I have a dream

Georgia’s fighting 4th district is the home of Clarkston high school, Mighty Casey’s, Memorial Drive, the fabulously impressive DeKalb County Jail and the occasional drive by shooting. This is the place I was born, raised and lived for 31 of my last 33 years. In case you missed it the 4th made national news last week because Representative Cynthia McKinney was indicted for getting into a tussle with a Capital Police Officer. According to Rep McKinney, the police officer(s) would not allow her to enter the Capital building without passing through a metal detector which is usually unnecessary for members of congress.

I’ll let Cynthia describe what happened next.

It is the expectation of most Members of Congress that Capitol Hill Police officers know who they are. I was urgently trying to get to an important meeting on time to fulfill my obligations to my constituents. Unfortunately, the Police Officer did not recognize me as a Member of Congress and a confrontation ensued. I did not have on my Congressional pin but showed the Police Officer my Congressional ID.

There are 535 members of congress. You’ve got to figure that on any given day 100 of them are strung out in their hotel rooms and miss the entire day’s session. Another 100 of them are probably in jail or preparing for trail. So that leaves a little over 300 members of congress walking in and out of the Capital building multiple times a day using the same entrances and exits used by the tourists, lobbyist, congressional aides and advisors, and the all of the various other people that work in that building. That’s a lot of people. You also have to consider that the Capital police officers periodically rotate to other parts of the building. It’s probably a bit too much to expect the police to recognize the faces of all 500+ members of congress. I’m not saying the police involved aren’t racists. I don’t know. I’m saying that two thirds of Americans don’t know who Donald Rumsfeld or Condeleezza Rice are.

The other thing I enjoyed from her statement was, I quote, “Unfortunately, the Police Officer did not recognize me as a Member of Congress and a confrontation ensued.”. That’s awesome. Here you are quite literally representing me and a few hundred thousand of my neighbors and you get into a fight with a police officer. You’re representing me? I don’t remember ever being the crack head pushing a shopping cart down the middle of a highway that took a swing at the police when they tried to subdue me. I’m pretty sure that wasn’t me on C.O.P.S. You’re a freaking member of congress! Your job is to give a voice to your constituents back home. You know the ones with real jobs and real problems that are struggling to get by and feed their family. Geez.

McKinney’s claiming the police officer(s) involved only pretended to not recognize her because they are racists and wanted to make her suffer the indignity of walking through the metal detector. Oh the shame! She is wrapping herself in the warm and impenetrable security blanket of racism, which like the insanity defense for white people on trial for murder, has become the modern day get out of jail free card. Literally. She was asked to walk through a metal detector because she wasn’t wearing her member pin. All she had to do was walk though a metal detector just like everybody else that day whether they were white, black, green or blue. She wasn’t denied a job. She didn’t have to use the colored restroom. She wasn’t fired at, sprayed with a hose, or left to defend herself against attacking police dogs. She was asked to go through a metal detector like everyone else. The leaders of the Civil Rights movement suffered real discrimination and real violence and fought them both non-violently. Look at what they accomplished. I guess everybody has their own breaking point and for McKinney it’s metal detectors.

The great makes-my-stomach-tight-I-need-to-relax irony in all of this is of course that McKinney is a member of the US House of Representatives. She is one of the very select and privileged few of our country actually allowed to MAKE THE LAWS! Here is a woman that holds the power to affect positive change in real people’s lives by creating laws that actually help real people suffering from real problems. SHE IS A MEMBER OF CONGRESS and tries to create change through violence? What? If only she was able to use her position and apply the same level of dedication towards ending racism in this country that she has demonstrated through her relentless fight to find the real killers of MLK and Tupac. WTF?

I know I’ll end up paying for it, but I still hope she’s charged by the US Attorney General, tried and convicted. I’m sure she’ll retain her seat and she’ll no doubt use the conviction and the race card to rally support back home during her next campaign. Even with a criminal conviction she’ll probably be sent back to DC next election cycle by even greater numbers. Still I’d like to see her convicted on this. If for no other reason I’d like to see her convicted because if a regular citizen hits a cop they go to jail. They do not pass Go. They do not collect $200. They go directly to jail. McKinney, like all members of government, is still a regular citizen and it sounds like she needs to be reminded.

I imagine that if MLK was still around he would slap Cynthia Mckinney in the back of her head and tell her to stop thinking like a crack hoe. You’re not fighting the system. You are the system. You have the power to create change. You aren’t oppressed. You have a voice. Use it to make a difference. You idiot.