Comments on Relax and Take Five

• Posted by kevin on July 24, 2009 at 6:30am EDT

• Sure, but one side of the story has multiple witnesses and the other none. Pretty soon the 911 calls and the radio transmissions of the officer will be released and will most likely strengthen the officer's case. I guess we will wait until then.

• Posted by lisa on July 24, 2009 at 7:15am EDT

• I don't think people are questioning the fact that the police officer was doing his job, responding to a 911 call, etc.

  I can easily assume that Gates was rude to the police officer and think the arrest was completely outrageous. Even if he yelled at him, as the officer claims. I simply cannot accept that being rude or even yelling at a police officer when no crime is being committed, no one is in danger, etc., etc. is an offense which merits arrest.

  That's where I think the issue is harder to resolve than either you or the first commenter is painting it. You almost sound like you are assuming that if Gates was disrespectful, the officer was justified.

• Questioning Assumptions
• Posted by No longer Pollyanna , IAIS, Ph.D student at University of Exeter on July 24, 2009 at 7:15am EDT

• I don't understand why you assume that Gates reacted as he did because he thought that Officer Crowley was "beneath" him. I think that it was not primarily that Gates reacted against the police showing up to investigate a complaint that the house was being broken into. I am sure he knows that police are required to investigate complaints. What he reacted to was what transpired inside his home, which includes the words that were said and the way they were said. Once it was clear that he was in his own home, it seems the officer should have been apologetic and left it at that. If Gates was upset--and it doesn't really matter why he was upset--he could have just been plain cranky after the enormously taxing trip from China--it could have been what he perceived to be an investigation based on racism--it doesn't matter whether it was or not--since Officer Crowley is considered an expert on racial profiling --he should have/could have understood Gates anger, and just walked out. Don't cops walk away from angry words a lot as a tactic of daily survival in emotional situations? Regardless of what anger Gates may have expressed, the fact that Officer Crowley arrested the man, hand-cuffed him like he was some street thug, and took him downtown....there is something there that a call for "cooler heads", taking "five", etc. just misses. Can an officer with a fine reputation for fairness and good race relations loose his cool? Of course he can. He's human, just as the professor is human and can lose his.

  But it is the power trip of white cop vs. black citizen--when the citizen who had committed no crime at all ends up in the slammer--that has to be looked at. Could it have happened with black cop/white citizen or black cop/black citizen, or white cop/white citizen? Of course it could have--and probably does happen every day somewhere in America. But the historical unequal power dynamic in this scenario and the history of racism in our country IS something that bears examination and is what is making this very human conflict between two men who got angry with each other a national issue with everyone jumping in--and it can't be and shouldn't be swept under the rug.

  I agree with much of what you say about the two men as men, based on what is known about them, but this incident is part of a significant historical narrative, not a simple case of two nice guys who flipped out in a hot moment. Was racism the reason Gates was arrested? Probably not. But the paradox and core issue, I maintain, is that the deep wounds of racism--conscious and unconscious-- is the reason why cooler heads did not prevail.

  In my view, this is a tremendous learning moment, as painful as it is for both parties in this conflict. I feel for Crowley as I do for Gates. That is could happen to each of them with the qualities that they each have! This is significant.

  And as scholars, teachers, and thinkers, there is a great deal of reflection and conversation that this incident can and should raise. Can everyone, including those of us in higher ed, our students, our politicians, and our law enforcement learn from this? Yes, but only if we dig deep on this and not just chalk it up to a hot interaction between a black man and a white cop. It IS more than that. It may not be what all of us assume it is, no matter how we judge this. But if we are ever going to see a day when this kind of thing doesn't happen, we have to begin by examining the deeper issues underlying this sad incident.

• Posted by jad on July 24, 2009 at 10:30am EDT

• But are we just going to start allowing old black guys with beards, carrying canes, with Harvard faculty id's, object to being arrested without cause in their own house?    Isn't our prison-industrial complex designed to prevent this sort of thing?

• Posted by livey , Visiting Prof/History on July 24, 2009 at 10:30am EDT

• However admirable an officer Sgt. Crowley is, the reference ot his performing CPR on a dying black athlete sixteen years ago hardly seems relevant. Or, am I missing something.?

• To protect and serve
• Posted by lcl on July 24, 2009 at 10:30am EDT

• I think Pollyanna hits the nail pretty squarely.

  At some level these scenario become intractable, and the race issue is only a magnifier - the officer has one view of the situation, which you could view generously or cynically. The citizen feels unfairly abused and reasonably says "wait a minute - isn't your job to protect and serve ME too?"

