How the media invented the Obama/Gates controversy
July 24, 2009 1:42 pm ET by Jamison Foser
Since Wednesday...
Nexis hits for "Obama and Henry Louis Gates": 363
Nexis hits for "I don't know, not having been there and not seeing all the facts, what role race played in that": 10
Would the neighbor have even called the police had Gates been white? Would the police have arrested a rich white man for becoming agitated?
We'll never know, of course, but it's not out of the question that this falls into the sphere of racial profiling.
Sgt. Crowley responded to a possible B&E in progress. When finding the door open & a person inside matching the description (black male) given by the caller, the officer began to question the man & take control of the situation. The officer was doing his duty. The guilty party was Gates, who was disorderly from the start (homeowner or not). Plenty of homeowners (white, black, Asian, Alaskan, Indian, you-name-it) are disorderly when confronted by law enforcement & the parties are subsequently arrested (rightfully so) for disorderly conduct!
I read the arrest report; from the minute officers arrived, Gates was confrontational (not a smart thing to do when being questioned by an officer of the law). And not only was Gates confrontational, he also began engaging in angry, racist hate speech. As a white woman, God forbid if a black officer shows up at my house & I confront him with anger & race speech. I'd be in handcuffs in no time - charged not only with disorderly conduct, but also a hate crime!
Obama was wrong to get involved & even more wrong to use the word "stupid" in describing the actions by Cambridge Police Department. The only mistake I see by the Department is dropping the charges. Was the man disorderly (the crime he was arrested for)? Yes! So why drop the charges?
Shame on Professor Gates & shame on the President. And shame on hateful people hell-bent on crying racism when there is none.
BTW, Sgt. James Crowley, the arresting officer in the Gates case, has taught a class about racial profiling for five years at the Lowell Police Academy after being hand-picked for the job by former police Commissioner Ronny Watson, who is black, said Academy Director Thomas Fleming. The course, called "Racial Profiling," teaches about different cultures & how you don't want to single people out because of their ethnic background or the culture they come from," Fleming said.
The fact that you apparently determined what you think is the unvarnished truth of the matter by reading the arrest report reveals your own bias on the matter, that of embracing the "official" story without qualification.
What is undisputed is that Gates was in his own home, that he produced ID to prove he was in his own home, and it was after that he was arrested.
My question is, once Gates produced ID, why was the cop still there? Faced with a visibly and understandably angry homeowner, why didn't the cop simply say "Okay, sorry for the misunderstanding, Mr. Gates" and leave? Whatever "confrontation" occurred at that point was at least as much the cop's fault, in fact more so because as the cop, he was supposed to be the one trained in self-control.
So what did happen? I expect Gates did mouth off some - an "offense" which former DC Deputy Chief of Police Robert Klotz calls "contempt of cop," of being insufficiently respectful and obedient. Being busted on some spectacularly subjective charge like disorderly conduct is the frequent result.
So why was the charge dropped, you ask? Because that's what usually happens in such cases. The cops don't want to pursue this, they just want to punish you for being insufficiently obsequious and they figure a night in jail is enough for that. They have proved their power over you and that was the point all along. It's not about safety or order - it's about ego.
Which brings up one other thing, your statement "not a smart thing to do when being questioned by an officer of the law." We hear such advice often enough. But why should that be? Why should someone legally inside their own home be afraid to argue with a cop? Are we to assume that cops will abuse their authority? Are we to conduct ourselves on the basis that we have to be always afraid of saying the wrong thing, of having the wrong "attitude," afraid of the consequences of challenging authority even when we are in the right?
Just what kind of society do we want to live in?
It's incredible the number of authoritarians (i.e. non-critical thinkers) treat this arrest report like its the gospel handed down from God him/herself.
After reading about the officer's track record and hearing comments of those individuals, both black and white, who have worked with him, I get the impression that he possessed a good understanding of the historical difficulties with race in this country. He taught a class in racial profiling.
It appears to me that the Professor let his passion get in the way of common sense. As an educated individual he should have been aware of the inherent danger that all peace officers face when responding to any call. Had he acted calmly it is likely that this incident would have ended unremarkably.
