We at USDemocrazy are constantly perplexed. (Don’t worry — that’s not our news for the day.)
What’s perplexing us today is the controversial arrest of eminent African American scholar, professor, author (and the list goes on…), Henry Louis “Skip” Gates, Jr.
Dr. Gates was apparently struggling to get into his home in Cambridge, Massachusetts (home to Harvard University), as his front door was jammed. According to the story in the New York Times,
Cambridge police say they responded to the well-maintained two-story home after a woman reported seeing ”two black males with backpacks on the porch,” with one ”wedging his shoulder into the door as if he was trying to force entry.”
When the police arrived, Gates was in his home. What happened next is the point of contention.
Professor Gates says he produced a drivers license and a Harvard ID to the dispatched officer. The white policeman on call had a different take:
”Gates continued to yell at me, accusing me of racial bias and continued to tell me that I had not heard the last of him,” the arresting officer wrote.
Gates’ colleagues and peers spoke out immediately, loudly crying “racial profiling” to anyone who would listen - which, it turns out, was everyone.
Since his arrest, the charge of disorderly conduct against him has been dropped, but the race debate goes on. Blackpoliticsontheweb.com wrote:
The charge was dropped Tuesday, with a statement from the city of Cambridge calling the incident last Thursday “regrettable and unfortunate.” Police offered no apology, nor did the officer accept blame.
So, though the charges have been dissolved, the mug shot remains, the news stories are still circulating, and the implications of the arrest of the head of the W.E.B. DuBois Institute for African and African American Research remain, and no apology means no closure.
After the incident, all eyes turned toward President Obama, who has addressed the topic of race numerous times — and most recently at the meeting of the N.A.A.C.P. last week. During this speech, Obama stated,
Make no mistake: The pain of discrimination is still felt in America.
No kidding.
He went on:
We have to say to our children, Yes, if you’re African-American, the odds of growing up amid crime and gangs are higher. Yes, if you live in a poor neighborhood, you will face challenges that someone in a wealthy suburb does not. But that’s not a reason to get bad grades, that’s not a reason to cut class, that’s not a reason to give up on your education and drop out of school. No one has written your destiny for you. Your destiny is in your hands and don’t you forget that.
Obama was asked in his press conference on Wednesday night for his take on the arrest, to which he responded:
But I think it’s fair to say, number one, any of us would be pretty angry; number two, that the Cambridge police acted stupidly in arresting somebody when there was already proof that they were in their own home.
(Someone just got called stupid by the president of the United States!!)
And though outraged, Dr. Gates has been honorably tolerant of the situation, as the website Gawker points out.
He also granted an interview to his daughter, Elizabeth Gates, a contributor to the Daily Beast, in which he said:
If I had been white this incident never would have happened. He would have asked at the door, “Excuse me, are you okay? Because there are two black men around here try’na rob you [laughter] and I think he also violated the rules by not giving his name and badge number, and I think he would have given that to one of my white colleagues or one of my white neighbors. So race definitely played a role. Whether he’s an individual racist? I don’t know—I don’t know him. But I think he stereotyped me.
Gates’ take on the incident is insightful (we would expect nothing less), and we recommend reading the entire thing for a better understanding of the role of racism in his arrest.
So, what does everyone think? Is anyone outraged? Let’s hear it.
I’m not in the least outraged. Both parties should absorb blame. The real story surely falls somewhere between both counts of the incident. Gates acted like a pompous ass and the officer acted like an authoritative ass. Gates should have complied immediately. The officer should have left immediately after receiving the proper identification. That is all this story is composed of. Two people reacting antagonistically toward the situation instead of acting amicably.
By no means should the race issue be raised immediately. It is a strong accusation, and it is highly unlikely that this situation is related to it as
there were both black and white officers present.
If anything, this is a case of authoritative excess, which every citizen should be concerned with; however, the police officer is trained to be skeptical of the situation. Once Gates hurt the officer’s pride by questioning his authority, the officer acted exorbitantly and charged Gates with a minor crime, which amounted to a minor inconvenience. This is not tolerable as it could set precedent for more excessive policing if it were deemed adequate.
The real issue is authoritative excess.
