In a word, yes. As long as there is no police accountability and there is rampant racism in the PPB, you can count on it getting uglier.

We should give that officer a free "I am Jim-Jim Chasse" t-shirt to make up for the slight.

No kidding. Another black mark for Portland on the world stage making us look like a badly behaved and hateful place. (Re: YouTube videos of cyclists attacking motorists). Then of course there's Dan Rather's recent report on Pornland, Oregon....

The sad thing is this kind of person and his mindset in a different time and era might've said something like "No coloreds here", or "Juden sind hier unerwünscht". He's just wearing a different armband.

Narrow-minded and hateful people never go away, they just change colors.

Pity... this used to be a great place to live, work, and raise a family.

The cafe owner is a great example of a person not looking for accountability or change, but one who is truely a "cop hater". He will always fail in life, just as his business will likely fail with that type of mindset.

I'm sending this officer a Pete's coffee certificate tonight. He, on the other hand, handled the situation with grace.

The owner has every right to refuse to serve cops. And those who support the boys in blue have every right to picket this shithole every day, just like Schumacher firs was picketed.

Who's with me?

Great PR so far!!

http://www.yelp.com/biz/red-and-black-cafe-portland

And I bet the cafe owner would raise holy hell if another establishment told a person to leave because he/she was black, or Jewish, or gay, or Muslim, or a nursing mother, or an anarchist...

I wonder if those who would boycott an establishment that did any of the above would boycott the Red & Black for this.

I remember when they opened a Starbucks across from the Red & Black. The Starbucks was actually firebombed. It's a shame how detached from reality people down that way get. Maybe it's the heroin.

Anyone else notice they took the guy's money before telling him to leave?

I bet they finish every scrap of Mom's pot roast before they reject her bourgeois value system, too.

I'm with you Mr. Tee. The hypocrisy by the owner is unbelievable. I thought those types judge each person individually and not as group. I believe their business may fail even though I don't believe in boycotting in most circumstances. I like free enterprise working where many times it gets it right.

Got me. When I read the article, I kept thinking "this cop's not out of control. In fact, he acted pretty admirably."

Then I realized the headline was parody, perhaps even a gentle form of self-parody. Great job on the post.

Too bad the PPB couldn't choose to not respond if this cafe is ever robbed.

Just another reason not to visit your city.

I dunno, seems pretty reasonable to me. A uniform and a gun is a pretty big downer for so-called "safe, communal space" for groups that harbor fear and hostility toward cops... on the other hand, it is a public business, not a club. Perhaps it *should* be a members-only coffee club if it would better foster the atmosphere they desire.

Well that's a business I will never patronize. If that owner had said something along the lines of "Your holding hands with another man/baggy pants/accent etc. make me and the customers nervous" he would be getting roasted, and rightfully so. There are bad cops out there, as there are bad apples in any group. Including small business owners. The one chuckle I get out of this is this self-important hipster has more in common with Rand Paul than Karl Marx, whether he cares to admit it or not.

That cop is lucky the cafe owner wasn't a cop!

I'm confused. It's okay to feel outrage at cop beatings and shootings by writing about it on the web, but it's not okay to express that outrage through company actions?

C'mon. This wasn't about a particular cop--the owner made that clear. It was about "what the police represent to many people who frequent the cafe".

I like the Red and Black. It's a good place, with good food, it's peaceful, and a wide variety of people frequent it. It tries to treat its workers fairly, and tries to eke out a living. Let's direct the outrage where it's deserved, shall we?

I was hoping the last election might open up conversations about the fear, hatred and division in our community. But our current mayor thrives on divisiveness....it's how he creates his power. Now he 'owns' the police bureau.

Trust is something that is earned. We all have work to do.

It will get uglier after Sam's next budget reconciliation.

"I like the Red and Black. It's a good place, with good food, it's peaceful, and a wide variety of people frequent it."

... And you'll never have to wait to get seated at a table again.

"It tries to treat its workers fairly, and tries to eke out a living. Let's direct the outrage where it's deserved, shall we?"

Then why are you directing your comments to "the place" and "it?".

Our outrage is with the person who egregiously discriminated against a paying customer engaged in a peaceful conversation with another paying customer.

Grow up.

The workers / owners apparantly embrace diversity (unless you're not like us, and since you're not, please leave).

I especially like how he kept the cop's money. GOOO ANARCHY.

What's all this about "anarchists"? The Red and Black isn't about "anarchy". It's a coffee shop, for god's sake.

And, given how the cops--and Adams/City Council--have responded to citizen outrage about their behavior, how the heck are citizens *supposed* to respond?