Instead, it appears that he acted like a privileged child knowing that, as an esteemed professor and friend of Mr. Obama, he could run his mouth and have the last word.
IMO, he owes both the Police Officer and Mr. Obama an apology.
Had he acted calmly it is likely that this incident would have ended unremarkably.
Gates is 60 YEARS OLD and walks with a cane. He didn't act like a "privileged child". HE WAS IN HIS OWN HOME.
The "peace officer", as you call him, IS THE PROFESSIONAL, not Gates.
The charges were DROPPED. The "peace officer" was WRONG. Gates was arrested simply because the "uppity" black man had the gall to mouth off to the white cop.
I have much experience with the ugliness of racism as well as a person who works for the Dept. of Corrections. While I understand that race remains a major problem I also understand that officers place their lives at risk every time they respond to a call no matter how trivial the matter might appear. There is simply no room for anyone of any color to be "uppity" and have the "gall to mouth off" as you say Gates did when dealing with peace officers.
Furthermore, it is my experience that people who teach race relations of any kind, as is the case with Mr. Gates, tend to view neutral events through a racial lens to a much greater extent than do others. Sorry, but your non-critical views and criticisms don't fly with me.
BTW, love how you just keep cutting and pasting your reverse racist screed from thread to thread. Assuming Gates was being an a-hole, if being an a-hole in your own house is a crime, the right wing of the republican party would all be doing 10 to 20 years.
I'm sure the officer's actions here were also completely justified...
At least get the facts straight! The neighbor called in TWO Black men with backpacks!
Professor Gates is 59 years old, 5'7", 150 pounds AND must use a can due to hip replacement surgery!
And of course, you didn't bother to read Professor Gates side of the story. Why bother, when a White police officer tell you something about a Black man, it must be the truth! </sarcasm>
I always love when folks used the "he taught racial profiling" and "he was appointed by a Black cop". As if THAT is some supporting factor in favor of Crowley. Maybe you should have added "there were two Black cops standing up for Crowley" as well.
15 Black chickens, 15 Black gooses and 15 Black current and former police officers could have stood up for Crowley. And NOTHING would have changed the fact that Crowley should NOT have arrested Professor Gates.
In fact, in Crowley's police report, (p.2 paragraph 1) he says the following: “While I was lead to believe that Gates was lawfully in the residence. . . I was quite surprised and confused with the behavior Gates exhibited toward me.”
So Crowley thought that Professor Gates was in HIS OWN home and yet he still arrested him?
And arrested him for what? Professor Gates had no weapons, he did not strike anyone and he wasn't throwing anything. Professor Gates was trash talking.
Arrested for trash talking in HIS OWN home.
And by the way, Crowley IS suppose to be an expert in racial profiling, diversity training, and how to work through these types of situations. HE should have expected the response he got from Gates as a black man who was in his own home and was being wrongly questioned by the police under suspicion of breaking and entering.
Because the "charges" were a joke!
The Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts held that the First Amendment prevents application of the disorderly conduct law to language and expressive conduct, even when it is offensive and abusive. The one exception would be language that falls outside the protection of the First Amendment, "fighting words which by their very utterance tend to incite an immediate breach of the peace."
Jury instructions used by the Massachusetts courts spell out three elements that must be proved beyond a reasonable doubt to convict someone of disorderly conduct:
1. The defendant engaged in fighting or threatening, or engaged in violent or tumultuous behavior, or created a hazardous or physically offensive condition by an act that served no legitimate purpose.
2. The defendant’s actions were reasonably likely to affect the public.
3. The defendant either intended to cause public inconvenience, annoyance or alarm, or recklessly created a risk of public inconvenience, annoyance or alarm.
As usual, you added a lot of fluff and BS, while at the same time not addressing a single issue of substance. Gates was wrong, acted like an idiot, and got arrested like he should have. It was not the decision of the police to drop the charges.
Charges are dropped against guilty people all the time, as happened here. The DA has full authority to drop charges, and did so in this case. Just because they were dropped does not mean he was not guilty. He was.
