So, according to Christian Cooper, the man who filmed, Amy Cooper calling police on him in Central Park, there were words exchanged before he took out his phone.
He told Ms. Cooper that if she wasn’t going to leash her dog, she should “go across the Drive”.
1/
He told Ms. Cooper that if she wasn’t going to leash her dog, she should “go across the Drive”.
1/
She replied that it “wasn’t safe there.”
The Drive is the white line in this pic. The Ramble, where they were, is marked by the arrow.
The Drive is just south of the Great Lawn in the middle of the park lateral to the Museum or Natural History and Metropolitan Museum of Art.
2/
The Drive is the white line in this pic. The Ramble, where they were, is marked by the arrow.
The Drive is just south of the Great Lawn in the middle of the park lateral to the Museum or Natural History and Metropolitan Museum of Art.
2/
If you know Central Park, you know her statement doesn’t make any sense.
The Great Lawn is a massive, open expanse. It is highly trafficked.
Walking your dog anywhere around it in broad daylight is by no means unsafe.
3/
The Great Lawn is a massive, open expanse. It is highly trafficked.
Walking your dog anywhere around it in broad daylight is by no means unsafe.
3/
The most dangerous thing that could happen to you crossing the road in Central Park is getting hit by a cab
Some dumbasses walk right out without looking and then get punted like a football.
Okay, that was me. I did that. But that isn’t the point.
4/
Some dumbasses walk right out without looking and then get punted like a football.
Okay, that was me. I did that. But that isn’t the point.
4/
Whatever Ms. Cooper’s deal is, it includes an apparent deep and unfounded fear of the place she lives and people who live in it.
And that could have done serious injury to Mr. Cooper.
5/5
And that could have done serious injury to Mr. Cooper.
5/5
I just want to sharpen this up and make the point ultra-crisp:
Even if you believe Amy Cooper was legitimately deeply afraid of a person standing still, at a distance, not even speaking - which I don’t buy - her fear was not founded or rational and neither were her actions.
Even if you believe Amy Cooper was legitimately deeply afraid of a person standing still, at a distance, not even speaking - which I don’t buy - her fear was not founded or rational and neither were her actions.
And her *actions* could have caused great harm or death to Christian Cooper.
There is a lot of excuse-making in this country when it comes to interactions like this and the excuse always starts with “I felt...”
There is a lot of excuse-making in this country when it comes to interactions like this and the excuse always starts with “I felt...”
The unsaid is that a white person’s feelings - no matter how irrational - excuse them for liability for harms to black people.
That is unequivocally bullshit. It needs to be called out as bullshit and shut down.
Adults are responsible for their actions. Feelings aren’t alibis.
That is unequivocally bullshit. It needs to be called out as bullshit and shut down.
Adults are responsible for their actions. Feelings aren’t alibis.
In fact, those feelings *are* the problem.
They most certainly shouldn’t be offered up as reason for a free pass from actions that terrorize or harm.
And calling the police on a black person with no cause is terrorizing IMHO.
They most certainly shouldn’t be offered up as reason for a free pass from actions that terrorize or harm.
And calling the police on a black person with no cause is terrorizing IMHO.
