Craig's a Liar from the "Hood," Too

Minneapolis airport police Sgt. Dave Karsnia has taken some heat for maybe being a little too zealous in putting the collar on so many guys that get their sexual kicks off with other men in public restrooms at the Minneapolis airport. But most say he is a diligent, upstanding, young cop that does his duty as he sees it. So it's curious that Karsnia lectured Idaho Senator Larry Craig about lying and added that that's what he'd expect from the guy we get out of the "hood." Now Karsnia is confronting a respected, GOP Senator on his lewd act, and his lame defense of it, but why did the comparison of Craig to the guy from the "hood" so easily roll out of his mouth. It didn't seem to fit. Or did it?

From what's on the tape, Craig didn't dispute the characterization. And in the tortuous public gyrations he's gone through to try and explain what he did or didn't do in the men's bathroom, he made no reference to the reprimand. But why should he? There's absolutely no way that Craig would ever compare himself to a guy from the hood. But could he be? The answer is yes and no. Legions of white men, and that includes wealthy, prominent, high-positioned white men, have been indicted and jailed for lying to judges, grand juries, congressional committees, FBI and Justice Department investigators. Over the years, the white men that run government agencies from the White House to the FBI have been repeatedly caught in lie after lie to cover-up their misdeeds or blatant criminal wrongdoing. So it's no stretch to compare men such as Craig to the guy from the "hood."

The problem with that and here's the no part, the comparison insults the mythical guy from the "hood." But he is very real to Karsnia because he fits in snugly public beliefs, or to be more precise, stereotypes about the "hood." The stereotype fits even more snugly when it's jammed next to negative public perceptions and fears of black crime. When some young blacks turned to gangs, guns and drugs, and terrorized their communities, much of the press titillated the public with endless features on the crime-prone, crack-plagued, blood-stained streets of the ghetto.

TV action news crews and cop pseudo-reality shows have turned that stereotype into a major growth industry, stalking black neighborhoods and filming busts for nightly news. The explosion of gangster rap and the spate of Hollywood ghetto films have convinced many Americans that the thug lifestyle was the black lifestyle. They have ghastly visions of the guy from the "hood" heading for their neighborhoods next.

This racially disfigured view of blacks as inherent crooks and liars doesn't change even when the actual crime figures don't square with that perception. A few years ago researchers at the University of Wisconsin actually compared white views of neighborhood crime with actual figures from police reports and victimization surveys in three cities -- Chicago, Baltimore and Seattle. They found huge a gap between public perception of the crime threat and the reality of it. The perceived severity of the crime problem fluctuated with the number of young African-American men nearby -- more so than with any other neighborhood factor, including the actual crime rate.

The skewed perception of crime and blacks has also deeply colored how judges and juries perceive and decide criminal cases when the defendant is as Karsnia put it a guy from the "hood." A 2003 Penn State University study found that many whites are likely to associate pictures of blacks with violent crimes, and in some cases where crimes were not committed by blacks they misidentified the perpetrator as an African-American.

The prevailing notion of who's a crook and a liar and who isn't has also spilled over into the job market. In 2005 Researchers at Princeton University surveyed nearly 1,500 private employers in New York City. They found that black men with no criminal records were no more likely to find work than white men with criminal records. In another study of employer attitudes toward minority hiring, some employers didn't even try too hide the reason they were reluctant or refused to hire the guy from the "hood." They flatly described blacks as "unskilled," "uneducated," "illiterate." "dishonest," "lacked initiative," "unmotivated," "involved with gangs and drugs," "did not understand work," "unstable," "lacked charm," "had no family values," and were "poor role models."

The last reason they gave for slamming the employment door on blacks was especially apt in relation to Karsnia's reprimand of Craig. He was righteously offended that a senator could so abuse his name and reputation by stooping to commit a petty criminal act in a men's restroom. That immediately disqualified him as any kind of fit model for decency. In that instant whether Karsnia knew it or not, and could admit it or not, Craig was the fictional guy from the "hood."

Earl Ofari Hutchinson is an author and political analyst. His new book The Latino Challenge to Black America: Towards a Conversation between African-Americans and Hispanics (Middle Passage Press and Hispanic Economics New York) in English and Spanish will be out in October.

