Comments

1. Margie wrote:

   I’m curious what everyone’s reaction is to the arrest of Henry Louis Gates.

   Posted 23 Jul 2009 at 8:53 am ¶

2. dersk wrote:

   I’m waiting for more information to come out before really forming an opinion. It sure sounds bad, though – I’m just not sure how his neighbor wouldn’t have recognized him, and it sure looks like the cop abused his power.

   Posted 23 Jul 2009 at 11:54 am ¶

3. Andrea wrote:

   I read the arrest report and some of the news reports about the incident. It sounds like Gates was ticked off because the cops were called and that they dared question what he was doing breaking into his home and acted badly and unwisely, by being belligerent, calling the police officer a racist after the cops had left the house, etc. It’s quite possible that the police officer overreacted by arresting him for disorderly conduct, but it sounds like Gates ignored several warnings to calm down and the police officer only arrested him after issuing warnings.

   I don’t think it’s unreasonable to call the cops when you see someone unfamiliar breaking into the neighbor’s house. I assume the neighbor would do the same thing if the people in question were white or Hispanic or Asian. I’d call the police in the same circumstances.

   I also think the police officer was entirely justified in asking Gates for ID and questioning him further when he seemed angry and belligerent. As a reporter for the Washington Post wrote in a column, it’s entirely possible that the cop was worried about the circumstances in which Gates had been locked out of the house. In some situations like that, you might be dealing with a domestic violence situation and Gates could have been an abusive partner locked out by his wife or something.

   The cop verified Gates’ identity and that he owned the house and was leaving and Gates escalated the situation by shouting that the cops were racist and so on. Gates apparently reacted the way he did because he was jetlagged and remembering other incidents where he felt he’d been unfairly harassed by the police. It isn’t clear to me whether he followed the cop out of the house or was shouting from a door, but he certainly acted unwisely. People have a constitutional right to swear at and otherwise be rude to police officers, but it’s not a smart thing to do and Gates should have known that. If he’d calmly handed over his ID, thanked the officer for coming and investigating the reported break-in on his property, and refrained from calling him a racist, I doubt the situation would have ended the way it did.

   The police officer may have been so exasperated by Gates’ bad behavior that he arrested Gates when he shouldn’t have and might not have arrested someone else in the same situation. On the other hand, I wasn’t there, but the description of Gates’ behavior does sound like disorderly conduct.

   Posted 23 Jul 2009 at 1:00 pm ¶

4. Rita wrote:

   What do I think about it? As the white mother of a black son, I think about how I can prepare him to handle something like that happening to him, because I have no doubt it will.

   I’ve also been having a lot of thoughts about anger, and how even though Gates most likely did not act in an angry or out of control way, the accusation of it was used against him in his arrest. I’m coming to believe that anger is a tool of the oppressor, and for the oppressed it can never be a positive tool. It will be used against you, even if you’re not guilty of it.

   Personally, my heart goes out to “Skip.” I’ve seen and loved so many of his documentaries. He exposes himself in such a vulnerable and powerful way that makes you feel like you get to know him. I can’t imagine how betrayed and hurt he felt at his treatment. He’s saying he’ll make a documentary about it, and it will certainly be a good one. His experience is a sobering reminder that we aren’t over racism yet, despite having a black man in the White House. Unfortunately, not everyone is attending to the message.

   Posted 23 Jul 2009 at 1:43 pm ¶

5. Montclair Mommy wrote:

   Margie, you should go to the Racialicious site, they have a discussion going on there. Although you might have stepped in a bit late.

   Posted 23 Jul 2009 at 3:02 pm ¶

6. PureGracefulTree wrote:

   I was hoping to discuss the arrest as well.

   My reactions were disappointment at the incident, but also sadness and anger at the polarized responses. It’s very clear that as a nation, we all still have so much baggage around race that we can’t have civil discussions based in a search for fact and commonality rather than a desperate need to prove our own preconceptions.