Um, I must say, I was troubled by your comment, John. Even if Dr. Gates was a bit of a pompous ass when dealing with the officer (and there is no proof of that, it’s who you believe more), that did not warrant Dr. Gates being arrested. If he supplied proof, then that should have been it. Period. End of story. I would hope that no one would be arrested for acting slightly irritated toward a police officer. Would you share any blame if you were arrested for being irritated that a police officer pulled you over for getting a tip from someone that you might have stolen the car you were driving (assuming you hadn’t)? I don’t think so.
@V.
I clearly took no side here. Both parties were treated equally.
Your comment reinforced what I commented as far as the officer over stepping his bounds. But every citizen has a duty to comply with the police when an investigation is being conducted. As I said before, the true story is probably somewhere between each party’s account, which means that Gates did not comply initially and Crowley did abuse his authority by arresting him. Both actions are wrong.
I was simply alluding to the absence of the racial profiling charge that is so hyped up, and bringing up the more serious charge of authoritative excess.
Yes, I would share blame if I did not cooperate. Like it or not, the police have authority over us, which means we must comply. The likely scenario would play smoothly and amicably if the good Dr. Gates had been cooperative and polite, not accusatory and arrogant. Affluence and a high degree of education do not give one a free pass when it comes to one’s civic duty.
To be clear, the officer was in the wrong. He should have left as soon as he did receive proper identification if at all possible. But that does not excuse Gates for his actions.
Both men acted irresponsibly. Race did not play a part, arrogance and excess did. Period. End of story.
Here’s something interesting we came across on this topic, thanks to NPR:
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=106936583&sc=fb&cc=fp
“Officer Who Arrested Gates Teaches Diversity Class”
@ V: Any time you don’t comply with an officer’s orders you are basically giving the officer a reason to overreact. The charge probably dealt with the officer’s irritation, not with any race issue, and I think it was inappropriate for President Obama to comment in this situation. The officer’s arrest probably wasn’t necessary either, but Mr. Gates seems to be incorrect in his claim of racial profiling.
@kyle and V
wow. so do you think a white person in the same affluent neighborhood would have been arrested for doing the same thing….there is noo way. NO WAY! its not happening, and if it does, that cop will be fired…immidiately. I understand you guys trying to rationalize it, but the fact is. if he was white, he wouldnt have been arrested, and u know it.
Is anyone else as confused as I am about this: Why didn’t the neighbor know what Dr. Gates looked like, or better yet why didn’t she know he was black? If anyone should be accused of racial profiling it should be the neighbor who called the police in the first place. She was obviously vigilant (or nosy) enough to see “two black men” breaking into a house but not nosy enough to know what her neighbor looked like. She obviously assumed that there was no place for blacks in that type of neighborhood.
As for the officer and Dr. Gates I think there was a bit of arrogance and overblown male egos on both sides. But, I would feel a little defensive being a black person in one of those uppity neighborhoods and a police officer asks me to show ID in my own home making me feel like a criminal. However, the officer can’t protect people’s feelings, he has a job to do.
@Aaron
I am impressed by your astute and objective thinking. Also, your base knowledge of the operations of the Cambridge Police department is profound. Clearly, you have all of the answers.
Your thinking is based in racism. You are assuming that the affluent neighborhood is predominantly white and that white people are excused of crimes simply because they are white. This makes no sense at all. You have no idea about the area’s demographics. You and anybody else cannot know that a white offender would not be arrested in that neighborhood for the same offense. You are not an authority on race relations in that area. Even Gates, who is an authority on race relations, has now said that he would like to move on, which is contradictory to his initial stance in the situation.
Wonder why?
Crowley has been cleared by a review committee for his actions. There was a black officer present at the arrest who has said that Crowley did what should have been done. Several other black officers have spoken on his behalf. His Chief has said that his actions were consistent with his training. He has taught courses in diversity and the avoidance of racial profiling.
Wow, you’re right. This guy is a total racist.
This is not a case of racism. Stop trying to play it up.
I’m sure that racism still exists as it always will, but this instance is not based in it. You do a disservice to the civil rights struggle by being accusatory toward a civil servant who was clearly performing his duty to keep the peace.
I am still of the opinion that Gates needed not be arrested, but I am not a police officer, and I was not present that day. The officer that was there has a terrific record and is an eleven year veteran. How many years have you been an officer?