Gates is simply playing the victim role, and is already planning his PBS special. But I am sure you will watch it with bated breath Pearl. Do you think the documentary will include his reference to the officers mother?
Join us all in 2009 Pearl. You might actually like it here
YOU still can't read? Seriously, they have classes for that.
FYI
Cambridge and the police department said they made the recommendation to the Middlesex County district attorney and the district attorney's office "has agreed to enter a nolle prosequi in this matter," meaning that it will not be pursued.
And, I'm sorry to inform you that Jim Crow laws are gone. Here in America people are innocent UNTIL PROVEN guilty. And Professor was not only innocent, the POLICE recommended that NO charges be filed because it's not against the law to talk trash or insult a police officer.
In fact if you try really, really hard you might be able to read the same law that the Cambridge police department read, when dropping the charges.
Give it a try and good luck!
The Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts held that the First Amendment prevents application of the disorderly conduct law to language and expressive conduct, even when it is offensive and abusive.
Separate and apart from. Meanwhile, the media ignores Obama's direct statement that he does not know if race played a role.
Obama regrets remarks
Obama calls Sgt. Crowley and says he is good man
Well at least the rookie prez is starting to get it. Tamp this spark out before it becomes a fire. Poor choice of words to start with, even the prez says that. He's learning. Slowly, but learning.
You've never lived in Boston I guess.
Now... as to my "Boston" comment? I'm FROM Boston. And despite the con's portrayal of Massachestts (and esp CAMBRIDGE) as some kind of liberal Mecca, I happen to know better, at least as it pertains to race relations in that city. My grandfather was a cop there, and my cousin (a cop there now) STILL hears stories about him. It's not a coincidence that the Red Sox were the last MLB team to integrate, or that the Celtics won the '86 championship with an almost all-white team. It's polite. People aren't open about it like they sometimes are down south, but it's a city with a LOT of racial tension throughout it's history.
Do I think the cop was a racist? No, I don't; not consiously anyway. No more than you or I might be or the next door neighbor was. But it still plays a factor. You can't expect me to believe that this would have played out exactly the same way if Gates was white, or for that matter is the officer was black.
Don't forget they had a black coach! :)
Point taken though.
NERZOG earlier asked if the neighbor would "have even called the police had Gates been white?" I have no idea, since I know nothing about the woman. However, given the available facts of the case, and assuming (I do) that when she called the police the woman didn't recognize Gates, I HOPE she would have called the police no matter what race the person appeared to be. Obviously, this is a case of confusion, but I'd like to think I have responsible enough neighbors to call the police if they saw two men whom they didn't recognize appearing to be trying to force their way through my front door.
No one has presented any evidence that the white officer was A) racist or even B) had any history of behaving in a racially-influenced manner. In fact, and correct me if I'm wrong, but I believe that it turns out this officer was actually an expert in profiling. I believe that he was actually an instructor of the sensitivity or diversity course in the area meant specifically to prevent racial profiling. Furthermore, his fellow officers of all colors have come out to support him. Again, correct me if I'm wrong, but was there not a second officer on the scene, a black officer, who has gone on record that he felt the arrest was 100% justified?
It's an unfortunate event no matter how you look at it. That doesn't mean, however, that it should be seen through the prism of all other unfortunate events, all too common, that do involve racism or racially-motivated uneven treatment.
But even if Crowley's actions and motivations were themselves colorblind, that in and of itself is still a problem: he needs to realize what this looks like to Gates! And once it's determined that this is a misunderstanding, the situation needs to be difused. It's not Crowley's fault, so he shouldn't have taken it personally, even if Gates did.
*The accounts given by Gates and Crowley are so radically different in every detail, that I'm sure that neither or them is really accurate. Each man MIGHT be being honest in describing their PERCEPTION of what happened, but I don't really think either account accurately relfects any objective truth or facts.
http://www.theroot.com/views/skip-gates-speaks?page=0,0
It needs to be considered that when the police have an encounter with black men, innocent men (sometimes) end up being shot and killed. Knowing that history, I think Professor Gates had a right to be 1. wary 2. ask for the guy's badge number 3. not be arrested because he was assertive in wanting the guy's badge number.