Comments

[wry]

My husband is a Detective and from "the hood". You talk like this to get the suspect to confess. It does not mean that these were the officer's true feelings.
I think you are reading something into it which is not there.

[Nommo]

Except that, as far as I know, in her history, America has not lynched 10,000 politicians.

[larry278]

This could become a popular way of dealing with politicians between elections since legislators now take the topic of impeachment off the table.

[Nommo]

As long as it's in the tradition...

[lucid]

The interesting paradox is that "This racially disfigured view of blacks as inherent crooks and liars..." is tantamount to the view that politicians are inherent crooks and liars.

[BufoAmericanus]

I really think it is anti-urban, more than anti-black, in this region.

The "Hood" is a place, not a person. It's a place where the people's votes are worth less than the places around them, because of the electoral college. Black, white, asian, Amerind... You name it.

[rich1107]

Since these events took place in Boise, ID; is it not possible that there are "hoods" where the poor are white? Poverty is the underlying evil and all races can and do suffer from it.

[truthmongerer]

great point. whether it's true or not, I don't know, but it's important not to make snap judgements.

[Silverstar]

Craig may be from Boise, but the events took place in Minneapolis, which is probably more racially diverse than Boise.

[trinibcn]

Come on guys!! We all know that the 'hood' insinuates the 'Black neighbourhood'. I mean we all know that keep it real here and intelligent as we always do. Having said that I think its fair to say that these types of bathroom 'victimless crimes' are a predominantly older white closeted male phenomenon Someone tell me otherwise.We blacks are guilty of many crimes but public bathroom sex is definitely not one our specialties.

[truthmongerer]

I absolutely agree that this particular crime is by far mostly white, though I'm not sure how much of it is older or closeted. As far as hood meaning black, I think I sort of agree just based on how the majority took it, but I disagree in the sense that I think certain people wanted it to mean black and not latino or japanese or guatemalan. I think what's important here isn't whether or not 'hood really means black, but why the majority of people think it does. Is it because of entirely unfair and biased media portrayals that we've been brainwashed by? Is it because of the things we see with our own eyes? Is it a secret way for people who want to be racist to be allowed to be racist? It's hard to judge Karsnia because his whole job is to deal with low lifes and that's mostly what/who he sees. But I think the larger issue here is why the rest of us, who very rarely come across a low life, automatically think 'hood means black.

[Nommo]

It is what it is and who claims it. As for "linguistic forms", it is actually just a word, a term. One can connote whatever one wants in so far as the word is all over the damn place and everyone seems to be using it.

Most unfortunately, it has come to suggest some weirdly mythical place populated by a mythical people. American urban mythology as crafted by those who brought you "separate but equal" with equal dosings of "liberty for all" and did not mean a word of it.

There is no mistaking the word's use. In just about any context, only Black people live in the "hood" every goddamn body else live in a neighborhood, a "community", minimally. America is full of code words for Black people, and some are funny despite their being, not unlike white people.

It boils down to what you buy into. I do not live in a "hood".

What is hip? Tell me, tell me, if you think you know...(Thanx, Tower of Power)

[Zyzzygowski]

I took note of the Police Officer using the term 'from the hood.' Though I dismissed it as the officer trying to be too tough by half. Quite possibly I am jaded and don't expect much Police Officers, who are wannabe 'Kojacks.'

If the Police Officer was more in tune with what was going on in the interview he would have asked Sen 'Wide Stance,' from the great State of Idaho, why did he pick up a piece of toilet paper from the floor of a public restroom? And, what did he intend to do with it? As you said, of '... his tortuous gyrations ...' that was probably the most compelling and frought with peril for the Senator had the Officer challenged that assertion.

As for the other points you made about perception versus reality and job prospects, I am inclined to believe it. And, that is sad for all involved.

[Nommo]

Just goes to show that whatever is wrong with America is Black folk's fault.
What would happen to America if crystal meth crimes were treated as seriously as "crack" cocaine crimes?
Congress circled the wagons to keep Foley's follies under wraps. The blue wall of silence stands against the community and people get bent out of shape by "don't snitch" campaigns. The people who advocate that obviously learned it from the best. Someone outed Plame and someone knows who and nobody's snitchin'.
Demands were placed on the GAO to change the story, turn the truth into a lie. It's ok, because everyone has forgotten about the WMD.