Our outrage is with the person who egregiously discriminated against a paying customer engaged in a peaceful conversation with another paying customer.

No man, you mean *your* outrage. Not everybody is "outraged" that the guy decided not to serve cops given recent PPB behavior. Instead of tripping all over your moral indignation, you might consider why the guy did it. He didn't do it for superficial reasons, and I'm guessing he didn't do it because of "anarchy" or other such specious affiliations. If you want to claim you're "grown up", then you'd understand that grownups differ in opinion, and should learn to do so without rushing to outrage at the other guy's values.

Now I wonder--for those (like Jack Bog) outraged at the James Chasse shooting, how do you feel about this response to it?

"What's all this about "anarchists"? The Red and Black isn't about "anarchy". It's a coffee shop, for god's sake."

http://redandblackcafe.com/

See that circle with the "A" inside?

Sorry I upset you by expressing my/our opinion. And having a sense of morality is not all bad, by the way.

And having a sense of morality is not all bad, by the way.

Except, apparently, when you're the owner of the Red and Black.

See that circle with the "A" inside?

I also see they're a union shop, and they have a symbol for "equality". Calling them "a bunch of anarchists" is code, and you know it. It's a way of dismissing them without attempting to have any kind of understanding of the situration. WHy didn't you call them a union shop, or an equality shop, or a vegan shop?

Sorry I upset you by expressing my/our opinion.

You yourself were upset. Didn't you say you were "outraged"?

Which shows that you've never actually taken the time to visit the place, hang out there, or talk to the owners. There's a heavy dose of irony in your claims about the folks at the cafe.

Myself, I wouldn't ask the officer to leave. But I also understand being wary of the police in PDX, given the string of events in the past several years.

"You yourself were upset. Didn't you say you were "outraged"?"

Ahem, I believe that was in reference to your post, where you used the word "outrage" three times. It's still up there. But in fairness, I do think the R & B owner's action was "outrageous."

And yes, I guess then they are a union shop, an equality shop, a vegan shop and a shop that promotes anarchy, Okay. You win.

When I hear people vowing that they'll never patronize the Red and Black Cafe, I suspect they wouldn't do so even if this policy weren't in place. Just as most mainstream book buyers would be more likely to frequent Borders, Barnes and Noble and Powells than Countermedia, Reading Frenzy or Laughing Horse, most of the public won't set foot in Red and Black again after one visit.

Don't think I'll be visiting this establishment any time soon. Not very classy.

Isn't it interesting that some who vow to "not patronize that establishment again" feel outrage when somebody expresses the same feeling about the PPB?

"We have a unique relationship with the community," he said. "You're there to protect them but on the other hand they don't know what that involves."

When I've worked with PPB officers professionally they have impressed me with their competence and good humor.

When I've needed them, they've been helpful, humane and courteous.

But over and over again I've seen them being rude, angry and abrupt when they didn't need to, and wondered why. And I think that the quote above, from the very nice officer in the story, gets to the heart of what is driving that to-me-very-obvious estrangement from the general populace, and from the civilian authorities that are supposed to be in charge of the police.

If I were going to try to reform policing in this town, I would start with trying to get that chip off their shoulders.

Other White Meat, your hypocrisy is outstanding.

You wrote: " If you want to claim you're 'grownup', then you'd understand that grownups differ in opinions, and should learn to do so without rushing to outrage at the other guys values."

Later you write:
There's a heavy dose of irony in your claim about folks at the cafe."

Isn't that exactly what the owner has foisted onto the policeman? The owner demonstrated "outrage" at the other guys (policeman's) values by kicking him out, especially in the way he did so in front of other patrons. Type casting, inclusiveness of capturing all police as "bad guys" is full of heavy dosing and irony. I'm sorry that you don't see it.

Isn't that exactly what the owner has foisted onto the policeman?

In fact, no. According to the story, his actions were based on the general feeling of the place and some patrons towards the PPB overall, not the policeman ordering coffee.

Type casting, inclusiveness of capturing all police as "bad guys" is full of heavy dosing and irony

You mean like when you describe "those types" when you said:

I thought those types judge each person individually and not as group

Who are "those types" exactly, lw, if not an example of what you described as "type casting"?

lw, your hypocrisy is outstanding.

guess where I'm going for my next cup of coffee????? Hip Hip Hooray for the gang at
Red & Black! Way to go folks! 3 cheers!

other white meat, you don't seem to get double entendre and the fictitiousness in regards to "those types". Calling out the owners hypocrisy doesn't necessarily make one a hypocrite.