News That Sounds Like a Joke | Unclear on the Concept

• White people living in Lawrenceville, Georgia, had the chance of a lifetime on Nov. 16 to attend a "Come Meet a Black Person" event sponsored by Urban MediaMakers, a group for filmmakers and content creators. Cheryle Moses, who founded the group, said she read in a 2013 study that most white people don't have any nonwhite friends. "I want to do my part to change things," she told The Washington Post. "I have never met a black person," one person commented on Moses' Facebook post. "What do you recommend I bring that they would like?" Later, WXIA-TV reported that more the two dozen people showed up to share chili and cornbread, but fewer than a half-dozen were white. [The Washington Post, 11/15/2017; 11Alive.com, 11/17/2017]

• The Detroit Police Department got a little carried away on Nov. 9 while trying to address a persistent drug problem on the city's east side. Two undercover special ops officers from the 12th Precinct were posing as drug dealers on a street corner when undercover officers from the 11th Precinct arrived and, not recognizing their colleagues, ordered the 12th Precinct officers to the ground. Shortly, more 12th Precinct officers showed up and the action moved to a house where, as Fox 2 News described it, a turf war broke out as officers from the two precincts engaged in fistfights with each other. An internal investigation is underway, and the police department has declined comment. [FOX 2 TV, 11/13/2017]