I challenge you to find one shred of evidence that this officer was acting on racial tendencies. It seems to me that Gates pulled the “race card” too quickly and you surely are too.
@Heather
The woman saw two men on the porch, and she saw one of them forcing his way into the door by shoving it with his shoulder. Both men had their backs turned to her as she drove by. Yes, she was in a moving car. Both men were dressed in dark clothing. She made a decision to err on the side of caution and called it in. Gates has thanked her for this, and he is at the center of the controversy. Give her a break, will you?
Gates could have easily avoided the situation if he simply displayed some sort of id when asked. The cop was just doing his job. Gates is the real racist here.
The cop is obviously a racist. Everybody knows black people can’t be racist.
@Heather
My mistake.
She was not in a moving car. She was responding to the information provided by someone else from a distance.
“I’ll talk to your mama outside”. Quite profound for a renown Harvard professor.
When two men with backpacks are trying to force open a door, it looks like a robbery. Gates mistake was assuming the cop was racist and calling the cop racist before anything went down. If you’re the cop, how are you going to act if the first thing this person does is call you a racist? I don’t blame the cop for being a bit cold towards the man. Everyone knows you don’t run outside after cops and start screaming at them. Did the cop need to arrest him? Probably not. Would a white person have been arrested if they acted in the same manner? Of course, the cop would have been annoyed either way.
After hearing that this guy has a history of crying racism at everything, I was pissed off. I bet this man waited his whole life to make headlines like this. To be the “victim” to racist cops. He says this isn’t about him, but it is. And Obama shouldn’t pull a Joe Biden and talk out of his ass. If you admittedly don’t know the full story, why are you going to call those cops stupid on national television?
Heather’s question is a good one, though it assumes that the woman who called 911 knew who lived in the house, and what they looked like. She didn’t, so she did what a concerned citizen does and called the cops. No problem there.
Police over-stepping their bounds is not acceptable. Arresting someone who did what you asked, even if it was accompanied by an attitude, is even more egregious. It would be one thing if the professor refused to show identification all together, but the fact that he showed verifiable ID and was still arrested is, to me, ridiculous.
For clarification, Cambridge is mostly white and has a higher rate of affluence than both the state of Massachusetts and the national average. The racial mix is better in Cambridge than in the rest of Massachusetts, but it is still very largely white. Also, race relations in MA are notoriously bad. While they may have improved, they are still not good. However, that is also not an uncommon phenomenon. The difference in this country between now and 50 or 60 years ago is that racism is better hidden. Argue if you want, but it is. Any place in the world where you have a diverse group of people, there is usually a history of racial tension; it’s part of human nature I suppose.
Dr. Gates, just returning from his trip to China and just having forced his way into his home, was probably already agitated before the officer arrived. To have a police officer arrive at your door, you present them two forms of identification (agitated or not), and them not leave would agitate any one. I seriously doubt that Dr. Gates was uncooperative when asked to prove that he lived in that house. I don’t believe he was upset and uncooperative; I believe that he became upset when the officer called Harvard to verify his identity and did not leave the house. It was the act of verifying what Dr. Gates told him that made the Dr. accuse him of racial profiling.
I would have been so inclined as well. Why is MA state ID and Harvard ID not enough to make you leave? If checking is within departmental code or not, I do not know. I do know that the police not taking my ID as proof of word, in my own house, would upset me greatly. I have had to force my way into my own house, prove my identity and residency to the police. They looked at my two forms of identification (PA driver’s license and La Salle Univ. ID) and left promptly. No checking was involved. Why is this any different?
The President was asked a question and he answered it with his opinion based on his knowledge at the time. Given the question, someone would have been upset whether he answered or not.
Aaron spoke from the general opinion of many African Americans in this country. Things like this do not happen (or happen very rarely) with two whites or with the races reversed. Whites are not accused of crimes simply because they are white; that is one of the Aaron’s major points. Would the woman have made the call if both men were white? No. Would the officer have arrested a white man in the same circumstances? No. Aaron’s answers are based on the opinions and experiences of many and I doubt that they are unfounded opinions. This is the country that just got around to apologizing for slavery. If this officer is not one who has had racial profiling issues, that is great. However, he is most likely an anomaly.
