Professor Gates, Harvard's Pride

[Sundae]

I wish eminent British Professors spoke like this:

As Crowley continued to question Gates, the Harvard professor allegedly told him, 'You don't know who you're messing with.' When Crowley asked to speak with him outside, Gates allegedly said, 'Ya, I'll speak with your momma outside.'

Snicker.

[Cloud]

But there's conflicting accounts of what ID he exactly showed. It says that he showed his Harvard ID--why? Do those have the address? It's not clear whether he showed his drivers' license at all, first.

[Sundae]

Thing is, as Bruce and Cloud have stated, there are very different accounts.
Mum worked for the Police for 13 years (and I can tell you if I'd ever been arrested she would have assumed I was at fault.)

She did admit to family that there are bad apples, the crack-heads-&-ask-later-brigade, officers who have short fuses, or who were arseholes or who simply loved procedure. And she told us of an altercation between an old friend of hers and a police officer where the stories differed wildly. From her knowledge of both, she believed the fault had to be on both sides, two arsey men with over-inflated egos...

In general I was brought up to be on the side of law enforcement. It speaks to a side of me that has been conditioned to accept authority. But I also know they are human, and what goes down in official records is not always what we would consider the truth, were we eye witnesses. And police are racist, homophobic, violent and capable of over-reacting. I think it's in a slightly greater percentage than in the general public, just because the job is bound to attract people with forceful opinions.

[Happy Monkey]

Originally Posted by Sundae Girl

Thing is, as Bruce and Cloud have stated, there are very different accounts.

But both accounts say that ID was shown, and neither account says that Gates wasn't in his own house.
In fact, the cop says he offered to use Gates' house key to relock the door after the arrest.

From her knowledge of both, she believed the fault had to be on both sides, two arsey men with over-inflated egos...

And that probably applies here as well. But one of those people was performing an official duty, and could have ended the encounter by leaving, once it was determined that there was no break-in.

[Shawnee123]

I don't disagree with you, HM, but I have to say that throwing the race card is about as shitty as it gets. Like a woman crying rape, out of revenge, it belittles everyone who has actually been hurt as a result of such crimes. It's a cheap cop-out, pun intended, and slimy and sick. It's a bit more than a little "attitude." Someone who is out there every day dealing with the dumbasses of the world might be a little taken aback to be accused of such a thing when they are trying, against all the crap in the world, to be one who protects all law-abiding citizens, regardless of race.


There, I said it.

[Happy Monkey]

Originally Posted by Shawnee123

I don't disagree with you, HM, but I have to say that throwing the race card is about as shitty as it gets. ... It's a bit more than a little "attitude."

I don't disagree with that, but a) ideally, it shouldn't figure into whether to arrest him, and b) if it does figure into it, it makes arresting him even stupider.

The story should have been "Harvard Professor accuses cops of racism when they respond to 911 call". Gates would not have come out well in that exchange. Instead, the story was "Harvard professor arrested out of his own home after burglary reported." If someone is accusing you of racial profiling, tossing him in jail to teach him a lesson can only hurt your case.

[Urbane Guerrilla]

Originally Posted by Shawnee123

I don't disagree with you, HM, but I have to say that throwing the race card is about as shitty as it gets. Like a woman crying rape, out of revenge, it belittles everyone who has actually been hurt as a result of such crimes. It's a cheap cop-out, pun intended, and slimy and sick. It's a bit more than a little "attitude." Someone who is out there every day dealing with the dumbasses of the world might be a little taken aback to be accused of such a thing when they are trying, against all the crap in the world, to be one who protects all law-abiding citizens, regardless of race.


There, I said it.

And you said it well, Shawnee.

I think there's hope for you yet. Great meringue heaps of hope if you keep writing like this.

I was just going to quote your first sentence and say that was my take on it all, too, but the rest of your para changed my mind. The good professor showed an ugly bigoted side to him -- maybe a beer at the White House with the sergeant would be just the thing to finish the affair.

And Obama's not dumb; I just wish he believed in better things. He's got this little social chip on his shoulder that doesn't become a President and I'd sure like to see him flick it off.

The last sentence summing up the cop's task -- well, that is known to come with the territory of being a policeman. It also tends to be one reason not every young policeman stays in to collect his police pension at twenty years. I've met one -- started as a football lineman, then a cop, and one day to defend his partner's life shot a man dead, quit police work, went to seminary, and ended up as the Episcopal Bishop of Los Angeles.

[Cloud]

Apparently, the cop was very experienced, and actually an instructor teaching cops not to racial-profile. (Or so I heard--who knows what's accurate now?)

I just want to know--if I become obstreperous, can I get a Beer With Obama?

[Shawnee123]

So you suggest we don't tiptoe around law enforcement, but we tiptoe around people who cry "wolf?"

[Happy Monkey]

Originally Posted by Shawnee123

So you suggest we don't tiptoe around law enforcement, but we tiptoe around people who cry "wolf?"

No, I suggest we ignore or refute people who cry "wolf" falsely. I further suggest that, if we wish to suggest that there is no wolf, we not bite them.

[smoothmoniker]

A man whose professional life revolves around the power politics of race escalates a routine answer to a police call into a racial incident, prior to any escalation by the officer.

Gates has built his very lucrative academic career on seeing racists in every corner.

[Shawnee123]

Ignore the guy who may or may not be entering a house illegally to do who knows what, because he screams wolf?

Yeah, OK.

[Happy Monkey]

Ignore the crying of wolf, which is irrelevant to whether he was in the house legally. And both accounts stipulate that he was.

[Shawnee123]

Next time I'm skulking about outside my own home, and the police ask me if I live there and want ID, I'm going to start screaming "PMS" rather than show my ID. It's really the best way to go. They don't even need to give me the crap about protecting my neighbors, or me...I don't even care if there is a serial killer in my house, just so everyone knows I've been put upon.

[Happy Monkey]

Originally Posted by Shawnee123

Next time I'm skulking about outside my own home,

Did you mean "inside"?