Jul 20, 2009
Henry Louis Gates Jr., Harvard Professor, Arrested At His Cambridge Home
Categories: African-American, Featured, Racial Issues
Written By: Shawn Williams
Hat tip to Baratunde Thurston for the heads up on this story. Baratunde writes as a post alerting of Harvard Professor Henry Louis Gates being arrested at his home in Cambridge, Massachusettes by police investigating a possible break in.
According to Huffington Post, a woman called Cambridge police out to the neighborhood when she reported that someone was trying to pry open the door to Gates’ home. HuffPo says officers asked Gates to identify himself, and took him away in handcuffs after he refused to do so.
Gates has retained the services fellow Harvard professor Charles Ogletree, to serve as his lawyer. Not good Cambridge.
July 20th, 2009 at 5:16 pm
That’s really stupid of those cops.
Sometimes art takes on life. This might be a bit thick to follow, but here goes.
Movies in general in the U.S. have always been biased against black people. White good, black bad. This past week the “Half-Blood Prince” in the Harry Potter movie has been a figure for years in all black, who finally does something against Harry Potter’s friend. Conclusion of Harry Potter’s movie “Half-Blood Prince”, the professor in black “Prince” is the bad guy. Long story short, that’s last week’s Hollywood theme.
Considering the movie was such a draw, there will be alot of indirect references to this. Probably sounds minor, but that’s how media affects society. I would think this will affect people in educational institutions, those that are black or stern or both black and stern. Something to do with Henry Gate’s situation? Maybe not, but seems ever so slightly.
July 21st, 2009 at 8:34 am
Let’s see if I’ve got this right. You are seen breaking into your front door in the middle of the afternoon, and when the police arrive you decide to be an a-hole. Well guess what? You get what you deserve no matter what color your skin is.
Read my take on it and stick around for more good content.
http://libertarianhumor.com/2009/07/21/gates/
July 21st, 2009 at 12:27 pm
Dr. Gates, the Harvard Professor whom I have had the pleasure to meet while at Harvard, is not the arrogant individual that the previous poster hypothesizes about. Dr. “Skip” Gates walks with a limp because of a medical condition and is the last person to have a confrontation with anyone.
Professor Gates lives in a neighborhood that I once lived in and I must say, I can count the number of people who look like Dr. Gates in that neighborhood on one hand.
The Cambridge police really isn’t known for its harassing ethnic minorities, so it’s going to be interesting to see how this story unfolds.
July 22nd, 2009 at 12:37 pm
Why did he just immediately go to the “racial” factor. The officer said he was investingating a robbery in progress (which police have certain protocol they have to follow) and asked whom he was…he could have just said “I’m Dr. Gates, I live here and just returned home from a vacation”, and then showed him ID right away and it would have been over with. I don’t understand why everything that happens to people they automatically go to the “race factor”. I’d be happy if a neighbor who noticed I was out of town saw someone (from afar) going into my house and called the cops–most of us would only be so lucky to have neighbors like that.
He brought this on himself in my opinion…all he had to do is talk to the officer.
July 23rd, 2009 at 5:58 am
Kristi I am a little confused with how the police report reads. The officer writes that Dr. Gates immediately went to race. The officer, regardless of what his record was, was responding to a call from someone else. He did not just roll in there which would make it racial profiling.
Dr. Gates says that there are parts of the police report that were fabricated. I did not see anything in the police report that suggests that the officer reacted improperly INSIDE the house. Once they got outside, that’s a different deal. I am waiting to hear exactly what in the police report is not accurate. Until then I am reserving judgment against the officer.
July 23rd, 2009 at 9:37 am
Let’s downplay this, shall we. This was a racial beatdown, right up there with Rodney King. I hope gates sues the hell out of Cambridge and that thug cop get his badge yanked.
Tim Wise has a new book out that shows some scary statistics about how blacks are still way beyond in the criminal justice system. In fact, Jim Crow now wears a business suit and smiles before the billy club falls.
We need a big protest march.
We also need black anarchism. My man Noam Chomsky:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3cceC3DeFcY
July 23rd, 2009 at 2:38 pm
As the facts unfold, I think we will all see (if we want to see) that racism was clearly a factor in this incident. I agree with President Obama, I feel that some of these police officers acted stupidly. I also read that the Police Sgt. James Crowley refuses to apologize to Professor Gates, for his actions. Why am I not surprised. This is the same thinking that had Slave Owners and Ex-Slave Owners hanging Black Men and Women from trees on Saturday and in Church singing “Nearer My God To Thee” on Sunday. It’s the mindset of men with dark hearts. I’ve served in the military with such men. I’ve worked in Government with such men (and women). I currently work in Corporate America with such men.
After all is said and done, God will judge the secrets of men’s hearts by Jesus Christ. Judgement will come !
July 23rd, 2009 at 3:01 pm
We have three observations about the Harvard professor incident:
1. We find it interesting that the fact that this was the professor’s home was evidently not established early on way before the dispute escalated;
2. We find it fascinating that the versions of two members of society, who most would ordinarily view as responsible and honest citizens (this obviously does not include politicians), would vary so dramatically from a factual point of view.
3. Finally, considering that the reading and viewing public were not present at the scene (and thus have no first hand knowledge), and that there is no video tape to our knowledge of the sequence of events and what was said, how so many have formed conclusions, and made assumptions, about who did what and who was wrong.
