Subscribe to Breaking NewsWithers: Harvard African-American prof arrested in his own home
Here is what you need to know about my bias in this story. There is a picture of Henry Louis Gates on my wall. He is standing at a lectern; I’m behind him and just introduced him at a high-school assembly (for a number of years I corrupted young minds as an English teacher).
My introduction of the professor, who had just accepted a position at Harvard University, was the type of claptrap you get from folks who fawn a bit too much. I have a Gates section in my book collection and can’t think of a time when I didn’t defend him (for those not in the know, Gates is a controversial figure to a few African-American Studies scholars).
With my preconceptions out in the open here is the tale: Gates was arrested last week for thinking he could be “loud and tumultuous” in his own home. After returning from China, where he was filming a documentary for PBS, the scholar gets to his home door. It’s not working and he is leaning into it to get it open, with the assistance of his cab driver. A neighbor sees this, is worried a crime is being committed and calls the police. When an officer arrives, Gates is on the phone calling the leasing agency about the broken door. The constable demands the professor come outside. Gates declines. The policeman enters the home, but even after proving he was in the right place, Gates still gets the handcuffs.
According to the police report, Gates comes off as uncooperative. He yells at the officer and accuses him of racial bias. Some will say this whole incident is Gates’ fault. If he had only followed police orders, everything would have turned out fine. The taking orders from the police line works for a small-time political blogger (freelance at that); however, a Harvard scholar, with books and such behind him, has the right to get funky when his very existence is called into question after he gets home from a trip. Sure that standard should apply to everyone, but we live in a world that rarely matches our rhetorical skills.
The debate about this will more than likely turn predictable. Those convinced America is now in some post-racial hue, will see this as an unfortunate encounter that could have been defused. Others, and I include myself in this camp, will marvel that even a black man with a PhD has to account for his status. In his own home (walking the streets is a whole different matter). Freedom papers anyone?
UPDATE: The charges against Gates have been dropped. The professor and the Middlesex District Attorney’s office issued a joint statement calling last week’s mess “regrettable and unfortunate.”
UPDATE 2: Gates is interviewed by The Root (he is the site’s editor-in-chief) and contradicts much of the police report. Says it was impossible for him to have yelled at the officer due to “a severe bronchial infection” he contracted in China.
I am irritated that people would think a person with a PhD is better than and should be treated differently than someone who doesn’t have that degree. The guy was disturbing the peace and the police seem to have acted properly, including dropping charges after everything got sort out.
I’m white and if the police did that to me in my own home, I would raise holy hell. There is no law that says you must be courteous to the police. They should be courteous to you and I think to often, officers get caught up in their power hunger and wanna show who is in charge. I’m sorry, but what crime did Gates commit if he clearly showed he was the rightful owner of the house and he belonged there? I don’t know if this is necessarily an issue of racism but rather an issue of a cop who doesn’t know the meaning of reasonable and proper show of force. I doubt there was any rational reason to actually handcuff gates and arrest him unless he was becoming physically violent or completely uncooperative in answering questions. The guy showed he lived there. That’s all the cop needed to do his job and the cop was way out of line. I’d go after the cop and demand a public apology and demand the police department take disciplinary action if an action like that ever occured again.
After showing his driver’s license and other papers, that should have been more than enough. The cop should have apologized for the disturbance, asked if there was anything he could help with, and then moved on. The fact that he did not do that is really shocking.
this is disgusting….when a white guy raises their voice at an officer they get a warning when a black guy does it he gets the shit beaten out of him and the officers get acquitted. factual information and happens too many times. sad that the fact that it takes a Harvard Professor for the police to give a damn.
Black man this, black man that. What a load. I wish the officer had been African-American, I bet the exact same thing would have happened. For all we know Mr. Gates wet himself with JOY when he saw a cracker-cop show up, figuring if he pushed it far enough he could get arrested and win some fodder for his next book. Looks like most of the responders here would gladly buy an advanced copy.
Mr. Gates made some poor choices. He “declined” the lawful orders of a Police Officer, and then proceeded to engage in confrontational and verbally abusive sparing with him. And again, most of you defend him. Most of you feel that the officer, responding to a burglary in progress, was at fault.
How many of you know the procedure for that situation? Anybody? Anybody care to name it off the top of your head? No, because REVERSE RACISM prevails once again. The WHITE cop doing his job and putting his life on the line for your protection is the bad-guy, and the VERBALLY ABUSIVE AND COMBATIVE African-America JERK is the “victim.”
Next time you need a cop, don’t call if they suck so much.
