Kane Watch: Crash and Burn

For the most part, I agreed with Eugene Kane's article, "'Crash' deserves honors for insight," and I am happy that he was right when he picked "Crash" for best picture. His article, however, takes a turn towards the usual with this blaring comment:

In Milwaukee, our "Crash" moments have been frequent and consistent.

Last week, Wauwatosa decided to proceed with a disorderly conduct trial for Milwaukee Ald. Michael McGee. He had his "Crash" moment when the cops decided he deserved arrest after he became upset over being racially profiled.

If you've seen the movie, you may recall that in no instance of the film is a minority character doing anything out of the ordinary when s/he is confronted with racial issues. That, I felt, was the point. The movie is about taking a look at the underlying racial issues in America.

In the case of Ald. Michael McGee, however, that is clearly not the case. He was reported as screaming obscenities to the workers who called him in. To be sure, the Journal Sentinel reported:

According to the police reports, Officers James Donovan and Russell Sadowski responded to a call from store employees about a suspicious car in the parking lot after closing time. It says the officers explained to McGee that workers were afraid to leave the store, that he understood their concerns and was free to go.

But as the squad cars left, the report said, McGee shouted an obscenity at the employees inside the store.

I seem to recall that the workers of the Blockbuster were African American. I find it ironic that Kane neglects to mention that fact in his article, but allows it to read as though McGee was racially profiled by the police.

Additionally, Kane says the cops "decided" to arrest McGee because he was upset that he had been racially profiled. That is a blatant lie. The cops "decided" to arrest McGee because he was in a public place screaming obscenities and acting disorderly.

Furthermore, the car was reported as suspicious, not the black man inside it. Anyone who handles money (and I have in the past) becomes acutely aware of their surroundings when it's late at night at they're about to make the dreaded walk to the car. It is my belief that any person of any color sitting in that parking lot for that amount of time at that hour at night would have experienced a knock on the window from the cops.

It's just so much easier to call it racist, though, isn't it McGee? Isn't it Kane?

And what's even more ironic about Kane's article is that while in one paragraph he is claiming McGee is a victim of racial profiling, in another paragraph he is slamming opponents of the gay-marriage bill.

Particularly since Wisconsin is on the verge of passing a ban on recognizing love between gay people, spurred on by the quiet bigotry of politicians who fear the hallowed institution of marriage is somehow threatened by gay interlopers.

Interesting pairing, given that McGee is one of the city's most outspoken bigots and homophobes.

Maybe Eugene should watch "Crash" again. I think he may have missed a few key parts.