Top black academic arrested - Obama comments

[kathyis6incheshigh]

here

I am shocked & fascinated by this story.
I just can't see how the police can justify the arrest unless Gates was actually violent (as opposed to just angry) with the police officer, and there's no evidence he was.

And good for Obama in being willing to come out and say that the police acted 'stupidly', rather than saying something bland and trying to avoid the issue.

I think it was clear from the very first moment that this small, elderly, grey haired gentleman with a cane and a stack of suitcases, making himself a cup of tea, was NOT a hoodie burglar, so any half-intelligent policeman should have been placatory from the start. A better start to the conversation would have been, 'I'm so sorry to disturb you sir, but is there a problem with your front door or have you suffered a break-in? The neighbours called us out because they were worried about you."

Even if there is a suspicion of a burglary, why did the policeman ASSUME the old person in front of him was a possible perpetrator rather than a likely victim?That, I think, is where the racism lies.

How do we know he said, 'don't you know who I am...?' So, we know this because it was reported in the press.

Personally, I would query this as it's almost a dead cert that given a scenario of educated man/police incident that it would be reported in the press that he claimed, 'don't you know who I am...'

Doesn't follow. This man is a very private individual as evidenced that his own neighbors didn't previously notice his comings and goings. I don't believe that this man was arrogant.

It doesn't matter whether the cops knew he was "important", though.

If someone sees me breaking into my home and mistakes me for a burglar, all I should need to prove is that I'm the homeowner. That should be the same for Mr Gates. It was only his identity he needed to prove, not his status. using his status is a little self-important.

Of course, he was pissed-off, and rightly so.

correct me if I'm wrong - it's been a while - but doesn't Gates do representation of race lit crit??

Obama's had to apologise for calling the cops stupid.

I'm v. disappointed about the apology, however it's worded.
I was realy hoping he wouldn't have to do that.

Phdlife (and others), I googled the wikipedia entry on HLG here.

He is a high-profile public intellectual with a significant "race" dimension (and i put race in quotes because, of course, it's a contested term, and HLG's work is very aware of the historical and political reasons for its being a debatable, contested, significant term/identity).

I know nothing about American media but I would be willing to bet he makes a good few appearances in the mainstream media.

I'm fairly sure he was on television over here to discuss the significance of Obama's election/inauguration precisely because he just is the foremost person you would go to to have it explained.

pretty quick climb down for obamma there, but then again i don't know why he was making such statements about stupidity and bigotry when the first words out of his mouth were "i don't know all the details".
fwiw i don't think he should have been arrested but i don't think this was a racial matter. i think it's a case of, the quickest way to get arrested in any country is to annoy a cop. from the police reports he refused to show identification originally,acted condescendingly with his "don't you know who i am" questions,then accused the cops of racism and racial profiling and made a comment about the cops mother.
as i said once he established his identification the cops should have left, but i don't think the cops arrested him because he was black, i think he was arrested because the cops didn't like his attitude and arrested him to shut him up, which is without a doubt wrong, but not racist.

the police officer in question works in a very diverse police department and teaches classes on how to avoid racial profiling.

I think if the policeman had gone to the house and a elderly white man with a cane had come to the door, he would have assumed he was a victim not a burglar and treated him as such from the start.

Take your point UQD, but it may be a cultural thing, his comments as far as letting the Boston police know that he was an African American who knew his rights, and let's face it, not many arrests end up with the President calling the arresting officer asking for details.

Think it's arrogance if you have an over inflated notion of your own self importance, but Prof Gates, doesn't.

I don't think he was arrested because he was black. But assumptions were made because he was black. Am fairly sure it wasn't upmost in the mind of the police, 'oh dear. Neighbor is reporting a man kicking the door. It must be a homeowner who has been locked out...'

On a more pedantic point, he was arrested for effectively a public order arrestable offence. Is it technically possible to commit a public order crime in one's own home? I don't know.

well the officers report says he was arrested outside after he followed him out. now wether or not he was still on his own property i don't know (i think he was still on his porch so most likely still on his own property)but the officer says he was now in view of the public and becoming disorderly. so i don't know what that would mean with regards to the act now becoming a public offence.