  Without writing a novel, another part of the problem is that our police by and large don't know us, and we don't know them. Familiarity and awareness of the other, not just in generalities (because there are good cops and bad cops and all manner of people) but actually knowing the other, would help. Whether or not "community policing" is actually possible, it does not seem to me that it is something we even strive for presently.

  As others have commented elsewhere, you can extrapolate this to the problem of unfamiliarity not just police and the public, but in our neighborhoods. Instead of calling 911 to report a break-in, it's a shame we don't know our neighbors and recognize when we can help better than the cops can.

  Instead of "Oh my god, there's a 54 year old black man trying to break into that house," we might say "Dang, looks like Mr. Gates locked himself out - maybe I can go help."

  But we don't know each other, and the cops don't know us. And this is one end result that is just going to happen now and then, with the race issue only making an outcome of this type more likely.

• We're all stupid
• Posted by kgotthardt on July 24, 2009 at 10:30am EDT

• Gates probably took it as a racial slur when Crowley asked Gates if he really lived there in the Cambridge home. Cambridge can be rather a snotty city where a black man struggling to get into a front door might be interpreted in ways we don't like to think about. We would like to believe assumptions like those died long ago.

  We have had the same problem in DC whenever an African American goes into Georgetown at night. Remember the DC Chief who said something about seeing a black man in Georgetown at night and assuming there was trouble about? He then apologized.

  I'm not sure any of this is intentional racism, but it is learned racism for sure. These are knee-jerk assumptions that many of us have to un-learn, which is tough to do. I think the DC Chief's apology was sincere, and it seems to me an apology from Crowley would be appropriate (though so far, he refuses to issue one). Gates, who had just come in from a trip, probably also lost his head. He was obviously tired, cranky and unable to work his key correctly. An apology from him is probably also warranted. I suspect both of these men lost their cool.

  Clearly, Obama had an outburst over this whole thing. Outbursts aren't usually packed with facts, so I kind of understand the odd statement he made about racism at the same time admitting he didn't know all the facts about the Gates case. He also admitted openly that he is biased because Gates is his friend. So at least he was honest about it.

  Obama is correct, though, that more African Americans have been arrested and detained than people from other ethnic groups. Here in VA, about 25% of African Americans have been arrested, are in jail and/or can't vote because VA deters felons from voting through an unnecessarily cumbersome process that is only beat in the ridiculous category by one other state. So the numbers are there to prove Obama did know what he was talking about when he referred to racism still being alive and well.

  That said, I think Obama's outburst makes him look stupid.

  But then, it won't be the first time we have a had a president sound stupid.

• we see what we expect to see
• Posted by Terri Maue , Chair, English & Humanities at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University on July 24, 2009 at 10:30am EDT

• When I teach rhetoric, I have students do a little exercise. I ask them to spend 20 minutes in one place, taking notes on everything they perceive with their senses. Then I ask them describe this one place as if it were a pleasant place to visit and then as if it were an unpleasant place in which to find themselves. Many students comment after the assignment that they are amazed at how differently they can perceive the same place, based on their objective. I'm showing them the power of rhetorical choices, of course, but in the process I'm also letting them discover how their own perceptions are colored by what they expect to see. Observations are ideally neutral; something is wet or dry, cool or warm, full of sounds or quiet. How we interpret this sensory data is the key.

  And what else influences interpretation? Mood, experience, physical condition, to name a few. I'm so glad that one responder above mentioned that Professor Gates was probably affected by just having returned from a trip to China. I'm willing to bet that he wasn't himself, right then. I remember coming home from 15 days in Hawaii and being so jet-lagged that I could not figure out how to unlock the trunk of my car.

  So what's in this for all of us who are talking about it? Certainly, a chance to examine our own interpretations of the data and see our own distortions. Rather than trying to figure out who's to blame in this situation, we would better spend our time and energy in dissecting the forces at work in our own minds that lead us to keep puzzling over this.

• read the police report
• Posted by random thoughts on July 24, 2009 at 10:30am EDT

• I urge "No Longer Pollyanna" to read the police report. If half of what it contains is accurate, it appears that the policeman acted appropriately and Gates is the one who should apologize. The report appears calmly written, without any obvious signs of bias or hostility. It reports that Gates refused to cooperate with the officer in determining that Gates was in fact in his own home, that Gates repeatedly (verbally) threatened the officer, that Gates became disorderly, and that the officer did in fact made several appropriate attempt to quiet the situation down (but Gates was not receptive).

