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July 24, 2009 For whatever reason, Professor Henry Gates couldn't get the front door of his home open and enlisted the help of his driver. They were both trying to get in when the fuzz showed up after being alerted by a neighbor who assumed a robbery was in progress. Fine. So far so good. In responding to a call of this sort I'm sure the officer was in full tactical mode. After all, he had a job to do, right? A robbery in progress or even a report of suspicious activity near or around a house that was so beautifully maintained and in an upscale neighborhood, required. At the very least, a respectful response. What does that mean? Well, frankly, it shouldn't mean anything, right? Unfortunately in many communities across the country it does mean something. It means your economic status dictates, to some degree, the level of protection you can expect. No one can convince me that during the LA riots in 1992, or any other previous riots for that matter, that had the burning and the looting started moving towards Beverly Hills or Malibu those residents who were sittin pretty wouldn't have had to move a muscle. Keeping that in mind, am I the only one who thinks that the cop who showed up at the home of Professor Gates saw him trying to get in and felt his actions were indicative of a robbery call being that he was a black man? As if the color of his skin and the nature of the call fit? And once that assumption was proven to be not only blatantly untrue, but stereotypical as well, maybe then it became difficult for the cop to change his mindset and progress from presumption and authority to empathy and respect? Is that taking it a little too far? Well ok, maybe. Some of the reactions I've heard to this incident have really "werked my noives". Comments along the lines of "we weren't there" or "we don't know the whole story" or "I think both parties behaved in ways that were less than diplomatic" are so self-serving and transparent and really tick me off. Professor Gates had already established his identity as a Harvard professor and more importantly as the homeowner. I don't care what transpired after those two facts were established. I don't care if Professor Gates was screaming about racial injustice and demanding this officer's name and badge number, he was on his own property for god's sake! Please! The officer should have simply said "I'm sorry sir, I'm just doing my job, have a nice day". He didn't even have to apologize had he said something along those lines. Even now, a few days later, after the benefit of hindsight and the passage of time, this officer is still unable or unwilling to see the whole picture. As far as he was concerned there should have been one requirement. And one requirement only. Establishing Professor Gates identity. Anything that occurred beyond that clarification was, at the very least, the result of a cop asserting his authority no matter what the situation.. And at the very worst it may have been a case of racial profiling. I don't know, I wasn't there, right? NOT!! By the way, just who is Henry Louis Gates Jr? Well, he's an author, essayist, literary critic, professor, scholar, writer, editor, extreme intellectual with a life long dedication to compassion, fairness, empathy, human rights, black history and other issues that really matter at a time when much of the world's media always seems to focus on that which does not matter. With multiple honorary degrees and awards for his teaching, research and his development of academic institutions which emphasize the study of black culture, thereby contributing to what truly does matter.
I'm just saying, right?
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