Life got a bit too interesting for a Harvard Professor last week, and it made the news via a strange path. The President of the USA was asked about it during a Press Conference on Health Care. We all remember the health care debate, don’t we? In any event, it was such an unusual occurrence, that we have not heard the end of it, though the Health Care Debate seems to be off to a LOUSY START. Stupid, if you ask me, but nobody did. Oh HELL and PICKLES, that word, “STUPID” can get me in trouble.
I cannot recall the last time a History Professor was arrested for disorderly conduct. I think this is the first time ever that a disorderly conduct arrest has been a topic in a Presidential Press Conference. I could be wrong. But if the arrest of a professor for disorderly conduct was a topic once I missed it. Nobody missed this one. The president said a police officer “acted stupidly.” I guess that understatement is going to create more fireworks than it already has.
The word should have had more emphasis. The Police Sargent acted “STUPIDLY” is more like it. Too bad words cannot be spoken in all caps and BIG type.
Now that’s out of the way. You all know where I stand on cops arresting History Professors on their front stoops for being “disorderly” – whatever that means. I am not going to argue that point. The cop was acting like a damned fool with a gun, and probably should reconsider his position as instructor on racial sensitivity at the police academy. If he doesn’t, the Police Chief should. Yes, one of the Boston Papers reported, probably incorrectly, that the Sargent in question instructs other officers on racial sensitivity. If it is true, and I am not insisting that it is, Boston has a deeper problem than we are discussing here.
I have talked this incident over with some people I know who pay more attention to Professor Gates than I do, and they tell me the man is “feisty” and proud of his heritage, which includes a number of recent Caucasian ancestors. Professor Gates himself has enumerated it, and, according to my legal sources, he says he is 66% white. I don’t personally know that is true, but I trust my sources, and will protect their identity too. I used the word feisty, advisedly, I did not want to say “uppity,” that is insensitive, and we all know it is. However that is the crux of the problem here. We all Know, AND some of us know better than others, that racism is a problem. In the event that YOU don’t know it is a problem, let me quote the recently elected 50% white President of the USA, “I think we know separate and apart from this incident is that there is a long history in this country of African-Americans and Latinos being stopped by law enforcement disproportionately. And that's just a fact.” The President, went on to say, “And even when there are honest misunderstandings, the fact that Blacks and Hispanics are picked up more frequently and often time for no cause, cast suspicion, even when there is good cause, and that's why I think the more that we're working with local law enforcement to improve policing techniques so that we're eliminating potential bias, the safer everybody's going to be.”
The real issue, as I see it, is DENIAL OF RACISM IN AMERICA. Again I could be wrong. I haven’t the academic credentials necessary to say for sure that there is racism in the USA. The Cop says he was, “not racially motivated” when he arrested the professor for disorderly conduct. I will believe him. Now, why in hell did he charge the professor with disorderly conduct? SO FAR, I have not heard or seen any report that shows disorderly conduct, the professor denies being disorderly, the incident took place in the professor’s home, and the charges were dropped, after a few hours of heel cooling in a holding cell.
Well, if I had just gotten home from an Atlantic Crossing by Air and a few weeks of making movies in Africa, and a cop showed up at my house to investigate a burglary that was ME opening a jammed door at High Noon in an upscale Boston neighborhood, at my house, I might have called for backup cops myself. I cannot put myself in Professor Henry Louis “Skip” Gates shoes. He walks with a cane, he says he is suffering from a lingering case of bronchitis and cannot actually shout, and the cop says he was disorderly. I guess leaving a suitcase in the living room with dirty shirts in it is a bit disorderly. I think both Gates and the Police are fortunate that the Professor had the presence of mind to not beat the Sargent down with that cane.
Professor Gates answered the door when the police showed up holding a cordless telephone. Amadou Diallo Pulled a cell phone out in New York City and got shot 41 times. Now Professor, aren’t you glad it was daytime and the cops could see you were holding a PHONE, and not a bazooka.
It is time for cooler heads to prevail, and if Professor Henry Louis “Skip” Gates wants to set aside a BIG chunk of money for his retirement, he certainly has the City of Boston in a very tight spot. He should sue for a dollar. But he should SUE.
Addenda
Obama has had a conversation with Police Sargent Crowley.
http://www.cnn.com/2009/US/07/24/officer.gates.arrest/index.html
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Comments: 23 ( 1 removed by Karl Leuba )
It is also reported that the Professor is a friend of Obama's, and was acting on what he teaches about, Racial Discrimination. The only thing is, the Cop in question, is known by many to be a very open and reiable source that has never shown any racial aggression, unlike the Professor.
What aggravated the cop was that Professor Gates kept demanding to know his name and badge number--which Professor Gates was within his legal right to demand of the officer. I always had the attitude when inmates asked me for my name, etc. just make sure you spell it right...and I would write it down! That's the difference between knowing you're within you legal right(writing the information down) and being an ass (refusing to give the information that the subject has asked for and then arresting them just to prove to him who can pee better in the snow).
Notice the LIES!
A couple of the points made (and the two ranking officers were in agreement) was this:
The cops responding to the call were doing their job to protect Prof. Gate's property. (Check-no prob.)
Personally, I really get that there is probably an adrenalin rush blasting through the responders. Sometimes that is hard to knock down. (Check-possible issue.)
The trainer stated that officers responding have a duty to de-escalate situations also. Not to escalate them. His direct quote was, "First and foremost--Do No Harm."
(Check. Good idea.)
The "expert witness" for the media interview stated that that theme is stressed during their training, throughout, but might need to be stressed even more. (Check--increase training--step 1.)
The media blew it up, as is their way, and took it to the president who is neither a cop, nor was he a witness to the event. However, I bet he knows how it feels to be harrassed? (Check--You betcha! and probably had experienced similar events even before the election harrassment.)
Yes, My Prez Obama made the comment that the cop acted stupidly (which I think we can all agree on, racial bias aside.) The POTUS has since retracted the comment, and apologized via the media for making the comment in the first place. Which seems to be the action of a man of character. (Check. Fits with Obama's way of being.)
The cop in question, exhibiting a remarkable lack of this same character trait, absolutely refuses to apologize to the homeowner. (Check. Problem or symptom?)
Okay, kids, say you're sorry and move on.
Gates can say he's sorry he stepped out on the porch...and the cop can apologize for harrassing the professor at his own home.
The lesson here?
Is racism alive and well in America? You betcha!
Have we seen this going on for the last 100-200 years? You Betcha!
I do think, had the professor been pure white, the cops would have "acted differently."
They would NOT have escalated the situation, and we would instead be focused where we need to be focused...back on healthcare issues and global warming, and the war, and the economy, and...and...and.
Wilka
Why don't you just say it?
This explains the mentallity of the brutal murder of Emmit Till.
He too was uppity when he whistled at a white woman and paid for it with his life.
We need more Klan to check their uppityness!
And Marilyn if a college professor, and a Harvard Professor at that, gets arrested being prideful what keeps all the others out of the jail house? And if looking down on cops, an all American Passtime more popular than baseball, is a jail offense, WE NEED MORE JAILS AND WE NEED THEM NOW!!!