   I’ve observed that when someone describes any incident as having an element of racism, people—including myself—almost immediately have a strong reaction and judgment, regardless of how many facts are known. Last night I overheard a conversation in which one person was talking about a black teacher who had been fired from a school and accused the school of racism. The listener, not having heard anything else about the case, not knowing the teacher in question, immediately rolled her eyes and started going off about how much she hates it when people claim racism where there isn’t any. How would she know whether there was or wasn’t in this case?

   I know that my gut reaction when I hear an accusation of racism is to side with the victim, understanding that I certainly don’t wake up every morning “looking” for oppportunities to cry racism or sexism. I don’t deny that false accusations can happen (although usually they are a result of misunderstanding due to huge differences in perspective, rather than a deliberate attempt to “play the race card”), but I do believe that each accusation deserves careful consideration and examination rather than angry, scornful dismissal.

   Posted 23 Jul 2009 at 3:04 pm ¶

7. Monique Fields wrote:

   Just because someone gets loud doesn’t mean he should be arrested outside of his own house. I can’t for the life of me understand why after Gates produced I.D., the police officer didn’t simply say he was sorry and leave. There was no point to take it any further at that point. He may not have believed Gates, but I doubt anyone who is attempting to rob a house is smart enough to make a I.D. with his name on it just in case the cops happen to stop by. The other thing is that if this had happened to anyone other than Gates, folks would still be arguing about whether it happened. If nothing else, it shatters the dream of a post-racial nation and shows everyone we have a lot more work to do.

   Posted 23 Jul 2009 at 3:12 pm ¶

8. Jo wrote:

   Wondering what everyone thought about CNN’s Black in America 2 last night. I am curious how they are going to present Tyler Perry tonight. I know there has been discussion about his representation of black women on this site, from the preview, it sounds like they are going to make him out to be a positive force in the African American community

   Posted 23 Jul 2009 at 3:15 pm ¶

9. Andrea wrote:

   Rita, there is a picture of Gates yelling at the cop and seven witnesses reported that he was shouting.. He’d followed the police officer outside and was shouting at him. The officer reported that he warned him several times and only arrested him after he ignored the warning.

   This seems to be another example of an issue that people view through a different prism. I suppose I do look at it differently because I’m white, but I honestly would fully expect to be arrested and taken to the police station in handcuffs and booked for disorderly conduct if I acted in a similar way in front of the police.

   I can understand why Gates would be angry and frustrated by not being able to get into his house and would be touchy about the police, but you simply don’t act that way around police officers. They’ve got to be constantly aware that a situation could become deadly in an instant and even a fairly harmless looking person could turn into an attacker, even an old guy with a cane who is acting angry and belligerent.

   Posted 23 Jul 2009 at 10:12 pm ¶

10. Amanda Casabianca wrote:

    I’m glad we finally have a president not afraid to tell the truth: “the Cambridge police acted stupidly in arresting him AFTER it had already been proven they were dealing with the lawful resident of the house.” Good for you, Barack, may common-sense win. Two hot-heads or not (and I’d be a hothead too, oh yeah), once they saw that I.D. they should have left, end of story.
    Class, race, two big egos, sure, doesn’t matter, none of that matters; he showed the ID, he proved who he was, the cop should have ended it there, that’s the law. Cop had no business demanding he step outside AFTER he saw the I.D.s. That just proved he was acting on being insulted and pissed off, and that’s unprofessional. Maybe he had a bad day… but he blew it (the cop); and professors have bad days too, and might blow their stack after being on a plane from China to Boston for a zillion hours, and the damn door is stuck. Cop only wanted him to come outside, after it was no longer necessary, so he could call it “a public space” and arrest him, and show that “son-of-a-bitch. ”

    It was a power trip, with a tablespoon of class, and a teaspoon of race thrown in.

    Posted 23 Jul 2009 at 11:51 pm ¶

11. white guy in america wrote:

    Andrea–a neighbor didn’t call the cops; a woman from another town did. She racially profiled, as did the cops who believed her, but not Gates.

