Henry Louis Gates

[nonesuche]

If our most educated in this country cannot understand how to de-escalate a situation with the police, then who can?

I was stopped by the police while driving a red carrera porche in Georgia, in the very town I lived in at that time, with my son then 6 and his friend who was the son of a senator. Being an auto dealer I didn't have a standard tag, also didn't have the typical registration. The officer wasn't very pleasant at all, I was sure I had not broken any traffic laws and felt singled out - BUT I kept my mouth shut. He made me sit there while he called half the city to verify I was who I said I was, and was qualified to drive a vehicle with dealer tags on it.

It was very hot outside that day too, but I knew I had broken all unspoken law by being an attractive blonde driving a 'hot' red convertible - a prescription for being singled out.

By remaining calm, by realizing that I simply needed to sit there and work this out calmly with a law officer that seemed offensive at times, all ended well.

Post this event, I let it go - as did my friend the senator when I was nearly an hour late delivering his son home from camp. His wife was undergoing cancer treatment so I was driving their son to and from day camp in order to 'help' during a time their family was stressed. I wasn't even able to call him from my cell phone for that officer ordered me not to use my phone while he "checked me out".

Gates is a joke. I don't have a Harvard degree and even I know you don't talk back to a law officer, you work with them. That is what sane people do, not elitists that think they don't have to answer to the police. Ultimately the man should be glad that his neighborhood "watch" is working and protecting his property !!

[nonesuche]

btw, Mr. Mansfield is african-american

http://www.thedailybeast.com/blogs-and-stories/2009-07-23/skip-you-mouthed-off/

Skip, You Mouthed Off
by Mansfield Frazier

Henry Louis “Skip” Gates Jr. forgot what black parents have always told their children: Don’t display anger at the police. But anyone, black or white, who mouths off to an officer will end up in handcuffs, says Mansfield Frazier.

A few years ago the Cleveland chapter of the NAACP handed out cards to young African-American men with instructions on how they should react when a police officer pulls them over—it really isn’t a matter of “if,” just “when” for black urban youth: “Keep your hands in plain sight on the steering wheel; don’t reach for your wallet without telling the officer what you are doing and getting his permission first; don’t mouth off.” The cards were an effort to ensure that black youth survived such encounters in one piece.

Back in the day, our parents gave us similar advice to survive such encounters: “Take low.” If a police officer is dogging you out, simply suck it up and accept it. Don’t display anger; don’t “buck,” as the old folks used to say; don’t look them in the eye and stand up for your rights. In other words, don’t do anything that will cause you to wind up as a statistic on a police blotter.

The goal was clear: Live to tell the tale. Not everyone who has a brush with the law—especially persons of color—is around to talk about it.

Well, things have changed a bit in America since I received that advice from my mother back in the ’50s, but as Dr. Henry Louis “Skip” Gates Jr. recently discovered, not all that much.

While I doubt that the Harvard professor was ever in jeopardy of getting a cap busted off in his ass, one thing young inner-city blacks learn at an early age is that the police have guns, they are licensed and trained to use them, and are rarely, if ever, held accountable for their actions. The problem is, when all you have is a hammer, everything begins to look like a nail.

Professor Gates is now stating that the police report the Cambridge police officer filed in his disorderly conduct arrest last week—the charges have since been dropped—is largely fiction.

Welcome to the real world, Professor Gates. You didn’t really think the officer you are accusing of rousting you was going to write a fair and balanced report of the incident—one that you could use in a lawsuit against the City of Cambridge—now, did you? As a member of the Harvard faculty, you are aware, I’m sure, that history belongs to those who write it. The shading of the truth by officers of the law is allegedly so endemic that noted law professor (and one of the co-founders of the Sentencing Project) Barry Scheck coined a term for it: “testilying.”

The fact is, no one will ever know for certain what went on in Gates’ home when he was confronted by the white police officer. Undoubtedly, Gates was outraged by being treated as a suspect in his own home—who wouldn’t be? But I can’t help but wonder how long he has lived in the residence, and why his neighbor didn’t recognize him. Did she just see “black,” and not the man?

Likewise, did the officer see Gates as the potential homeowner, or just as a black man and a potential criminal? The history of black interaction with police in America leads me to suspect it was a case of the latter rather than the former. But, to the officer’s credit, at least he was colorblind: He saw a black man and he treated him like he would any other black man…with suspicion. Gates’ elevated position in the social hierarchy entitled him to no special treatment, and that has to count for something.

So, was Gates right in asking the officer if race played a role in how he was being treated, even after he had proved he was indeed the homeowner? Of course he was, but in the real world, you get to mouth off to an officer only once. He had made his point and his statement; his continued aggravation, and the venting of it, was sure to end with him being handcuffed—and I believe race played no role in that outcome.