I’m sure Dr. Gates wants to move on now that he has exhausted the investigative process in Cambridge. If the proper authorities have decided that the officer acted appropriately, based on whatever their standards are, than the Dr. has no real recourse than to accept the decision and move on. Public and private opinions will differ, but the issue is now closed.
@Marcus
Gates was not arrested for failure to show identification. He was arrested for disorderly conduct, which is a charge with a loose set of criteria set for one’s impingement upon it. This law was not written by police officers, but they are charged with applying it.
Black people weren’t even allowed to use the same restrooms as white people 50 or 60 years ago. Today, black people work at Harvard. I’d say that is a pretty significant difference between now and then. Let’s please acknowledge the strides that have been made. It is ignorant not to do so.
From personal experience, police officers hold white people in contempt when they respond to inquiries with indignation. Contrary to what most think, the police treat hostile white people just the same as hostile black people. Both get put into a car or wagon and taken to jail if their attitudes do not permit the keeping of peace.
I am always impressed with the people who have the ability to answer hypothetical questions.
I am not saying that racism does not exist, but I am saying that this instance is not an example. By using this as an example, you exacerbate the problem.
Oh yeah, it is just plain stupid to say that white people are not accused of crimes simply because they are white. I’ll be sure to say that to the next officer who catches me speeding.
“Don’t you know I’m white! I couldn’t possibly be accused of speeding!”
@John
I do not disregard the strides our society has made nor do I feel that they are insignificant. I simply am saying that there are still more things to be done. Black people have worked at Harvard for years, they just didn’t teach there. While blacks may now teach at Harvard and hold other highly regarded positions, they have often worked much harder than many to get to the same places as their colleagues. Arriving at a place like Harvard is a huge stride, and no one denies it. The road to get there is where the criticisms and concerns lie.
Also, it is not plain stupid to assume that whites are not accused of crimes based solely on their race. Getting caught speeding is not a race-discriminate crime; you were caught in the act. Being a black man driving his white wife home is, apparently.
I was pulled over because the officer “thought [my] left tail light was out.” My tail lights were fine, but the officer felt that he needed to check out the situation. Once I got out and checked, the officer proceeded to ask me if everything was okay; my “passenger looked distressed.” That was the real reason that he pulled me over. I said my wife was fine, that she was returning home from a hospital stay, and that he was out of line. The officer was checking because he was “concerned”, apologized for disturbing me, which I do believe is absent from Dr. Gates’ situation, and I went on my way. Should I have been arrested for disorderly conduct? For clarity, this is not a hypothetical question.
Being caught doing a crime and being suspected of one even after proof has been administered to the contrary, as in Dr. Gates’ case, are two different things. Do not confuse the two. The lingering suspicion of the officer is the point in contention and is why there are dissenting opinions.
I am glad that the proper investigation into this matter has taken place and that this officer’s actions have been cleared. If the officer was absolutely devoid of racial motivation, for instance when the call came through, we will never know. However, we know that he acted appropriately based on the opinions of the review board. You feel that this is not an instance of racial profiling, fine. But others are free to feel differently and express their opinions, even if you disagree or feel that their opinion is stupid.
@Marcus
Since there are more “things to be done,” maybe you can give a few examples.
Since we’re sharing personal stories, I’ll share a story that demonstrates that white people can be harassed based on their race too. A few years ago, I was driving through a part of Baltimore that I was completely unfamiliar with as I was new to the city. It looked much like the rest of Baltimore, but the residents were predominantly black, which was evident. I wasn’t in the area for more than 10 minutes before I was pulled over. I hadn’t violated any law to my knowledge. I was immediatley asked to “step out of the car” and told to walk with him to his car. He told me that I ran a stop sign, but I didn’t. He then asked me why I was in the neighborhood. I told him, but he wasn’t satisfied. He then asked if I had anything that “he should know about” in the car. I said no. He asked if I minded if I searched the vehicle. Again, I said no. He then searched the car, and proceeded to search me. Of course, he found nothing. Now, should I cry about him searching me and my vehicle? I believe not as I am sure that he had experience in the neighborhood and knew what he was doing. Did he pull me over because I was white in a black neighborhood? I am positive of this. The profiling market isn’t cornered by black people.
