The latest on the Prof. vs. Cop story:
The Police Side
The Boston Globe:
The Cambridge police commissioner, breaking his public silence yesterday amid an increasingly vitriolic debate, strongly defended the actions of the sergeant who arrested Harvard scholar Henry Louis Gates Jr. At the same time, Commissioner Robert C. Haas announced that an independent panel will review the confrontation between the black professor and the white officer, an incident President Obama criticized for a second straight day.
Haas described Sergeant James M. Crowley as a “stellar member’’ of the department who had “tried to deescalate the situation’’ before he arrested Gates last week on the porch of Gates’s Cambridge house. Haas emphatically said that Gates’s arrest was not racially tinged.
“He [Crowley] tried to move away from the situation, and, when he wasn’t successful, he used arrest as a last resort,’’ Haas said at a packed news conference at police headquarters. “I do not believe his actions were in any way racially motivated.’’
Nonetheless, Haas said he will appoint a panel of law enforcement experts in the next few days to analyze how his department handled the incident and to receive comments from the community.
“I have long held the view that every interaction has the potential to teach us lessons in how we conduct ourselves both professionally and personally,’’ he said. “I certainly feel that way now.’’
——————————————————————————————-
CBS News: Responses from Cambridge police commissioner and Sgt. James Crowley
The Professor’s Side
Prof. Henry Louis Gates on the Gayle King Radio Show on the XM Oprah Channel (h/t Huffington Post)
GAYLE KING: …did you happen to be watching the news conference when he said that?
HENRY LOUIS GATES, JR: …I was having dinner with a friend on the upper east side in a little private Italian restaurant and all of a sudden I thought my blackberry was going to explode. And the first call…it was from Angela…Angela DeLeon…[saying] Barack Obama just mentioned you in his news conference…
I said oh my goodness what did he say… ‘I have to wait for the facts…?’…and he said no he said ‘the Cambridge Police were stupid and that you were friends’…I went..my god. And then the emails…it was like a slot machine. I got 500 emails last night.
GAYLE KING: I was surprised by his choice of words..that he said the Cambridge Police acted ‘stupidly.’ I agree with him, but I was surprised that the President of the United States would use that particular phrase.
HENRY LOUIS GATES, JR: I think that the circumstances are so egregious…that…it was the adjective that…logically popped into his head. I haven’t listened to a lot of the commentary but the people who want to protect the police and who are afraid of criminals like I’m afraid of criminals…are looking for something that I could have done to justify Sergeant Crowley’s actions. There’s nothing that I could have done to justify Sergeant Crowley’s action.
——————————————————————————————-
Some successful blacks find Gates episode all too familiar
A financial adviser at a leading wealth-management firm, Dan Rivers often identifies himself proudly but simply: “I’m a Dartmouth guy.’’ But thinking about the times he was scrutinized by security coming in and out of corporate events, about the less-than-welcoming glances he has received at a venerable men’s clothier, Rivers said he is sometimes seen by others in an entirely different way: as a black guy.
Likewise, Colette A.M. Phillips, chief executive of a Boston marketing firm, recalled the fellow business traveler in the American Airlines Admirals Club at Logan International Airport who presumed she was the help and asked for coffee.
There are legions of others who can share similar stories, affluent, accomplished, and academically distinguished African-Americans in Greater Boston who have suffered indignities that they doubt would befall their similarly successful white peers. It demonstrates, they said, that racism cannot be escaped by climbing the ladder.
Sometimes the slights are stark, other times subtle, and occasionally they fall into a gray area that leaves them wondering whether they are real or perceived. Rarely do they make local headlines, much less global news, or end with them in handcuffs on the doorstep of their homes, as was the case with the arrest of Henry Louis Gates Jr., the renowned Harvard scholar, in Cambridge last week.
Use this thread to continue discussing the Gates-Crowley battle or talk about other topics.
UPDATE: Here’s a bonus for any late-night readers/commenters. It’s from a right-wing source, but it’s funny, so shoot me.
Please Digg!!! Tweet!!! Share!!!
Add to: Facebook | Digg | Del.icio.us | Stumbleupon | Reddit | Blinklist | Twitter | Technorati | Furl | Newsvine
Filed under: General | Tagged: Cambridge Police (MA), Henry Louis Gates, James Crowley, Racial Profiling |
The Confluence 
I should have posted this sooner. It looks like everyone is gone now. But if anyone shows up, consider this a downpayment on the morning news post.
MABlue, if you haven’t seen it you should check out the long in-depth interview Gates gave to Channel 5. He certainly seems like the calmest, most rational person.
Do you have a link to the interview? I looked all over the website, but I can’t find it.
It’s on YouTube, the username to search is WCVBtv, the title is Uncut: Gates reacts to incident.
