Questions for Benjamin Todd Jealous: Race Matters |
Questions for Benjamin Todd Jealous: Race Matters
The New York Times
2009-07-30
Deborah Solomon
As the new head of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, can you tell us how your organization plans to respond to the case of Henry Louis Gates Jr., the Harvard professor who was recently arrested for disorderly conduct at his own home — charges that have since been dropped — after he reportedly chewed out a cop who suspected him of burglary?
Our local volunteers are already engaged with the Cambridge Police Department, as we are with police departments across this country. The next step is passing the End Racial Profiling Act in Congress. Racial profiling is a constant drumbeat in this country. It’s a form of humiliation that strikes like lightning on a daily basis, and that is part of what Professor Gates was responding to. It’s hard to be in your house, told you’re a burglary suspect and then when you are no longer a suspect, told you are the problem…
…As the son of a white father and a black mother, do you refer to yourself as black?
Yes, without qualification…
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Tags: Benjamin Jealous, Benjamin T. Jealous, Benjamin Todd Jealous, Deborah Solomon, NAACP, National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, The New York Times