Henry Louis Gates Jr.

[xeus]

Apparently Professor Gates thinks the police officer is a racist because he had the audacity to arrest him for disorderly conduct. But the police report indicates Gates got just what he was asking for.

I have defended a few DC cases here in Ohio. Generally the charges are brought for one reason - someone is being a dick. In this case, it sounds pretty much like Professor Gates was being a dick to the arresting officer.

Does Professor Gates think he would have gotten away with that crap if it had been a black cop? What if a black cop had come to the door and asked for his identification? Would Gates have gone on his tirade about being a "black man in America"?

This whole thing stinks, it's another unfortunate event for race relations, but in this case Professor Gates has no one to blame but himself.

[Kahns Krazy]

I think if cops show up on my property for what turns out to be a non-issue, I should be able to say whatever the hell I want to them while they are on my property. It's a different issue if there is physical contact, but cops shouldn't be on my property.

Once there was any evidence that the guy was in his own home, the cops need to back off. I don't care if someone is calling them goat f**king pigs that dream of relations with their own mothers. They have no reason to be there.

[GuyFawkes38]

I think if cops show up on my property for what turns out to be a non-issue, I should be able to say whatever the hell I want to them while they are on my property. It's a different issue if there is physical contact, but cops shouldn't be on my property.

Once there was any evidence that the guy was in his own home, the cops need to back off. I don't care if someone is calling them goat f**king pigs that dream of relations with their own mothers. They have no reason to be there.

I heard a police officer interviewed who said that the police officers were likely worried about domestic abuse.

Apparently Gates said his wife locked him out. That might have caused the cops to be worried about Gates enough to stay on the scene just to make sure there wasn't something else up.

Edit: I'm not sure if I buy that explanation. I think when it comes down to it, we don't really have free speech in the US when it comes to speaking with cops.

[xeus]

I think if cops show up on my property for what turns out to be a non-issue, I should be able to say whatever the hell I want to them while they are on my property. It's a different issue if there is physical contact, but cops shouldn't be on my property.

Once there was any evidence that the guy was in his own home, the cops need to back off. I don't care if someone is calling them goat f**king pigs that dream of relations with their own mothers. They have no reason to be there.

That's a nice thought, but that's not how it works.

And for the record, the cop did back off after he knew it was Gates' home. It was Gates who decided to escalate the situation.

The only reason Gates called Crowley a racist is because Crowley is white - not because Gates is black. Isn't Gates the one making racist assumptions here? Gates attacked Crowley because of the color of his skin.

I am glad Crowley has refused to "play the game" and apologize.

[Juice]

The neighbor called the cops because he saw Gates trying to get back into the house. The neighbor didn't recognize Gates so the neighbor called the cops. The neighbor and cop both did the right think in showing up because according to the story, there had been a string of break ins in the area.

I have no idea what escalated the incident but I wonder how the cop is racist when he came to check on Gates' home plus he can't be racist because he is the one who puts his lips on Reggie Lewis 16 years ago in hopes of bringing him back.

http://deadspin.com/5321409/cop-who-arrested-henry-louis-gates-not-a-racist-because-he-once-put-his-lips-on-a-dying-black-athlete

[bobbiemcgee]

That's a nice thought, but that's not how it works.

And for the record, the cop did back off after he knew it was Gates' home. It was Gates who decided to escalate the situation.

The only reason Gates called Crowley a racist is because Crowley is white - not because Gates is black. Isn't Gates the one making racist assumptions here? Gates attacked Crowley because of the color of his skin.

I am glad Crowley has refused to "play the game" and apologize.

Nobody was "attacked" ...just stupid words being exchanged. The cop macho'd up and slapped the cuffs on...."you're under arrest for invoking the race card"... 5 hours of nonsense ensued, a waste of taxpayer money. NO WAY he would ever be convicted, well, maybe in Hamilton County.

[xeus]

Nobody was "attacked" ...just stupid words being exchanged. The cop macho'd up and slapped the cuffs on...."you're under arrest for invoking the race card"... 5 hours of nonsense ensued, a waste of taxpayer money. NO WAY he would ever be convicted, well, maybe in Hamilton County.

You obviously have not read the report.

