HARVARD PROFESSOR GATES ARRESTED AT CAMBRIDGE HOME
Let’s see if I can get inside Professor Gates’ head.
Professor Gates arrives home after spending a week in China. He is tired and would just like to jump in bed or relax and read a book, whatever. Instead, he can’t get in his home. The door is jammed.
Professor Gates is frustrated and angry, but finally he gets into his home.
Knock knock. Who the hell? … Sees police … Yes?
Police begin questioning, eventually asking for some ID. The professor clearly doesn’t look like he poses a threat to anyone.
Now the Black Male DNA kicks in. Wrapped in that DNA are the vestiges of torture, lynching, burning, castration, unlawful detention, and constant harassment by police, on being humiliated by whites in front of loved ones and children, racial profiling, the “N” word, feelings of being looked down on, being called “boy”, discrimination, of being falsely accused, unequal justice …..
Proud Professor will not be disrespected and he speaks up and declares his worthiness. The professor does provide ID. He asks the police officer to provide his name and badge number. He made this request several times. The officer did not produce any identification nor did he respond to Professor Gates’ request for this information. After an additional request by Professor Gates for the officer’s name and badge number, the officer then turned and left the kitchen of Professor Gates’ home without ever acknowledging who he was or if there were charges against Professor Gates. As Professor Gates followed the officer to his own front door, he was astonished to see several police officers gathered on his front porch. Professor Gates asked the officer’s colleagues for his name and badge number. The police officer, who evidently needs some additional ongoing racial sensitivity training, doesn’t like the professors demeanor or tone or language. The police don’t think the professor is humble enough … the professor is arrested …. the professor is humiliated in front of his neighbors, and in his own home. A home, by the way, that he worked long and hard to purchase … while maneuvering his way through the race game.
Professor Gates should never have been arrested. The police officers should have simply told the professor that they were sorry that they upset him, … that they were just responding to a break-in report, … after that, the officers should have again acknowledged their mistake and wished the professor a nice day, and left.
I think the police have some additional ongoing “training to do”.
The one thing I will do from now on is to tell my friends not to leave their homes if the police show up; but I guess that doesn’t matter because we minorities know that they can and just may bust the door down and give some ridiculous reason for doing so.
The President has been very careful not to bring race into conversations during the campaign and during the time he’s been in office.
I am therefore trusting that the President who was asked about the incident, is welcoming a discussion.
Almost every African American male has a story or stories of being detained by the police. There are some places in America where an African American male or female cannot go without being stopped by the police. It’s a humiliating experience. White guys with African American male friends can tell you stories about how their friends (who had done nothing) were harassed by the police. This is a big problem.
My African American brother, who is a former assistant district attorney, was shopping with my mother at a mall when he was detained by the police. The police said he looked like a suspect. My brother was of course humiliated.
I have an African American male friend, who was an innocent bystander, but was viciously beaten by the police. He lost 70% of his vision. A lawsuit was filed, but it took years before the case was settled in my friends favor.
It’s interesting that Dick Cheney when he shot the 78 year old attorney in a hunting accident, was treated with kid gloves.
The man shot someone (whether accident or not); all professor Gates did was get upset on his own property.
So much for justice.
If you’re white and rich, you are almost always given the benefit of the doubt and you are almost always treated with kid gloves.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dick_Cheney_hunting_incident
I believe that when police approach a white male, there is the presumption of innocence; however, when police approach African American males, that presumption of innocence does not exist.
Update July 24, 2009 11:30pm
This is amazing to me. A lot of white people are lining up ready to defend the police; yet with the election of Barack Obama, millions of white people rush out and purchase guns because they fear that their civil and consitutional rights will be eroded by government. The police are the government, and I would bet that anarchists, libertarians, NRA members, etc. would have done exactly what Gates did (which was to get upset). You are a man in your own home (property rights), you’ve done nothing wrong, and you don’t want anyone telling you what to do in your own home. Remember WACO?
Also read: Gates-Crowley Battle Not About Race, but Rather Citizens’ Rights by Ray Hanania
Further Update: At a conference today, police representatives said that their police do not engage in racial profiling and have not engaged in racial profiling and they state that procedures were followed in disposing of this case.
You know that someone is framing an argument to fit a desired outcome when you make a matter of fact statement that there have been no instances of racial profiling.
Boston has a nasty history of racism and racial profiling.
If you listened closely, … what wasn’t said was that police acted appropriately in arresting professor Gates. Wonder why?
The mayor of Cambridge has decided to back the police, which doesn’t surprise me since she is a politician. As a public official, she needs to have police protection. I imagine it would be awkward to call on the police, if she had not backed the police. Finally, her chances for re-election would be diminshed if she had decided to criticize the police.
I understand that the Black police officer, who arrived on the scene later, supports James Crowley; however, that doesn’t surprise me either. He’s a cop. If he wants to get along with his fellow officers and stay on the Cambridge police force, he needs to stand with his department. I was happy to hear him say that if he had arrived on the scene first, he would have handled things differently, because two black men would have been facing each other, and there would have been a deeper understanding of the situation. THE THIN BLUE LINE
I have no doubt that officer Crowley and professor Gates are good men … but the police should have just left the scene and walked away.
RACIAL BIAS
JUDGE TOSSES CHARGE AGAINST VIRGINIA WHITE SUPREMACIST
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