  Of course, the report could be in error. But it is not as clear as some seem to think that this is entirely the overreaction of a racist cop. Even Gates recent statement that this is the work of a "disturbed" officer appears to be contradicted by ample evidence about the officer's record and demeanor. We need to withhold judgment until all the information is in.

  The original Boston Globe posting of the report has disappeared, but as of this morning copies can be found at http://www.bluemassgroup.com/upload/david/gates_incident_report_redacted.pdf and at http://www.amnation.com/vfr/Police%20report%20on%20Gates%20arrest.PDF

• Cop Karma
• Posted by Mike at LSU on July 24, 2009 at 10:30am EDT

• Academics and Journalist don't have the right kind of experience to understand this situation.

  Cops have a very simple equation in mind in this situation. The chance of being arrested is directly proportional to the amount of grief you give the cop, minus his desire to do the paperwork.

  In other words, you can piss off a cop by acting in a confrontational manner up to the point where he decides that giving you a hard time is worth the paperwork he has to do to arrest you. He knows full well that the charges won't stick and he won't have to prove anything, but its a big inconvenience for you.

  The likelyhood of being arrested has everything to do with how you act and little to do with what you look like.

• Race-Blind America
• Posted by Tamara on July 24, 2009 at 10:30am EDT

• Sorry Rob, but I don't want a race blind America. It's interesting to me this whole idea of everyone being colorless or color-blind. If we don't apply this same standard to actual colors or hues, why would we apply it to people? Imagine a world without color.
  The same goes for a race-blind America.
  What we should strive for is not a disregard for race or ethnicity, but a deeper understanidng of those differences. Designers and artists alike know what colors work well together and how they contribute to the whole look and feel of a room or project.

  Different people from different ethnicities also contribute to conversations and environments based on their lived experienes. Those contributions should be highlighted and celebrated, not whitewashed and painted over.

  This rationale is very simplistic I know, but

• No Longer Pollyanna
• Posted by Alain Desland , Research Fellow at Alternative Economics on July 24, 2009 at 10:30am EDT

• "Yes, but only if we dig deep on this and not just chalk it up to a hot interaction between a black man and a white cop."

  Thank you for your post.

  Alan Desland

• Race as an excuse - again
• Posted by PJ on July 24, 2009 at 10:30am EDT

• My son was recently arrested for disorderly conduct. At an outdoor restaurant in a college town, he and his girlfriend had a disagreement and she poured her beer on him. Police happened to be nearby and came to investigate the disturbance. As my son tried to explain that everything was okay, they declared he smelled like a brewery and put him in handcuffs. He requested to have a breathalizer test and they instructed him to "shut-up" and get in the police car. He spent the night in jail. Did my son use poor judgment in his choice of girlfriends? Probably. Would his behavior have made Miss Manners proud? Probably not. Was my son the victim of racial profiling? I don't know. He is caucasian. It never occurred to me to ask the race of the arresting officers. Am I naive? Maybe. I believe in justice and fairness for all people. Those nouns don't come in colors in my world.

• On Police Public Confrontations
• Posted by Keith Johnson on July 24, 2009 at 10:30am EDT

• As both a college professor and a former state investigator I can report on what often happens in these confrontations. I have tremendous respect for the police, who I have witnessed on many occasions "talking down" someone, taking as long as one hour or more to prevent an arrest. These incidents are highly stressful and emotional for members of the public, and experienced police officers are fully aware of that and are trained to deal with exactly these situations. So what could have gone wrong in Cambridge?

  The exception to the above "talking down" routine is when an escalation is taking place. If the "subject" is getting more and more agitated, then the officers have to do something to stop the escalation before it gets out of hand. I suspect that the Cambridge incident followed this track, not that of the usual citizen-police encounter. The arrest, in fact, took place outside the home when Gates followed the officer, demanding his badge number. While Gates was perfectly within his rights to act that way, it also, unfortunately, fits the pattern of escalating, threatening behavior that officers will attempt to control.

  Rob Weir's even handed treatment of this case is to be commended. The facts of the matter may never be known, leaving us with two contrasting versions, splitting the observers into opposing camps. In reality, both sides probably overreacted, and we will never know if race "caused" the problem, or whose racial perceptions did the greater damage. So let's move on.

• The tapes
• Posted by rightwingprofessor on July 24, 2009 at 10:30am EDT

• Once the dispatch tapes are released and we all hear Gates whooping and hollering in the background the truth will come out. I just hope the officer presses forward with the defamation lawsuit against Gates.

