Caller now fears the hatred coming their way

Next time, think twice before YOU call the police
lest you be deemed a racist

The national news media has portrayed Madison as racist most foul for calling the police on a black woman canvassing door to door for votes in an election campaign. Local social justice warriors were only too happy to condemn the white patriarchy, implicit bias, et cetera, et cetera, et cetera.

Now we hear from the person who called police with a letter explaining the southwest side homeowner’s reasoning: an unfamiliar car parked not far from the drug house up the street as if waiting for it to open. The letter writer remains anonymous,  fearing the hatred directed their way.

The writer nonetheless apologizes for the unintended hurt to the candidate, who was questioned by responding police. Shelia Stubbs went on to win the Democratic primary for the 77th Assembly district and is unchallenged this November and, it must be said, was only too eager to go on national television and condemn racist Madison. TV-27 reports:

According to the original call to Dane County Communications obtained by 27 News, the caller was concerned the car was waiting for a drug dealer in a house up the street.

“I think the drug dealers up the street aren’t home now, so there’s been a car parked around the corner for like a half an hour with a bunch of people in it,” the caller told the dispatcher.

The caller then explained to dispatch about the house.

“It’s active all night long and when the drug dealers aren’t home, cars just park up and down the street waiting for them to come home,” he said. “It’s been an issue for quite some time.”

When asked for a description of the vehicle, the caller said, “I’m trying not to look because they keep staring at me. It’s like a silver, four-door sedan, rather new.”

The dispatcher then told the caller he would pass the information along to the beat officer.

“The squeaky wheel gets the grease so keep calling when you see something like that,” the dispatcher said.

We’re sympathetic because a drug house operated just two blocks from the Stately Manor until it was torn down earlier this year, operated by a black man and a white woman — and we’re in a nice neighborhood. (A over-dosed dead man in his 30s was carted out of that house and, later, children covered in their own filth taken away before the man and woman — one white, one black — got busted.)

The Shelia Stubbs incident spawned a lively discussion on our neighborhood social media. Typical of Madison’s self-loathing white liberals is Kristin of Meadowood:

I think a lot of white people act in a racist manner, never even realize it, and maybe will never realize it because they are totally convinced that they are not racist because they believe, in theory, that we are all equal. The civil rights movement happened and laws changed and now everything is fine. I am sure that I act in racist ways sometimes and not realize it, because I have been raised in a racist society.

The letter from the anonymous caller:

Dear Sheila Stubbs,

First, it was me.

Secondly, let me say that I am so sorry for your encounter with the police.

I wanted to call you once this all started, but now it is clear that I need to keep my identity out of this as I have quickly become a hated person and fear for my safety.

I will try to be clear, but have not slept the last couple of nights.

I want you to know that I completely understand what you are saying about the experience. Again, so, so very sorry.

But please, you need to know, to understand, that I never called the police ON YOU. I did call the non-emergency number (I did not call 911) to report a car that had been sitting in the same spot for a while with people in it. A lot of people in this city do that, and we are encouraged to.

Here is the thing I really want you to know: I never even saw you until after the police arrived. I never saw you on the sidewalk, at the house, or anywhere else, until after the police arrived.

Once I saw you talking to the officer, I realized that I never needed to make the call, but I never called the police on you, on a woman of color in the neighborhood.

This is supported by the call to the police, and what they have released mentions a car, not a woman. I called on a car, not you.

I never saw you before the call. If I had, I would not have made the call.

The story I see every minute now is that some racist called 911 on a black woman in a mostly white neighborhood. People say they are sickened by this. I am sickened by it and I did not even do it.

I am not sure where to go from here. You are welcome to present this letter to the nation. They have your side, you are free to give them mine.

How do we, you, get back to what I actually did? The police must have a more complete record of the call. I probably should share this letter with the media. I can’t reveal myself as there is so much hate directed at the person who called 911 on you, which, I hope you understand now, never happened. Maybe one day, you seem pretty awesome, and I am not the jerk the nation thinks I am.

Blaska’s Bottom Line: Has America ever been so quick to impute false motives? To see hate where none exists? These, my friends and acquaintances, are the wages of identity politics.