As you can see, I was suspected of a crime simply because I was white, which completely discounts Aaron’s assumption/opinion. This is not hypothetical. If I had reacted indignantly toward his requests, I’m sure he would have been much more unpleasant to deal with. But I complied, and he was done in a matter of minutes.
I try not to have an incident like this cloud my judgment of the police, and you should too. Most of them are just trying to do their job to the best of their ability. But I’m sure there are a few cops who act inappropriately.
Again, Gates was arrested for disorderly conduct, not breaking and entering, which was the original reason for the presence of the police. You are mixing the two up. Now, I believe that he should not have been arrested, but it seems that the officer acted within the law, which is the issue here. There was no mention of race in the calls from Whalen except that one of the men may have been hispanic. She later told Crowley when he arrived that the two men may have been black. Where’s the profiling? He was responding to a call.
Oh, yeah. I never received a ticket for running that stop sign, and I didn’t receive an apology. So it seems you made out better than I.
@Marcus
Of course you should not have been arrested for disorderly conduct. You said one time that “he was out of line,” which is your right. And then it seems that you dropped it like any reasonable person.
But your wife was returning from the hospital, which, I assume, is why she looked distressed. Had your wife been kidnapped by a man and the police officer pulled him over for the same reason, you would have been thankful. You can’t have your cake and eat it too.
@John
The indignation of Dr. Gates and others is because of that the officer did not leave and that the officer arrested Dr. Gates for being rightly unpleasant about the officers presence in his house. The supposed profiling is in the officer not leaving which is what contributed to Dr. Graves’ incensed behavior.
For clarity I am not confused about the charges against Dr. Gates nor do I believe that blacks are the only ones who are racially profiled. I do not believe that Dr. Gates’ conduct was disorderly enough to warrant an arrest and you would have been within your right to complain or act indignantly. You simply decided not to. Racial profiling happens on every front and is unacceptable period.
When incidents like this happen in a pattern, it clouds our judgment. It is easy to have an incident happen and decide it is a fluke. I assume that people are just trying to do their job the first couple times, but the third, fourth, and fifth time that these thing happen, in different places, clouding commences. When these issues constantly crop up and become a frequent occurrence, clouding commences.
If my wife had been in the scenario you suggested, while I would have been grateful for her return, I would have been grateful that the officer violated a potentially innocent citizen’s rights to find her. If that were to become a common practice, due to the potential for good, a dangerous precedent would be set. I would rather she be found due to good detective work and not right infringement.
You asked for a few things to be done, here are a few examples. A black man is the head of a brand for a major company and has his whole division dismantled, without notice, because his department is “no longer necessary.” The department is the most profitable brand division in the region and the eighth nationally. The divisions responsibilities are then given to a member of the third-most profitable regional brand division, but given a different name and purpose. New on paper, but the same in function as the old division. The new director happens to be white.
A professor is up for tenure. Her responsibility was to do research in her content area, publish it, teach six classes, and meet with students upon their request. She has published her research in journal and book form, forged relationships with local groups in her content area, and made way for major funding for her department through grants and vendor engagements. She also has been engaged to speak at conventions internationally in her content area as well as made sure to be available to her students. She has received top marks on the end-of-semester professor evaluations completed by students every previous year, she is the most sought after teacher in her department, and she has attracted top graduate assistants to her department. She is passed over for tenure due to her “failure to fulfill her duties.” Upon further explanation, it is presumed that she could not properly devote her time to her students because she was too involved.
Tenure is given to a colleague who has published, taught her assigned classes, and met with students during office hours and upon request. No funding was done, no recruiting was done, and not international speaking engagements were had. The professor was eventually granted a fully tenured associate professorship when the dean was embarrassed to say that she was just an adjunct professor at the university during a ceremony in her honor held by the national organization that first published her work.
Wow, where do you guys at the always reliable (?) USDemocrazy get your facts from? If you’d actually look into the story you’d know the majority of what you published is false.
Let’s start with the basics. The woman who dialed 911 wasn’t the original witness of the two men trying to gain entry to the house. She was using her cell phone to help an elderly woman who had spotted the men but had no access to a phone. If you listen to the conversation between the dispatcher and the woman on the line (which you can, it’s available on every major news site), she never once describes the men as “two black males with backpacks on the porch”. Nor did she ever confirm that they were trying to force entry. Not only that, when asked the race of the men, she doesn’t even give a legitimate response! At one point she does say “One looked kind of hispanic, I’m not sure,” but anyone would admit that that hardly sounds racist.
