The increasing number of white women who feel they have to call the police to report someone for the crime of being black added another member to their reprehensible group this weekend.
Arturo Holmes is an African-American photographer who was fully credentialed to take photos at this weekend’s Preakness Stakes in Baltimore. Another photographer witnessed Holmes being hassled as he attempted to complete his assignment and broadcast an account of the incident on Twitter.
He asked to shoot on the roof and was told he couldn’t shoot anywhere in the press box. Not true. I and other photogs have been shooting on the roof all day. After he refused to show his license, which no one was required to do, police were called in. They let him shoot. 🤬😡
— J. M. Giordano photo (@jmgpix) May 19, 2018
According to a report on RawStory, the person who summoned the police to deal with the dispute was a white woman who worked in the press box.
Another witness to the dispute was Teresa Genaro, a New York-based teacher and horse breeder, who had a different interpretation of the situation.
https://twitter.com/SmoothJyzz/status/998625109307895808
Obviously, the police who came to the scene and investigated the conflict came to a different conclusion since they allowed Holmes to continue his job as he originally intended.
Coming after a woman called the police on an African American family in an Oakland park for the crime of holding a barbecue and the police were summoned by a female manager to eject a pair of young black men from Starbucks while they were waiting for a business meeting with a white friend, this latest example of irrational, fear-based racism by certain white women shows the depth of the divide that pervades the nation in the Trump era.
If only everyone would ask themselves when calling the police to report what they think is a crime or danger: would they honestly be making that call if the person they’re reporting had the same skin color as they do? That simple self-check could prevent a world of trouble and prevent them from becoming the subject of a shaming meme on the internet.
Follow Vinnie Longobardo on Twitter.