[bobbiemcgee]

guess you didn't...."arrest the disabled in their own house'...tough coppers in cambridge.

http://www.thesmokinggun.com/archive/years/2009/0723092gates1.html

[Snipe]

If a black cop came to my house for a legitimate reason and I verbally abused him and called him the N word I could see myself getting arrested too. Ultimately I would probably get off in court, but who knows.

I think the law sides with Gates, yet I have no sympathy for him. He was in the house that Harvard provides for him. It was private property and his home. We have a first Amendment. I think if this goes before a judge Gates wins, because you have the right to be a complete asshole in your own home. What I don't get is why everyone is so sympathetic to a man who acted like a complete asshole.

If you reverse the situation and put me with a black cop, I don't think anyone would give me one bit of sympathy. The cop should have walked away, but that doesn't make Gates any less of an asshole. And we wouldn't know about it today. You have to wonder how many times he has pulled this crap, and he is a tenured Harvard prof. Dispicable.

So yeah, you have a right to be an asshole in your own home, but that still makes you an asshole. I hope the officer doesn't get reprimanded. I think if I called a black police officer the N-word I doubt he would get reprimanded for cuffing me and taking me for a ride.

I wish the black policeman on the scene would comment on the issue. I am sure he doesn't want too. Gates got Ogletree as his lawyer and Sharpton was probably on a plane within an hour. It was going to be the black power hour. Even the President came to his defense. If that black cop backed up his partner he would be labled an Uncle Tom and get threats. You can see that coming a mile away. Hell, the hispanic fireman in the Ricci case (Sotomayor) got threats for joining a lawsuit because he deserved a promotion based upon his test scores. You got to give it up to liberals and their identity politics run amok. What crap.

[bobbiemcgee]

I absolutely agree the guy's a total asshole. Disagree with the arrest.

[Nigel Tufnel]

You obviously have not read the report.

Obviously I have no idea what actually happened during this incident, but reading a police report doesn't necessarily mean that is an accurate description of the events that occurred.

Neither here nor there....and on a complete side note, I've reviewed hundreds of police reports in the last 10 years and this particular one really stood out to me because of the way it was written. This has to be the most well written police report I've ever seen. Not to mention the vocabulary and rhetoric in the report. As a defense attorney, I would certainly question whether the officer actually typed that report. Now, before I offend anyone, I'm not trying to attack the intelligence of a police officer...honestly, I'm not....but that is one incredibly well written police report.

[Snipe]

I think if cops show up on my property for what turns out to be a non-issue, I should be able to say whatever the hell I want to them while they are on my property. It's a different issue if there is physical contact, but cops shouldn't be on my property.

Once there was any evidence that the guy was in his own home, the cops need to back off. I don't care if someone is calling them goat f**king pigs that dream of relations with their own mothers. They have no reason to be there.


I heard a police officer interviewed who said that the police officers were likely worried about domestic abuse.

Apparently Gates said his wife locked him out. That might have caused the cops to be worried about Gates enough to stay on the scene just to make sure there wasn't something else up.

Edit: I'm not sure if I buy that explanation. I think when it comes down to it, we don't really have free speech in the US when it comes to speaking with cops.


Where did you hear that Gates said his wife locked him out?

I don't think I saw any of that.

To address Kahns, Police sometimes need some time to access the situation, especially if something doesn't feel right. The man had to bust in his own front door. Did he have keys? Was it really jammed? Did his wife change the locks, as Guy suggested he said (I can't find that). As an officer you can't just take everyone's word. Imagine if every police call could be waived off by a man in his home? Where is his wife? Is she bleeding in the basement? You don't know. Has she filed a restraining order, should you check? The officer asked Gates if anyone else was in the house, and he refused to answer.

Think about those things. Gates was not acting normally. I could see an officer going on instinct and thinking that something was wrong. Taking him downtown gives you time to sort things out and also lets you make sure he doesn't hurt himself or anyone else.

Domestic violence laws are written in such a way that if my wife called the police on any given night and claimed she was beaten or that I threatened her they would come to my house and take me away to jail for the evening to let things cool down. It is discrimination, but any woman in America can do it. You home isn't your castle if your lady decides to put you in the slammer. I have seen it happen when I was a kid. A husband wouldn't let his drunk wife drink, so she called the cops and claimed he hit her. He was locked up for the evening, and she called a cab and got more booze. Spectacular!