Moving on! After the release of the audio between Sgt. Crowley and the dispatcher, it is obvious that Dr. Gates was not cooperative. Overheard in the background are sounds of a struggle and shouting (no doubt from Dr. Gates). The police officer states “the gentleman says he resides here but is not cooperative,”. Throughout the entire audio clip (again, available anywhere online) the officer is calm and respectful. The police report states that Dr. Gates refused to show identification and began yelling at the officers.
President Obama was way too quick to criminalize the very people who were merely doing their job. Without an understanding of ALL THE FACTS (are you listening USDemocrazy?), Obama defended a friend he feared would lose credibility instead of standing up for the men and women in blue doing nothing more than what is expected of them. I’m standing up and taking a side in saying Obama and Gates are in the wrong and the Cambridge Police Force is being played off to the American people as the big, bad, racist police team.
Let’s grow up, people. If you’re rude and uncooperative with a police officer, it’s never going to end well. Does not matter the race.
@Marcus
Being unpleasant is different than following the officer and yelling at him. Once a crowd starts to gather in response to an individual disturbing the peace, the officer has a duty to keep that peace in any lawful manner possible. This is where disorderly conduct comes in. To be sure, the officer was leaving the house. The situation was over. It was Gates who intended to prolong the situation by antagonizing the officer in a manner that disturbed the peace.
Although I believe that the arrest was excessive, it has been found that Crowley acted within the law. That means that he did not infringe upon any rights. He was not cleared by one person but many people of at least three different races.
You are right. It was within my right to be indignant, but I chose to be polite and professional so that the officer could do what he thought was his job. By employing police, we entrust a certain amount of judgment to them. We could get rid of the police, but I think that would result in an entirely larger set of issues. I am sure it saved me time and worry. If I became too indignant, the officer would have to secure me in order to keep the peace and to search my car, which I gave him permission to do. If there is nothing to hide, the easiest way is to cooperate. This is not to say that a police officer can invade my personal property with no lawful reason.
What right did that officer who pulled you over infringe upon? Please be specific. And he apologized and assured you that he was concerned. What more did you want from him? He didn’t arrest you. He simply pulled you over, which any officer can do for any lawful reason. I suspect that the appearance of a distressed individual would fall under probable cause.
Frequent occurrence? Do you get pulled over for being black every other Wednesday or something? The days of throwing black men in jail simply for being black are gone. And I am sure that this has happened in the past. But thanks to the many black and white people who sacrificed so much to right the wrongs that our society produced, this is, for the most part, history. For clarity, I am against any injustice thrust upon any person in correlation to that person’s race. I believe “all men are created equal”.
Also, it is hard to hold an argument when you admit that you have clouded judgment.
@Marcus
Where are the “things to be done?” You gave me examples of “things” that you perceive as being racially prejudiced situations. The two or three examples (you become turbid at the end) you gave me are examples of highly political situations, in which many different elements could be deciding factors.
Getting pulled over 6 times in 18 months is often enough. Also, our experiences shape our perspective. If I can’t disagree with you because my perspective is different than yours and “clouded” by my experiences, than what is the point of commenting or having discourse?
If pulling me over for the appearance of a “distressed passenger” was within probable cause, I think the officer would have said so instead of lying about a tail light. Officers can’t just pull you over because they want to, for whatever reason, but they do. Both of us have given an example of this. Taking a precautionary approach to keeping the peace, as in our cases, is going to mean you get some good with the bad.
Our experiences are obviously different. There are several instances in my recollection where police are followed outside by screaming individuals and are greeted by crowds as they leave. No one gets arrested for “disturbing the peace.” This is the oddity that has caused outrage. Was Dr. Gates’ overly animated, surely. But this is not abnormal in my experience.
@Marcus
Any place where “there are several instances” of police being “followed outside by screaming individuals” that doesn’t have a bundle of arrests sounds like fantasy land to me. Give me one example that isn’t personal.
Also, read Massachusetts law for disorderly conduct. It is loose and up to the discretion of the officer. If Gates was smart, he would have cooperated and been done with the situation. Gates was being uncooperative and accusatory; therefore, Crowley lingered and waited to receive the identification. Calling Gates’ actions animated is a down play.
