Posted by
CUBFAN on Thursday, July 30, 2009 2:34:15 AM
Lucia Whalen. Few of us will remember her name a year from now. She did not confront Candidate Obama last year with a question about her earnings and whether he would raise her taxes. That distinction belonged to "Joe the Plumber" and few Americans listened to the response. The candidate said he would not raise taxes but would instead redistribute the wealth to assist those behind Joe.
Lucia Whalen. Not many were aware of her name two weeks ago. She did not confront the two men attempting to force their way into the home at 17 Ware Street in Cambridge, MA. That task belonged to Sgt. James Crowley of the local police department and the gentleman he found in the house upon his arrival--Henry Louis Gates, Jr.--did not appreciate the police officer's presence on his doorstep.
Lucia Whalen. She was not invited to the White House for a beer. President Obama did not have all the facts when he weighed in on the arrest of Mr. Gates (his friend "Skip") by Sgt. Crowley (saying he acted "stupidly"). The president was defending his friend to the media (and America) by pointing out that his friend was in his home and the only thing he did wrong was being black. Unfortunately, the president blundered by staging this question at the conclusion of a press conference on health care reform (and failed to heed the wisdom of "don't ask, don't tell").
Lucia Whalen. She simply did the right thing by calling the police to report a suspicious activity and that should have been the end of it. She only mentioned the possibility of one of the men being "kind of Hispanic" when she was pressed by the dispatcher--otherwise she never pointed out their race or ethnicity. She was performing her civic duty in an attempt to protect a neighbor's property.
Henry Louis Gates, Jr., is a black professor of African American Studies at Harvard University. Sgt. James Crowley is a white police officer for the Cambridge, MA, Police Department. Barack Obama is the first black President of the United States. Lucia Whalen is a first generation American of Portuguese descent. Only one of these individuals acted within reason during this incident and in the two media-feeding-frenzy-weeks since. This is the same person who does not like beer and will not be in attendance at the White House later today striking a pose for race relations in America.
Lucia Whalen. She's the real hero in this unfortunate reality show because she had the courage to state the truth and exit the scene. She did not overreact (Gates), did not overhype (Crowley), and did not overstate (Obama) the facts of the matter. She would prefer to be known simply as "the 911 caller" in this no-act play but has been forced to come out of hiding due to the thoughtless actions of the media and those who profess to be "tolerant." If anyone is to be owed an apology it is her, and it should come first from the White House because the First Occupant had no business calling out a local police matter and transforming it into a national debate on police/race relations.
Lucia Whalen. Thank you for your courage.