There are some things which Professor Gates might have considered upon the arrival of the police, no matter how incensed he may have been.
July 27th, 2009 at 2:52 pm
All the details aside…am I the only one wondering why in hell this became an issue for a President of the United States to comment on?
How was this a national issue of concern that would even warrant any comment at all by a U.S. Prseident?
This was a run of the mill disturbance call that was responsded to by the closest officer…he just happended to be white. Why was it handled “stupidly”? There was a disturbance and this officer’s orders to a potential “suspect” were not followed…therefore that “suspect” was arrested…period. He was not beaten, he was arrested for failure to comply with the investigating officer.
The President had no knowledge of the facts of this arrest, and he simply jumped on another opportunity to grandstand for the cameras. To criticize this officer publically is shameful, and certainly not the duty of the office of President of the United States. It sure looks like Obama the black man spoke out on this one, before Obama the President thought it through. Clearly after Obama the Presdient showed up, he had been advised that he stuck the presidential nose somewhere it never belonged and no invitations to the White House are extended to make up for it…what a joke this guy is. I hope the officer declines the invitation…which is a hollow appology at best by a racist President, who made judgements based on skin color…not on facts.
No business sense…no real political experience…and now baseless accusations regarding police procedure… Embarassing.
Hey I wonder if Obama would have felt better if the officer just let Gates go back inside, and then found out that he had killed the people inside hours later.
The fact here is that when you fail to comply with investigating officers you may end up in handcuffs. Their job is to preserve order and protect the public…that is what this officer did.
I know we would certainly welcome this officer into our community
July 28th, 2009 at 6:12 am
If you follow protocol and use at least 3 sources of information, Dr. Gates, the 2 police officer reports (that are online now to read), and the 911 recordings and
radio dispatches — you can get a pretty good picture of what happened.
The officers claim Dr. Gates was “tumultuous” which is also a term used in the penal code c272 S52 of Disorderly Conduct. But in the radio dispatch play back, you dont hear Dr. Gates being irate and violent. Even in the report, the officer’s account sounds like he is annoyed with Dr. Gates asking him for his name. And claims Gates was yelling and complaining. But violent and turbulent?
Who is in control here? Clearly the police with a gun, pepper spray and handcuffs and back up.
Was there really a need to handcuff Dr. Gates and take him down to the police station? Why didn’t he just back out of the situation, “Dr. Gates, looks like there is no crime here.” and leave. You have to ask what pushed the officer to over react? Why not just “detain” Dr. Gates until he allegedly stopped yelling in the back of the patrol car? Or used conflict management skill and “talk down” an upset citizen who had committed no crime?
Even in the officer’s report he uses intimidation to ratchet up the situation. “If you dont calm down I am going to put you in handcuffs.”
Even if Dr. Gates got to him verbally or not, arresting Gates was un-necessary. Stupid. So what was the motivation? power trip? race? police procedure?
The police officer may have intimidated the worse person he could have in the US; besides Martin Luther King’s children. A highly decorated citizen and the most famous black scholar in America. A scholarly critic on black issues. Of course the officer is going to get a debate and words of indignation for his decisions.
In any case, these motivations need to be examined. There isn’t enough supportive evidence that Dr. Gates was so wildly tumultuous that he needed an attitude check down at the police station. There were 7 other bystanders and will be interesting if their recollections come forward.
July 31st, 2009 at 4:24 pm
Kudos to Mr. Gates for seizing the moment & putting himself in the spotlight by baiting the Cambridge cops into arresting him.
Needless to say anyone with common sense & without an ulterior motive would have shut up & let the police do their job as they were alerted to a potential burglary in progress.
By the same token someone in the department should have recognized immediately that they were being set up by Mr. Gates & just bid him a good evening regardless of the abuse they had to endure.
I would suspect next to tee off will be Cornell West the esteemed former black studies department head at Harvard who helped remove the dean at the time. Apparently Mr. Summers committed the unforgiveable sin of requesting that Mr. West actually show up to teach his courses rather then just leave it to the teaching assistants, concentrate on his students instead of producing his own rap CD & actually create a meaningful curriculum in the black studies department.
So let’s see what is next for Mr. Gates, surely a multi million dollar lawsuit against the Cambridge police department, a book deal & perhaps even selling movie rights to the story.
August 2nd, 2009 at 8:00 am
Let me guess, this officer used to get bullied in school when he was younger. As a matter of fact, isnt that why all police become police. They feel that they can finally turn the table on the people who mistreated them earlier in life. Its obvious the officer was on a power-trip. The only thing, he picked the wrong black guy. If this was just a average black man, he would’ve gotten away with his crime. However he picked an amazing man with alot of power, not physical power or a badge power-trip power like a scum officer, but real power the kind that people respect , a superior education. And Im so glad the officer picked Gates, now the world can see this guys an *sshole!!!!!
August 20th, 2009 at 10:50 am
if your breaking into a house - any house - and the police pull up…you know you got some ’splainin’ to do and ought to be happy and able to do that especially if your an adult and a professor.
Probly the cop was rude and tyrannical and so Gates gave him a taste of his own medicine by making it a HUGE deal sort of to teach the guy a lesson. maybe the cop even learned to treat all people properly.