© AP Photo/Kevin HagenOfficers with bomb-sniffing dogs look over the area after a shooting on a subway train on April 12, 2022, in the Brooklyn borough of New York City.
For more than three hours after the attack, we got urgent alerts: Suspect at large! Police request public's help! Be on the alert for a male, about 5'8″, 160 lbs."
In this particular case, the media's rule of never telling us the suspect's race (unless he's white) was more deranged than usual. This wasn't a carjacking. It wasn't a shooting at a block party. It wasn't an attack on an Asian or Jew. This crime had all the earmarks of a terror attack — smoke bombs, fireworks, a gas mask, and about a dozen people shot while trapped in a subway car.
The police desperately needed the public's help, but most people were looking for a Middle Easterner.
At least we knew it wasn't a white guy! If it had been, reporters would have worn out the "W" on their computer keyboards. There would have been rampant speculation that it was a Proud Boy, as top administration officials reminded us that "white supremacy is the most lethal threat to the homeland today. Not ISIS, not al-Qaida — white supremacists." (President Joe Biden June 2, 2021)
We're always told "wokeness" is just about being polite and that those who ridicule it are trying to "discredit the claims of traditionally marginalized groups for respect." (Thomas Zimmer, history professor, Georgetown University) Or they are engaging in "white backlash." (Seth Cotlar, history professor, Willamette University)
[SIDEBAR: Don't go to college, kids!]
No, wokeness is real. And it can get us killed — when, for example, off the top of my head, a murderous psychopath is on the run and the media refuse to tell us what he looks like.
At the New York Police Department's first press conference on the subway attack, Police Commissioner Keechant Sewell came up with an all-new circumlocution to convey the relevant information without saying "black male." She said: "... we will describe him as an individual, he is being reported as a male black."
"A male black"! That's so much better than "black male" when identifying a criminal.
By the time of the evening press conference, Sewell had settled on an even dumber description, calling him a "a dark-skinned male." Great, so now we're back to looking for a Middle Easterner. Or possibly Hispanic. Maybe South Asian or mixed race. Definitely NOT "black male" (or "male black").
© Spencer Platt/Getty ImagesThe NYPD Police Commissioner, Keechant Sewell announces the arrest of the suspect in the shooting on a Brooklyn subway on April 13, 2022, in New York City.
Biden Appoints First Dark-Skinned Woman (whatever the hell that is) to Supreme Court!
No, "black" is fine, provided we're talking about THE FIRST BLACK FEMALE SUPREME COURT JUSTICE, or THE FIRST BLACK FEMALE POLICE COMMISSIONER. Such as ... Commissioner Sewell herself!
"One of Mr. Adams' first appointments was to name Keechant Sewell, chief of detectives in Nassau County, as the first Black woman to head the NYPD." (The Christian Science Monitor)A black person becoming a Supreme Court justice or police commissioner makes black people feel good about themselves! But a black man being identified as the perpetrator of a heinous crime makes black people feel bad about themselves. Therefore, you can't say it.
"New York's incoming mayor just made history by appointing a Black woman to run the nation's largest police department ..." (New York Daily News)
"This is truly historic. We heard that word a lot, but it's 176 years of the NYPD. You're the first woman, the first black woman to lead the force." (CNN's Jim Sciutto to Sewell)
© BRYAN R. SMITH/AFP via Getty ImagesFrank R. James, 62, is led away from the 9th Precinct into Federal Custody in New York City on April 13, 2022, after he was arrested and charged for the Brooklyn subway shooting.
Instead of subway cameras capturing clear photos of the homicidal brute and being broadcast out within minutes of the attack, hours later, the police were climbing up ladders to physically inspect the cameras. They weren't working.
New York's Metropolitan Transportation Authority operates the cameras, but they've been VERY busy promoting diversity. Evidently, "Is our equipment working?" has not come up.
Here's the MTA's summary of the last meeting:
3rd Quarter 2021 Report:
"The Department of Diversity and Civil Rights will present 3rd quarter 2021 update on MTA Agency-wide EEO and M/W/DBE and SDVOB contract compliance activities.Another confidence-inspiring development: The New York Times reports that immediately after the shooting, "Toward the front of the train, three victims were being attended to by bystanders. A uniformed police officer approached, asking passengers to call 911 because his radio was not working." (Emphasis added.)
"Status Report on MTA Inter-Agency M/W/DBE and SDVOB Task Force. The Department of Diversity and Civil Rights report will address progress made by the Task Force to improve M/W/DBE and SDVOB participation. Master Page # 6 of 108 — Diversity Committee Meeting 9/15/2021
"2022 Diversity Committee Work Plan. The Department of Diversity and Civil Rights will present an updated Diversity Committee Work Plan for 2022."
The officer's radio didn't work. But on the plus side, he's been through six diversity training sessions.
To top things off, at the evening press conference, the top brass COULDN'T GET ZOOM TO WORK. Mayor Eric Adams was introduced, whereupon every TV in the land broadcast total silence for a solid 60 seconds, while city officials stood around waiting for the mayor to appear. They finally gave up and patched him in later.
At least the mayor is on top of things. Hours after even MSNBC had admitted the perp was a black male, Adams was on TV, vowing to catch the man — "or woman!" — who perpetrated this attack.
Gosh, that makes me feel validated.
"white supremacy is the most lethal threat to the homeland today. Not ISIS, not al-Qaida — white supremacists." (President Joe Biden June 2, 2021)
If I were you Joe I would avoid studying the biblical marks of Israel as an identifying tool then...