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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Rosa Parks made a stand and took a seat simultaneously because there was clearly a policy of discrimination against African Americans which forced her to go to the back of the bus when whites wanted seats. Crystal clear. She had guts and integrity to question the justice of racial discrimination.
The issue gets a lot more opaque in the Gates' case. He claims he was an innocent victim of racism. Was seen forcing the front door by another citizen who called police thinking a burglary was taking place, was adversarial with the responding officer (who also didn't know at first that it was Gates' own house), and accused the officer of racial harassment. But the officer's racist attitude was responsible for Gates' arrest. Yeah, sure, right. Profound disbelief from yours truly.
So one wonders. How did Donna Britt know that her older son was looked at with suspicion? What's a "suspicious look" look like? Heck, I tend to view just about any teenager with a certain amount of trepidation--they tend to be challenging, they're apt to be mouthy, they know it all, they test their limits repeatedly (and I do mean repeatedly!). Just glad my two are now in their late twenties! But here's another observation--if you look for the worst in people, you will often find it or at least tell yourself that you have.
As regards Gates' behavior; you tell me whether it's sound judgment to refuse to open your door to an officer of the law, demand that he submit his name and badge number, then call him racist. Would you do those things? Would you brag about them? Just wondering.
There's not much of chance that this will be swept under the rug. A small scrape has been picked at, worried at, poked until it bled. Then the president got involved and made summary statements without full knowledge and has since had to backtrack a bit.
So are we "a nation of cowards" (thank you, Eric Holder****sarcasm****) for not wanting to open old wounds? How about creating new ones? And does healing take place through actions meant to keep a wound open? And if so, for how long does that wound need to be debrided? What about racial riots and demands for restitution? Why invoke old grievances from generation to generation to generation? Because that seems to be what Gates is intent on doing. And IMHO, that's as racist as the oppression of minorities.
Jabberwocka
Be careful. Those are words which aren't generally welcomed here!
It's not politically correct to speak openly about anything other than Anglo American repression. I don't deny that whites have treated minorities badly but the bad behavior has not been totally one-sided.
Here's the irony. Bush was derided, rightfully so IMHO, for painting things simplistically. Black and white. We don't seem to have moved beyond that. Certain things just cannot be stated as possible because they don't fit into what we BELIEVE.
So much for logic, facts, and critical thinking.
Edited to correct a double negative.
Edited 7/25/2009 12:16 am ET by jabberwocka
Jabberwocka
Now Obama, cop, and Gates are going to have a beer together.
I would hope it might end there, but I kinda doubt it.
zz
I hope for it. To give Obama credit, he was honest enough to admit his earlier miswording and is trying to expiate. Perhaps, perhaps, he can bring some measure of reconciliation.
I certainly hope so because there is no way forward in constantly rehashing the past.
Jabberwocka
To give Obama credit, he was honest enough to admit his earlier miswording and is trying to expiate.
I agree.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090724/ap_on_re_us/us_harvard_scholar_arresting_
officer_18
Black officer at scholar's home supports arrest
~Actually, I don't want to share my experience.~
Okay :)
~As regards Gates' behavior; you tell me whether it's sound judgment to refuse to open your door to an officer of the law~
Do you have any evidence that Gates refused to open his door to the officer?
First of all, good morning. Secondly, I would like to comment about your post. You have no idea what neighborhood I live in, do you. It makes no difference either. I have many black friends, and my next door neighbor happens to be black....he's from north Africa and has been a friend and neighbor of mine for about 10 years.
If you lived in fear, then I sympathize with you......today's a new day though, so make good use of it and expand your horizons. You really shouldn't assume where people are raised or live. Take care friend.
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