Thanks, I found it. Gates says the police report was fabricated. It will be interesting to see if the police commissioner does release the tapes. If Gates is telling the truth it will make Crowley look very bad and vice versa. If the police decide NOT to release the tapes, it will really look suspicious.
I’ve said it may times here. I know the guy and he is really the most rational person you would ever meet.
He is among those black who actually like debunk the gratuitous claims of racism.
I found myself wishing I could take one of his classes, the way he laid it all out and explained it, you can tell he’d be an amazing teacher you could really learn from.
So, on television, with the whole world watching, days after the incident and sure that more witnesses will confirm he was obnoxious toward the arresting officer = DO YOU KNOW WHO I AM – Mr. Gates comported his conduct to the highest expectations. BTW, the MA AG is married to a Cambridge cop; and her office is looking into irregularities related to a business venture the profits of which Mr. Gates indicated would be funnelled to the Inkwell Foundation, a charity he set up at the same time he publicly announced the business. Only, the charity, “domiciled in Gates Cambridge home, has been dormant since its inception.”
http://www.boston.com/news/education/k_12/articles/2008/09/06/school_wasnt_prepped_for_this_scandal/
Being obnoxious isn’t a crime, at least not in MA.
Btw, that link is to an opinion column, not a news article, and it’s from September of ’08. This investigation appears to be taking some time.
Some of those complaints are ridiculous.
“Somebody gave me a dirty look! It must be racism!”
I always look pissed off about something – even when I’m in a really good mood people think I’m scowling at them.
I’ve had people assume that I’m the help. When worked in an office (secretary, administrative assistant), I was routinely treated like either a moron or a waitress.
People always say I look like a cop.
When I was still in college I went to court to fight a bogus speeding ticket.
When the judge called the case she looked at me and said “go ahead, officer”
I pointed and said “He’s the cop.”
lol
It’s not easy to be the only or one of the few women or people of color walking into a mostly all white, all male workplace or other environment. It can be really uncomfortable, you always feel like everyone is looking at you, and if they choose to people can make it even more uncomfortable with little slights and big ones.
I can understand that it would be difficult and that if you experience that again and again, it would be difficult not to feel defensive in a situation where you feel threatened, as Gates must have.
My sister’s little criticism of me has always been “it’s not what you say, is how you say it”. She says I just have a harsh voice, so everything comes off as anger or criticism.
Ladies and gentlemen, Mr. Iggy Pop:
I think the whole fornicating USA has become Butt Town.
Not sure if this has already been mentioned but I just spotted this over at Huff Post
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/07/23/cambridge-police-union-pr_n_244048.html
Where Stephen Killion president of the Cambridge Police Patrol Officer’s Association said about Obama” I am disgraced that he is our commander-in-chief” along with “that audiotapes, now in the possession of the city solicitor’s office, will show that Harvard Professor Gates “turned this non-incident into a racial incident.” He said the audiotapes will prove Crowley’s account of the incident and show that Gates “was provoking the incident” as well as “On the tapes, Killian claims, “you can clearly hear him berating the officer, creating a scene.”
I’m guessing these tapes will be part of the investigation mentioned in the Cambridge PD press conference.
Holy $)&@. Saying that he’s disgraced that Obam is CIC is on par with Obama using “stupidly.” All of these people need lessons in remedial PR.
I think part of that has to do with their disappointment in our president weighing in on it without having the facts of the situation. I think their feeling is as stated in the same article by Alan J. McDonald lawyer for Crowley’s union, Cambridge Police Superior Officers Association ” I suspect that when the full picture comes out, he will regret the remarks he made,” so obviously they’re taking it personally and I’m not sure I could blame them if what they’re saying about Gates is true considering Obama’s first stance on this.
He could have expressed the same sentiments way more diplomatically. Obama saying “stupidly,” became an issue, I’d be amazed if saying that about Obama doesn’t. That’s not going to go over well, especially in Cambridge, and it very likely will become the story.
I’m sure there will be some that take that view, as I’m sure others will think Obama basically calling Crowley (IMO) at stupid racist under the circumstances, deserves the criticism. Either way I don’t see it over shaddowing this situation.
The way I have always understood it is the (POTUS) President Obama is the Commander and Chief of the Armed Forces and he is also seen as the main Chief of Law Enforcement and I suspect they feel he forgot that. In other words you don’t call your own men ‘stupid’, you remember you are their ‘Chief’.
It was only in March that five policemen were killed and as I remember, he did know he was the ‘Chief’ because he commented on it, but no one from his administration attended the funerals as far as I know, or I missed it. So, Chief Obama needs to mend fences with his men and women in Law Enforcement and let them know, he will wait until all the information is in before commenting, and after all he is President of All people, not just his friends.