I actually don't necessarily think the popo were doing racial profiling, consciously anyway. But anybody who is in the business of training officers in the area of sensitivity training should have been able to handle the situation without arresting a guy and taking him down to the popo station and having him humiliated by going through a finger printing, mug shot, etc..
A man who has complied with the ID requirement and been shown to live at that address should have been dealt with professionally enough that he didn't feel threatened. I mean there were a whole bunch of police cars outside. If I was him, I'd be fearful of the cops too.
And maybe both men overreacted. But it's the popo's job to be in professional mode. And as far as I know, you are allowed to ask for the policeman's badge number, etc..I've done it before. The officer complied. I think they have to, but this one doesn't seem to have felt that he needed to.
And I admit to not having so much respect for police. They are just people after all, not gods. And they often are paranoid, have adrenaline pumping and overreact. It's been seen too many times to be denied.
Bottom line. Gates should have never been arrested. That is a travesty.
All the officer knew when he arrived was that a report was called in about two people breaking into a house. Gates could have been a burglar. Gates could have been a hostage. The officer knows NONE of that when he arrives at the scene. Thats why he asked Gates if he was alone in the house.
How did Gates respond. Not with a thank you, but I lost my keys, here is my ID. He responds with racial attacks and attacks on his mother. And this is a Harvard Professor???
And he was most likely questioned about others being in the house in case Gates was a spousal abuser. However the officer should have made that known to Gates and he apparently didn't.
Futher, it is lawful and reasonable to ask an officer for his ID and badge number. The officer didn't comply as he should have.
And if the officer was indeed such an expert and had training in racial sensitivity as has been reported, he should have understood that this man felt threatened. It is his PROFESSIONAL duty to make sure that Gates understood what was being asked of him and why.
The fact that this devolved into a situation where Gates was arrested and taken down to the police station gives an example of less than stellar police behavior. There were a lot more of them than Prof. Gates. They could have handled the situation more professionally IMO.
And there is no doubt that black men do get killed in encounters with police through NO fault of their own. Whether this was racial or not, I can't say. But I do have the opinion that it was handled badly....maybe stupidly.
And if you care to read other's account here, there is a reasonable basis for other's opinions besides yours, which you are entitled to. But don't come here with half facts and suppositions that can not be substantiated when we don't know all the details.
You should also note that Gates says in his version that he did not comply at first when asked for his ID. I see you left that part out as well.
The fact that Gates was arrested and taken to the station was a result of his own behavior. You also seem to leave out that Obama says Gates over reacted as well. Seems your version of the "facts" has many gaps.
And I did say that it was MY opinion that BOTH men perhaps overreacted. I guess you didn't read my post bery thoroughly. I never mentioned Obama, btw. Swing and miss there.
I read one Gates interview, where he says he refused to step outside when asked. There are several interviews out now, and I dont see where it says he refused to give ID. I will see if I can find that part. Perhaps I did confuse the two.
http://gawker.com/5321278/no-henry-louis-gates-is-not-a-railer-a-brawler-or-a-common-street-walker
And I have to say I agree that when in the clutch, this officer either didn't remember his training (or his teaching). Or he wasn't experienced in the actual techniques.
I mean why did this devolve into a situation where a highly respected and high profile man like Gates gets driven down to the police station and was made to go through the humiliation he did.
The more I contemplate this situation, the madder I get.
Even a black officer on the scene described it that way.
Black Officer on scene says Gates acted strangely
I know you see racism around every corner and under every bed sheet, but the facts are clear here. Gates was acting in a manner that escalated the situation to an arrest.
Case closed your honor. Even Barry is backing off his stance. Here's a hint for you die hards...when our president says he was off base, it's time to stand down. Otherwise you look like a zealot...oh wait!
And guess what? Barry isn't the president's name. And he is a diplomatic personality, so if he wants to deescalate this situation, I say fine. But the facts of the case need to be looked at nonetheless. If the police can't do their job in a manner that doesn't feel threatening to a person, then they need MORE training. Regardless if this was racial or not.
