Here we are, back in the fray. This time, we are discussing the arrest of prominent Harvard professor (of African-American culture) Gates; he was questioned and arrested as he was trying to get back into his home after an extended overseas trip.
My credentials to address this issue, and why I’m a better commentator than the person holding the highest office in the land, President Obama, are here, in a previous post. President Obama weighed in on this issue and lent it an aura of importance and substance that it probably does not merit.
Let’s go ahead and dissect this one with our racial-bias-free scalpel, shall we?? Prof. Gates has just gotten back from China (14 hour flight) and is probably tired and just glad to be home. But then he notices that his front door is jammed. Turns out his home was broken into during his absence. While getting his front door unjammed, a neighbor calls 911. So far this sounds reasonable. Biased? No. I would have called 911 even if only 2 white people or 2 white females or 2 white female models were trying to force my front door open (in the latter case, I would have gone in and joined them).
Police arrive and question Prof Gates. Biased? No. The police’s job is to ask questions. And there was suspicious activity at the front door, even if it was the owner of the house trying to force his way in. Prof. Gates refuses to show ID. Biased? Yes. If he believes that he is being asked for ID only because he is black, he is mistaken. Period. A good cop would ask for ID even if it was President Bush found in the house1. Prof. Gates starts asking for the officer’s ID. Biased? No. We have a right to know our officer’s name during an investigation. And don’t forget, the police are also there to investigate the previous break-in as well. Instead of starting charges of racial profiling (Biased? Yes. Big time.) Prof. Gates should have filed the police report on the break-in right there. The police are a service that he and all of us in the community are paying for. And yelling at the police is never a good
idea, even if they deserve it. Showing deference, or at least cooperation to a man with a gun is always a good idea. And don’t forget that you paid to give him the gun.
Mistakes made? Plenty, but mostly by Prof. Gates, from what is being reported.
Mistakes Made by Policeman:
Police should never walk into your home without being invited by the owner. They need a court order to come in unless you invite them in; there may have been some words issued by Prof. Gates that could be construed as an invitation, so be careful what you say.
Mistakes made by Prof. Gates:
The owner should never leave the safety of his home and follow the police outside. You are giving up some of your rights by entering a public venue. Don’t shout at a policeman and berate them in public. You can show your displeasure by ammending the police report and complaining at the station house. He should have started break-in investigation as soon as police arrived. This really throws suspicion off of you, when you are aiding police. And police are a service that you are absolutely paying for, so use it. Don’t bring up race. But if your teaching specialty is hammers, everything around you starts looking like a nail. Automatically bringing up race dooms us all.
Mistakes make by President Obama:
President Obama’s outrage is OK. After all, Prof. Gates is a personal friend. Any of us would automatically take the side of our friend in a dispute against a cop. I believe the words “rogue officer” were unfortunately uttered by someone in the fray. But as President, Mr. Obama must put down his personal feelings and keep the debate cordial and race-neutral. By quoting statistics that blacks and latinos are disproportionatly arrested (it’s true) he fueled the fire. A President must weigh his words carefully and keep personal emotion out of his statements. In this case, the arresting officer is clean and the President will come out looking badly.
Incorrectly regarded as a mistake:
Arresting a middle aged man that walks with a cane is perfectly OK. So is arresting an elderly woman walking in crutches. Or a teenager in a wheelchair. All of these folk could constitute a danger to a policeman and any of them could pull out an exotic home-made weapon from cane, crutch, wheel chair. A good ninja can make a weapon out of eyeglasses or a toothbrush2 so everyone should be treated the same way: handcuffs and extreme vigilance. I remember from “The Fugitive” that Federal Agent Tommy Lee Jones removes Harrison Ford’s handcuffs once they are back in the squad car and offers him an ice pack for his wrists. I’m not sure if this is standard procedure, but I guess once you’re in the squad car you are more manageable and less likely to try to start a getaway attempt. And the ice pack is just a nice touch from a really cool, tough Federal Agent.
In conclusion: Archangel summed it up nicely when he said that a tired, weary Prof. Gates probably reacted inappropriately when confronted with a stressful situation. Also, the arresting officer has a super-clean background in racial sensitivity and even taught on how to avoid racial profiling.
Circumstancial evidence points to Prof. Gates being at fault. But now that his friend Prez Obama has taken his corner, it will be difficult to find a reasonable solution that does not include the signing of a non-agression pact at the White House’s Rose Garden. Such is life.