That’s pretty bad. If he really said that, I’m shocked.
One thing I’ve noticed when seeing similar things (cop vs civilian) is when the civ pulls that “Do you know who I am?” with a piss-poor attitude. That will p.o. a cop more than anything else.
A lot of cops now have those very small recorders they carry with them, esp. the ones who are doing traffic duty. If Officer Crowley had one and Gates acted like an ass it will be on the record.
Why is everyone assuming that, if this is a result of bigotry (not proven), it concerns racism? The sergeant could just as well have a thing about old guys, about intellectual guys, or about people living in expensive houses. A friend of mine is convinced she was put through a painful medical procedure without anaesthetic because the doctor concerned doesn’t like fat people. Especially fat women, maybe. There are so many factors underlying personal confrontation (and where is the teaching about avoiding confrontation?) in our deeply unequal, fractured and judgemental society that assuming one dominates all is the really stupid thing.
[quote]Why is everyone assuming that, if this is a result of bigotry (not proven), it concerns racism?[/quote]
If it does turn out to be bigotry on Crowley’s part, I see no reason it couldn’t be for reasons you stated. I’ve heard nothing Crowley has said so far that would make me believe those aren’t as valid a reason, since other than Gates suspicions Crowley hasn’t said anything raci$t I’m aware of. I also think since that’s what Gates said it was about, and what Obama inferred it was about, as well as the history of it in our country, people are probably generally going to look at it from that perspective until something clear cut is shown. I also think if it’s shown Gates is the one that was motivated by bigotry, the same could apply (maybe not the exact same reasons) as well as raci$m. Seems like with either man the reason for their actions probably can’t really be completely determined 100% from this incident with the limited amount of info we have so far, and could still end up IMO as a misunderstanding, though probably not as likely.
Oh, for Pete’s sake. Bigotry on Gates’ part? Discrimination against whites? I don’t even know how to respond to that.
It’s proabably because you only focused in on the raci$m part. There are other forms of Bigorty that I did say it could be.
[qote]Discrimination against whites? I don’t even know how to respond to that[/quote]
It dose exist you know.
The majority of commenters I’ve seen don’t think this was a racial incident. They just don’t think Gates should have been arrested. But to say there couldn’t be a subliminal racial bias going on is silly. We live in a society that is suffused with racism.
As for the prejudice of doctors against fat women, that one is definitely a possibility, IMHO.
[quote]The majority of commenters I’ve seen don’t think this was a racial incident[/quote]
I know, I’ve been one of them.
So, I’m wondering, in the first clip … I guess it’s just a coincidence that the officer is photographed slightly from below, his face distorted as the camera is practically shoved up his nostrils, and the professor is shown sitting calmly behind a desk, filled bookshelves behind him?
No, not a coincidence IMO. I would think since Gates is a well known scholar, it wouldn’t be uncommon for the MSM to have current pics and video of him on file, but the last time the general public heard of Crowley was I believe 16 years ago, so current pics were gotten from live shots of current interviews, though more flattering ones could have been used I guess..
I could care less about what went down that evening at the GREAT PROFESSOR’s home. Seems the cop was doing his job and got berated by the homeowner who obviously wasn’t thinking straight and believed himself to be above reproach because of his status – being a Harvard man and friend of the President you know. I’d like to see the media give a little time on the horrible crime in Chicago these days where children are being gunned down in great numbers going to and from school. This is where police officers are actually having to escort those children each day because the danger is so great.
Imagine being a cop in that town. What did Obama do for his constituents there? I never heard him mention it once. But since the Professor is a Harvard Guy, he gets the President’s support. It hhas nothing to do with race and everything to do with status. This was an unfortunate incident and since none of us were there and nobody was hurt, it does not do any good for the President of the United States to interject himself into the situation. School children being killed going to school is another matter. Perhaps, Obama could go to Chicago and give a speech asking that they cool it and lay down their weapons for the sake of the children.
Don’t hold your breath waiting for that to happen. Gates is part of the elite, and that’s why Obama cares about him.
Rudy Giuliani famously automatically sided with the police in all incidents. Obama did the same – for the other side.
I think no one automatically should side with anyone without knowing all the facts in these situations. Especially as notoriety is bound to shed some light into what really happened eventually.
Since this IS an open thread–From Dave Barry’s blog: Drunken Romanian man sticks TWO hammerheads up his bunbun:
http://blogs.herald.com/dave_barrys_blog/2009/07/whereas-doctors-recommend-just-the-one-hammer-plus-a-crowbar.html#comments
Link opens on first comment; scroll up to find link to story itself
One reason I won’t drink alcohol is that it makes ideas like this seem workable.