<p>Good grief. Even if they were actually having sex in the car, it’s a VICTIMLESS CRIME. Telling them not to do it should be enough. Do we really want to clog our court systems with this kind of thing??</p>
<p>And seriously–it’s LA, not Bessemer, Alabama. Look at the incredibly sexual routines on TV awards shows (Miley Cyrus in “Blurred Lines” comes to mind).</p>
<p>Flossy, you are missing the one central point here again and again–for many black people, being targeted is a common occurrence. Maybe the actress behaved stupidly here. But her actions did not occur in isolation from her (or her family’s) history.</p>
<p>No, that is not correct. Probably cause to detain/arrest a person does not mean charges will necessarily be filed. In addition, charges can still be filed by the District Attorney if they decide they want to do it.</p>
<p>Wow, I just listened to the recording. Are you kidding me?? The cop is a jerk. TWICE he mentions “the race card,” which of course is a right-wing talking point. And the 180-degree difference between how he treats the guy (with total respect) versus his mockery of the woman is completely unprofessional.</p>
<p>Also, when the guy says “I’d understand if we were doing more than kissing” the officer makes NO effort to ask him whether they were. He is ONLY interested in the woman. Her boyfriend seems like a loser too, by the way.</p>
<p>He called for a woman officer because he saw it was going to get complicated. The lady cop cuffed her. Are we assuming she said nothing? They were gone for a while and that cop was also wearing a lapel mike according to Parker. He mentions the race card because she pulls it. And, yes he is tolerating a fit with her and having a conversation with the chef dude. He’s 42. How old is this girl?</p>
<p>Sallly, he’s only interested in the woman at that point because the chef has already been ID’d and he wants to get this over with and hit Starbucks.</p>
<p>Ugh, I just listened to it too. That cop is awful, just awful to the woman, and then he and the boyfriend and having a bro-mance while they’re waiting for her to be brought back. I bet he’s awful to all women, especially if they’re “not cooperative”. </p>
<p>The BF and the cop are still talking. Now it’s about “cool scars”! The poor little emotional woman is crying in the background, and it’s all her fault for not immediately doing everything legal or not, that the smug cop wanted. “You want me to call paramedics for you”? I’m surprised she didn’t slap him, I would have wanted to.</p>
<p>What she should have done was watched some of those constitutionalists on youtube and asked directly, “am I being arrested? am I being detained? am I free to go?”. A cop who lies to those questions would be in trouble.</p>
<p>greenwitch, that is exactly it–a “bromance.” The guy has been the woman’s boyfriend for over a year and that is how he defends her? The whole thing is actually more sexist than it is racist. Really appalling.</p>
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<p>But you see, Flossy, that expression–“pulling the race card”–is political and reveals the officer’s bias. I believe it was you who said the prosecutor in the GZ case was politically motivated. Listening to the recording, do you truly not pick up on how every bit of the cop’s behavior demonstrates his mockery and discrimination (on both race and gender)? </p>
<p>She even sounds a bit apologetic when she first asks if it because she’s black. She starts to mention previous experiences but he cuts her off. Then the BF later tells the cop that it’s the 3rd time they’ve been questioned by the police for something ordinary. </p>
<p>Well, she was yelling that there was probably a racist in the Director’s Guild building. And then taunted him, “I bet you’re a little bit racist.” I thought she was about to launch into a song from Avenue Q.</p>
<p>But it seems to be true. So why shouldn’t she call him out the way he is calling her out for “playing the race card” (and bonding with her boyfriend over how she is an “emotional woman,” which I am sure she knows by now if she has listened to the tape).</p>
<p>What seems to be true? That there is a racist in the Director’s Guild building which would obviously be the only reason anyone would report a couple having quickie car sex on a busy street. What the heck? There are secluded areas. They could have closed the car door. There are parking garages. She WAS a little emotional. And, yeah, she’s probably not real happy with chef dude right now, either.</p>
<p>The phrase “the race card” is code. It is used against those who speak out about racism or who stand up for civil rights. It is a way of trivializing legitimate concerns about racism.</p>
<p>I don’t think he was playing the race card (and not everything that people here don’t like is right-wing). I think he was playing the “attack a woman for sexual behavior card.” Personally, I think she would have been treated the same regardless of color. I think it the police officer in this instance was sexist and dealt with her from that perspective.</p>
<p>Which is not to say that I don’t believe police treat black people differently, of course they do. My community is still struggling (albeit nonviolently) of the killing of a black man by the police this summer. But I think this specific situation was such a flamboyantly, in your face demonstration of female sexuality that it overshadows the race element.I also think that while he may have enjoyed the experience and the attention, the boyfriend doesn’t have much respect for her, either.</p>
The use of the phrase “racist” to attack those with whom some disagree is a way of trivializing legitimate concerns about pretty much everything that the speaker doesn’t want to hear. Which is a shame because the use of that word as a means of bullying others into silence robs it of its monstrous meaning.</p>