# And now, reported to the police for babysitting while being black **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [October 14, 2018, 5:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/and-now-reported-to-the-police-for-babysitting-while-being-black/822943 "2018-10-14T17:34:08Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 14\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![FairyChatMom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fairychatmom/32/21906_2.png) [@FairyChatMom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FairyChatMom)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2018, 3:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/and-now-reported-to-the-police-for-babysitting-while-being-black/822943/41 "2018-10-19T15:29:43Z")
My son-in-law is black. My granddaughter looks like she has a bit of a suntan, but she’s not nearly as dark as her dad. I worry when he takes her places without my daughter - what if someone decides to call the cops because they think he’s kidnapping his baby? ---
**Author:** ![Rick\_Kitchen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rick_kitchen/32/522_2.png) [@Rick\_Kitchen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rick_Kitchen)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2018, 7:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/and-now-reported-to-the-police-for-babysitting-while-being-black/822943/42 "2018-10-19T19:21:06Z")
Rooting for your son playing soccer while black - > **[Soccer dad targeted by 'Golfcart Gail' says she owes him an apology for...](https://www.yahoo.com/lifestyle/soccer-dad-targeted-golfcart-gail-says-owes-apology-calling-cops-something-done-140843863.html?.tsrc=fauxdal)** > > A woman dubbed "Golfcart Gail" went viral after she was filmed calling the police when the man spoke to his son during a soccer game. Suspended from school and having the cops called on you for confronting a fellow student who repeatedly used the n word - > **[School suspends, calls police on black student who stood up for herself after...](https://www.yahoo.com/lifestyle/school-suspends-calls-police-black-student-stood-classmate-allegedly-called-n-word-005735493.html?.tsrc=fauxdal)** > > "Parents have emailed me about their children dealing with racism at this school and white parents whose children have witnessed it," says the mother of the suspended student. ---
**Author:** ![Riemann](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/riemann/32/3133_2.png) [@Riemann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Riemann)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2018, 7:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/and-now-reported-to-the-police-for-babysitting-while-being-black/822943/43 "2018-10-19T19:31:46Z")
> [@Isamu](#): > > You are part of the problem. So far as I can discern, all he said was that aggressively prosecuting people for unwarranted 911 calls might have more widespread undesirable consequences, and we should research them. Accusing someone of being “part of the problem” just because they point out that one proposed solution may have unforeseen problems is… well, a pretty poor level of discourse. One’s sincerity in working for social justice is not measured by one’s inclination to implement every proposed kneejerk solution without any thought or analysis. Well, in some circles it is, I suppose. ---
**Author:** ![Isamu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/7c8e57/32.png) [@Isamu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Isamu)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2018, 2:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/and-now-reported-to-the-police-for-babysitting-while-being-black/822943/44 "2018-10-20T02:05:44Z")
> [@Riemann](#): > > So far as I can discern, all he said was that aggressively prosecuting people for unwarranted 911 calls might have more widespread undesirable consequences, and we should research them. Accusing someone of being “part of the problem” just because they point out that one proposed solution may have unforeseen problems is… well, a pretty poor level of discourse. One’s sincerity in working for social justice is not measured by one’s inclination to implement every proposed kneejerk solution without any thought or analysis. Well, in some circles it is, I suppose. What “kneejerk solution” are you talking about, specifically? ---
