Nothing like a question from out of left field to elicit some bare-boned truths about policing, race, and stupidity.
President Obama in a televised news conference, billed as an attempt to shore up allied support and win converts for his health care plan, turned to Chicago Sun-Times Washington bureau chief Lynn Sweet for the final question of the evening. Did Ms. Sweet ask about universal health care? The ups and downs of a single-payer system? The heartburn of quaking Blue Dog Democrats over the cost of the Obama plan? Bill Kristol's blinkered, ideological suggestion that Obama's critics on the right sniff the blood and "Go for the Kill?" No.
She asked about the July 16 arrest of Harvard Professor Henry Louis Gates, Jr.
By now, most know the facts. Last Thursday, the professor, just returned from China, cabbed from Logan International to his Cambridge home. Finding himself keyless, he stood on the porch of his lovely house and, with black taxi driver looking on, jimmied the door lock. Which prompted a neighbor to summon the cops. Who showed up after Professor Gates ("Skip" to his friend, the president) had worked his way into the living room. Words were exchanged, identification shown, an arrest made.
That's right. Gates, who must have been beat and irritable from the long return flight, was busted. In his own home. By a white cop. For "disorderly conduct."
And what, Ms. Sweet wanted to know, did the president think about all this?
Acknowledging that he wasn't there, and that he was relying on "reports" of the incident, Obama proceeded to label the "Cambridge police," not the arresting officer, "stupid." He went on to give voice to what was in the hearts and on the lips of many black citizens (and all other Americans who give a damn about human rights and civil liberties), namely that race was a factor here.
In my memory, only one other U.S. president ever made such a strong statement about police racism. In the aftermath of the Amadou Diallo police shooting in New York City, President Clinton condemned the actions of NYPD officers and asserted that Diallo would still be alive today were he white rather than black.
Now, was it Obama's turn. I wish he hadn't used the word stupid. I wish he hadn't, in effect and however inadvertently, accused the whole police force of stupidity. Even raging critics of the institution will occasionally concede: There are more than a few fine, sensitive and caring cops who perform a critical function in society. Cops who are far from stupid.
But what of Clinton's point? Would the Cambridge police officer who busted the renowned, revered professor in his own home done the same if the academic had been white? I don't believe so, not for a minute.
Which is why, however imperfectly he may have expressed it, President Obama did the cause of improved community-police relations a huge service by pulling no punches this evening. Young, less poised and polished, less well off black Americans than Henry Louis Gates, Jr. or Barack Obama just might benefit from the president's "stupid" remark.
Follow Norm Stamper on Twitter: www.twitter.com/CopsSayLegalize
Most police officers (regardless of ethnicity) would have unnecessarily arrested Professor Gates (regardless of Gates ethnicity) given that we have had unchecked growth within the judicial system for over 3 decades.
So you have an institutional problem -- not a problem of racial profiling or individual misconduct on the part of a single police officer.
The point is we all pick sides we can’t help it, because it is in our DNA ever since we were animals there was always one tribe pitted against the other for resources..
Mr. Stamper who wrote this, most every person that left a comment here, every TV pundant that debated this situation, the president and you reading this right now (that is mad as hell at me and can’t wait to tell me off) you all have ONE thing in common. You have already picked a side.
Until each and every one of us can say to ourselves honestly “Yes I have picked a side I AM a racist!” Even Obama himself when he said during the election “I will transcend politics and race” picked a side. If you are angry at one side or the other you are not part of the solution you are part of the problem.
He repeatedly asked Sgt. Crowley for his name and badge number, a question most people would ask if they were being hassled for being in their own home after producing photo identification but still being harassed. He was "disorderly" after being told to leave his home and being handcuffed. He was held for four hours and treated in a fashion designed to humiliate him.
Black students and professors have complained for years about racial profiling by Cambridge and campus police.
In 1994, a report by Northeastern University on profiling by race and gender. Out of nearly 400 municipal police departments and special units, Cambridge was one of only 15 found to measure significant disparities between its treatment of whites and blacks in all four areas studied.
