Racist Cops In Cambridge?
I agree with President Obama that it was a waste of time and money to arrest Professor Louis Gates since:
- He was in his own house
- He is a renowned (not that I agree with his curriculum) professor at Harvard, for which Cambridge pretty much owes its existence
- He’s a friend of Barack Obama’s
So it was a bad judgment call to arrest him, if they knew all of this.
But what does it say for Professor Gates and his causes, one of which is a film expose on— wait for it— racial profiling? What does it say that he couldn’t conduct himself like a gentleman and answer a few polite questions for the police, maybe show some ID since they were there on a burglary call.
After all, they can’t assume that a real burglar wouldn’t say “Oh this is my house, get out of here”.
What does this say for his study on Racial Profiling if that study presupposes that police act from a place of bias and prejudice, instead of you know, because the suspect is acting like a total asshole?
My point is that in the same way police-power corrupts Black-Professor-friend-of-the-President’s-power also corrupts. Being so well versed in this corruption of power at the detriment to his people (and believe me he considers them ‘his people’) why can’t he see how flaunting the power he wields could also be harmful to others?
Like a blue collar policeman trying to close a 911 call?
And so therefore this is probably the problem you run into a lot when you’re dealing in racial politics, that you must not be dissuaded from your thesis and you must collect facts which prove your theorem and discard those that don’t. And nothing about this incident shows me that Professor Gates approached this situation with an open mind or wanted anything other than what happened to him.
I can imagine him seeing the police pull up to his house, that he owns. I’m a Harvard Professor. Barack Obama and I knuckle bump for fuck’s sakes.
To put this in perspective, the police showing up at GATE’S HOUSE mistakenly is akin to a Dinosaur bumbling into a paleontologist’s backyard, on summer break.
Jackpot, he probably muttered to himself.
So check it out, I was sitting in my house playing my accordion like this when some cracker-ass police man came in..
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Tagged with arrest, harvard, professor gates, racial profiling, video
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We have three observations about the Harvard professor incident:
1. We find it interesting that the fact that this was the professor’s home was evidently not established early on way before the dispute escalated;
2. We find it fascinating that the versions of two members of society, who most would ordinarily view as responsible and honest citizens (this obviously does not include politicians), would vary so dramatically from a factual point of view.
3. Finally, considering that the reading and viewing public were not present at the scene (and thus have no first hand knowledge), and that there is no video tape to our knowledge of the sequence of events and what was said, how so many have formed conclusions, and made assumptions, about who did what and who was wrong.
There are some things which Professor Gates might have considered upon the arrival of the police, no matter how incensed he may have been.
Umm, actually he *did* show ID – Harvard faculty ID *and* driver’s license. And what makes you think he is “a friend of Barack Obama’s”? News to me.
And his actual crime, for which we was arrested?
“Crowley claims that Gates called him names, called him a racist, and threatened to file a complaint against him, and that as a result he arrested him.”
Hmm. Arrested for *threatening* to file a complaint. I wonder what they do to anyone who actually attempts to go ahead with it?
Crowley was arrested for being an uppity nigger. It’s that simple.
Refusing to come outside was enough to get the cop’s antennas up. As a matter of course, people are asked to come outside. This proves freedom of movement to the cop. Gates responded to this routine request in a combative manner. The way shit’s been going lately, he’s lucky he didn’t get tased.
Im no fan of the cops, and I think they overstep their boundaries far too often for MY comfort…but this wasn’t one of those instances.
Professor Gates saw his chance to become a martyr for racism. Why else did he continue to harangue the officer, going so far as to follow him outside all the while insulting and threatening him? He got what he wanted, an arrest. Although I don’t think it turned out quite the way he planned. First, it was revealed that the 911 caller did not mention race until the operator asked her for a description of the men. She stated that she couldn’t tell the race of one man, and the other “might be hispanic” but she wasn’t sure. Second, the caller told the operator that she wasn’t sure that the men didn’t live there and were having trouble getting into their house. She never claimed that she saw it as a break-in. She left that to the police to sort out. No racism at all. I think if Gates’s neighbors ever see his home being broken into in the future, they should mind their own business and avoid the slanderous accusations of being referred to as racists.