You can get arrested for disorderly conduct or disturbing the peace on your own property. It can happen. I do tend to side with Gates on this (even though he is an asshole), but this isn't as clearly cut as you might think. That officer was within his right to be there, and Gates was disorderly.

I wonder if the man was under the influence of drugs. Somebody drove him home, and did he even have his keys? Maybe his keys didn't work. His reaction to a routine police call makes him seem out of touch. If you are a cop you have to put it all together quickly. Why is this guy acting like this? Is something else going on? We have the advantage of the monday morning quarterback. We know his wife wasn't bleeding in the basement. The cop didn't know that.

I am torn on the issue myself. I respect policemen and I don't like people that don't respect policemen. On the other hand, policemen are representatives of the state, and I can't see why anyone should get arrested in his own home for not showing proper respect for the state. It would be a dangerous precident. I don't want cops coming into my home and making me bow before the state. That would piss me off.

I think that Gates is right within the law, but I don't think the policeman was out of line. It is a grey area. I am also quite sure Gates is an asshole.

Makes me think of Ruby Ridge, where you had a racist asshole but the FBI went way over the line. I think the cop did the best he could.

[Snipe]

Obviously I have no idea what actually happened during this incident, but reading a police report doesn't necessarily mean that is an accurate description of the events that occurred.

Neither here nor there....and on a complete side note, I've reviewed hundreds of police reports in the last 10 years and this particular one really stood out to me because of the way it was written. This has to be the most well written police report I've ever seen. Not to mention the vocabulary and rhetoric in the report. As a defense attorney, I would certainly question whether the officer actually typed that report. Now, before I offend anyone, I'm not trying to attack the intelligence of a police officer...honestly, I'm not....but that is one incredibly well written police report.

Read the police report, then read the statement by Gates. You tell me who is telling the truth. They had witnesses that backed up the police. Gates was causing a scene. Gates tells a fantasy where he had no confrontational speech and he was surprised to even be arrested. He acts like the cuffs were completely out of the blue. He is full of shit.

And that police report better be written well. Gates was threatening a lawsuit right off the bat with his racist rhetoric. "This is what happens to a black man in America" was his frame of mind from the outset. And he has gotten support from black leaders and activists all the way up the chain to the President of the United States.

That policeman's career was on the line from the onset with the racial allegations. He better write an accurate report if he is going to cuff him.

[xeus]

I've reviewed hundreds of police reports in the last 10 years and this particular one really stood out to me because of the way it was written. This has to be the most well written police report I've ever seen. Not to mention the vocabulary and rhetoric in the report. As a defense attorney, I would certainly question whether the officer actually typed that report. Now, before I offend anyone, I'm not trying to attack the intelligence of a police officer...honestly, I'm not....but that is one incredibly well written police report.

Ha - I had the exact same thought - best written police report I've ever read.

[XU 87]

Apparently Professor Gates thinks the police officer is a racist because he had the audacity to arrest him for disorderly conduct.

Actually, Professor Gates called the cop a racist well before getting arrested. He thought the cop was a racist for having the audacity to investigate an alleged break in and then having the even greater audacity to ask Professor Gates for his ID.

[BBC 08]

The cop can't be a racist, he put his mouth on Reggie Lewis and tried to save him

[BBC 08]

My post is sarcastic for those wondering. I hate that logic from people accused of being racist. "Oh, look at me, I have black friends (insert action with black people here) therefore I can't be racist."

[DC Muskie]

I just want to say, I try and make it a point not to mouth off to people who have guns on them.

[XUglow]

I just want to say, I try and make it a point not to mouth off to people who have guns on them.

Agree 100%.

[SM#24]

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090724/ap_on_re_us/us_harvard_scholar_arresting_officer
more info on the cop

[Snipe]

My post is sarcastic for those wondering. I hate that logic from people accused of being racist. "Oh, look at me, I have black friends (insert action with black people here) therefore I can't be racist."

Why do you hate that logic? If someone called me racist I would point to my black friends. How do you go about proving that you are not a racist? Is there a better way? Anyone can say they aren't a racist, so people try to point to life experience and the people that they surround themselves with. You can tell a lot about a person by the company they keep.

This guy shouldn't even have to defend himself from charges of racism. There is no evidence of racism. How do you prove that you are not a racist? And when did you stop beating your wife?

