Floridatexan wrote:Linda, I'm not trying to insult you. I'm happy you decided to rejoin this forum, and I value your contributions here. I've been here since 1979...I have always had a strong connection to PB...but in all that time...up to today...with all the friends who have come and gone...I don't know a single black person who lives on PB. Not one. So, I understand the point that Seaoat is trying to make. And, yes, I do understand. I remember when then Gov. Jeb Bush had to appoint 4 county commissioners to replace those who resigned in disgrace. I've seen much worse behavior from other people in positions of power here who were not black than anything I saw from Lumon May. If the police had stopped me under the same circumstances, I would also have questioned their actions. I've had to insist that the police not enter my house, right here in Pensacola...or I probably would have had a dead dog, or worse. I've seen the way the police stick together and get their "facts" straight for the courtroom. I'm not suggesting that you're racist; I don't believe you are...just insulated from the reality of what goes on in this county.
Thank you for your kind words about my "contributions," though sometimes I do wonder.
The point Seaoat is apparently trying to make (and that you now join him in) is that because I live on PB I have no clue about racism. Don't you think that's rather presumptuous of you both? Look, I have stated on this forum that I'm older than Sea. And at one point or another I have also stated I've only lived here since 2000. That leaves a whole lot of other years. What about the rest of my life, where I've lived or what I've experienced? Neither you nor Sea has much of a clue about any of that, yet you make assumptions (or he does) that I live in a "bubble" (his mot of the month). Yes, it's entirely presumptuous -- and in any event NONE of that "bubble talk" changes the fact that an elected official here acted like a horse's patoot and totally lost my respect. That would've been my reaction had he been talking to the police officer, a Burger King server, or the garbage collector. There's no call to treat another person the way he did. It was bullying plain and simple and, though it's none of my affair, for his family's sake I hope he doesn't speak to his wife or any children that way if/when he feels boxed into a corner or angry or whatever. To me it demonstrates a character flaw, an inability to moderate -- a common problem that knows no skin color. I hope it doesn't get him in real trouble one of these days.
As for the demographics on Pensacola Beach, guess what? They've changed a lot just since I've lived here, but especially since Ivan. The population is more diverse and I applaud that. Just because you don't know any blacks here doesn't mean they don't exist here. They do, along with Latinos and Asians, among others.
In any case, I don't know about you, FT, but my circle of friends and acquaintances is not limited to this 8-1/2 miles of narrow barrier island. Is your circle that geographically limited? Is your life's experience that limited? Mine isn't, nor is my experience with bigotry and discrimination, with which I'm well acquainted.
Yes, I was here, too, when Jeb appointed the new commissioners, and it was indeed disgraceful. With your reference to "behavior" worse than May's you're presumably talking about political and personal corruption, which of course I decry as well, but seeing May's waaaay over the top interpersonal behavior is a horse of an entirely different color and I don't see that because some other commissioners were corrupt and he isn't (presuming he isn't), that this excuses his behavior. It certainly doesn't make it any more palatable to me.
You say you would've "questioned" the police's actions had they stopped you. Fine! No one said you shouldn't, and I agreed with your prior post on that score (about one's constitutional rights), but I'll repeat as I said to you before in that same response, that it was the WAY May approached the officer, not the simple fact that he questioned the stop. And as someone else (Viking, I think?) has pointed out, one can question without being a total jerk about it. I'm going to ask you right out: Have you viewed the entire video of the May traffic stop, or not? If so, do you approve of the way he acted? Do his attitude and behavior make you proud that he's a county commissioner in our area? If so, you and I are miles apart and so be it.