So says the all-knowing, all-powerful, "all-factual" police report.
Gates had every right to know that officer's name/badge #. After all, the officer was in HIS HOUSE investigating a crime that DIDN'T OCCUR.
There is a valid reason that the Cambridge decided to drop the charges against Professor Gates...THEY WOULD LOSE!
The Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts held that the First Amendment prevents application of the disorderly conduct law to language and expressive conduct, even when it is offensive and abusive. The one exception would be language that falls outside the protection of the First Amendment, "fighting words which by their very utterance tend to incite an immediate breach of the peace."
Which leads back to the "racial profiling/diversity" expert, Officer Crowley, who could not handle the perfect case of "racial profiling/diversity" and arrested Professor Gates on charges that would never be filed.
President Obama said he used a poor choice of words, NOT that he changed his original opinion that the arrest of Professor Gates was wrong!
Had the officer responded and said I was already with your mother out back you guys would be demanding his job. The liberal double standard is amazing here.
It is NOT against the law to insult a police officers mother, PERIOD!!
Barry backed off. So should you.
So the police rightly dropped charges because the officer in question acted inappropriately. Turns out that you're wrong about disorderly conduct. Another swing and miss for T-Bone.
So yes, case closed, and as our esteemed president mentioned the other day, this right wing distraction is keeping the topic of health care discussion supressed. He rightly changed the direction back, and as he noted, he thinks both the officer and gates need to chill out. See, he never apologized for what he meant, just in the choice of words used to say it. Poor T-Bone, seems nothing goes your way, does it?
Call in an insinuation all you like, the President was very careful to separate his comments on racism and law enforcement, and his opinion about the Gates arrest. Let's get on with something that is actually important, like health care, or the economy.
You are falling for an invented controversy.
It might be a good diea, but it ain't the law.
If it was, the charges would not have been dropped.
Second - from Leah Garchik's column in the San Francisco Chronicle (July 22, 2009):
"A member of the cast of 'Porgy and Bess' stayed with a Pacific Heights friend during the opera's run here. One night when the singer, an African American, was parking, a local woman emerged from her house, approached her and demanded to know why she was there. She was visiting her 'mother,' the singer joked, employing the term she and her pal jokingly use. 'I'm her houseguest.'
"The next night, when the singer lingered in her car making a phone call, the woman apparently summoned police, who drove up and asked what she was doing there. When she went inside and reported this to her host, the singer burst into tears. Friends and other neighbors are mortified."
This goes on in America every day.
I guess the race baiters want to drag this one out and show their true colors. They just knew they hand a winning hand...till Barry folded!
I guess you threw the fourth downer on the fact that Barry called Sgt. Crowley. Just can't follow his lead can you. That was my point from the heart!
Wait until the next time a cop shoots one of those loony survivalists, and we'll see how much Conservatives love cops.
Hmmmm... I wonder why THAT is?
If you ever want to know when you have a dem corned, just listen for the word parsing.
Take the presidents lead and stand down. Even Barry knows he stepped in it this time. Unfortunately the usual suspects at MMfA don't know there is excrement on their boots.
Understand? Because the charges were dropped, there was no cause to arrest Gates in the first place.
The arrest report was likely trumped up to make the cops look good, in my opinion.
Well you have one little problem with that theory. There were witnesses that can vouch for the cop. Nobody has come forward to support Gates as far as I know.
The charges were dropped. Good. Still doesn't change the fact that Gates lost control of his emotions and let the situation get the best of him. Seems he was looking for a fight. Never let a chance for a charge of racism pass you by...
IMO - none of the three did anything "wrong." All were within their 'rights,' and all three ended up worse off than they likely planned on. (Which is pretty much the DEFINITION of "stupid".) It's not about one person being right and the other wrong. From a reasonable POV, all three were right, but all three probably wish they had acted differently, even if they won't/can't publicly admit it. You can be "right," do nothing "wrong" and still "lose." Happens all the time.
