Posted on 08/15/2009 2:01:39 PM PDT by pissant
Exactly one week after the highly-publicized arrest of Harvard professor Henry Louis Gates stirred a national discussion on race relations, legendary singer-songwriter Bob Dylan was detained by police officers in a "low-income, predominantly minority neighborhood" in Long Branch, New Jersey.
Makes one wonder why it took so long for this to get reported, and if news outlets that were convinced Gates's arrest was racially motivated will see the delicious irony in a white rock star being questioned by police just because he was "wandering around the neighborhood."
The Associated Press sure didn't (h/t Clarence Page):
Rock legend Bob Dylan was treated like a complete unknown by police in a New Jersey shore community when a resident called to report someone wandering around the neighborhood.
Dylan was in Long Branch, about a two-hour drive south of New York City, on July 23 as part of a tour with Willie Nelson and John Mellencamp that was to play at a baseball stadium in nearby Lakewood.
A 24-year-old police officer apparently was unaware of who Dylan is and asked him for identification, Long Branch business administrator Howard Woolley said Friday. [...]
The incident began at 5 p.m. when a resident said a man was wandering around a low-income, predominantly minority neighborhood several blocks from the oceanfront looking at houses.
The police officer drove up to Dylan, who was wearing a blue jacket, and asked him his name. According to Woolley, the following exchange ensued:
"What is your name, sir?" the officer asked.
"Bob Dylan," Dylan said.
"OK, what are you doing here?" the officer asked.
"I'm on tour," the singer replied.
A second officer, also in his 20s, responded to assist the first officer. He, too, apparently was unfamiliar with Dylan, Woolley said. [...]
The officers asked Dylan, 68, to accompany them back to the Ocean Place Resort and Spa, where the performers were staying. Once there, tour staff vouched for Dylan.
Here's the money quote:
The officers thanked him for his cooperation.
"He couldn't have been any nicer to them," Woolley added.
In fact, according to ABCNews.com, Dylan was quite gracious:
"He was really nice, though, and he said he understood why I had to verify his identity and why I couldn't let him go," Buble said.
Hmmm. So, Dylan was detained a week after Gates, was cooperative, and the issue was quickly resolved.
And we're hearing about this NOW?
How might this have impacted the Gates-Sgt. James Crowley affair if it had been reported at the time it happened rather than over three weeks after the fact?
None of the news reports I've reviewed concerning the Dylan incident addressed why this matter was buried until now, nor did they mention how it might have related to the Gates-Crowley affair.
I guess when a white rock legend is detained by police for having the nerve to walk around a minority neighborhood, and cooperates fully with the authorities to quickly resolve the misunderstanding, it's not a teachable moment.
Wandering While White.
He might as well have told them that his name is Bob Zimmerman.
Absolutely! No reason to detain him period.
parsy, who says the cops here and in Gates acted stupidly
I don’t know NJ’s laws, but someone had called the cops on Dylan so the female cop was suspicious of him and actually thought he was a nut for claiming he was Dylan...but had no ID. She didn’t arrest him, she gave him a ride to his bus so he could produce the ID, even though she thought he was feeding her a line of bull.
Sounds like he had a lot of nerve.
If you ever go to Houston
Better walk right
Keep your hands in your pockets
And your gun-belt tight
You’ll be asking for trouble
If you’re lookin’ for a fight
If you ever go to Houston
Boy, you better walk right
If you’re ever down there
On Bagby and Lamar
You better watch out for
The man with the shining star
Better know where you’re going
Or stay where you are
If you’re ever down there
On Bagby and Lamar
I know these streets
I’ve been here before
I nearly got killed here
During the Mexican war
Something always
Keeps me coming back for more
I know these streets
I’ve been here before
If you ever go to Dallas
Say hello to Mary Anne
Say I’m still pullin’ on the trigger
Hangin’ on the best that I can
If you see her sister Lucy
Say I’m sorry I’m not there
Tell her other sister Betsy
To pray the sinner’s prayer
I got a restless fever
Burnin’ in my brain
Got to keep ridin’ forward
Can’t spoil the game
The same way I leave here
Will be the way that I came
Got a restless fever
Burnin’ in my brain
Mr. Policeman
Can you help me find my gal
Last time I saw her
Was at the Magnolia Hotel
If you help me find her
You can be my pal
Mr. Policeman
Can you help me find my gal
If you ever go to Austin
Fort Worth or San Antone
Find the bar rooms I got lost in
And send my memories home
Put my tears in a bottle
Screw the top on tight
If you ever go to Houston
You better walk right
WANDERING WHILE WHITE...!
Were the officers BLACK? This story has RUSH written allllll over it..!
“I agree with you about Gates but this cop broke the law. You have to have reasonable suspicion to detain someone and he did not.”
Exactly what I was thinking. Since when do the cops have the right to even QUESTION you if all you’re doing is walking down the street - much less refuse to let you go on your way once you answer their questions? Regardless of what it feels like with these Socialist Pigs in power - we’re not in Nazi Germany YET, and we don’t HAVE to carry our “papers” with us to prove who we are and what our business is... or DO WE???
Frequently whites who turn up in poor black neighborhoods are there to do drug deals or are looking for prostitutes, which is obviously what the resident who reported him thought. The police often detain them long enough to get their ID because this discourages them from coming back and encouraging problem behavior in these neighborhoods, which the law abiding residents do not like. The residents often request this from “community policing” programs.
That said, Dylan acted in a very civilized, non-celeb manner. None of this “Do you know who I am?” from him!
All Bob had to do was to start ‘singing’ for them.
The cops would have fled the scene asap.
Those police officers acted stupidly
didn’t they Obambi?
Take the train down from the city
Get sick get well hang around the Inkwell
The Inkwell was a coffee house/nightclub on the north end of town ... became Mumford's restaurant I think
.
LOL! Very witty reply.. you think like I do except quicker. Bob seems like a gentleman, but I don’t understand how anyone could listen to the guy.. I never could!
“Wandering While White.”
ROFLMAO!
That’s a good one.
My goodness, the man is 68! What on earth is wrong with him taking a stroll.
I’m glad he was polite, and yes, it is amazing this did not make the news.
“All Bob had to do was to start ‘singing’ for them.
The cops would have fled the scene asap.”
LOL! That’s what my daughter (who does a killer imitation) would say!
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.