As one police officer related in a discussion elsewhere on this subject, his chief told his officers never to arrest anyone on disorderly conduct charges, and that if they couldn't find a more serious charge it was their responsibility to calm the person down using the de-escalation methods they've been trained in.
We No Longer have "peace officers"...We have a Military Police Force and while there are good men and women serving...there are by Far Too Many who are just mean bullies that Enjoy the opportunity to abuse under the Law.
I don't have enough information or no comment would have been wise.
Does anyone else find that strange?
If this is an accurate quote, I am surprised that the President , who is an attorney , would make a statement like this. Attorney's are taught NOT to make conclusions UNLESS they have the facts. Usually the first reports of any incident are widely divergent. As more time is passes , a more complete picture of a incident or accident emerges. Such jumping to conclusions based on incomplete evidence is more typical of the last Harvard grad who was n the White House but who was not a lawyer and was proud of it.
However the President's statement is typical of a trend in modern thinking in which people state a conclusion but provide cover for themselves with a disclaimer that they don't have all the facts. This is a useful type of evasive speech that allows the speaker to have it both ways . If the conclusion turns out to be false, the speaker can hide behind the statement that he was not aware of the facts. However if the conclusion is true , the speaker gets credit for being out in front of an issue.
What is wrong with saying " I just don't know all the facts and I refuse to speculate"
The profiling on this case is not the race its Gates behavior. This is typical of an individual who has a chip on his shoulder. That's profiling. I can also say that the Jails of Seattle are filled with people who have chips on their shoulders.
Let in go Norm. I like your policies and your a good man. However, on this one, you're wrong.
I have great respect for police officers. It is not an easy job, it is a heroic one and it takes a special type of person to do such work for a living. But it was uncalled for, to arrest a man for being angry at being harrassed in his own living room. He is one of the President's good friends. Wouldn't you voice your outrage if the same happened to your friend or family member. Damn right I would!!!
Also good neighbors call the police when they see something suspicious, that is how safe neighborhoods are established. If one of my neighbors see's two grown men attempting to break into my house I would rather have the police come and stop the burgalry and if it happens to be me answer a few questions, as opposed to getting burgalerized.
Dan Kanoza
Too many in America insist Blacks are wrong about the way they are treated, and any incident of racism Blacks encounter is misunderstood. That Blacks should just shut up and forget about such incidents, and they should just keep moving. There's no racism here. Not in America.
While on the other hand, whenever the Holocaust is spoken of by Jewish people, or whenever a Jewish person is confronted with racism, we should all be outraged.
Think about it.
Most bigots who hate people who are black also hate people who are Jewish but they often try to play minorities against each other.
I am outraged by what happened to Dr. Gates, one of the most pre-eminent scholars in this nation. I have written to numerous officials in Cambridge, MASS, to voice my feelings about this incident.
I am also deeply offended that a bunch of Cambridge police officers just gave a press conference in which they criticized President Obama and Gov. Patrick, both of whom sadly know from personal experience that some police are guilty of racial profiling.
This incident along with what happened at the Valley Swim Club outside Philadelphia involving a group of minority campers having their membership revoked, prove that racism is alive and well in America and nobody should accept it regardless of their race, creed or color. But dividing people who face prejudice instead of uniting them is part of the problem, not part of the solution
It should be well noted that President Obama did not call the department stupid rather their actions were stupid. There is a big difference and I see nothing wrong with President Obama's answer to the question.
Still, the president made several good points in his commentary. First, he noted that ANYONE would be pretty mad about being asked to prove his identity while standing in his own home. Second, it frankly does seem that race played a role, on both sides. Gates may have over-reacted to the officer's request because of the historical context of interactions between white officers and black citizens (which is Gate's academic specialty). And the officer may have been more willing to cut some slack to a tired and irritable older man if he were white, than black.
The bottom line is, however, that the officer should have known better and taken the higher road here. He is, reportedly, responsible for race sensitivity training at the Cambridge police department! There was nothing wrong with him demanding to see the ID; that is his job. YET, whatever insults were exchanged during a heated diaglog, the officer should not have arrested Gates, who was standing in his own home.