Harvard Professor Arrested At Home
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| 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."



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Ya take the good w/ the bad.
I've missed Obama's back tracking. What did he say?
He basically just wanted to make certain the public understood he wasn't attempting to say the arresting officer was "stupid", only that what transpired concerning the arrest of a prominant black leader was "stupidity".
I did read at lunch that the arresting officer (white), years ago was the first respondent to a scene where a local Boston basketball legend, Reggie Lewis, fell from an apparent heart attack. This same officer tried to revive him by giving mouth-to-mouth, unfortunately, to no avail. Mr. Lewis is black BTW.
I'm here to tell you, what you heard is not true......people, not just older women mind you, get ignored if they have nothing to contribute to society. For those that do, including gym rats that can't do 1000 situps anymore, you'll never be ignored. Maybe those horny construction workers may not whistle quite as often at you as they did back in the day, but they still take notice.
Let's treat one another with a little dignity and respect.
Amen.
Actually, I don't want to share my experience. It happened many years ago and my preference is to move on rather than dwell on old hurts, unlike Gates who seems willing to operate with his own old prejudices and biases. That's the whole irony of this episode.
As far as making assumptions, you've got a point. I look at what's been reported and arrive at certain conclusions. Could be that there will be other facts which will exonerate Gates entirely and make it clear that there was indeed, overt racism. On the other hand, your questions seem quite pointed to make the statement that "I'm not the one making any assumptions at all, either way."
I don't know why it matters that Gates is a Harvard professor (your response to my statement that he's an academic). Seems like a distinction without difference.
Hope you have a great weekend, Kate. Sincerely.
Jabberwocka
I lived among Blacks, worked with them and my children went to school with them.
I have always told my children never to get mouthy with a policeman.
I remember when my future husband and I were in a parked car, necking.
Jabberwocka, we lived among Blacks and I worked with them, my children went to a primarily Black school.
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