Cops will lock up anyone who continues to mouth off, be they black or white. Gates should have kept his cool and addressed his concerns in another, calmer, manner. His position at Harvard ensures that he would have been heard—much more so than the average black man. He had access to redress that other blacks lack.

When Gates was in his domicile, he was protecting his turf; when he got loud with the officer on the porch, the officer was protecting his. Had he not arrested Gates, he would have caught hell from his fellow officers after the incident. They would have talked about him as if he had a tail, and would perhaps begin to doubt out loud his fitness to wear a badge. Peer pressure among police officers, I am told, is a bitch. They simply are never going to lose face.

Here’s an analogy: You’re crossing a busy street that has a crosswalk clearly marked with blinking yellow lights; do you, because you have the right of way, blindly walk into the street, heedless of whether the traffic is stopping for you? If you do, you could wind up splattered all over the road. Sure, you were right, but in this case you would be dead right.

Gates, were he not ensconced in academia and surrounded by middle-class privilege for virtually all of his life, probably would not have reacted to what was probably institutionalized racism (I’m loath to call the officer a racist, or any more or less racist than any other white officer in America) in the manner in which he did; he would have, like so many other minorities, viewed it as a fact of life. Fortunately for him, he was in Cambridge and not inner-city Boston or some other largely black metropolitan area, which thankfully boded against the situation escalating into one in which deadly force was used. But the simple fact is, under different circumstances, it could have; our American history is littered with the bodies of black men whose only crime was that they didn’t know when to just shut the hell up.

As a good friend of mine, a retired judge, is wont to ask: “Is this the hill you want to die on?” Skip Gates wasn’t about to die on his Cambridge hill, and I think our opprobrium should be reserved for those folks (black or white) situated further down the class pecking order who are at risk of a lot more than spending a few uncomfortable hours in jail for standing up to a police officer. In the end, this still is America.

Mansfield Frazier is a native Clevelander and former newspaper editor. His regular column can be seen on CoolCleveland.com. An avid gardener, he resides in the Hough neighborhood of Cleveland with his wife Brenda and their two dogs, Gypsy and Ginger.

[WhiskeyGirl]

What is the alternative?  Just don't send anyone to respond to reports of people breaking into houses?  Didn't Gates know his neighbors? 

"Hi, I'm neighbor Gates..."

How long before the first call came in?  In our world of anonymous tipsters, could this have been a setup?

Over the years, I've known people who've forced their windows open because they were locked out and no one called the police.  Sometimes, a neighbor came over and offered to help them break into their house.

Maybe we should just ignore crime and polite behavior?

Don't know what the answer is here.

I also remember see some crime show on TV that suggested how easy it was for a crook to break into your house through the front door and in broad daylight.  They even had demonstrations.  Crime is not always what you think.

If the cab driver was helping, how long was this man struggling outside the door?  Did he think to try another door?  If the door was that bad, why didn't he insist the landlord fix it? 

Was he injured in the battle with the door?

How long was the cab at the residence?  What do the cab company records show?

[nonesuche]

WG it was his neighbor who reported it and that speaks to how well he knows his neighbors. Having moved myself last year to a new neighborhood, I made it a point to meet my neighbors right away.

You are correct in that how can someone (a neighbor you obviously don't know) discern if two men with backpacks on (also likely obscuring identifying either of them readily for backpacks aren't small)..........trying to wedge a door open pushing with their shoulder?

CNN just posted the police report in PDF format and here is the link http://www.thebostonchannel.com/download/2009/0720/20120754.pdf

First words out of Gates mouth when the police arrived to ask him to step outside on his porch to answer a few questions, Gates said:

"NO I WILL NOT"

Then Gates demanded to know "who" the officer was and when the officer responded with his name and precinct location, Gates responds back

"WHY, BECAUSE I AM A BLACK MAN IN AMERICA?"

I rest my case. Please remember this report had to be completed once Gates arrived at the precinct in handcuff's so this is not after the fact of the media storm either.

BUT, Gates is now screaming that the report was falsified.

If I were him, with his credentials, I'd be embarrassed too - but he's a fraud in my opinion.

[WhiskeyGirl]

"I have to say I am surprised by the controversy surrounding my statement," Obama said in an interview with ABC News, "because I think it was a pretty straightforward comment that you probably don't need to handcuff a guy, a middle-aged man who uses a cane, who's in his own home."

http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2009/07/23/obama-surprised-controversy-remark-arrest-black-scholar/?

What if this man were brandishing a gun?  Just killed someone?

What is this man were a terrorist?  Is this the future face of terrorism?  Old people with canes or wheel chairs?