• Expressing anger is not illegal
• Posted by Bob on July 24, 2009 at 10:45am EDT

• "Do I believe that an academic of an exalted reputation such as that of Professor Gates is capable of being belligerent, arrogant, and disrespectful of someone deemed “beneath” them? Hell, yes! "

  This is besides the point. It is not illegal to be disrepectful of police. Have you ever participated in a protest movement?

  Police are not slave owners, they are servants of the people. It is they who should show respect and humility toward the citizens. Consider the circumstances of Prof. Gates. He comes home sick from a long overseas trip, cannot get into his house, and finally finds a way to get in and then calls the maintenance department to come and fix the door. He is exhausted and frustrated. Then this cop shows up accompanied by half a dozen other cops. He is made to feel like a criminal in his own home. Who wouldn't be angry under such circustances?

  It is the cop who should have shown understanding and caring. Instead, the cop even refuses to identify himself by name and badge number, and continues to treat him as a criminal. He does not say sorry that the professor was inconvenienced. This incident says a lot about the kind of poor training that cops receive in police academies. They need to learn why people act the way they do, and learn not to react the way this particular cop did. His police department should apologize to the nation and try to learn a valuable lesson from the incident. Police academies sould analyze the incident and incorporate more social science into their training programs.

• Posted by ken , Clinical Associate Professor on July 24, 2009 at 11:15am EDT

• Instead of attacking or taking the sides of an esteemed professor and police professional, perhaps we should consider the circumstances.

  A police officer is called by 911 to the scene of a possible breakin by a credible witness and encounters alleged beligerent behavior. His job, mission, and perhaps personal safety is on the line as he is conditioned to be aware and careful. The situation and behavior he encounters creates further concern and the need to take greater control as he tries to understand the situation he has encountered. Instead of cooperation he apparently gets beligerence.

  The esteemed professor just returns from a long trip looking to the comforts of a welcome home. Instead he encounters problems entering his own home and elicits the help of the driver to access or 'break in' to what is rightfully his. He is probably tired and somewhat frustrated - only to be further interrupted by an unwelcome, intruding and interrogating police officer adding further to the professor's tired frustration and impatience. Instead of getting sympathy he gets questions and a controlling demeanor from the police officer.

  The situation sparks the need for more control and more frustration - and even less understanding and patience. Both are initialy reacting to the situations they have enountered from their points of view. Neither seems to listen or react well - only making the situation worse as emotion drives the behaviors.

  Now racial profiling is added as a motive, the press further creates, speculates and amplifies the heresay to create exciting news, and our President reacts without the facts on behalf of a friend adding even more divisive fuel and intensity to the news.

  My advice to the esteemed professor and professional police officer: recognize that the encounter was situational and not likely personal or racial, act like adults and makeup and preferably apologize, stop feeding more fodder to the press, and learn from the situation - perhaps less emotion, more listening, and more respect. For the press, there is no victim or hero here, so stop trying to make one.

   

   

• Piling on Dr. Gates
• Posted by Scooby , student on July 24, 2009 at 12:00pm EDT

• I'm stunned at the defense of police officers who invaded a man's home in Cambridge and did not immediately leave after apologizing to Dr. Gates.

  If a police officer challenges me in my own house and I show Id, he needs to leave IMMEDIATELY or become a defendant in a lawsuit.

  As a white man, I am appalled at those who do not see the racism involved. Where are the charges for the neighbor who called in a false report.

  Welcome to Nazi Germany. The stormtroopers have all the rights and the common man has none.

• The report
• Posted by Douglas Lewis on July 24, 2009 at 12:00pm EDT

• The police report states that 1) Prof. Gates supplied Harvard ID (not his driver's licence); 2) the officer gave his name twice when asked; 3) the officer made the arrest only after warning Gates and 4) the officer made the arrest only after Gates's continued yelling gathered a crowd of interested and alarmed bystanders. Several of the commenters here and on the previous story either didn't read the report or decided that the officer was lying. In fairness, they should state which, so we know whether we are dealing with ingnorance or prejudgment.

  I don't know how many times we've been assured on the Inside Higher Ed site and at the Chroniclce of Higher Ed that academics look carefully at all relevant evidence and consider all sides of a question before passing judgment. Many of the comments on this incident, along with Gates's own considered comments after his release, show a shocking lack of such care. Those who made them clearly have no idea of what officers may face when they investigate a reported break-in. Just a couple of examples. Apparently the officers were exepcted to know Professor Gates by sight. If they did not, they were expected to assume that no 5'7'' black man could pose any danger to any police officer on duty. (No one ever carries a concealed handgun.)