If your judgment is clouded, how can it be expected that you be objective when analyzing any situation? It is required that one be objective in order to accurately analyze a situation. The point of having a discourse is to discuss the issues at hand, but when you admittedly have clouded judgment, you lose all credibility.
Police being treated the way the Gates treated the officer Crowley happens even if it doesn’t happen in your part of the country. I live in Philadelphia, and it is not uncommon for police to deal with that sort of behavior. This is not just black people, but is shared behavior among the ethnics and the lower social-economic level people. The police are an unwelcome intrusion, especially because a lot of us grew up seeing them being corrupt and unjust. If that is your experience, you can’t really see cops any other way.
The fact that you even bother to continue responding to this guy says that he has some credibility, unless you like wasting your time and hearing yourself talk. Since you have all the answers John, tell me how do you have unclouded judgment if your judgment is on what you see while you’re living? What’s to say that your judgment is just not informed enough and the judgment you call clouded is seeing clearly? Please, go on and show us all how brilliant you are by proving me and everyone else wrong with your impartial logic.
@ John
Dr. Gates didn’t cause what I would call a real scene. People gather, in my experience, whenever police arrive somewhere. These people witnessing an irate citizen brow-beating an officer is not what I would call a scene, though I doubt you would agree with me on that.
You want a non-personal example, try Southeast Washington DC, or Philadelphia as Al said. My college roommate lives and works in SE DC. People giving police a hard way to go is not unusual and is actually basically the standard. Police are not seen as civil-servants who keep the peace, they are seen as pests who disturb it. Whether they are corrupt, as Al said, or just bothersome, the police rarely are seen as protagonists. You could probably find some people who feel the same way in Baltimore, where you were profiled and pulled over without apology.
When your life is accentuated with experiences, to assume that these experiences are anomalies is foolish. Instead they become part of your perspective and affect how you view the world. Since you now seem to have learned the art of answering the hypothetical, who is to say what constitutes “objective judgment?” Since I have no credibility, feel free to ignore me.
@Al
I am just jaded, so my opinion is of course invalid and I have lost all credibility. As John said, my credibility is shot because I “admittedly have clouded judgment.” I haven’t just lived a little and seen a little, I have no credibility to use to engage in discourse and debate. My analysis of this situation is clearly off. Leave this objective fellow be; he is only attempting to enlighten me to the truth behind the shroud I call my perspective. He is clearly the shining example which we should all follow in analyzing this situation.
Highly political situations are used to mask real issues. When you can cloud the issues and dynamics with politics, there is a plausible, thinly-veiled, explanation for the situation and result. This is what I meant by the race issues being more discreet.
Do you mean to tell me that the professor was less deserving of her eventual position than her colleague? Or that the man who’s brand division was cut held a position that was truly unnecessary? Oh, I forgot to mention that once the brand division responsibilities were taken over, that particular division was never nearly as profitable or successful in that region as it was previously.
Another example.
A woman, who goes to my church, walks into a bank wearing sweat pants, old sneakers and a too-large tee shirt and is hastled by security and ignored by the counter tellers. When she is finally seen and her account information is retrieved, it is discovered that this woman happens to be a multi-millionaire who has come in on her way home from the gym.
The same woman is pulled over later that day because she is driving her royal blue Dodge Neon in her bum clothes through her affluent neighborhood. The officer gives a lame excuse for pulling her over, asks if has lost the owners house and asks for license and registration. When the officer finds out that she is mistaken, she says to the woman, “Ms., you just looked so out of place. Maybe next time, if you present yourself more like you belong here, we won’t stop you.” As you can imagine she was incensed and called the appropriate authorities. The case was reviewed and the officer’s actions were cleared by a mixed-race group.
Getting a pass from the reviewing authority does not always mean much to me. However, the issue is over and done. Dr. Gates is satisfied and wished to move forward and so does the woman from my church. Now we just have to move forward with our lives.
[...] that Mr. Obama had invited Sergeant Crowley of the Cambridge police force (the arresting officer in the ballad of Henry Louis Gates and the Law) to join Dr. Gates for a beer at the White House (to take place today!), we thought it was a [...]