Posted on 07/22/2009 12:09:00 PM PDT by presidio9
The most famous black professor at Harvard lives in a very safe neighborhood because, in part, residents look out for and report suspicious activities, and because cops respond quickly to reports of possible break-ins. Yet that's not how Henry Louis Gates Jr., director of the W.E.B. Du Bois Institute for African and African American Research at Harvard University, took it when cops showed up at his door after a neighbor reported two black men (Gates and his driver) seemingly pushing into a vacant residence, which turned out to be Gates' home.
He was arrested for disorderly conduct, and the rest is now histrionic history. (The charges have since been dropped, but the incident is not going away.)
Gates was returning from a trip to China, and he couldn't get in through a jammed front door, so he apparently went around the back, shut off an alarm and worked with his driver to get the door open.
In any neighborhood - especially one of the safest in America - that kind of behavior would be cause for suspicion and a call to the cops, no matter the color of the guys "breaking" in.
But when police showed up, the "he said, he said" has Gates indignant and, according to the cop, refusing to present himself and his ID, then complying and at some point getting loud - with Gates saying, according to the police report, "Why, because I'm a black man in America?"
Had I been the cop, I would have probably gotten suspended for saying to Gates: "No, stupid, because I need you to step outside so that I may do my job. I need to know that you are who you say you are."
The cop's job is not the most famous black professor at Harvard's concern. Yet Gates' automatic reflex was racial - that of a victim rather than a property lessee. The man with all the brains did not have the common sense of the average citizen who appreciates good and effective police work.
Calling the cops when one sees suspicious activities underway is exactly what good neighbors do. It is what a woman who works nearby did - and all indications are she acted in good faith. When cops follow up on such a report by asking suspicious persons who've seemingly gained entry to a vacant house to present ID, they are doing their jobs.
Nevertheless, Gates and the race industry spokesmen who've rushed to his defense have leaped to the fast conclusion that this was an incident of racial profiling - and that one of America's most famed black academics was a victim of police misconduct. Choice reaction by the Rev. Al Sharpton: "I've heard of driving while black, and I've heard of shopping while black. But I've never heard of living in a home while black."
Give me a break. Why isn't it enough that the charges of disorderly conduct have been dropped against Gates? The question answers itself: The race activists need to posture that the nation has to pause and contemplate and endure yet another round of guilt around their "truth" and constant observation of racism by cops. "See," they exclaim, "in postracial America, the black man with a Ph.D. can't get into his own home without causing suspicion and getting arrested."
The real truth is that Gates did not get arrested for being black or even for being suspicious or for breaking into his own home. He was arrested for disorderly conduct - for failing to do what civil rights activists and race experts always advise innocent black men, and all others who come into contact with the police, to do: cooperate.
It makes sense to repeat this message now, especially for the benefit of young black men. If the police confront you, don't go demanding badge numbers and reading the cops the riot act. Be courteous and calm. Explain yourself and, if asked, present ID.
If there has been a constitutional violation of some kind by the cops, that can be taken care of once the police have left you alone, moving on - let's hope - to investigate other suspicious behavior.
Meyers is executive director of the New York Civil Rights Coalition.
One of the articles I saw on FR about this (NY Post I think) said that Gates was renting a room in the house. This seems very odd if it is accurate, since he has been a professor at Harvard for years, but maybe his own house is being fixed.Harvard provides rental housing for its professors in Cambridge. Houses there are insanely expensive, so it's essentially extra salary for professors.
Another whining millionaire chickensh*t heard from.
Nothing to see here....racist black guy with chip on shoulder....move along.
From the police incident report below it sounds more like your hero is just another race pimp with a chip on his shoulder and no manners.
http://www.scribd.com/doc/17512090/Gates-Incident-Report-Redacted
My friend is as wide as she is tall, if you get the idea. It was such fun. Trailer windows come right out if you sneeze at them; it was getting over the sill that was the fun part. LOL. Your adventure sounds more interesting.
Gates is not another race-pimp.
Yes, my friend is very short and very fat so she couldn’t get up to the window sill even if she’d been skinny. I’m fairly tall and could get in much easier—THEN. I’m not sure if I could do it now, LOL.
Gate tried to reign in Black studies and its excesses and shoddy “scholarship”.
I agree. It sounds like he let his emotion override his logic.
Someone passing by noticed me in the store after closing time and thought I was burglarizing the place.
The police were very polite, but had no reason to be apologetic. They didn't need to ask me for I.D. because two of them were regular customers and recognized me. LOL.
Seriously, in my experience a teen who gave the cops lip was leaving in the back of their car.
Oh, I’ve had to break into my home a couple of times. Luckily my ‘special’ window is proximate to ground level, with a scrape down to the basement floor, or I’d need a light-footed friend myself!
Tho my next door neighbor and his kin have had to be threatened into leaving me alone, I try not to dwell on the possibility of their thieving ways close to home. Just cross my fingers and hope the reticence to come into contact with my dogs holds. That was kinda funny to see - not fear, but a respectful, almost professional acknowledgement of ‘their’ space. If you have dogs and observe this reaction from someone who isn’t actually phobic, you’d do well to keep them at a distance.
Freepers, I signed up just to post a question. I like visiting this board after a controversial news story because of the sharp discussion and the way many of you cut through the bull.
What do you think of this news story (Gates) and the older one about Steve Bierfeldt and the TSA agents?
You have two men doing something that outside parties consider suspicious, but what they, presumably, would claim is perfectly within their rights. Authorities request basic information, which the men either deny or wait to produce; the situation escalates. Their tones and attitudes are patently different.
Thoughts?
The last question of O’s health care press conference was about Gates. A reporter asked O about how he felt about Gates being arrested. You need to watch it, if you can find it. O says the Cambridge Police acted stupidly. and goes on about the history of blacks and latinos being wrongfully targeted by police, etc..
Who is this Gates fellow you keep bothering me about?
That was Lynn Sweet of the (wait for it) Chicago Sun Times. Obviously the White House fed her this question, as there was time for one last question and there was a mix-up. Steve Koff from the Cleveland Plain dealer asked about Obama’s upcoming visit to the Cleveland Clinic and if he was hoping for an endorsement after the Mayo Clinic came out against the plan. Obama danced around both issues, in a hurry to get to Sweet’s question. He wanted to play the race card. He wanted to talk about race relations because he is not the first post-racial president, but a huckster who reminds people that he is a repressed minority whenever his audience is turning against him. That’s how he wanted people to leave this: “I still have no idea what he’s talking about, but he’s just so charismatic and I trust him to make the hard choices for me.”
I fail to see where I endorsed “the SWAT ethic,” whatever that is. I have met very few cops who impressed me with their intellect. People who become cops typically didn’t also have “surgeon” or “hedge fund manager” as other career possibilities. When they are trying to decide whether you are a good guy or a bad guy, it helps if you are not doing everything you can to make their decision harder for them. When a cop tells you to do something within reason, doing it as quickly as possible should be common sense. Especially for a Harvard professor.
You saw it, thanks for stating it more clearly than I did. I found his statements offensive and it was completely unrelated to the health care issue. I don’t know if his audience will leave feeling sorry for minorities or not, but it left me confused and offended. I’m sure police everywhere are less than thrilled that he has lumped them all up and indicated police unjustly target minorities.
I’d like to see how the MSM deal with those race comments.
compliance — swift compliance — will make you free.
It looks very much like Gates initiated the whole abrasive exchange by being highly abusive and offensive. See:
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2299002/posts
which makes the Illegal Alien’s support for him at last night’s presser really racist and disgusting.
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