[XUglow]

I was teaching high school about 30 years ago. I had a couple of black girls that were talking to each other while I was teaching class. I asked them to stop. They kept it up, so I asked them to stand in the hall until class was over. When I finished my lesson, I stepped into the hall to tell them they could return to class. One of the girls said, "You only put us outside because we are black. You're a racist." I then proceeded to escort her to the principal's office. The black principal called her mom, who was teaching at the junior high campus next door over to the school. The 4 of us then talked about what transpired. When the mom was told that her daughter called me a racist, she got quite angry with her daughter and said, "You didn't just insult him. You insulted every civil rights worker that had to fight true racism so you would have the opportunity to sit in this man's classroom. You better thank your lucky stars that you don't know what true racism is."

That was chemistry class. I had Clara again the next year in physics, and she was one of my favorite students.

[Snipe]

That is a cool story Glow. I agree with the mother. Crying racism also can give you the boy who cried wolf syndrome. If it happens too much we may not pay attention when actual racism rears its ugly head.

Back to Gatesgate:

Link (http://www.edition.cnn.com/2009/US/07/24/officer.gates.arrest/index.html?iref=hpmostpop)


Gates' legal team argues that authorities are misrepresenting the professor and the officer, and Gates has said he is determined to keep the issue alive despite the charges being dropped.

"This is not about me; this is about the vulnerability of black men in America," he said this week.

Ogletree said Gates might sue the department and would bring forward witnesses who say they've had similar experiences with Crowley.

When asked for examples, Ogletree said only that they may come out in time depending on how the police department handles the situation moving forward.

"I think you will be hearing much more complex and different perspective on him [Crowley] in the coming days and weeks," Ogletree said, alleging that Crowley "is well-known among people, particularly young people, for some of his police practices."

Tell me that is not a threat.

The story refuses to die and people appear to be doubling down.

There is talk of releasing the police tapes and the 911 call. Would you want to be the woman who called in the initial report? What will that mean to good samaritans in the future.

If those police recordings are not favorable to Mr. Gates, I could see his threats to surpress them in the "situation moving forward". If they have got him screaming like an idiot on tape, it will not bode well for him or President Stupidly.

[bobbiemcgee]

I don't think the cop is a racist. He told the old fart to go outside cuz he couldn't hear his radio (his problem, not the old fart's....duh, get an earpiece), then he slaps the cuffs on for "disturbing" the handful of people and cops outside. Just a dumb collar imho.

[American X]

I am outraged by the oppression of this institutional racism.

Although I must admit I knew that Harvard professors were a different breed, but not a different race.

Will there come a day when a Harvard professor is not held down by having to teach two entire courses a year? When will we as a nation not force them to have only two assistants?

I dream of a day when a Harvard professor is judged not by the wornness on the elbow patches of his tweed coat but by the contents of his plagiarized research.

[UCGRAD4X]

[QUOTE=Snipe;136266] I wish the black policeman on the scene would comment on the issue. QUOTE]

on yahoo

CAMBRIDGE, Mass. – A black police officer who was at Henry Louis Gates Jr.'s home when the black Harvard scholar was arrested says he fully supports how his white fellow officer handled the situation.

Sgt. Leon Lashley says Gates was probably tired and surprised when Sgt. James Crowley demanded identification from him as officers investigated a report of a burglary. Lashley says Gates' reaction to Crowley was "a little bit stranger than it should have been."

Asked if Gates should have been arrested, Lashley said supported Crowley "100 percent."

and then:

CAMBRIDGE, Mass. (AP) — A multiracial group of police officers on Friday stood with the white officer who arrested a prominent black Harvard scholar and asked President Barack Obama and Gov. Deval Patrick to apologize for comments the union leaders called insulting.

I'm glad this is not going away quietly.

I would not be so naive to say that the issue of racism is dead - it probably never will be. It is part of human nature to identify and feel more at ease around people we identify with for whatever reason. But I think there are many if not more people taking advantage of the issue.

[Juice]

I don't know if anyone brought this up yet, but when is the last time a sitting president commented on a on going story about a private citizen like this? I know that Gates is friends with Obama but why even get involved with something like this?

Obama can feel however he wants about this situation (he is wrong) but I do not think it is proper for him to be even commenting on it in the first place. If someone can provide examples of Bush, Clinton, the elder Bush, Regan, and Carter of doing this then I will eat my words but to me this seems like odd behavior for a sitting president.