Someone, we should ignore them because of their age or disability?

I think this IS a real problem.  Should we ignore old people with canes at the airports and in public buildings to?

[nonesuche]

Having watched the officer in question in interview last night, it appears that he's very respected and also taught a course at the academy on racial profiling. Gates has lost face and now does not have the humility to admit his mistake and I hope this officer isn't pressured into apologizing without due cause.

My 80 year old Mother is readying her home for sale and just this week, a man drove into her driveway and marched through the basement/garage door and up to the main floor of her home. When she heard him, I was aghast to hear she politely asked him why he was in her home, he responded by telling her "I heard it was for sale". She's had a few workmen in her home that have stolen from her and also not completed the work she paid in advance for, so now we're faced with taking them to small claims court. She had to order him to leave, he stood there staring at her intimidatingly for several minutes so Mother said to him "my grandson will be here shortly and he will be very angry if you are here". Finally he turned and left the foyer and went down the stairs. I called the police and wish she had just called the police and hidden when she heard him.

My point is that there is no sign for sale in her yard and no advertisement currently that her home is for sale, therefore this man was likely there for ill intent. It's a miracle he did not hurt her. How loudly would Gates scream if he experienced what my mother did, made a call to the police and no one responded????? This is the flip side to all of this, how can an officer know from looking at anyone if they are the homeowner? The officer had every right to ask for identification, to complete his required process as dictated by their internal procedures when responding to a call????

Crime has only risen in this poor economy and if Gates neighbor found his behavior suspicious (obviously he has lived there quite a few years), then why wasn't he grateful that his neighbors were watching over his property for him???

WG, it wasn't a regular taxi either, he has a "driver" that he employs who was the other individual.

So now Gates is going to possibly sue? What a colossal waste of the court's time and also the Cambridge police's time dealing with all of this hoopla.

And Obama agrees with Gates, even when he clearly stated he did not know any of the specifics, that he agrees the police acted stupidly?????

I can't respect a president who can't make time to learn the facts of an event prior to condemning our law enforcement for doing their job. Obviously Obama feels that elite black americans do not have to respect law enforcement.

http://www.cnn.com/2009/US/07/23/officer.gates.arrest/index.html

Cambridge top cop stands by department after Harvard arrest

The commissioner of the Cambridge, Massachusetts, police department said Thursday he "deeply regrets" the arrest of prominent black Harvard University professor Henry Louis Gates Jr., but stands by the procedures followed by his department.

"I believe that Sgt. [James] Crowley acted in a way that is consistent with his training at the department, and consistent with national standards of law enforcement protocol," Commissioner Robert Haas said, referring to the officer who made the July 16 arrest at the professor's home.

"I do not believe his actions in any way were racially motivated," Haas said at a news conference.

Gates was arrested for disorderly conduct after an exchange with the officer, who was investigating a report of a possible break-in at the house.

The police department will create a panel of "independent, notable professionals" to provide an analysis of the incident, he said.

The controversial arrest of Gates was criticized Wednesday by President Obama, who said the Cambridge police department "acted stupidly."

"My response is that this department is deeply pained and takes its professional pride very seriously," Haas said.

Cambridge authorities dropped the charges against Gates on Tuesday.

In a statement, the International Association of Chiefs of Police expressed disappointment in Obama's remarks.

 "Police chiefs understand that it is critically important to have all the facts on any police matter before drawing conclusions or making any public statement," said Russell B. Laine, association president and chief of the Algonquin, Illinois, police department, in the statement. "For these reasons, the IACP was disappointed in the president's characterization of the Cambridge Police Department."

Haas' comments followed a statement earlier Thursday from Crowley, who said he would not apologize for his actions.

"That apology will never come from me as Jim Crowley. It won't come from me as sergeant in the Cambridge Police Department," Crowley told Boston radio station WEEI. "Whatever anybody else chooses to do in the name of the city of Cambridge or the Cambridge Police Department, which are beyond my control, I don't worry about that. I know what I did was right. I have nothing to apologize for."

The mayor of Cambridge said she will meet with the city's police chief to make sure the scenario that led to Gates' arrest does not happen again.

"This suggests that something happened that should not have happened," E. Denise Simmons, Cambridge's mayor said on CNN's "American Morning." "The situation is certainly unfortunate. This can't happen again in Cambridge."

Obama defended Gates Wednesday night, while acknowledging that he may be "a little biased," because Gates is a friend.

"But I think it's fair to say, No. 1, any of us would be pretty angry; No. 2, that the Cambridge police acted stupidly in arresting somebody when there was already proof that they were in their own home; and, No. 3 ... that there's a long history in this country of African-Americans and Latinos being stopped by law enforcement disproportionately."