**Author:** ![Muffin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muffin/32/4341_2.png) [@Muffin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Muffin)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2018, 4:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/and-now-reported-to-the-police-for-babysitting-while-being-black/822943/45 "2018-10-20T04:20:50Z")
God damned chicken shit false accusers. God damned police pigs. > [@Bricker](#): > > Er… no. Unless she said something specific to the police that was gone unreported, beyond simply “I feel uncomfortable,” that’s not the crime described by MO Rev Stat § 575.080.? Taze the false accuser for resisting and take a ten day vacation from work. > [@Rick\_Kitchen](#): > > Rooting for your son playing soccer while black - > [Black dad speaks out after 'Golfcart Gail' calls cops](https://www.yahoo.com/lifestyle/soccer-dad-targeted-golfcart-gail-says-owes-apology-calling-cops-something-done-140843863.html?.tsrc=fauxdal) Taze the false accuser for resisting and take another ten day vacation from work. > [@Isamu](#): > > What “kneejerk solution” are you talking about, specifically? I’m for tazing the false accusers for resisting and having them reimburse the police force for the cost of paying the officers who are on ten day suspensions for tasing the false accusers. Ya feeds da chickens da pig shit, and ya feeds da pigs da chicken shit. ---
**Author:** ![Chisquirrel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6bbea6/32.png) [@Chisquirrel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chisquirrel)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2018, 6:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/and-now-reported-to-the-police-for-babysitting-while-being-black/822943/46 "2018-10-20T06:39:57Z")
> [@Cheesesteak](#): > > Not to defend this lady, but “I don’t think he lives here” or “I think he’s a burglar” is both not a lie and not a false report. > > When I had a run-in with a shady character years ago, the police told me I should have just called them after the first shady thing he did, and not waited until he went completely off the rails. > > What this does require is some critical thinking skills, and an understanding that the police go into these encounters with the knowledge that anyone in this country could be carrying a gun, and criminals caught in the act might not shy away from using it. Given that he showed her his keys and unlocked his apartment door, I can’t understand how either of those things could remotely be considered true. ---
**Author:** ![Isamu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/7c8e57/32.png) [@Isamu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Isamu)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2018, 7:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/and-now-reported-to-the-police-for-babysitting-while-being-black/822943/47 "2018-10-20T07:50:42Z")
> [@Isamu](#): > > What “kneejerk solution” are you talking about, specifically? Nevermind, I know what ‘kneejerk solution’ you are afraid of. It’s the ‘kneejerk solution’ of not hating and fearing every black man you see stepping above their positions. ---
**Author:** ![MandaJo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ac91a4/32.png) [@MandaJo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MandaJo)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2018, 9:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/and-now-reported-to-the-police-for-babysitting-while-being-black/822943/48 "2018-10-20T09:54:07Z")
> [@Isamu](#): > > Nevermind, I know what ‘kneejerk solution’ you are afraid of. It’s the ‘kneejerk solution’ of not hating and fearing every black man you see stepping above their positions. The sort of people that need rules are the sort of people who think the rules don’t apply to them. It’s like at a staff meeting when the boss makes vague threats about how “some people” are abusing their lunch break: Suzie from accounting starts coming back 15 minutes early everyday because she’s worried about it now, and Jenny blithely continues to take 90 minute lunches because it never occurred to her that the boss mean HER lunches. She has REASONS; it’s different when it’s her. The same thing would happen with such a law. It’s quite possible that people with legit reasons for calling would be intimidated out of it without reducing harassment calls at all. ---
**Author:** ![Muffin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muffin/32/4341_2.png) [@Muffin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Muffin)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2018, 11:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/and-now-reported-to-the-police-for-babysitting-while-being-black/822943/49 "2018-10-20T11:13:02Z")
It is simple enough to prosecute a person for making a false report to police or for repeatedly harassing someone, but that is a very different thing from prosecuting a person for being a concern monkey for reporting concerns to the police, for usually an expression of concern is not a false report or repeated harassment – it is only the true reporting of an actual feeling/concern rather than a direct and false report of an illegal act or series of illegal acts. Note how often these calls to police are in the form of “concerns”, e.g. concern about a person with children, concern about a person entering a building, concern about a person resting in a dorm, concern about a person gardening, concern about a person driving, concern about a person walking, . . . concern about pretty much anything a person would normally do, so let’s just call it concern about a person living. Only it’s a black person. _A concern about a black person living._ Let that sink in a while, for it is truly horrendous: _a concern about a black person living._ If concern monkeys can’t be charged with a crime, then just charge them with a tazer and charge them with the bill for being charged by the tazer. Or simply enact and enforce laws that penalize concern monkeys, and get serious about recognizing and rejecting racism every time it raises its ugly head. ---