[DC Muskie]

I don't know if anyone brought this up yet, but when is the last time a sitting president commented on a on going story about a private citizen like this? I know that Gates is friends with Obama but why even get involved with something like this?

Obama can feel however he wants about this situation (he is wrong) but I do not think it is proper for him to be even commenting on it in the first place. If someone can provide examples of Bush, Clinton, the elder Bush, Regan, and Carter of doing this then I will eat my words but to me this seems like odd behavior for a sitting president.

It's never happened as far I as I can remember. It was really a baffling comment, especially when he prefaced the entire thing saying he didn't know the facts, then knowing that the cops acted stupidly.

I sure hope the president doesn't repeat this type of behavior.

[Xman95]

I would not be so naive to say that the issue of racism is dead - it probably never will be.

Honestly, there are many minorities, including "leaders" in those communities (yes, I mean people like Al Sharpton and Jesse Jackson), who won't let it die. It's an easy out and, for some, a meal ticket.

[Xman95]

I don't know if anyone brought this up yet, but when is the last time a sitting president commented on a on going story about a private citizen like this? I know that Gates is friends with Obama but why even get involved with something like this?

Obama can feel however he wants about this situation (he is wrong) but I do not think it is proper for him to be even commenting on it in the first place. If someone can provide examples of Bush, Clinton, the elder Bush, Regan, and Carter of doing this then I will eat my words but to me this seems like odd behavior for a sitting president.

My guess is that Obama, as usual, is in campaign mode. His comments were primarily for the benefit of all the minorities that helped get him into office. Much like Bush did with the far right religious, Obama was playing to his base.

[Xman95]

Here's what's being reported now by the AP:

Trying to tamp down a national uproar over race, President Barack Obama acknowledged Friday he had used unfortunate words in declaring that Cambridge, Mass., police "acted stupidly" in arresting black scholar Henry Louis Gates Jr. "I could've calibrated those words differently," he said.

In other words, he miscalculated the response of the American people. He figured it would play to the minorities and that whitey would let it go. Well, white people took offense, some minorities took offense, police officers (and their unions...that's a big one) took offense. Now it's spin mode.

What Obama said really wasn't what he meant. No, it was simply a poor choice of words. Isn't that the way it always is when politicians get a negative response? Of course, should we really put the blame on Obama? It's really not his fault. I mean, he was only reading what it said on the prompter.

[UCGRAD4X]

This is TOTAL BS!

What would his more calibrated words be?

"Calibration" sounds like a minor adjustment. Anything close to this would be inappropriate.

As 95 said, and I concur, he should not have commented on an on-going investigation that even he admitteed he knew very little about.

It just goes to show what being 'a friend of Obama' will do for you.

It was a racist comment from the president who claims to be the one to lead us out of the dessert of discrimination and hatred.

[Xman95]

This is TOTAL BS!

What would his more calibrated words be?

"Calibration" sounds like a minor adjustment. Anything close to this would be inappropriate.

As 95 said, and I concur, he should not have commented on an on-going investigation that even he admitteed he knew very little about.

It just goes to show what being 'a friend of Obama' will do for you.

It was a racist comment from the president who claims to be the one to lead us out of the dessert of discrimination and hatred.

If we're serving dessert, perhaps somebody should offer Obama a piece of humble pie.:D

[GuyFawkes38]

I'm going to make a prediction. My guess is that Gates won't be involved with a lawsuit against Crowley and the police department. Such an incident would draw out the affair and that's the last thing Obama would want. I bet Gates and his advisors from Harvard recognize that and the matter will go away quietly.

In some sense, Obama's involvement helped Crowley and the Cambridge police department.

[SixFig]

C'mon people, lets not forget the wise words of our first real leader to be on both sides of the racial coin:

I took my baby
On a Saturday bang
Boy is that girl with you
Yes were one and the same

Now I believe in miracles
And a miracle
Has happened tonight

But, if
You're thinkin'
About my baby
It don't matter if you're
Black or white

[GuyFawkes38]

Looks light I'm right again. According to this article (http://apnews.myway.com/article/20090726/D99LQDSG0.html):


In a statement posted Friday on The Root, a Web site Gates oversees, the scholar said he told Obama he'd be happy to meet with Crowley, whom Gates had accused of racial profiling.

and


It was a marked change in tone for Gates, who in the days following his arrest gathered up his legal team and said he was contemplating a lawsuit. He even vowed to make a documentary on his arrest to tie into a larger project about racial profiling.

