Hari takes Kumar to White(ness) Castle: Why Kal Penn is Wrong on Stop-and-Frisk
by hari stephen kumar, August 17, 2013 // @kineticnow
Dear Kumar (aka Kal Penn),
Dude, it’s time for us to talk, you and me.
Kumar to Kumar.
You see, as a brown man with a name like Kumar, I’ve gotten stopped many times. And asked about THAT movie of yours. You remember it, right? The one where you and Harold critique racism and mock how cops profile brown folks?
And so now I hear you’ve been tweeting about Stop-and-Frisk. And about how you think it’s a “good policy.” About how you think “the stats don’t lie” when it comes to “who, sadly, commits & are victims of the most crimes.”
And how, even after someone pointed out to you that other cities saw reduced crime rates without Stop-and-Frisk, you responded “If they added s&f it’d be even better.”
Well, KUMAR, for the sake of Kumars everywhere, I do believe it’s time we stop and frisk your brain.
I don’t think you realize how wrong you are about those stats, especially since they have convinced you to believe the many myths about Stop and Frisk. Bridget Todd, with whom you exchanged a few tweets about this issue, wrote an excellent open letter to you on Racialicious about why these myths are dangerous.
And furthermore, I don’t think you realize how Stop-and-Frisk actually benefits whiteness.
So, get up. We’re going to White(ness) Castle.