Harvard Professor Arrested At Home
Find a Conversation
| Tue, 07-21-2009 - 10:28am |
Police Report Says Henry Gates Called Officers Racist
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/07/20/AR2009072001358.html?nav=hcmodule
Henry Louis Gates Jr., one of the nation's most prominent African American scholars, was arrested last week at his home near Harvard University after trying to force open the locked front door.
According to a report by the police department in Cambridge, Mass., Gates accused police officers at the scene of being racist and said repeatedly, "This is what happens to black men in America." The incident was first reported by the Harvard Crimson.
Gates, the director of the W.E.B. DuBois Institute for African and African American Studies, has been away from his home much of the summer while working on a documentary called "Faces of America," said Charles Ogletree, a Harvard law professor and friend of Gates who is working as his lawyer. Gates returned from China last week and had trouble opening the front door with his key.
Gates, 58, was arrested Thursday by police looking into a possible break-in for disorderly conduct "after exhibiting loud and tumultuous behavior" at his home, according to the police report. Officers said they tried to calm down Gates, who responded, "You don't know who you're messing with," according to the police report.
Ogletree said Gates was ordered to step out of his home. He refused and was followed inside by a police officer. After showing the officer his driver's license, which includes his address, Ogletree said Gates asked: "Why are you doing this? Is it because I'm a black man and you're a white officer? I don't understand why you don't believe this is my house." Ogletree said Gates was then arrested and charged with disorderly conduct and racial harassment.
Gates did not return calls to his office Monday, and the police department would provide no further details on the arrest. He was released four hours later, and arraignment has been scheduled for Aug. 26, but Ogletree said they hope to resolve the case sooner.
Gates is resting on Martha's Vineyard, according to Ogletree, and will soon resume traveling. He is scheduled to interview cellist Yo-Yo Ma, whose genealogy he was researching in China.
Gates, is a founder of the Root (http://www.theroot.com), a Web site owned by The Washington Post Co. He is also host and co-producer of "African American Lives," a Public Broadcasting Service show in which he uses genealogical resources and DNA testing to trace the family lineages of prominent black Americans. He was named a MacArthur Fellow in 1981 and was among Time magazine's "25 Most Influential Americans" in 1997.
Gates's arrest points to broader racial disparities in the criminal justice system, said Ryan S. King, a policy analyst at the Sentencing Project, a think tank that researches incarceration rates.
"If you look at every stage of the criminal justice system from initial police contact all the way through sentencing and incarceration, you see that African Americans are disproportionately impacted by each stage," King said. "What we ultimately see as disparate incarceration rates are contributed to by all of these factors."
As news of the arrest spread Monday from Harvard into broader academic circles, one professor who follows Gates's work said the arrest was both "not surprising" and "disheartening."
"I felt bad that I would hear about something like this happening, especially to someone as recognizable and distinguished as , but in the academy we still sometimes encounter that. I've been in situations where I encounter people who don't believe I'm a college professor," said Jelani Cobb, an associate professor of history at Spelman College in Atlanta. "We have obvious signs of progress, but we're not there."



Pages
Found a link to the police report itself: http://www.thesmokinggun.com/archive/years/2009/0723092gates1.html According to it, Crowley spoke to Whalen before going into the house and she was the one who used the phrase "two black men with backpacks". There were two separate dialogues with Whalen, apparently. The first was on tape to report the perceived possible burglary, the other was with Crowley once he arrived and was not captured on tape. Another possibility: Crowley wrote the report after the incident with knowledge that at least one of the men mentioned was an African American. Perhaps he was not remembering the actual wording of the dispatcher or did not refer to the recordings of the first call.
It does not follow that we would be aware of all Gates' reactions to biases, either real or perceived. Media reports, if made at all, sometimes fizzle and fail to gain critical mass due to a number of factors such as time of year or other events taking place. Prior to this July, how many of us knew about his earlier visit to the police station to "show black face"?
My point regarding Gates is that he probably has a predisposition to perceive racial bias where conceivably none exists because of his field of study. As regards the comments of both Obama and Powell, they know intimately the lives they lead, and probably have some knowledge about the experiences of close friends and relatives. Does it necessarily follow that those experiences are true of all African Americans? And would not such an assumption be the flip side of white racial bias?
Where we have common ground is in your next to last paragraph. With each and every sentence, I concur.
We pick the battles we fight. In the mid-70's when I was subjected to sexist acts and words, there wasn't a critical mass of women objecting to workplace insensitivity. Oddly enough, that may have made it easier for me to deal with dimwits. Like Powell, I went around the obstacles without questioning whether they should have existed or not. But let me be perfectly clear--that should not be translated into any sort of acceptance of the opinion that "boys will be boys" or that such an opinion justifies obnoxious actions and attitudes. Far from it. Differences between the sexes should not be excuse for chauvinist behavior.
Shifts of attitude and social mores take time whether regarding race or gender discrimination. Would make a fascinating study for a sociologist to monitor what changes have occurred between generations. For instance, my father's attitudes towards women in leadership roles are nothing at all like my son's. I am willing to be patient (within limits) and not demand that change take place right here and right now.
Jabberwocka
After all our going around, I agree w/ your last post. I agree that Gates, and anyone who has been subjected to these issues, probably looks more closely at actions and might see things that aren't there. I'm not ready to absolve him, either. According to what I've read/heard from Whalen, she said she never brought up race (I guess another he said/she said situation) so I'm not ready to absolve Crowley either. It's highly possible that Gates was overly sensitive and at the same time, knowing that it happens regularly, he might be right here, too. As I've said, I'm not ready to call Crowley racist or Gates overly sensitive because we don't know. But, I have no doubt that in both men's minds, they're right.
As sexual harassment goes, I still think it's because women spoke up against it and didn't just suck it up that things have changed in the work force. I dealt with it by letting it go but if every one did, if ohearto's boss let it go, things would never have changed. I still meet older men who don't get that going to a strip club or hiring strippers shouldn't be part of the business world.
I have not written that the episode was all Gates' fault. Go back and read my posts in the thread.
I was responding to your original post...not all of your posts had been posted when I read that one.
I understand that, they'll help here as well.
Or option #3:
Welcome to In the News.
Just a little 'etiquette hint' here...typing your entire post all in caps is considered rude - it's the equivalent of screaming at everyone.
But it sounds like all the conversations that the 9-1-1 dispatcher had with Crowley as well as the original caller are recorded & there is no evidence that remark was made by anyone except Crowley.
True... until I read the post about the woman caller who talked to Crowley before he knocked on the door.
zz
Hi, and welcome to the board :)
Re: racism, are you suggesting that white supremist groups like the KKK, etc., are the fault of their targets?
FIRST OF TO YOU AND ANYONE ELSE .. I TYPE IN LARGE LETTERING BECAUSE I LIKE THOUSANDS OF OTHERS HAVE BAD EYESIGHT AND THIS IS EASIER TO SEE.ITS NOT MEANT TO BE RUDE OR ANYTHING ELSE.
Pages