I lived in Cambridge for years and believe that this type of thing is the result of a legacy of hate and intolerance towards African Americans. It’s so deeply ingrained. This police officer should know someone as prominent in the community as Gates. Could you imagine the same outcome if it was an athlete? When black men do what they are supposed to (like bounce a ball well) things are fine. But if they aspire to heights like Gates they’ll always be suspect…
Rud F,
Oh, the reverse racism charge! LOL Love it! Answer me this: after Gates proved the house was his, and he lived there, why was he arrested?
And by the way, you clearly don’t know Gates much if you can write some hot mess like this: “For all we know Mr. Gates wet himself with JOY when he saw a cracker-cop show up, figuring if he pushed it far enough he could get arrested and win some fodder for his next book.”
Gates has been accused of many things over the years, but he is not one the play the race card. But don’t t take my word. Do some research.
Sincerely,
James
I don’t get it. How is this a gay issue? You know, the Mexican-American population is bigger than all of us, yet I don’t see one hispanic writer at any of these gay magaizines. Or any of the crap that is handed to them published here.
I am glad that the charges have been dropped. But I suspect that shows a double standard for Harvard professors. Had anyone else created such a ruckus when a policeman lawfully responded to a burglary complaint, I doubt that charges would have been dropped so quickly. I lived in Cambridge for four years and I do not believe that the police officers there are racist. When police officers misbehave (as in Fort Worth recently), they need to be called on their behavior. But there is no evidence that this police officer misbehaved. He was doing his job and Gates clearly thought he was above the law. Like Withers, he believes that Harvard professors do not need to obey legitimate police orders.
I can only conclude that Jay and Rud are complete idiots. The man identified himself with legitimate ID, and its not against the law to be “rude.” He was compliant… The officer however was not. He didn’t identify himself or his badge number, which if not overtly illegal (I don’t actually know) at least betrays a sense of a guilt.
That any black person would be arrested on suspicion of breaking into his/her own home is outrageous, whether Harvard professor or anyone else. Totally racist. A white person in a similar situation would not have been bothered – the police would not have been called, and if they had, they would not have arrested the homeowner.
James, I am going to have to disagree with you for once. I very very rarely disagree with you, but I don’t care if you have a PhD, or a Masters of the Universe. The Police officer got a call, and given what the person next door probably saw from a distance (Two men trying to force a door open. Leave the race out and it still sounds sketchy) her call was not uncalled for. When the police officer showed up in the service of protecting the house potentially being broken into, i.e. the dear professor’s house and belongings he should indeed have been cooperative. So I am going to have to disagree with your entire argument on this one.
Now having addressed your argument I do have to address the story itself. This blog post is missing some information. Dr. Gates’ lawyer claims that he did cooperate, gave the appropriate ID, and responded properly. If that story is true, then this is a cut and dry case of racism on the part of the cop. The police of course sing a different tune. They claim he did not provide ID, and yelled at the officer, and a myriad of other things. The fact is there is no way to know what happened on the ground, because this is a very he said he said situation.
The charges have been dropped as referenced above, and that means we will probably never now who was at fault, and I imagine no one involved really wants anyone to know who’s at fault. It sounds like a fair bit of entitlement on the part of Gates, and probably a healthy dose of racism on the part of the police. That is all what it is, but we live in in a land where entitlement was supposed to have been left behind. All people are created equal remember? That includes the highly educated, and while he may be an awesome individual, it is not unreasonably to think that after a long international trip he would be a bit testy, and like it or not that doesn’t fly with the police.
At least he wasn’t charged with DWB…..
Driving While Black
BTW… anybody pulling reverse racism into this argument isn’t just an idiot… I think the term “brainwashed baboon” would be more appropriate. To me this seems like a clear case of racially motivated misuse of police power. As a “Caucasian” I cannot understand … apart from cultural brainwashing…why this occurs.
BTW people.. you don’t have to blindly obey a police officer. They can’t just order you to do anything… and just because a black man refused the officer’s request does not mean he violated the law. He did identify himself, beyond that the officer should have left. The officer however should have identified himself (and his badge) and should at the minimum be put on suspension.
James:
Mr. Gates DID play the race-card when he accused the officer of racial-bias when the man was trying to do his job, and Mr. Gates was refusing (sorry, “declining”) to comply with lawful orders.
Already churning out revisionist history before the ink is even dry? Tsk.
I’m glad the charges got dropped. I suppose while you take this as vindication of Mr. Gates’ righteousness, the many of us will always wonder if it had more to do with his social standing and/or if maybe the colour of the arresting officer had a hand in it.