  BTW, the officer asked for identification, and Gates immediately started yelling about the treatment of black men in America. Who displayed prejudice here?

• ID
• Posted by beverly reilly , Asst. Professor of English at Rio Hondo College on July 24, 2009 at 12:15pm EDT

• I am going to check out the arrest report as suggested by an earlier writer to determine if the officer did, indeed, ask for identification and if Gates did, indeed, show identification. Once Officer Crowley had the identification and called it in to verify the absence of restraining orders, etc., I don't know why he would arrest Gates. Was Gates arrogant and obnoxious? Have you ever read any of his writing? Of course he was. Is being arrogant and obnoxious a crime? God I hope not, otherwise, I'm doomed!

• Thomas Crowley vs. Henry Louis Gates Jr.
• Posted by Cary Fraser , African and African American Studies at Penn State University on July 24, 2009 at 12:45pm EDT

• According to the report submitted by Crowley (posted online)-"...Henry Gates, Jr. ...was placed under arrest at (deleted) Ware Street, after being observed exhibiting loud and tumultuous behavior, in a public place, directed at a uniformed police officer who was present investigating a report of a crime in progress. These actions on behalf of Gates served no legitimate purpose and caused citizens passing by this location to stop and take notice whie appearing surprised and alarmed."

  Several questions immediately arise - the police officer was "investigating a report of a crime in progress." Did the officer arrive at the scene convinced that a crime had been committed? Or, was he convinced that a crime had been committed simply because Lucia Whalen told him - as he was standing on the porch before he approached Gates - that she had seen two black males on the porch and one seemed to be trying to force entry at the door? It would be useful for him to explain why he was of the view that he was investigating a crime rather than suspicious behavior. Did Whalen's suspicions cross the threshold to become an accusation that a crime had been committed? Or was the assumption that a crime had been committed arise out of the officer's belief that two black men engaged in suspicious activity must have committed a crime? In effect, as an investigating officer was he there to collect information or was he there to serve as judge and jury?

  Does a person in his home yelling at a uniformed police officer whose intrusion is unwarranted, and accusing said officer of being a racist, commit a crime? Crowley admits that "the aooustics of the kitchen and foyer" made radio communication difficult but the larger question is why did he enter the house? According to Crowley: " While I was led to believe that Gates was lawfully in the residence, I was quite surprised and confused with the behavior he exhibited toward me." Why would the officer be confused when he entered the house on a false pretext and the legal occupant was offended by seemingly arbitrary police behavior?

  Again, according to Crowley: "Upon learning that Gates was affiliated with Harvard, I radioed and requested the presence of the Harvard University police." Was his desire to contact the Harvard University police an acknowledgment that he had overstepped the legal boundaries in this instance?
  
  The police report, unfortunately, written by Crowley raises very serious questions about the police officer's conduct from the moment he stepped onto the porch of Gates' residence. The subsequent altercation with Gates suggests that the incident only degenerated further as a result of the blurring of the legal boundaries that resulted from the officer's decision to investigate "a report of a crime in progress" rather than a call from a member of the public calling reporting suspicious behavior at Gates' home.

  If Crowley is an instructor teaching other police officers about racial profiling,it is entirely legitimate to ask what excatly is he teaching?

• An unfortunate misunderstanding
• Posted , Department of Mathematics at DePaul University on July 24, 2009 at 4:15pm EDT

• It is clear that most of the commenters have not read the relevant reports and are speculating about what happened. In fact both the arresting officer and the professor have made statements and there is not a whole lot of difference about what occurred.

  Gates was driven home by his usual driver, a large man. They tried to open the front door and couldn't do it so Gates went to the back and entered his housefrom the rear. He then returned with his driver who helped him to force open the front door, damaging the lock in the process. Unfortunately, a passerby saw this and suspecting a break in, reported two large black men forcing their way into Gates' house.

  The driver left with his car and apparently Gates called someone about fixing his lock. While he was on the phone the police officer arrived and saw Gates through the door. He asked him to step outside and Gates refused.

  Gates told him he in fact lived there and did show him his Harvard identification. The officer asked Gates if there was someone else in the house which Gates did not answer. Since the initial report was of two men forcing entry to the house the officer was concerned about what happened to the second man. In particular, believing Gates to be the owner of the house, he was concerned that Gates might be endangered by someone who had broken into the house.

  The officer reported that the man involved was the owner of the house but he was acting irrationally. In Gates accounting of events he believed he was being profiled and that he was going to be arrested. Believing himself to be in a confrontational situation, he started demanding the officers name and badge number which the officer claims to have given him twice.