    Monique is right; there is no reason he should be arrested for yelling at the cops, or even calling them racist. This is demonstrated by the dropping of charges almost immediately. Apparently, his only offense was “yelling while black.”

    One can only fail to understand Gates’s reaction if one sees this from the perspective of whiteness. Seeing it from this perspective means a) generalizing from the way mostly deferential way that white men are treated by the police; b) assuming the woman who reported “suspicious activity” is trustworthy; and c) not seeing that black men are treated this way every day.

    Posted 24 Jul 2009 at 2:16 pm ¶

12. Montclair Mommy wrote:

    @white man in America, absolutely agree.

    I am not sure who called the cops, I had read it was a neighbor who was also an employee of Harvard (If that’s the case, she should have known who Prof. Gates was, he’s a celebrity around there and a famous man profiled in Time. As one of the few Black men in the neighborhood, you’d think she’d have recognized him, but I digress.)

    Andrea, let me ask you this: have you ever been locked out of your house? Have you ever had to crawl through a window or simply push the door because it was jammed? Now think: did anyone call the police on you? I have been in that situation and, as a white woman, instead of being considered a potential burglar, I was assisted by a passerby. One might imagine that this happens a lot and very rarely do the police get called. But I know where you are right now, Andrea, and you’re still in that place where you are reading things with a racial lens. I have been there and I have been that white woman that reads things (perhaps subconsciously) in a way to try to figure out what the black person did to make the unwarranted behavior his or her fault. Its hard to look at a situation and realize that someone has been treated a certain way b/c of their color. Its hard to admit that as white people we have a leg up. But this blog is “anti-racist” not “racist apologist” so I am hoping you came to be educated and are willing to open your eyes, no matter how painful it might be.

    The neighbor, person from out of town, whatever, the woman who called the cops saw a Black man and his limo driver trying to wedge a door open. They had luggage and it was apparent that at least Gates was a small, infirm older man (he is 5′5 and walks with a pronounced limp). She reported two large Black man were trying to break into a house. Hmmm. How did she get there? Who breaks into a house with luggage? And what kind of burglar is older, infirm and has a limo driver bring him to the location of the heist? What kind of robber wears slacks and a polo and works in the middle of the day? I really doubt she would have called the police on an older White man. Maybe you can ask around and see if you know any White men this has happened to…but I sure don’t. I do know a few Black men who have been in similar situations and the cops were called. Black men are often seen as criminals, regardless of the situational cues that suggest otherwise (time of day, older age, luggage, dress, etc.). That’s a sad fact.

    Also, as for the way that Gates responded…are you really telling me that its Gates that should have differed to the police in this situation? I don’t think so. I’m a lawyer and I am well aware of how the police are trained to handle public relations. Its not beyond the pale for them to have used their discretion to note that Gates was in the house with keys, he answered the door (what burglar does that?), and he did present them with two forms of ID. After he presented ID (albeit angrily) the police ASKED him to step outside. The police should have realized it was his home upon his answering the door and could have been much more solicitous. IE: “Sorry to disturb you, but a potential crime has been reported at this home. I’m sorry to have to do this, but can we please see some ID?” Now, I’m a calm person, but this would have pissed me off big time. I would have ranted, and police in this situation are actually taught to EXPECT ranting. They are also taught to have thick skin, and to be respectful b/c THEY ARE IN PRIVATE PROPERTY. They could have said, “Sir, we are just doing our jobs, again, we’re sorry, but this is protocol.” Rather than doing that, they were rude and didn’t believe Gates even after he supplied them with ID. The police report, to me, reeks of a guy who knew by this point that he was going to get in trouble for getting into with this man. If it were a white man, I believe he would have been comfortable tucking his tail between his legs and saying he was sorry and moving on. They do it all the time. They suck it up. Its harder to swallow when its a Black man and cop that is from a blue collar background. He was probably pissed off that this man had the nerve to defend himself and to state, quite accurately, that this was racism. And it was.