**Author:** ![MandaJo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ac91a4/32.png) [@MandaJo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MandaJo)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2018, 11:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/and-now-reported-to-the-police-for-babysitting-while-being-black/822943/50 "2018-10-20T11:53:45Z")
But there will be edge cases, and in those cases, it’s the reflective and self-aware people who will be discouraged from reporting–and those are the people most likely to have been using good judgment in the first place. I called 911 last year because I saw an unsupervised, non-helmet wearing child driving a small but fully-powered ATV down the sidewalk with an even smaller, also non-helmet wearing, child on her lap. It struck me as a profoundly unsafe thing to do–but I imagine there are people who would call me a helicopter parent and a worry-wort. She was white, as am I. Had I reason to fear being arrested or tased for calling in something that could be construed as “playing while black”, maybe I wouldn’t have called it in. I mean, I probably would have because I’m a cranky, confident old lady, but I can see me 10 years ago worrying about it. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2018, 1:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/and-now-reported-to-the-police-for-babysitting-while-being-black/822943/51 "2018-10-20T13:00:46Z")
> [@](#): > > Quoth **muldoonthief** : > > It’s weird - some people will call 911 because they didn’t get the right cheeseburger, other people won’t call 911 when they see a drunk driver speeding off the wrong way on a one way street. About a year ago, my mom and I were in a car, when we saw another car weaving literally from one curb to the other (as in, in and out of the oncoming lane). She called 911 to report this obviously impaired driver. And got berated by the 911 operator for abusing the system by reporting such a trivial non-emergency. ---
**Author:** ![Riemann](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/riemann/32/3133_2.png) [@Riemann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Riemann)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2018, 6:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/and-now-reported-to-the-police-for-babysitting-while-being-black/822943/52 "2018-10-20T18:39:07Z")
> [@Isamu](#): > > What “kneejerk solution” are you talking about, specifically? > [@Isamu](#): > > Nevermind, I know what ‘kneejerk solution’ you are afraid of. It’s the ‘kneejerk solution’ of not hating and fearing every black man you see stepping above their positions. I missed your question. Perhaps you’re unfamiliar with the metaphor “knee-jerk solution”? It derives from the patellar reflex. If you’re not clear on the physiology, “knee” is the part of your body between your shin and your thigh, and “jerk” is the part of your body between the soles of your shoes and your hat. ---
**Author:** ![Lamoral](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lamoral/32/16078_2.png) [@Lamoral](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lamoral)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2018, 7:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/and-now-reported-to-the-police-for-babysitting-while-being-black/822943/53 "2018-10-20T19:16:24Z")
> [@Scylla](#): > > Reporting this shit on the news is exactly the correct thing. > > Why is profiling bad? Here’s why. All the reporting still hasn’t seemed to stop it from happening. Shitty people just don’t care. Just as we were all assured that body cams on police would put an end to unjustified shootings…all that’s changed is we have a bunch of videos of people being shot for no reason. ---
**Author:** ![Isamu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/7c8e57/32.png) [@Isamu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Isamu)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2018, 12:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/and-now-reported-to-the-police-for-babysitting-while-being-black/822943/54 "2018-10-21T00:51:34Z")
> [@Riemann](#): > > I missed your question. Perhaps you’re unfamiliar with the metaphor “knee-jerk solution”? It derives from the patellar reflex. If you’re not clear on the physiology, “knee” is the part of your body between your shin and your thigh, and “jerk” is the part of your body between the soles of your shoes and your hat. I don’t wear a hat. You must be thinking of someone else. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/and-now-reported-to-the-police-for-babysitting-while-being-black/822943.md?page=2)