Sympathy for Whalen

Menino at 11--what to ask the mayor?

Slowly, slowly with today's Gates "shocker"--updated!

15 Comments

• My Reference Frame said:

  Everyone has over-reacted on this one. This lady was simply a good citizen. If you listen to the tape there is no doubt race wasn't on her mind at all. Whatever happened its between Gates & Crowley. This lady should be left out of it (it would be interesting to know what the other lady told Ms. Whalen about the incident).

  July 27, 2009 6:53 PM

• William said:

  It's okay. Many racially charged assumptions were made - way to go racists.

  July 27, 2009 6:56 PM

• Ally said:

  Is it just me, or was the dispatcher unhelpful and almost abrasive to Whalen? It seemed he had an attitude of, why are you reporting this? It's nothing. Definitely not the person I'd want on the other end of the phone if I was having an actual emergency.

  July 27, 2009 7:22 PM

• cheryl said:

  I think the woman is a busybody.  Listen to the 911 tapes.  If the men had suitcases with them why would she think they were robbing the place. Well maybe the snoop thought those guys can't live in my neighborhood.  The woman is a racist.  And gosh I bet she's shocked that someone black is really successful.  I consider her to be viral, not a good citizen.  Just consider how you would react to a cop demanding that you prove that you have a right to live in your own home (owned or rented.)I know I'd be irate too but since I'm white I doubt the police would have been called in the 1st place.  I have black grandkids.  I see racism on a daily basis in this country.

  July 27, 2009 8:42 PM

• Anonymous said:

  I am glad you feel bad and have apologized to Ms. Whalen. You should. Maybe you learned a lesson about judging people before you know all the facts. Maybe you learned that the media is not the all mighty lord and doesn't always get stuff right and as you've seen now, they fucked up big time in reporting this. If you're a reporter, maybe you need some education on researching effectively. I really hope this sticks with you. I think she has gotten a raw deal & if you look her up on google, all you see is stuff like "Lucia Whalen is a racist." That stuff can damage people's reputations and well being for years to come!! Say she decided to go for another job and they did a search on her...guess what pops up. It's wrong and I wish she could sue all of the a-holes who made defamatory statements about her WITHOUT KNOWING THE FACTS!!  And to Cheryl, you're insane. If you actually listened to the 911 tape, she was stopped by an old lady, she tried to help her by calling it in, and she even said in the tape, "I don't know if they live there..." and admitted that may be a possibility but wanted to cops to come check it out to be on the safe side. Never did she mention race...in fact, she said she couldn't even see the men closely so had no clue of their race. Hmm, if she didn't see the men's skin color and STILL called, tell me how she' is racist??  I would hope if your neighbor saw someone pushing in your door (even if it was you and they didn't know you from a fly in the wall) that they'd call the cops to check it out. Actually, because of your attitude, I hope someone robs your house and sees someone fiddling w/ your door and doesn't call the cops in fear they'd be called a "racist" or whatever. Then you'd be singing a different tune as to "why didn't anyone call." Get a life!

  July 27, 2009 10:09 PM

• Reuven said:

  Sorry, Adam. It's too late. You have permanently damaged this woman. It is a serious offense, akin to murder.

  At the very least, you should close down this blog, and send her a check. I'd say no less than $20,000.

  July 27, 2009 11:49 PM

• cheryl said:

  I still believe this caller was a meddling busybody.  The professor and his driver had come up to the home in a towncar.  This is also in daylight.  If the elderly woman had a problem with this she should have made the 911 call.  And only brave people use anonymous as their callname so I think anything you said towards me has no value.  Oh and ever heard of burglar alarms.  Most expensive houses have them, like mine, so your wish for me will not be fulfilled.  I stand with my opinion that this woman needed to mind her own business and have had the concerned elderly woman make any phonecalls on this issue.  It is not even her neighborhood.

