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
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Most police officers (regardles
So you have an institutio
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 identifica
Black students and professors have complained for years about racial profiling by Cambridge and campus police.
In 1994, a report by Northeaste
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 responsibi
We No Longer have "peace officers".
I don't have enough informatio
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 conclusion
However the President'
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'
Also good neighbors call the police when they see something suspicious
Dan Kanoza
Too many in America insist Blacks are wrong about the way they are treated, and any incident of racism Blacks encounter is misunderst
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-eminen
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 Philadelph
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
The bottom line is, however, that the officer should have known better and taken the higher road here. He is, reportedly