  According to the officer he tried to calm Gates down enough to listen to an explanation of what had happened but Gates kept saying he was a victim of a racist incident and demanding the officers name.

  Reading the accounts of both the officer and Gates, there seems to be no grounds for Gates charge that he was singled out on the basis of race other than the fact that he was investigating a report of a possible burglary. Gates doesn't report the officer using offensive language or being physically threatening. In fact, Gates reports almost nothing of their conversation, a fact that suggests he simply wasn't listening.

  The officer reports that when he left the house Gates followed him out continuing to say he was the victim of a racist incident. This is also indicated by Gates' statements. At that point after continuing to make a fuss, now in a very public place, the officer arrested him.

  It is hard to conclude from the statements of Gates and the officer that this description isn't pretty much what happened.

  There are some factors such as body language and tone of voice that can't be assessed by someone who was not there. But the evidence so far suggests that the officer responded to a possible break-in by trying to protect the owner of the house and his property and Gates misinterpreted his intentions and created an angry confrontation.

• Take it from the top. . .
• Posted by Mary Poppins on July 24, 2009 at 4:15pm EDT

•  

  Let's get back to the starting point here: a "neighbor" called the cops and reported that "two black men" were breaking into a house.

   

  Of course the police responded. But the responding officer was already primed with a familiar scenario: "two black men" breaking into a private home in a wealthy neighborhood. By the time officer Crowley arrived at the Gates' house, he’d had time to consider several familiar crime & response scenarios - and none of them would have involved a travel-weary, cane-using old man trying to come home.

  So, who's at fault. The caller (if truly a “neighbor,” then a resident of a mixed-race community) who thought the essential identity of "home-breakers" should include race as well as gender? The RO whose "fight or (flight) think" reaction had already settled on "fight"? The old, jet-lagged black man who'd been through all this more times than he cared to remember, and who was unprepared to play it out (again) on his own front porch?

• Watch Cops
• Posted by Dave , Retired at Arizona State University on July 24, 2009 at 4:15pm EDT

• I recommend watching "Cops" on cable TV. Granted that the scenes are selected for their entertainment value rather than their typicality, they consistently show how interactions between police and public spiral out of control as the situation--often fueled by drugs and alcohol and always by adrenalin--becomes aggravated by the behavior of both the alleged perps and the police.

• Roshomon redux
• Posted by Kathryn W. Kemp , Associate Professor of History at Clayton State University on July 24, 2009 at 4:15pm EDT

• The most interesting aspect of the national discussion of the Gates affair is the wide variety of versions asserted by various commentators who tell conflicting stories about every aspect of the incident, seasoning liberally with "if" and "should," while claiming to know what was in the mind of each of the participants. In fact, there are very large gaps in what we actually know about this unfortunate event. It would be helpful if everyone, including professional journalists, would stick to the established evidence. Evidently controversy abhors a vacuum.

  That being said, I caution my students against looking at history in terms of good guys and bad guys, a principle that almost certainly applies in this case. My concern is that the hysterical tone of the discussion of the case is driving the principals to defend fixed positions rather than achieve any sort of useful understanding of what happened.

• What ever happened to being respectful of cops?
• Posted by Fearful of Cops on July 24, 2009 at 4:15pm EDT

• What shocks me the most is that no one has stopped to thank the neighbor for being vigilent and doing the right thing: calling the police to report a man breaking into a home.

  I don't know the ratio exactly but I'm sure for every complaint about police brutality, there's a complaint about policy being too slow to respond to calls for help. They just can't win, can they?

  Professor Gates admitted to having to break himself into his own home. Wouldn't he assume that an unknowing bystander would think the worst? Assume it wasn't him breaking in? Wouldn't he have been thankful that the neighbor called and that the police was responsive?

  As much as I can appreciate the current state of race relations--I'm not white--I've always held the belief that you better be nice to cops. Most people know that one should not dare say anything other than no, sir/ yes m'am if they get pulled over. It's just the right thing to do..and the not so 'stupidly' thing to do.

• Tenerife Crash
• Posted by Walker Park Thatcher on July 24, 2009 at 4:15pm EDT

• Are "hooping and hollering" recognized as physically threatening weapons? (A difference between "white" and African-American culture, an African-American friend once told me, is that white culture tends to experience loud vocalization with great fear that physical violence is immanent, which wasn't true in his background. Similarly, blacks fail to appreciate just how terrifying high decibel protest is to whites. In white culture, he thought, it signals an impending attack. (I would add that where a black man is the shouter it plays into white stereotypes about violent black men.)

