Last October I flew to Sarasota, Fla., and arranged to stay at the home of a friend who was traveling at the time. She mailed me keys and an address.
I landed late and took a cab. When we pulled up in front of the house, which I'd never seen before, it was very dark, so I asked the cabbie to wait while I let myself in.
The keys didn't work in the front door. Or the back door. With rising anxiety -- it was 11 p.m., after all -- I called my friend, but she wasn't answering her cell phone. We tried the keys in both doors again; no luck.
Just before heading back to the airport, where I figured I could find a hotel, I tried my friend again. This time she picked up.
I explained my problem, describing the front door -- and she started laughing. "You're in the wrong place. You'd better get out of there before someone calls the cops." We were on the wrong street.
While the driver was consulting his GPS, sure enough, a cop appeared behind us. We stopped; the cop came over; the cabbie explained; he and the cop had a chuckle; the cop returned to his car; we drove on to the right place, and the keys fit. All was well.
I thought of this story when I read about the recent arrest of Henry Louis Gates after entering his own house.
The worst thing that happened to me was that I had to feel stupid and frustrated for 15 minutes. It never occurred to me that I wouldn't be able to talk my way out of any problem.
That's because my story involves four white people -- the cabbie, my friend, the cop, and me. I think now it's fair to say that there isn't a black man in America who could tell a story like mine.
Gates is probably the most famous black professor in the world, and was in his own home in one of the most liberal cities in the entire country. Of course he was furious. Still the white officer arrested him -- even after he knew it was Gates' home.
My hope is that lots of white folks will finally get what our African-American brothers and sisters have been trying to get through our thick skulls for about half a century now. It's different being black. No matter whether we think we are racists. And anyway, no person of color believes any white person who says, "I'm not a racist."
Every day, we white people benefit from being white, from white ancestry, and from acting as if we deserve the benefits of being white.
When we hunt for housing, real estate agents regard us more favorably. We don't get followed by store security. We get better deals from car salesmen, more generous treatment from juries, and -- despite myths of rampant affirmative action -- our kids rarely compete with equally qualified African-American kids because so many urban schools, where most black kids are educated, are flat-out disasters.
Racism thrives in many places -- in hospital emergency rooms, in bank loan departments, in country clubs and churches and synagogues and universities. And in police departments.
White cops treat black men as criminals all the time -- all the time. And the Police Benevolent Association (PBA) everywhere defends every white officer who gets caught out -- even on video.
In Cambridge, the city and police department dropped the charges, calling the incident "regrettable and unfortunate" -- not the PBA, which gave its "full and unqualified support" to the officer's actions.
The incident even provoked President Obama, who's stayed pretty far away from race issues since being elected, into saying that the police acted "stupidly." He's since backtracked and invited both Gates and the officer who arrested him, Sgt. James Crowley, to the White House for a beer. It's a great start on what needs to happen.
But it's only a start. We need to transform police training top to bottom on the subject of race. The fact that the Cambridge cop taught the class about racial profiling suggests there's a good bit more work to do on the subject. Then we can start on banks, credit card companies, churches, synagogues and universities.
Gates has always had flair -- for figuring out new ideas and new trends, and for generating publicity. I don't wish upon him the fear he must have felt in his doorway, treated like a criminal in his own home. But he may have given white Americans one of the best teaching moments about race that we've ever had. If only we pay attention to it.
This piece originally appeared on the website of Minnesota Public Radio.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JJ3dk6KAvQM
Caption: Some times beer IS the solution.
Does anyone here know whether he was or wasn't in uniform?
If not, that would explain Professor Gates insistence that Crowley identify himself and refusal to step outside, initially.
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/2/22/Arrest_of_Henry_Louis_Gates.jpg
It appears all of the officers were in uniform.
Of course, being in uniform doesn't give him the right to enter Gates' home w/o permission, refuse to identify himself, lure Gates outside with the intent to arrest him for a crime he couldn't have committed in doors - which is where he was.
because he was vandalizing cars of change and other items left in cars. I asked him, ...'and you didn't arrest him'? His response was 'he was a white kid'! Now tell me that doesn't speak volumns!.
NOW how about a "CLASS BREAK"? ?
http://www.truthdig.com/report/item/20090728_america_the_great_police_state/
"And anyway, no person of color believes any white person who says, "I'm not a racist.""
...is, for one, terribly racist....and two, insanely unhelpful. I don't think justifying it helps anyone either.
If white people are going to be told that they are racist NO MATTER what they think, say or do...
Then I suspect white people will get a LOT more racist.
I do have to say, my eyes were opened way more to the "subtle" racism of white people by the Skip Gates incident. I really don't know how to justify arresting a guy in his own home for something that is not illegal, but I have seen so many do it.
While the incident itself may have been racial to one or both of them men involved, the debate should be focused, not on race, but on the issue of whether cops get to give orders to citizens AFTER they are no longer suspects and then arrest them for failing to comply...especially in their own homes.
I cannot think of any reason to justify such a thing.
I couldn't agree more, we are all equally effected my the human disposition.
1) You were not in the home when the police came by, Gates was. Gates was in the house as the police showed up. You were at the taxi having never attempted to forcefully enter the home. There were no scratch marks on the door you tried to enter, and while I cannot say for sure what the door Prof Gates broke open looked like, I can say it was clear that a forceful entry had occurred. This would give the police ground to suspect forced entry in Gate's case. In your case there was no forced entry what so ever, and you were not even at the door.
Gates is also not at fault for failing to find some form of proof that he was the legal occupant; retrieving the deed to the house would have been impractical and he would not have had it in the house anyway because he does not own the property.
The argument over the IDs does not benefit either party, but it does show that Gates could not possibly have shown Crowley any form of "ID" or other legal document that would have proved he was the legal occupant.
This is what I said, and no where in it did I way it was a crime to argue with a police officer. To the contrary I stated specifically that "I can not say that what he said warranted his arrest, but it did not help the situation."
"...the way he responded was a mistake. The police offices does not base his decision to arrest on how the subject feels inside; he has no way of knowing that, instead his decision is based entirely on how the subject behaves. Gate"s angry ranting was not a reflection of the man's law abiding nature. I can not say that what he said warranted his arrest, but it did not help the situation. When ever someone acts defensive, it is almost always interpreted as a sign of wrong doing. That"s not something they teach you at police academy, its something every one instinctively knows."
I also hope people will stop praising this article. It is thoughtfully laid out in a way that is intended to make people ignore the massive disparity in facts between the two cases and look at the incident only in terms of how race effected the situation.
Thank you for reading, Telop
Gates has accepted responsibility for his part in this incident, but that does not mean that he was the only one to be held accountable. Officer Crowley has quite a bit to be held accountable for as well, as he himself partially acknowledged.
Your tunnel-visioned perspective of this situation, placing culpability only on Professor Gates, and coming up with all kinds of excuses to defend Office Crowley, reveals quite a bit about YOUR worldview.
The main point of my article is that the situation described by the author (Goldstein) is vastly different from the one he was comparing it to and the comparison is therefore unfair. The facts of the two cases are quite different and the fact that the person in his story was not arrested while Gates was arrested is a difference caused by race alone is not a just conclusion and is done only by ignoring the many differences between the two cases.
"Officer Crowley has quite a bit to be held accountable for as well, as he himself partially acknowledged."
Please give specific examples of what Crowley did wrong, for my knowledge.
I don't want to hear, "you don't know how hard it is to be a police officer!" Yes, I do, and I know that it's an occupational hazard that you have to put up with. "If you can't stand the heat, get out of the kitchen"-remember that one?
It's "Protect and Serve" not "Go forth and be worshipped!"