Here's a very enlightening news article about why he was arrested outside. Sort of leads one to believe that Crowley had every intention of causing trouble for Prof Gates, and knew exactly what he was doing.
In a way this issue is actually more about class than race. It's the townies (working class) vs. the intellectuals (academics).

Its sad that in this day and age people still cant see past skin colour.

My sisters partner is black and lives in a very rough area of town known for drug dealing and high levels of crime. He is regually stopped by police.

There have also been loads of issues with his car, because he is a young black man driving an expencive car..... they assume its stolen.

It seems that even though Obama is in power people opinions to skin colour are no better than before.

How can we expect our children not to grow up feeling prejudice towards different ethnicites when this goes on in the world!

Anyone remember the phrase 'Driving whilst Black'?
It's also a question of how many times people have had to stop and explain and justify their actions, over and over again.
So what for some may be an isolated incident with a police officer, for another is a regular occurrence.

i accept the fact that many people experience racism and racial profiling from the police in the u.s. and over here, but i simply don't believe that this particular incident has anything to do with race.
i think this has more to do with the professor acting like a jerk and the police officer getting pissed off and arresting him to shut him up/prove a point/get back at him.
this is wrong also but it happens all the time to people of all races. if a cop pulls you over when you are driving or something, and you start acting abusively towards them and condescending towards them they will find an excuse to bring you to the station or give you a fine of somesort.
i think both of them acted poorly in this situation, i mean the first thing the prof said when a cop investigating a break in report asked for i.d. was "what for being a black man in america" and then to refuse to produce i.d. so he was obviously looking for confrontation as well. however the cop was the one with the greater responsibility so should have shown more restraint and absolutely should have left when he produced i.d., but i don't think his poor judgment was born out of racism.

On one level it doesn't really matter if his poor judgement was born of racism or not, IMO, why aren't the police trained that it is an abuse of power to goad someone purely so that you have an excuse to arrest them?

This sort of incident happens to black and white people and it is a big big waste of public money. I can understand that police officers get fed up of people behaving abusively towards them and in the case of better-educated people than them, possibly throwing their weight around and patronising them; but at the same time, the waste of money that is involved in arresting someone, processing the paperwork, going through the procedures to decide whether to charge them etc., is absolutely bloody ridiculous. Why aren't the police trained to only arrest somebody if it's absolutely necessary? It ought to be seen as a bit of failure to make an unnecessary arrest.

i don't think it was a case of goading him into having an excuse, he was already abusive and confrontational without being goaded.
but i agree it's an absolute waste of time and money, and should just be walked away from if the abuse isn't interfering with an investigation or police protocol.

Oh, the explanation in that link as to why the police officer got Gates outside is interesting. How pathetic of the cop. Nasty little piece of work - may not be normally overtly racist but is certainly a bully. The police shouldn't be abusing their powers in this way.

No but taking him outside looks like a deliberate ploy MQ.

Goading is the wrong word there - but my point (obviously not made v. clearly) is that quite often, police do goad people. And that is a waste of public money as well as an abuse of power.

i know the police will goad people and try to provoke a reaction.
however the explanation for bringing him outside is just a theory on the part of the writer of the article.
according to the officer in his report the reasons for going outside were 1)the acoustics making communication difficult with gates shouting (this sounds dodgy even to me). although it is plausible because he claims he was trying to radio the pertinent information to the headquarters and gates was yelling over him so the person on the other end of the radio transmiter couldn't hear the officer properly, so it was communication over the radio which was difficult rather than communication between the police and prof gates
2) the fact that he'd established his identity and was leaving as he'd informed campus security and as such the police were finished with the matter
3)he'd attempted to provide his name and badge number on two seperate occasions but been shouted over, and as the matter was now finished with in his mind as far as police involvment he was leaving gates residence and if gates wished to continue speaking with him he'd do so outside.
simply going outside may or may not have been a ploy, i don't know, but i don't think it's as clear cut as the article is trying to infere.
for one thing no one was compelling gates to continue shouting and abusing the police officer,that was his individual decision. while it wasn't illegal to do so in his own house by choosing to follow the officer outside and continue this behaviour he then put the decision in the cops hands.

btw i'm basing this on the copy of the arrest report which has been in various sources on the net. does anyone know if this is the actual report or has it been faked? i'd much appreciate if anyone could verify or debunk it's authenticity

www.thesmokinggun.com/archive/years/2009/0723092gates2.html