  I am still not clear from the reports whether the Cambridge PD is for or against racial profiling, only that Officer Crowley is an instructor "about it." Does he teach how to do it, or how to avoid it all together?

  Not parallel, perhaps, but worth considering:
  Captain Jacob Veldhuyzen van Zanten, KLB pilot, flight instructor and "notorious" safety expert screwed up and caused the worst aviation disaster in history on Tenerife in the Canary Islands in 1977 (as I recall from a PBS documentary some time ago.)

  In any case, my guess is that the super rich are following all this parsing and speculation with great glee. As long as, say, the lower 80% of the population is this embroiled, the super rich don't have to worry about our overcoming racism IN THE ACT of finding common ground and democratically changing policies for the greater good. (I.e. taking the peoples' government back from corporations.) They don't have to worry about such things as levelling: education, housing, full employment, raising minimum wages, single-payer health care, re-enabling the labor movement, promoting cooperatives, an end to corrosive imperialist policies, etc. Thus, the hope of greatly improving race relations here and abroad.

   

   

• Keeping things in perspective...
• Posted by Marie Nubia-Feliciano on July 24, 2009 at 4:15pm EDT

• Not to detract from the very important social and economic issues this situation relates to, please keep in mind that there many more important things that can use our focus and resource happening in the world right now. If this much energy was exerted for causes such as addressing the issue of homelessness among children, we may actually make some progress in reducing the 5 million children on the streets that go hungry every single day. Just a thought...

• Progress and Common Sense
• Posted by SB on July 24, 2009 at 4:30pm EDT

• For once in a long time, I think we should be grateful for the reasonable discourse in reaction to this column. Apparently, the suggestion to take 5 may work. Nearly every writer has made a point to consider, for and against the notion that this incident was based on race, in a reasonable manner. This is not always the case in this forum.
  For those who protest what the policeman did, I agree that this country needs to have a conversation regarding police treatment of all citizens. There must be a balance of the 1) reasonable caution and fear necessary of police and 2) reasonable expectations of mutual respect between police and citizens. Although I do not deny that there are racists and racism in this country, based on my personal experiences, I do not believe this story was at all about race. It is common sense not to mouth off to a cop, follow him yelling, or threaten him. I am unfailingly polite to cops -- always. Nearly everyone I know feels and reacts the same way -- right or wrong, you are better off to consider the cop right, at least for the immediate timeframe. The cops are not nearly as frequently polite to me or those in my family -- regardless of where in the country they are located. Where I live (DC), probably half of the cops are black or belong to a recognized minority group. Generally, the DC cops are not polite and it is a complaint of every worker I know from the cleaning staff to the highly paid professional. Are they rude to me because I am white? Maybe or maybe not; I've never called them on it. Regardless, I force myself to be polite.
  My own view is that a person of Mr. Gates' education, position and supposed understanding of race relations in America could have reacted more maturely (yelling at someone that they are a racist is not likely helpful to any situation). I also believe a person of his position and prestige is likely accustomed to being treated in a kid glove manner (and possibly adoration), and perhaps based on his area of academic expertise, is more likely than not to view occurrences through a colored prism. (I believe he's already announced that his next documentary will be on race and police, and I assume he believes the current media attention will not hurt that effort.) But, regardless of what I believe, I am incredibly relieved to see that folks can agree and disagree with respect, and perhaps take time to consider another's view. Well, except for our President, for whom I voted, who managed to shoot his mouth off for the entire nation to hear without knowing all the facts (by his admission).

• cop has to follow law too
• Posted by anon on July 24, 2009 at 4:30pm EDT

• "the officer gave his name twice when asked."

  Which isn't enough. State law requires the officer to show his identification upon request. It's pretty clear this escalated when the office felt challenged by Gates's request for ID, which the officer wouldn't provide AS THE LAW REQUIRES. I'd be pissed off as well. See below:

  Mass. General Law, Chapter 41: Section 98D. Identification cards: Each city or town shall issue to every full time police officer employed by it an identification card bearing his photograph and the municipal seal. Such card shall be carried on the officer’s person, and shall be exhibited upon lawful request for purposes of identification.

• Breaking News
• Posted by Rob Weir at UMas on July 24, 2009 at 4:45pm EDT

• As discussion continues on this forum the African American officer who accompanied Sgt. Crowley has just given a news conference in which he defended Crowley's actions in the Gates arrest. Does this alter anything? Maybe. Does it suggest that social class may be as big a factor as race in this incident? Perhaps. As a blue-collar expatriate I can attest that Crowley's insistence that he did nothing wrong and won't apologize fits a working-class profile. Sorry if I step on toes, but the whole apology thing is a classic middle-class response to confrontation.There is no fury like that of a working-class male who feels (rightly or wrongly, I hasten to add) that he's the greived party.

