* Context always matters. When a Tampa police officer was fired over a racial slur it wasn’t about a department policing itself of racists. It was a department—and Police Chief Brian Dugan—over-reacting. This wasn’t a rogue officer using unnecessary force. This wasn’t a case of racial profiling. A black cop, the resource office at Middleton High School, which is nearly half black, was fired over using the “N” word. Twice. Once while on the phone with his wife after an off-duty assignment and once while arresting a black student.
We live in a pop culture where “N” words are accepted as “bro talk” or in rap lyrics. It’s off limits for whites. We get it. It’s not for outsiders who only use it to demean. Same goes for personal pejoratives among rural white Southerners, Hispanics, Native Americans or European ethnics. It’s situational extended family–typically behind closed doors–although no family history is as tragic and infamous as that of African-Americans, and no group’s back story is comparable.
A black cop disciplining and arresting a black youth should know better than to drop an “N” word into the process. It’s more a function of temper, frustration and maybe embarrassment. It’s not helpful and cannot be condoned. Discipline, yes, but it’s hardly cause for dismissal. Context, as noted, always matters—as does fairness and common-good common sense.
* However this byzantine transportation process works out, it looks like gridlock will be on the 2022 ballot.
* Whenever you go to TIA, you are reminded that the non-suburban location is logistically friendly, aesthetic and that it was built to prioritize passengers more than planes. Now add this: TIA was one of five North American airports to receive the inaugural best hygiene measures award from the Airports Council International. This isn’t some old-school definition of “clean.” This is a testament to pandemic protocols. And it’s more than service-area plastic shields, social distancing markers and constant cleaning of high-touch areas. Back in the fall, TIA joined with BayCare to offer COVID-19 testing for arriving and departing passengers. No, TIA doesn’t rest on its well-earned laurels.