    I hate the denial here. We should all really admit to the fact that we judge people based on race. Only then can we move forward and attempt to become a more integrated society. Denial gets us nowhere. Its so counterproductive. That’s why this site is so wonderful, it works towards learning to become anti-racists. To me, that means actively striving to see people based upon their personal attributes and not their racial background.

    Posted 24 Jul 2009 at 4:40 pm ¶

13. Jennifer P wrote:

    Related, but slightly more meta response to the whole Gates discussion–

    I posted a link to Gates’ interview at the Root on my Facebook page and am still somewhat reeling at some of the responses from my white, Boston-area cousins. It probably shouldn’t have come as a surprise given some of their backgrounds and law-enforcement affiliations, but its one of a number of things that have made me starting thinking more about the tensions between my anti-racist commitments and my deeply-ingrained nice-white-girl socialization: when do I engage with people over such issues and when do I just keep my mouth shut?

    For me, this is an issue that’s coming up a lot more now that Facebook has reconnected me with family and high school friends very different from the much more like-minded friends I’ve kept in touch with from my post-college life. One of my (white) high school friends posted her AND her 7 year old son’s responses to some really obnoxious “What is your ghetto nickname?” quiz that really echoed the whole “Bon Qui Qui” discussion on here last week–that sort of “ha-ha-ha, imitating stereotypes of ghetto culture is so hiLARious” thing. I was really bothered by it but didn’t feel comfortable calling out someone who’s now a pretty distant acquaintance.

    Anyway, if anyone else has thoughts on where they do or would draw the “picking your battles v. growing a spine” line, I’d love to hear them.

    Posted 24 Jul 2009 at 6:16 pm ¶

14. ann wrote:

    White Guy in America:

    Your points are valid in a generalized sense. The original point was that the arresting officer did it purely based on race. To know this for a fact one must know that he has never arrested a white man for the same behavior.

    Are blacks treated differently by the police most of the time? Yes. Are cops in general more likely to treat blacks differently? Yes. Has no white man ever been arrested for being beligerent? No.

    This case an example of the racist acts of police departments CAN commit. However, IF the arresting officer was just as likely to do the same for a white person the act iteself isn’t racist? And does a non-racist cop (one just as likely to arrest both) refrain from arresting the black man to balance other cops more likely to do it?

    Posted 24 Jul 2009 at 7:27 pm ¶

15. Andrea wrote:

    Sure, I look at it from the perspective of whiteness. I’m white. How could I not? I’m also sympathetic to Gates’ point of view, to a point, because I can imagine he was tired and jetlagged, flustered because he had to break into his house, and he’s particularly sensitive when it comes to the police. I wouldn’t enjoy being in that position either. I know blacks are picked up more often by the police.

    On the OTHER hand … are you serious that the person who saw someone breaking into a house was “racial profiling?” If someone saw a person breaking into YOUR house, wouldn’t you want them to call the cops? It doesn’t matter that they were black. She didn’t know who Gates was, saw him and the cab driver fiddling with the lock, and called to report a break in. That’s not racial profiling. That’s being a good neighbor, particularly since Gates’ house HAD been broken into recently and there had been a rash of break-ins in the neighborhood. I would call the cops in those circumstances in a heart beat. I also still think Gates acted pretty foolishly. If I or anyone else acted that way in front of a cop, after repeated warnings, I’d be charged with disorderly conduct too.

    Posted 24 Jul 2009 at 9:16 pm ¶

16. Andrea wrote:

    I also see that there was a black police officer at the scene who was quoted as saying that he supports the arresting officer 100 percent and believes it was a reasonable arrest. It could be they were both overreacting, just as Gates seems to have, but I doubt this case would have gone this far if Gates had reacted differently.

    Posted 24 Jul 2009 at 9:20 pm ¶

17. Psychobabbler wrote:

    Montclair Mommy, wonderfully said. Applauding you from a couple of towns away…….

