Amy Cooper Is A Victim

Well, another day, another controversy involving race revolving around a short video clip that is being used as unquestioned proof of how terribly racist people can be. This time around, we have a tale of two unrelated Cooper's: Amy and Christian.

A video has popped up online of a white Amy Cooper calling the cops on an African-American man as he films her. Yup, the video looks awfully damning.

Yup. Looks REALLY bad. And, I really have to feel for the dog. Clearly she is is quite worked up. And, she's too busy dealing with the situation to realize that she is treating the dog in such a rough way. I don't know what to make of what is being shown there. I suppose we will all interpret it in a different way.

Now, if the situation were limited just to what we see here on video, I would say, "Damn, Amy, bad move!" But, the situation was NOT limited to just the video. Plenty seemed to happen before this.

Unfortunately, because of this video, she has been doxxed, abused, harassed and fired from her job. Why? Well, because that is what we as a society seem to do in 2020. We have a knee-jerk emotional outrage and try to ruin people. And, sadly, there are many attempts to absolutely destroy her.

But, the question is, what DID happen before the video began? Well, let's take a look at the interaction, as told by the man she is calling the cops on, Christian Cooper.

So, Christian Cooper says "Look, if you're going to do what you want, I'm going to do what I want, but you're not going to like it." Huh? What?? Okay, just a word of advice...don't say that. That absolutely is a threat. What did he mean by "I'm going to do what I want, but you're not going to like it"?? You have two people alone in a section of the park, one is a woman, and you have the male saying that he is going to do do something and she isn't going to like it? I can imagine she would feel unsafe.

And then he takes treats out of his pocket to coax the dog to come to him? WTF? So, what was he planning to do if he got the dog? Apparently, he says that when he takes the treats out of his pocket, it entices dog owners to leash because they get worried about what he might give them. Seriously dude? SERIOUSLY??

I'm sorry, but I kind of lean towards supporting her given what he said and did. She shouldn't have had her dog off the leash, but it sounds like she went to a more private area to do it. If she wasn't bugging anyone and the dog wasn't doing anything, then why go all Karen on her? Just let her be.

But, no, he had to use a threat and try and coax the dog to him. The thing is, I'm sure any dog owner would look at what he said and wonder what the heck might be in those treats. He was threatening towards a woman and her dog in a place where they were the only two people. So, ya, given that, I think it's fair for her to call the cops.

That said, when she made the statement that in calling the cops she was going to tell them that an AFRICAN-AMERICAN man was threatening her and her dog, well, that did NOT come across good at all. Was it a racist statement? Well, definitely racial. Definitely a problematic approach.

Now, sadly, people are saying, "She could have gotten him killed!" There are, after all, concerns about how African-Americans are treated by police. Would he ended up dead if the cops came? Seriously? The vast majority of contact between cops and African-Americans don't result in death or injury. So, the chances are pretty low that he would have ended up dead in this situation.

But, she apparently "knew exactly what she was doing" as HuffPost makes clear in an article that absolutely rips her apart. Why she had to point out that he was an African-American man is rather mysterious, but it is highly possible that she knew that there would be a difference in the level of fear generated in Christian, and possibly a greater chance of him being dealt with harshly. It wasn't a wise choice of words, that's for sure. And, of course, that is what ended up on the video, and that is what people are outraged about.

And that is the problem. The outrage is completely based on what is seen on the short video. Unfortunately, what is being ignored is what happened BEFORE the video was shot. The video is damning but fails to pick up a large part of the interaction between these two people. And, by Christian's very own account, he said and did things that can very much be seen as threatening to both her and the dog. And this should not be ignored.

Based on what Christian said, I can see how she would be concerned for her safety while being in a quiet area of the park, being confronted by a man who says, ""Look, if you're going to do what you want, I'm going to do what I want, but you're not going to like it." Dude! Don't say that! Especially to a woman who is alone in a quiet part of a park. And don't try to coax the person's dog away from them!

Sadly, she no longer has the dog. Given how rough she was with the dog in the video, it might be a good idea that she doesn't. Again, if she meant harm or not, the dog ended up in an unpleasant situation. She voluntarily gave up the dog, and deserves credit for that.

Emotions are extremely high in this case. There is a lot of anger online directed towards Amy Cooper. Is it all justified? Based on what I've written above, in my view, no it isn't completely justified. The video is being seen as the end all and be all of this case and people are reacting strongly to what she is saying and doing in it. However, it only tells part of the story.

People really need to start asking more questions. To blindly accept a video as irrefutable proof of a situation is unacceptable. Of course this video is out of context. Unfortunately, no one appears concerned about what actually did happen before the video starts. And that is the part that should make people have a little more empathy with Amy Cooper. She is paying a MASSIVE price over this video. But it isn't the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth. Christian Cooper's own account of the interaction before the video is pretty damning, and leads me to lean more to supporting Amy Cooper.

It's just sad that Amy Cooper's life is being destroyed because of all of this. All she wanted to do was go to the park to let her dog have some exercise. Now, she has lost the dog, her job and her anonymity. This isn't justice. This is a travesty.