Where else but in America can a guy get off by admitting to 19 murders to tell on the guy who directed many of the 19 admitted murders? Oh, he wasn't Black, if anyone's wondering.

[truthmongerer]

How interesting that a guy from the 'hood automatically means black, because there are no other types of 'hoods. And how interesting that with the barrage of media and reality - everything from MTV to news to the guy walking down the street in baggy pants and gold chains, looking both lost and purposeful, that it can all be summed up as mythological? I find it so interesting that neither Jews nor Asians, nor Persians, nor really anyone except blacks are ever considered from the 'hood, even though we all live in similarly close-knit communities for the most part. How very interesting indeed. If only there were some way to solve this and define it for what it is - completely unsubstantiated, bigoted myth.

[phasechange]

That's just silly. The term "hood" was created by urban black youth, not Jews or Persians. If someone referred to the "Shtetl" you properly would consider them to be Jewish, not urban black. It's not racist to understand that linguistic forms can be correlated to specific social groups.

[truthmongerer]

I want to agree with you and I think there's a lot to be said for etymology and word choice, but the overall point that we're perceiving this automatically as black without it ever being named is more important than nitpicky semantics. Also, Latinos (at least here in L.A.) also use the word/term 'hood but they weren't considered the reference in that statement. I agree with you that certain words are paired with certain concepts and while that's an intriguing conversation to have, it is unfortunately not the point to this.

[Nommo]

If you did not comprehend what truthmongerer was saying, why did you bother to respond?
What, at any rate, are linguistic forms?

[phasechange]

While you may have some insight into the employment challenges faced by young black men, you've missed the point why Karsnia made his reference to "guys from the hood". Karsnia was properly playing his role by trying to have Craig confess to the truth. Karsnia did so by impugning Craig's professional self-image and targeting Craig's normal instinct to maintain a projection of uncontradicted truthfulness. Karsnia tried to play upon Craig's typical white middle-class prejudices by referring to a category of person most far removed from Craig's self image, explicitly warning him that he would be acting like such a "low-life" if he continued with his lies.

It's all the more funny since a "guy from the hood" most likely wouldn't fall for such a gambit and would keep quiet and ask for a lawyer. Craig exhibited the typical behavior of a wordsmithing professional who thought he could talk his way out of a criminal justice matter (he was now enmeshed in a system with which he was unfamiliar and unequipped) and couldn't recognize the truth-producing techniques that have been honed after decades of practice. Karsnia did right in trying to elicit from Craig the truth of the situation with whatever psychological methods were available to him.

[YellerDawg]

Karsnia's comment would have made me cringe, but I was already cringing.

[Robert59]

I too wondered about the comment, but in defense of the detective how often does one meet a criminal especially in 'the hood' who tells the truth? The hood is where it's now wrong to tell the cops anything, even to report a crime or to serve as a witness to a crime.

Get mugged, but don't report it because you'll be labeled a snitch.

I'm more surprised at his assertion that most of those he arrested for lewd conduct tell the truth. But maybe he's right. After watching to Catch a Predator the suspects all deny any wrongdoing, then accept guilt, however with a whole lot of caveats (the condoms were hair ribbons, it's her booze, not mine, she told me to buy the dildo).

As for suspicion of African Americans' it won't change until they change. 13% of our population is African American and yet over half of our murder victims are African American. The same holds true for way too many other crimes.

Look at what happened to Rosa Parks. It wasn't a white guy who mugged and beat the crap out of her, a real American hero and icon.

[BufoAmericanus]

I think, sometimes, we lose the fact that these cops work in areas... "Communities," for lack of a better word, that have a lot of diversity. Especially in Minneapolis, where I grew-up, went to public school and still reside. Urban does not mean "Black" in Minneapolis, and the "hood" this cop probably refers to has more diversity than most "hoods."

There is a strong strain of urban hatred in America's authoritarian ranks... I think we need to remember that it is often about where you live. Where you live is a good indicator of what you're worth. People who believe in the "Culture of Poverty" see this as divine judgement, and believe that is what "Urban Culture" is. People from "the Hood" are people who aren't "Cultured" enough to extricate themselves and "move on up."