Re: [Mpls] Local Muslims seek city protection

[Jhpalmerjp]

I think you missed the point that I was making which was not so much to have another emergency number as it was to actually do something.  St. Paul's number may not be available until next week (that's a whole other issue) but at least it's putting a focus on the situation and making an effort.  However, what Andy said also raises a point about how much substance is behind the action.  The fact is that even if it's just a PR move, it at least appears as if an effort is being made, and that will calm some people.  I, too, prefer substance, but when you have nothing...

And I'm not certain how much you work with the police or 911, but I have, and yes 911 is overloaded.  One of the factors in response times is that they have to prioritize calls.  A murder naturally gets priority over a noise complaints, but when you get down to the level of suspicious activity and potential situations, it becomes a judgement call.  The example's I gave indicated the difference between phantom fears (plane example) and actual danger (Old Milwaukee and pickup), both of them may sound equally valid, or ,given the incident on the NWA flight, the former might sound more valid to a 911 operator and the second inconsequential.  Perception is the deciding factor, especially when you place a special situation in with everything else.

To give you an example, I read the story of Dean Z's fighting crime with empathy this past week, because of an incident a few years back when I went outside to stop a crime and was attacked by a drug dealer for interceding and calling 911. Like Dean Z, I received a number or injuries, but unlike Dean when the police arrived instead of initial cooperation I was maced along with the perpetrator, despite the fact that I had subdued him and stated that I wanted him arrested for assault and battery just before they maced me.  When they asked what was going on, I informed them that I was the one who called them and the Chair of the neighborhood organization (SSCO).  But perception can sometimes cause people to see problems where there aren't and ignore ones that are.

A separate phone number if only for providing information of incidents and a means to put out an alert or track down assailants, or stronger penalties for these incidents are just some ideas.  This is a very unique instance, and I think it warrants special attention, not just for the current victims of the tragedy but for the further and potential victims that are injured because idiots buying into the anti "brown people/non-Christian" hysteria.  The fact that it is even causing anti-gay backlash as Cam alluded to, indicates just how far reaching the effects are, and how important it is to make some effort to deal with it.  We may have come a long way from the Civil Rights Movement, but let's not forget how much further we have to go.  This is why the issue of Reparations is so important and large.  Here we have what many consider to be the largest atrocity in at least American if not human history and there has never been an actual acknowledgement or apology, much less an attempt to make restitution-nay, justice for the act and the subsequent effects.   We lobby and argue for dog parks and opening streets (both also important) but when we get down to issues and stands on the civil rights of people of color, we largely get lip service.

My point is: do something.  We've heard the same old arguments about "things not being tolerated" but not tolerating something doesn't do you much good after you get killed.  I can see this issue now getting caught up in the same quagmire that racial profiling has with the whole collect the data, don't collect the date, what about cameras debate.  Although this will be more along the lines of is it just Arab-Americans and Muslims, are White Muslims included, what about people who just look Arab American, how do you know it was a result of the attack....meanwhile, people's quality of life is being destroyed

It's tough to decide what that something should be, although I think the various come togethers are good, but local, state and federal government could be doing more if only a special city-wide, state-wide, etc. address with a stronger stand on what the repercussions would be for these actions than they won't be "tolerated".  It's not about the phone line, it's about doing something more than just words.  And if St. Paul is only doing words and PR, than the same pressure needs to be brought there as well.


Jonathan Palmer
Stevens Square-Loring Heights

Leadership Does Matter!
www.jonathanpalmer.org