    Posted 25 Jul 2009 at 4:45 pm ¶

18. Jennifer wrote:

    @Andrea, #15,

    You wrote:

    “are you serious that the person who saw someone breaking into a house was “racial profiling?” If someone saw a person breaking into YOUR house, wouldn’t you want them to call the cops?”

    Yes, if I saw someone breaking into a home or if a neighbor of mine saw someone breaking into my home, I would appreciate a call to the police or for someone to be bold enough to even ask what the person was doing (if it was safe to do so).

    BUT, and this is crucial, WHY did Lucia Whalen, a 40-year old white woman, employee and head of fundraising of HARVARD MAGAZINE, a building that was about 4 doors down from where Prof. Gates lived–WHY did she assume that Professor Gates and his driver were breaking into his home?

    I used to live in Cambridge–I know the neighborhood in question. Yes, it’s residential but it’s also mixed-use in the sense that it is Harvard U. property so there are building devoted to the business of Harvard on that block (like Harvard Magazine) so it gets a fair amount of foot travel. Which means, you’d have to be INSANE to be blatantly breaking into a home in the middle of the day in that neighborhood–and esp. if one were black, given the tense history of race relations, ESP. with the Cambridge/Boston police, you are just NOT going to be doing that.

    WHY did Lucia Whalen assume that Gates and his driver were “breaking into” his home? Why did she ignore the evidence in front of her–the black towncar, the luggage, the cane that Professor Gates uses, the fact that his driver was wearing a suit?

    The answer to why she ignored visual evidence and re-wrote the image in front of her–to see two black men with backpacks breaking into a home rather than to see an older black man with a cane and a younger black man in a suit and a towncar parked by the house–THAT is racial profiling. The fact that she ignored other visual evidence and only saw what she has been programmed to see, THAT is racial profiling.

    To ignore the history of racism and white supremacy regarding the police and African Americans in our nation’s history is to not understand WHY so many of us understood, immediately, that this was an obvious case of racial profiling and of racism at work.

    If anyone is so inclined to read the rant I wrote at my blog, you can find it here–but I warn you, I took off my educator’s hat and got a bit blunt because, quite frankly, I’m just exhausted by trying to explain to people that YES this is an instance of racism–and on a blog called Anti-Racist Parent, I hope we can understand the Gates incident and others like Sotomayor and the Valley Club to be instances of racism:

    http://mixedraceamerica.blogspot.com/2009/07/we-are-not-living-in-post-racial.html

    Posted 25 Jul 2009 at 7:10 pm ¶

19. Kristen wrote:

    I’ve been really enjoying the Black In America program on CNN. Between that and the coverage of the Gates incident, it seems like there has been a constant conversation about race on CNN this week, and I think that’s a good thing.

    Re: Gates. Really, I think the outrage is less about the police showing up, and more about what happened after that. From what I can see, and especially after reading the police report, Gates did not commit a crime, and I would agree with the assessments that he was arrested for being “angry while Black”. The police are here to protect and serve, not belittle and humiliate. Arresting him for being loud inside his own home seems reactionary and spiteful at best.

    I’m also dismayed at all the talk of Crowley being a racial profiling educator and therefore immune to racial profiling. If he knows about the problem and historical implications, he should have been more sensitive to Gates when he realized he was a resident!!

    Posted 26 Jul 2009 at 2:55 am ¶

20. Kristen wrote:

    One more thing – anyone else notice that in the same week, Gates was required to show TWO forms of identification to prove residence inside his own home, and new groups are starting to rumble about Obama proving residence in the US at birth even though he’s offered up a legit birth certificate?

