"There's a black man in my house!" Anyone else catch that woman on Good Morning (White) America?

[Ian David]

Long story short:

A woman puts a webcam in her house, and a few months later, she logs into her camera from work, and calls 911 to report "there's a black man in my house."

Okay, at a moment of stress, during the 911 call, perhaps you can make allowances for subconscious racism leaking-out. Maybe.

But then during the interview on the tee-vee machine, she goes on to describe how the webcam helped her catch a black man in her house.

I wonder how many white men have broken into her house and been warmly greeted with tea and biscuits?

[proud2BlibKansan]

1. Am I the only one wondering why she felt the need to check her home web cam?

What did she think she was going to find? The dog peeing on the carpet? LOL

[Ian David]

5. Actually, yes. She said she was robbed once before, and wanted to watch her dogs. n/t

[BR_Parkway]

37. Apparently not very good watchdogs if she has to remote view to check

in on them from work while there's an intruder in the house!

[Ian David]

40. The dogs ran and hid but the cat stalked them. n/t

[LisaL]

42. The dogs hid but poor cat was running around.

[pnwmom]

45. Golden Retrievers are love bugs, not guard dogs. n/t

[Uben]

6. What's the use of having it if you don't check it?

It was a home security system!

[MADem]

16. Maybe she lives in a high crime area? nt

[LisaL]

21. Yea you are the only one.

:eyes:

[Ian David]

29. Proud2blib agrees with me now. n/t

[proud2BlibKansan]

31. Always

Your bumper stickers won my loyalty a long time ago. LOL

But seriously she does sound funny the way she says it's a "BLACK MAN".

[Uben]

2. Uh....

...when you are calling the police to report a burglary, it is not only common, but advised, to describe the suspect as best you can. I saw the segment and there was no hint at all of racism.

[proud2BlibKansan]

10. It's a valid point

I have written numerous LTTEs (none published of course) asking my newspaper why they always describe black folks as 'black' but NEVER describe white folks as 'white'.

[Uben]

18. What if......

.....it was a white man robbing a black household and the victim described the robber as a white man. Would you assume they were making a racist comment, as well? I would not. I guess this is a subjective thing.

[proud2BlibKansan]

23. My point is they should always give the race of the person they are describing

But they don't. They only tell the race if it is a black person.

[LisaL]

28. Who are "they?"

[proud2BlibKansan]

30. Did you even read my post?

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=389&topic_id=5426708&mesg_id=5426781

[Justyce]

35. I agree. I think that would be a common

response either way. The OP is reaching with this one...

[MADem]

19. I didn't see it....I heard it from another room.

It sounded like a descriptive effort to me....I think if the guy was very fat, or Asian, you would have heard her describe him that way.

[acmavm]

3. Should she have said he was sky-blue pink with purple polka dots?

What description would make you happy.

Sometimes a thing is what it is.

[acmavm]

4. Damn, got an error message saying my post didnt' take.

[Lasher]

7. It is common for police officers of all races to use such descriptions.

Black male, white female, etc.

[Ian David]

8. You've gotta see the segment in context. n/t

[Lasher]

22. Nom Nom Nom Nom Nom Nom Nom! n/t

[Ian David]

25. Nom Nom Nom Nom Nom Nom Nom!

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=389&topic_id=5420729&mesg_id=5426673

[Lasher]

38. I think this could catch on.

[wndycty]

9. OK, as I BLACK MAN, I have no problem with her describing the man who broke into her house. . .

. . .think about it for a second.

[BeFree]

12. Right

Now if she had said it looked like a gay man, then that would be something.
This is nothing.

[EmilyAnne]

48. Lol!

[Rockholm]

53. What? How on earth would she know if he were gay?

Dressed well, good body, good hair....going after the art and silver?

[CreekDog]

43. yeah that was okay, but the re-telling of it?

where she said "i caught a black man" or something to that effect. :eyes:

[Marrah_G]

11. Why do you consider describing the man to the police as racist?

[Ian David]

13. You had to see it in context. n/t

[Marrah_G]

34. I'll try and find it online.

[Autumn]

14. So what should she have said?

Your last line is incredibly stupid.

[Ian David]

20. It's not what she said, but HOW she said it. I'm trying to find the video. n/t

[proud2BlibKansan]

26. You are right

I just heard the tape on MSNBC. She sounds disgusted that it is a black man in her house.

[City of Mills]

15. She also described his shirt as "White"

The woman is clearly prejudiced against black skin and white shirts! :mad:

[LisaL]

17. And so, when someone breaks into your house, you'd refuse

to give out a description, as to not appear racist?
O'key.
:eyes:

[proud2BlibKansan]

32. If it was a white person I would describe him as white

If he was black I would describe him as black.

[Name removed]

24. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[Ian David]

27. Thanks! The 911 tape isn't as bad as the interview on The GMA show though. n/t

[John7714]

33. You're welcome

You know I would rather have the CIA grate my knee caps with a cheese grater than listen to a Diane Sawyer interview.

[LisaL]

36. I just watched the whole damn 911 tape with a transcript on

msnbc.com. The fact the the man was black was never mentioned on that tape at all. Did msnbc edit it out?

[Ian David]

39. She mentioned it toward the very begining in the link posted up-thread.

But her call to 911 and mentioning the fact that he was black, I found acceptable.

However, if we can find the interview she gave with Harry on GMA, that mention was, IMHO, very questionable.

[LisaL]

41. Well it sure looks to me like msnbc edited "black" out of 911 call.

[Ian David]

44. Maybe they read this thread? n/t

[LisaL]

49. Maybe they did.

:eyes:

[Honeycombe8]

46. I don't think that's necessarily racism. It's an identifying characteristic...if the people who own

the house are not black. Viewing someone on a webcam, that would be one of the most easily identifiable physical characteristics.

Now, it COULD be a racist remark, but you'd have to know the person to know if she is a racist at heart.

First and foremost, though....he's a criminal.

What if she were a black woman, and a black family lived in the house and put a webcam up, and she called in to 911 and said, "There's a white man in my house, robbing me!" Racist? Not racist? Who knows? But it is not necessarily racist.

[trumad]

47. You tube---

http://news.cnet.com/8301-17852_3-10216518-71.html

[scrinmaster]

50. She said it was a man, as well.

What does that have to do with anything? She should just have said "person". :sarcasm:

[LisaL]

51. A very good point.

The nerve of her.
:rofl:

[Ian David]

52. Not what she said, but HOW she said it. And it was REALLe

Yes, I know she HAS to describe the person for the cops.

Geesh.

[LisaL]

54. I've listened to the 911 tape (both edited and un-edited versions).

And there is nothing special about how she said it.

[LibDemAlways]

55. If you saw a person fleeing from the scene of a robbery at

your home and the police asked you to describe the person, the mention of skin color would be unavoidable.

If you were later discussing the incident on tv with a reporter and said, "The police caught a black guy in my house," then, yes, under those circumstances the mention of the person's race would be gratuitous.

I think that is the distinction you were getting at in your OP.