In an e-mail to the Boston Globe late Friday, he said: "It is time for all of us to move on, and to assess what we can learn from this experience."

In an odd kind of way, Obama accidentally diffused the situation.

[Strange Brew]

Looks light I'm right again. According to this article (http://apnews.myway.com/article/20090726/D99LQDSG0.html):



and



In an odd kind of way, Obama accidentally diffused the situation.

OR, President Obama is throwing this guy under the bus to make it go away. Face it, the statement by Pres. Obama WAS STUPID. He shouldn't have put himself in that position but as a community organizer/agitator he can't help himself.

His problem with America is that its full of Amercans.

[GuyFawkes38]

OR, President Obama is throwing this guy under the bus to make it go away. Face it, the statement by Pres. Obama WAS STUPID. He shouldn't have put himself in that position but as a community organizer/agitator he can't help himself.

His problem with America is that its full of Amercans.


Obama made a mistake and it backfired on him. To me, it's comforting to know that American's don't have much tolerance for the President intervening in a local matter.

In the end, Obama had to diffuse the situation for his own good. which is a good thing. I imagine that both Crowley and Gates status will grow by an upcoming amicable meeting at the White House. Much better than a brutal, bloody legal matter.

[Snipe]

Obama was an idiot to get involved. His public opinion has taken a hit, as well as the notion that he is the first “post racial candidate” (much less post partisan, which died an early death). It isn’t just in public opinion where he took a hit; it also appears he took the wrong side in terms of the facts. That is why he is giving the mea culpa to Crowley and begging the press to make it go away.

Consider this though, which I quoted earlier:


Gates' legal team argues that authorities are misrepresenting the professor and the officer, and Gates has said he is determined to keep the issue alive despite the charges being dropped.

"This is not about me; this is about the vulnerability of black men in America," he said this week.

Ogletree said Gates might sue the department and would bring forward witnesses who say they've had similar experiences with Crowley.

When asked for examples, Ogletree said only that they may come out in time depending on how the police department handles the situation moving forward.

"I think you will be hearing much more complex and different perspective on him [Crowley] in the coming days and weeks," Ogletree said, alleging that Crowley "is well-known among people, particularly young people, for some of his police practices."

So here we have a case where Gates claims to have evidence that Crowley is a racial profiling racist. That is what I read into it. They have witnesses willing to testify and evidence that he is a racial profiling racist. As of today it appears they are going to drop any of those claims as long as the Gates matter is put to sleep. And mind you, they still haven't released the tapes. Sgt. Crowley had an open mic, and I believe all of that stuff is taped. I think the tapes will vindicate Crowley and make Gates look bad. To the date of this post, they still haven’t released the tapes, which are supposed to be a public record accessible to all.

Fancy taking Gates and his legal team at their word for a moment. They claim to have evidence that Crowley is a racial profiling racist. Why would they drop such a case? For the common good doesn’t a veteran and historian of the civil rights movement like Gates have the responsibility to expose what his legal team has found? In their own admission, they already had people willing to testify.

I don’t think Crowley is a bad cop myself. But they say they have evidence that he is a bad cop. At least that is what they said until Obama did his best to shut down the investigation.

If Gates actually had such proof, he would have a moral right to expose the corruption. In that case it really wouldn’t be about him, it would be about getting a corrupt cop off the streets. His lawyers said they have proof.

What if Gates does have proof that Crowley is a racist?

What if he puts that away and doesn’t proceed on the case because it is not in his personal interest? What type of civil rights icon does that make?

Personally, I think Gates is a liar and a fraud, and this situation has outed him greatly. But if you think he is telling the truth, why would he not go after a man that is known to discriminate?

[Xman95]

Personally, I think Gates is a liar and a fraud, and this situation has outed him greatly. But if you think he is telling the truth, why would he not go after a man that is known to discriminate?

Winner, winner, chicken dinner!

[DC Muskie]

[QUOTE=Snipe;136418]Obama was an idiot to get involved. [QUOTE]

Yup.

[Pete Delkus]

So I am sitting here waiting, waiting to be taught about how I SHOULD react in dealings with people of other races... Regardless of how I think I should or would like to treat people, you know, by the character of that person...instead I am waiting for the post-beer lecture of how I should react when encountering a person with different color skin.