    Posted 26 Jul 2009 at 3:06 am ¶

21. Montclair Mommy wrote:

    I just have to share the experience because it is just TOO applicable. I had a traumatic experience the other day. First I couldn’t find my keys. I thought I might have locked them in my car and I called my husband. He told me to go out and check. Problem is, I have a toddler. Okay, I thought, I’ll run outside and glance real quick from the porch. I thought I UNLOCKED the door so it wouldn’t lock behind me but I locked it!!! Leaving my toddler inside alone, sitting by the door crying. Luckily I was still on the phone with my husband. I said/yelled, “I locked myself out!” He told me he was on his way and we got off the phone. Still, he works 15 mins away and I was so scared that my son would get into something or be upset or…something…I mean, you all know how it is. No matter how babyproofed your house is…they are crafty. Anyway, so I called 911. 5 mins and 5 cops and firemen show up. They popped the lock with a little card (seriously, it was frighteningly easy and fast) and let me right in. Of course I was thanking them and I cried when they let me in, but they just asked me, “Now what is your last name?” I told them and they said to have a good day and left. That’s it. Easy peasy. I couldn’t help but think about how different that might have gone if I were a) a dude and b) black. Or maybe it wouldn’t have gone differently at all. We are a VERY integrated place, very racially diverse and aware, etc. Still. I was kind of taken aback by how wonderfully easy that went. Phew. I see the differences in the scenarios, of course, but … there it is. I get locked out and one neighbor, the janitor, and five police and fireman are there to help and console me. Gates has a warped door and he gets arrested. Not fair.

    @ Kristen, oh yes, I am noticing. Like, “Oh no, this man has GOT to be from somewhere else! Look at his name! And lookee here I have a copy of his birth certificate that I got off my internets and Ima keepin it in a plastic bag so I can show people that he’s foreign!” What is that all ABOUT??! Seriously. I am shaking my head just thinking about it.

    @Andrea. I feel like you’re not reading the story very carefully (which, I guess is what you’d have to do not to see the racial implications). I’m white too and I still don’t see it your way. My point is that as white people sometimes we have to step outside ourselves and get educated as to what people of color experience in this country. Once we know that we have to actively attempt to see the world as it is: and its still a racist place. You keep harping on the “breaking in” thing. The key is: he WASN”T breaking in. He was pushing on the door. Not breaking glass or using a tool to jimmy a lock. He was pushing on it. And when it didn’t open, he opened the backdoor. With his key. And he had luggage and a car service. He was dressed up. And it was the middle of the day. All of these things are context clues as to the nature of his issue with the door. But the problem is that the woman didn’t see any of these contextual clues. She only saw one thing: his color. Nothing else about what he did said “break-in.” So why did she read “break-in” from the situation. Fear caused by ignorance and an inner-racism that I believe we all have inside of us. It takes active efforts to shy away from seeing people based on prejudices we’ve been exposed to our whole lives. The point of this blog, I think, is to try.

    Posted 27 Jul 2009 at 2:50 pm ¶

22. deesha wrote:

    Interesting commentary on CNN’s BIA:

    http://www.blackretort.com/2009/07/bia2-continuing-mis-education-of.html

    Posted 28 Jul 2009 at 11:51 am ¶

23. curlyscales wrote:

    Andrea,

    Unless Mr. Gates was posing a physical threat, it is NOT against the law to be angry in your own home. It is NOT against the law to yell on your porch – even if it is directed toward a police officer.

    Posted 28 Jul 2009 at 7:58 pm ¶

24. Rita wrote:

    Gates himself has said that he appreciates that Whalen called for suspicious behavior. That’s all well and good. The problem is that the cop went beyond simply investigating a questionable incident. Once Gates had proved that it was his house, the incident should have been over.

    There is absolutely no justification for the cop to have arrested Gates for “disorderly conduct” when he had already proven that it was his home. At that point, it’s the cop who was disorderly.

    Crowley is not some rabid racist, but I do think that race clouded his judgment in this instance. Otherwise, how else do you explain how a small man who walks with a cane could appear threatening enough to warrant arrest?

    The president should not have called it a stupid act. He should have simply called it what it is: wrong.

    Posted 29 Jul 2009 at 4:20 pm ¶

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