Because in 2007 it’s clearly impossible that a black girl would have a white father. (perhaps this guy is a devotee of Mitt Romney, who cited an anti-race mixing law in order to oppose gay marriage)
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Something like that happened to my ex-wife on several occasions when our first boy was in a stroller.
It’s horrible.
There has been a big push to make people generically afraid of men as sexual predators and to assume guilt. This is part of it.
In Virgina, the state is producing billboards and posters that show a picture of a man holding a child’s hand and encouraging people to call an prevent child sexual abuse telephone number.
If You See a Father Holding His Child’s Hand, Call the Cops!
There have been some that claim this is one reason why Big Brothers Organizations are having a hard time recruiting men, and why fewer teachers are men.
Considering the stigma society attaches even to the accusation of child abuse, these sorts of campaigns are terribly anti-american exercises in authoritarianism.
But, jerry, there was also an assumption that this was not his child.
And that was based on race. For crying out loud, she could have been adopted!
What was that guy smoking?
Don’t get me wrong, there was definitely a big racial component to this.
Lots of people in this society derive more power by pushing fear of others.
I can’t speak to the black experience. I know as a father of two young daughters I have experienced my share of strange reactions and I know that I have stifled my normal reactions in dealing with their friends.
My ex wife did. For a short time we lived in a ritzy suburb. When my (Puerto Rican) took my (very white looking) son, out for a walk in the stroller, she didn’t get funny looks — white babies being cared for by women of color were practically the norm.
What her most was the question, “Whose child is that?” or “Whose child are you taking care of?”
When she said, “It’s my child, THEN she got the funny look!
When I had finally had enough, I practically made her move.
That was in the late ’80’s
People can be real douche bags sometimes. And the media’s daily “PROTECT YOUR CHILDREN FROM CHILD PREDATORS ALERT ALERT ALERT” meme doesn’t help. And it’s obvious racism is involved. But I’ve gotta say, it’s probably also mustache bias. The guy has a mildly creepy-looking mustache, and people just aren’t ready to accept those yet. It’s sad times when a man has to shave to be seen as a non-child-molester. A sad day indeed.
Wal-Mart was right on time.
It is better to be safe than sorry.
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I remember a joke about this kind of thing on The Office a year or two back. They’re at an office party and Michael asks Stanley where his wife is; Stanley responds, “Over there. The woman I’ve been sitting with the entire evening.” They are, of course, an interracial couple.
The gay marriage vs. interracial marriage argument is a very relevant one, I think. I remember debating gay marriage with a college roomie a few years back; he gave the “states shouldn’t have to recognize marriages from other states” argument. I countered that that was exactly the argument the southern states used to block interracial marriage a very short time ago, and I used my aunt and uncle as an example of an interracial couple whose marriage damn-well deserves recognition wherever they go.
Actually, come to think of it, the roomie in question shared Romney’s religion. I wonder how much church teachings play into that philosophy.
Well, I’m not sure the guard deserves the “Idiot of the Day” tag. He got a complaint from a customer. It would have been irresponsible to ignore that information.
According to the story, the guard made a simple inquiry. The other unknown person involved might be your “idiot.” Was it a Wal-Mart manager? Was it the customer who made the initial report? That appears to be the person who has the problem.