Afterwards, do I get a cheat-sheet to put into my wallet, so when I come upon one of these multi-racial experiences, I can stop myself from making any statements that might start some type of racial friction? I am afraid to use common sense or human intuition in multi racial interaction at this point for the fear of a specific label that can kill you. Boy, I am lucky that my friends of different races are cool and there is no need to perform this type of tap dance.

My question is: Will the President and “The Professor” walk out the White House with Sergeant Crowley, send him on his way and ask “Ok, who’s next?”

[Snipe]

Gates used the whole incident to pimp his next PBS series on racial profiling. I tend to think the whole incident was a self serving motivation from Gates. That would even mean that he wanted to be arrested to garner better ratings. I think that could be the play, and that we all have been played.

[GuyFawkes38]

I don't know snipe.

Gates has carefully created a reputation of being the anti-Cornell West/Michael Dyson/etc...(those figures aren't exactly respected by most academics but make a lot of money on ridiculous books). Gates is the type of figure who goes on Oprah because he isn't gratuitously divisive. It seems like the simpler explanation works in this case. Gates arrived back from China in an awful mood. He said some awful things to Crowley (who didn't exactly do him any favors). After saying such awful things, he felt like he had to defend himself.

Gates reputation has taken a hit that he will never really be able to fix. I don't think he wanted all of this.

[DC Muskie]

Gates used the whole incident to pimp his next PBS series on racial profiling. I tend to think the whole incident was a self serving motivation from Gates. That would even mean that he wanted to be arrested to garner better ratings. I think that could be the play, and that we all have been played.

I really don't think Gates is that smart.

[Xman95]

So I am sitting here waiting, waiting to be taught about how I SHOULD react in dealings with people of other races...

Here's the problem: there's no correct answer. To say we should treat everyone as equals seems logical, but it doesn't work. That's because, when being treated equally doesn't seem to benefit a certain group, they claim injustice. If police saw me breaking into my own home, I would have received the same exact treatment that Gates did. It would have been considered good police work. But, because he's black, it was racism.

Am I claiming that racism doesn't exist? No. But all too often it's used as a crutch, an excuse or an easy way out.

[j77]

how long have you been hooked on ptl club with pat robertson?

[GuyFawkes38]

Well, I'm sort of biased on this whole affair. I've admired Gates from reading his work at Xavier over 5 years ago.

And of course, Crowley, unlike Gates, faces the prospect of a lawsuit.

But still, Gates has been more than cordial after his initial rants against Crowley. Here's a few snippets from an article he wrote after the "beer summit" (http://www.theroot.com/views/accident-time-and-place):


I would also like to thank the President for welcoming my father, Henry Louis Gates, Sr., who for most of his life has been a Republican! My dad turned 96 this past June, and the fact that he worked two jobs every day is the reason that my brother, Dr. Paul Gates, and I were able to receive such splendid educations. I am honored that he chose to join me at the White House, along with my fiancée, my daughters, and my brother.

and


Having spent my academic career trying to bridge differences and promote understanding among Americans, I can report that it is far more comfortable being the commentator than being commented upon. At this point, I am hopeful that we can all move on, and that this experience will prove an occasion for education, not recrimination. I know that Sergeant Crowley shares this goal. Both of us are eager to go back to work tomorrow. And it turns out that the President just might have a few other things on his plate as well.

yes, it's time to move on. Both men have acted in a respective manner since the affair started.

[American X]

I must admit this method of diplomacy looks more promising than the administration's prior tack:

http://www.doublemountainbrewery.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2009/03/beerfest_das_boot.jpg

http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_nG8Jo92U_b8/SOt_rfZnGWI/AAAAAAAAA2E/hzBkA_mZrto/s400/beerfest2.JPG

[xeus]

Would it have inflamed or alleviated the racial tension if Officer Crowley had asked for a Colt 45 40oz instead of a Blue Moon?

[Kahns Krazy]

...
yes, it's time to move on. Both men have acted in a respective manner since the affair started.

Thank goodness they haven't acted in an irrespective manner. Who knows what might have happened?

[Snipe]

Would it have inflamed or alleviated the racial tension if Officer Crowley had asked for a Colt 45 40oz instead of a Blue Moon?

He would have been in real trouble. Give me a 40 of OE and a POW.