  That said, my verdict remains undecided and I suspect it may result in a hung jury!

• Posted by William Calin at University of Florida on July 25, 2009 at 6:45am EDT

• I would like to thank Dr. Weir and all the commenters (almost all the commenters) for the high level of discussion on this issue. This material deserves national exposure.

• Wouldn't it be nice ... if .."Rosa Parks" moment?
• Posted by Meesterpaul on July 25, 2009 at 10:00am EDT

• Wouldn't it be nice if this could be another "Rosa Parks" moment? How wonderful would it be if this was the moment when shreiking "RACIST!" becomes identified with being the over-reaction. Race relations will move to a better place when "playing the race card" is seen more broadly as the aberration.

• Language
• Posted by Randall Spinks at Center for Healing Racism on July 25, 2009 at 2:00pm EDT

• The most effective language for exploring these matters I have encountered was devised by a diverse community group in Houston: the Center for Healing Racism. Anyone can be prejudiced against an Other. But the Center defines racism as "prejudice plus power." Its purpose is not to defame individuals. In fact, its first rule is never to call anyone a racist: “It’s unproductive,” says Cherry Steinwender, African-American co-executive director. Instead, diverse folks come together to discuss their “racial conditioning,” with the mutual goal of dismantling that institution known as white supremacy.

  The Center explores racism's many dimensions--unaware, internalized, cultural, institutional, etc. and their devastating cumulative effects on society as a whole. It proposes the essential oneness of all humans and makes it possible for diverse peoples to become allies.

  http://www.centerhealingracism.org/

• Being disrespected
• Posted by dankprofessor , Emeritus Professor of Sociology at Cal State Long Beach on July 26, 2009 at 7:00am EDT

• One commentator stated that things would be better if "everyone, including professional journalists, would stick to the established evidence". Of course, there is essentially no established evidence. Regarding police reports as established evidence is naive, to say the least.

  In terms of wrongdoing the burden is on Officer Crowley since Crowley was on duty as an agent of the state. Gates was not on duty as a professor and has absolutely no responsibility to adhere to norms regarding politeness, being angry, yelling, etc. Only the police officer has a responsibility as to being polite, calm and mild mannered. Of course, one is likely to view the image of a police officer as polite, calm and mild mannered as being other worldly.

  In the present case, the police officer in all probability responded in terms of the omnipresent street code which is if one is disrespected, one reciprocates with disrespect.

   

   

   

• Police volunteers
• Posted by Russ , Ex-court reporter at Hicksville U. on July 27, 2009 at 10:15am EDT

• To those criticizing Police Sgt. Crowley --

  Looking forward to you, volunteering to respond future "robberies in progress" calls. "Boston Globe" noted that in last 12 months, that area has had nine such calls.

  Everyone's an expert -- far away from the crime scene.

  I've been there. Not pretty. Violence. Guns. The insane.

  And Mr. Gates did not make things easier.

  Powerful people do not shout. They speak softly and call their lawyers.

• Russ: Well Said
• Posted by James W. Gettys on July 27, 2009 at 2:30pm EDT

• "Powerful people do not shout," you rightly point out. "They speak softly and call their lawyers."

  I guess, then, we should expect the powerless to shout when they feel harassed, since they don't have lawyers.

  Remember Malcolm X's famous assessent. White communities look to the police as a "thin blue line" of protection. Working class Black communities experience the police as an occupying army.

  Maybe Dr. Gates shouted in solidarity for them, AND called his lawyer for himself.

  Question: How do we arrange things such that everyone in this great country is powerful enough to speak softly?

  I only know the first step: listen. Listen to our brothers and sisters, so their voices may grow softer.

• Wanted to comment, but just exasperated at it all
• Posted by DFS on July 27, 2009 at 4:00pm EDT

• For God's sake, people, can we all just not prejudge here? Let's wait for further evidence, like the tapes, which do exist.

  Take a breath!

• Gates
• Posted by George T. Karnezis , Adjunct Prof at Portland State U on July 28, 2009 at 5:30am EDT

• Let's take advantage of a teachable moment. Let Gates and Crowley appear together on national TV, perhaps with some sort of moderator. Let them talk matters out. If they agree to disagree, fine. If they can be conciliatory, fine. In any case, let's create space and time for a real exchange between the participants and see what happens.