  July 27, 2009 11:57 PM

• WTF????? said:

  Since when is it racist to describe someone as black anyway.  JESUS CHRIST?!?!?  Anytime you need to identify anyone for any reason, the first thing that comes to mind is whether they are a man or a woman, the second is the color of their skin, then it's height, hair color, clothes, etc.  WTF is wrong with people!?!?!?!?

  July 28, 2009 2:33 AM

• Adam Reilly said:

  Sorry, Reuven. I'm not going to close down this blog and cut a check because I noted that a person's words don't necessarily tell us everything about their mindset. Also, remember that I made this point in response to articles on a new PR offensive by Whalen and Wendy Murphy against Whalen's detractors--point being that the "damage" you mention had already been inflicted. That said, in light of the 911 call tape, I stand by my apology.

  July 28, 2009 7:16 AM

• Anonymous said:

  Hmm, I put Anonymous so a psycho like you, Cheryl, won't defame me on the net like you've done to Ms. Whalen or worse. I'm sure your mindset is not sane. Despite research and information to the contrary, YOU still believe she is guilty of racism. Well, since you are the allmighty and know everything despite it being proven untrue and have no problem going out and spreading lies about people, it must be the gospel. Well, good for you and your burglar alarm. I hope you get mugged on the street and nobody helps you because they should just mind their own business and not butt in to help. Seriously...I hope you need help one day and nobody helps you...or better yet, I hope you are unfairly branded a "racist" one day and YOU try to clear your name against attacks from psychos like yourself.

  July 28, 2009 5:44 PM

• Anonymous said:

  And Adam, your actions give bloggers a bad name. If you want to be a "legitimate" journalist (maybe you don't and it's cool to you to just say stuff w/out researching it), there is such a thing as fact finding and not reporting things you don't know about. Also, would you ever call Ms. Whalen or tell her your sorry to her face? I doubt it.

  July 28, 2009 5:50 PM

• Susan said:

  I know Mrs. Whalen personally and she herself is a kindhearted woman who was just doing the right thing and not a "busybody," in anyway shape or form. This whole situation has been blown out of proportion and is not at all a situation of race, but an argument of class. The only who would be punished is GATES. Crowley and Whalen both handled the situation as anyone else would regardless of race.

  July 28, 2009 6:28 PM

• Adam Reilly said:

  Anonymous: in my previous blog post--which was, I believe, the first time I'd had anything to say about Whalen--I linked to two newspaper articles that discussed Whalen's claim not to have mentioned race; pointed out the ambiguity between those two articles; and noted (correctly) that Whalen's claim, as reported in those articles, didn't necessarily tell us what her mindset was at the time the made the call. Several hours later, tapes were released by the Cambridge PD that shed new light on why and how Whalen became involved.

  I'm not sure what blogs you read, but this is precisely the sort of thing bloggers do. And your decision to opine--with no supporting evidence or argumentation--about how I will or won't follow up with Ms. Whalen is precisely the sort of thing that anonymous commenters on blogs do.

  July 28, 2009 7:34 PM

• jim johnson said:

  I agree you should cut a check for the poor woman for defamation of character, and publically apologize, and take your website down for what you've done. After all if it was a white person the black community would demand the same things. I think it's funny, the black community is more sensative than the gay community, saying "2 black men" is being a racist, give me a break. What is the correct terminology to use nowadays ? Keep crying wolf and people will wake up, they've tried to be politically correct about everything for years but when no matter what you define anyone white as a racist, they are going to get tired of it.

  July 29, 2009 2:22 PM

• gowhalen said:

  You are out of line Cheryl!...you are the racist! you are an ignorant woman and its sad we have people like you in this world. You owe Lucia an apology, oh, but women like you don't have a spine! Shame Shame on you! How do you like being bashed and have so many people reading what i think about the RACIST CHERYL!

  I hope you can sleep knowing you bashed a woman out for no reason at all, you are a cold hearted woman, you digust me and you are the biggest bitch! Get some integrity lady, you need a wake up call!! i've seen cheryl's blogs and they are all negative and hateful.

  July 29, 2009 9:05 PM

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