The incident, Obama said, shows "how race remains a factor in this society."

Crowley also said he is exercising caution and his previous actions clearly show he is not a racist.

In fact, Crowley taught a racial profiling course at the Lowell Police Academy, said Deborah Friedl, deputy superintendent of the police department.

Last year was his fifth year as a co-instructor of the course, Friedl said.

"He seems to be a highly regarded instructor at the academy. He consistently received high praise from students," she said.

Gates told CNN Wednesday that although charges had been dropped, he will keep the issue alive.

"This is not about me; this is about the vulnerability of black men in America," Gates told CNN's Soledad O'Brien.

Gates said the Cambridge mayor had called him to apologize about the incident. Simmons, Cambridge's first black female mayor, confirmed to CNN that she apologized to Gates.

Gates said he'd be prepared to forgive the arresting officer "if he told the truth" about what the director of Harvard's W.E.B. Du Bois Institute for African and African American Research said were "fabrications" in the police report.

Crowley wrote in the Cambridge police report that Gates refused to step outside to speak with him, and when Crowley told Gates that he was investigating a possible break-in, Gates opened the front door and exclaimed, "Why, because I'm a black man in America?"

The report said Gates initially refused to show the officer identification, but eventually produced a Harvard identification card, prompting Crowley to radio for Harvard University Police.

"While I was led to believe that Gates was lawfully in the residence, I was quite surprised and confused with the behavior he exhibited toward me," Crowley said, according to the report.

Gates was arrested for "loud and tumultuous behavior in a public space" and was released from police custody after spending four hours at the police station.


He said Wednesday that he and his lawyers were considering further actions, not excluding a lawsuit.

Gates said that although the ordeal had upset him, "I would do the same thing exactly again."

[nonesuche]

Needless to say Obams is frying for this one and he should - his waterloo.

This comment was made in response to this article on HuffingtonPost.com and it's a goody. for it's a response by a black american to Gate's latest arrogant response to Obama's invite for a beer. I hope to heaven that Crowley doesn't go.

http://www.theroot.com/views/gates-says-yes-beer-crowley?page=1

This is the comment:

Skip, Now that you've created a false controversy by claiming racism where it didn't exist, what about those of us who've really been harassed by police officers?

Skip, you had many of us believing you - we identified with your situation, but now we realize that you've played us; You've exploited race to satisfy your bruised ego and false arrogance. And now you're going to the white house to have beer with the same cop you described as a "rogue". What's up with that, Skip?

You, Charles Ogletree and other "edited elites" must stop using and playing games with race & racism. For many of us who can't afford to lounge at Martha's Vineyard after being victimized by police, racism remains REAL!
Posted: Saturday, July 25, 2009

[WhiskeyGirl]

Racism isn't limited to any one group.  Any color person can be racist.  It seems like some only want the 'racist' label applied to whites.  For some reason, they want to continue in the belief that some people don't commit crimes against whites because of the race of the victim. 

Often, I've heard something like non-caucausians can't be racist because racists belong to the group in power and control.

Our nation has a black leader.  So, it seems the face of the racist has changed.  Should the face of the victim change also?

We have a Supreme Court nominee with a history of promoting racial and ethnic preference.  Our president, and leaders in Congress promote HR 3200 with it's built in racial, ethnic, and disparity 'preferences' for healthcare.

So many for just a few generations ago for a better future.  Now, the tide is returning this nation to institutional racism.

jmho

[nonesuche]

I completely agree WG ! well said.

[nonesuche]

I do not believe that Gates or Obama have given a moment's thought to the torment Lucia Whalen has endured. No wonder we have explosive accusations against Obama now such as Glenn Beck's that Obama is rascist.

I hope many listen to her press conference with her voice breaking, and the pride in her own heritage and the character that was instilled in her.

She's the real victim here, not Gates. All because she tried to do the right thing if a crime was possibly being committed.

http://www.cnn.com/2009/US/07/29/gates.arrest/index.html#cnnSTCVideo

[WhiskeyGirl]

I do not believe that Gates or Obama have given a moment's thought to the torment Lucia Whalen has endured. No wonder we have explosive accusations against Obama now such as Glenn Beck's that Obama is rascist.

I hope many listen to her press conference with her voice breaking, and the pride in her own heritage and the character that was instilled in her.

She's the real victim here, not Gates. All because she tried to do the right thing if a crime was possibly being committed.

http://www.cnn.com/2009/US/07/29/gates.arrest/index.html#cnnSTCVideo

I saw the press conference.  It was heart breaking watching her speak.  I wonder how many crimes would be solved or never happen if more good people picked up the  phone and called the police.  Such a contrast.