heavyweight champion Evander Holyfield in a charity boxing event on May 15 in Salt Lake City, a report said. “It will either be a very short fight, or I will be knocked unconscious,” Romney joked in an interview with The Salt Lake City Tribune. “It won’t be much of a fight. We’ll both suit up and get in the ring and spar around a little bit.” The event is a fundraiser for Charity Vision, a nonprofit organization that works to help the blind. Romney, 68, thought it’d be fun to spar with “The Real Deal” Holyfield. “We just thought it would be a lot better to provide this kind of entertainment rather than just have dinner and listen to speakers,” Romney said. Mitt gonna get knocked the F*** OUT! Image via AP/WENN
Stephen A. Smith Questions Eagles Coach Chip Kelly’s Motivation To Part With Black Players If there is one person in the sport journalism world who doesn’t mind walking a fine line it’s ESPN First Take’s Stephen A. Smith. It stands to reason that a NFL coach would be much quick to part ways with a racist like Riley Cooper LONG before 4 of his significantly less troublesome star players. Image via WENN/AP
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