Comments

1
I like the part where he flinches or twitches when you hear a police siren sound off during the interview. A hero he might be (for being at the right place at the right time), but he's still a little nervous around cops.
2
How soon you forget Antoine Dodson.

I note that Charles Ramsey was eating McDonalds for dinner, and Ariel Castro was captured at McDonalds.
3
"I'm on my 4G mobile phone, right?"

TMI, dude.
4
OTOH, well done, sir.

"I'm smarter than that: I send you where the crime was."
5
@1, an American black man afraid of the police? Yeah, that's suspicious. Are you part of the Scooby Doo gang?
6
Kai, the homeless skater who saved two women from an axe wielding Jesus freak, was arguably a better interview.
7
There is so much detail to unpack and examine about race and culture and America in just that interview and that 911 call... You could write a whole book, or teach a whole college course on it.
8
The link to the interview is broken.
9
Good Morning Charles,
First of all, it is extraordinary and quite the relief especially for the families of the young women to have been freed from the torture and torment of captivity after ten years. How horrible! I wish them all the best and hope justice is served to the monsters that kidnapped them.

I also wish the best for Mr. Ramsey although I would quibble that "he may have done more for race relations in the US than Obama". I agree that Obama hasn't done much but I'm not so sure that Ramsey has done more. And, while one could call him Ramsey a hero, I would say perhaps but if so a necessary one at best. I would believe that the best would be brought out in any rational human in a situation such as this. For Mr. Ramsey, good on him. I'm glad he followed through. But, the 911 call and interview are irrelevant to me. In another age, the same thing could have happened but the technology wasn't there.
10
@ 9, rational? I'm not sure rationality played into that at all. Rationally, someone capable of kidnapping a woman and holding her prisoner is likely to be armed and dangerous. Rationally, one would be putting oneself at risk to do what he did.

Keep in mind that he probably had seconds to process this, and in the interview he said he first thought it was a "domestic situation." He didn't actually know she was kidnapped, or that there were more women down there. He probably didn't know where the man who did that was, either.

That he helped her without first calling the police (or "minding his own business") is a measure of a degree of bravery. I think the title of "hero" is deserved.
11
@1 I'd flinch, too. Those things are fucking loud.
12
@Matt,
I wasn't disputing his fortitude. He remains a hero. I merely qualified his heroism as necessary. My contention is the human impulse to render assistance is (or should be?) universal. Maybe there are extraordinary circumstances where one has a split second to "think" out the situation. I just believe that rationality yes, critical rationality plays a part.

In addition, while I believe the 911 call obviously necessary, I believe the interview unnecessary. I disagree with Charles. The interview doesn't do anything for race relations.
13
@1 Aren't we all?
14
My favorite quote from the 911 call: "put yourself in her shoes!"
15
@14 - yes. Guy showed a huge amount of empathy under duress.

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