Life's just unfair that way.
I read the arrest report; from the minute officers arrived, Gates was confrontational (not a smart thing to do when being questioned by an officer of the law). And not only was Gates confrontational, he also began engaging in angry, racist hate speech. As a white woman, God forbid if a black officer shows up at my house & I confront him with anger & race speech. I'd be in handcuffs in no time - charged not only with disorderly conduct, but also a hate crime!
Obama was wrong to get involved & even more wrong to use the word "stupid" in describing the actions by Cambridge Police Department. The only mistake I see by the Department is dropping the charges. Was the man disorderly (the crime he was arrested for)? Yes! So why drop the charges?
Shame on Professor Gates & shame on the President. And shame on hateful people hell-bent on crying racism when there is none.
BTW, Sgt. James Crowley, the arresting officer in the Gates case, has taught a class about racial profiling for five years at the Lowell Police Academy after being hand-picked for the job by former police Commissioner Ronny Watson, who is black, said Academy Director Thomas Fleming. The course, called "Racial Profiling," teaches about different cultures & how you don't want to single people out because of their ethnic background or the culture they come from," Fleming said.
Why do you believe the arrest report? Do you really believe cops don't "massage" these reports to cover their collective a**?
Yet another authoritarian non-critical thinker.
And dude, I don't give respect based on titular authority. When someone discharges their duty poorly, you don't give automatic respect. You check it out and try to make sure future encounters with the citizenry are handled in a more efficient and equitable manner. That makes everything in society run better.
The very fact that this man was arrested and taken to the station when he committed no crime and charges were subsequently dropped leads me to more questions, not less.
The officers chose to move the cuffs from back to front because of Gates' disability and they suffered no injury from him while they did so. The officers chose to wait for a maintenance worker from Harvard to secure Gates' front door. The officers chose to have a large number of their various brethren hang around instead of letting the area be cleared of the attraction of police cars. The officers chose to allow lookers-on to keep looking (and to keep being "alarmed and surprised" which was the given reason for the arrest).
During all of that, the officers could have chosen to let the situation calm itself and clear away much of the commotion that created the "alarmed and surprised" people on the sidewalk. The officers did not use their total control to make these choices. Instead, Gates remained in their custody and they took him away.
They acted "stupidly" and deserve to be called to task for it.
You guys are a laugh a minute! Keep them coming...
So Julia, please, tell me what if anything Gates did wrong here. Show me you can see this from both sides.
And according to Gates, he did give his ID. And perhaps it was his perception that this had a racial compenent. Perhaps the officer had his own perceptions which are just as human. That's life, dude.
And Gates didn't say he trash talked. If the police did, that's THEIR VERSION. Titular authority doesn't hold much sway for me. It does for you. We'll have to disagree on that point.
But thanks all the same for engaging in somewhat civil debate. At least with me...;-)
That's because you ain't looking too hard. But once again, if being an a-hole in your own house is a crime, rightwingers would be doing 10 to 20 years.
The officer can release the person from arrest if they determine the situation allows for it. This is part of the discretion I was referring to. Placing a person under arrest (control) does not automatically mean a trip to the station or being officially charged.
So, you are correct. The post arrest is what I found most important because that is the point at which the most important choices could be made.
You gots to consider these things before you wave around a birth certificate.
It doesn't mean that the Gates incident was racially motivated,but when an elderly, somewhat disabled citizen of any color is arrested in his own home by a cop of any color while not having committed any crime to bring the police there,it is not a good outcome!! The police had far more control of this situation than did Dr.Gates.Surely they could have diffused his anger even if it took another policeman to intervene.There was no life or death situation involved. Time could have been taken to ensure that an innocent citizen was properly respected in his own home.I wonder how some taking the police side would see this if their father,grandfather,uncle ,etc was arrested in this way..Uh uh that does require empathy!!! Good Luck!
Obviously he really was listening to all the indoctrination of his preacher - jeremiah wright. After all he trapes all over the world speaking negatively and with disdain in regards to the United States. Whatever happened to national pride and loving the land of the free and the home of the brave.