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Henry Louis Gates Jr should be given the greatest of considerations here. He has embraced high-educational achievement. Summa *** laude and Phi Beta Kappa graduate of Yale. MacArthur "genius grant" recipient. Acclaimed historian, Harvard professor and PBS documentarian. One of Time magazine's "25 Most Influential Americans" in 1997. Holder of 50 honorary degrees. Unfortunately, in America, he is a 59 year old black man.
Like all black men and women in this country, he is always reminded in some form that his race is not preferred. Sure, asians, indians, hispanics all experience racism, but there is no question that the biggest canyon that has existed for centuries here has been the one between a certain segment of the white population and black people. That segment unfortunately can't distinguish an accomplished scholar like Gates from a vicious murderer like Tookie Williams. They can't distinguish a black man who is of fine character and high achievement from a career gang-banger with a glass eye. They can't recognize the brilliance that is Obama simply because of his skin color. Quite a shame.
So, it is no wonder that this great man expressed outrage. He was reminded that a white passerby, whose initial impression upon seeing two black men trying to force themselves into a nice home in full view, was to assume that a crime was being committed rather than assuming that the residents locked themselves out of their own home. Were these two white men who were doing this, there is no question that the initial reaction and ultimate conclusion would be to assume that they were possibly locked out of their own home. This is the source of the outrage that Gates expressed and he is justified in it.
The insensitivity and indifference that some people express here is expected. After all, if you are still dealing with the sour grapes of an Obama win, you certainly can't help but take the shameful position that Gates was overreacting. Arresting this man in his own home, ignoring the indignation he experienced, shows a calloused disregard for him and the race he represents.
It is an outrage and I am glad that it has gained national attention. Racism against blacks on all levels still exists, and this incident shows that. What a revelation that this happened in Cambridge of all places to a black Harvard professor. Incredible. Even Massachusetts has its share.
Well said Alexus! I have said it before and I will reiterate that City-Data Forum is for the DISCERNING MINDS and you've proved to be one of the few. Kudos!!!
Well said Alexus! I have said it before and I will reiterate that City-Data Forum is for the DISCERNING MINDS and you've proved to be one of the few. Kudos!!!
...what a pair you two make!!
Gates' case is going down like the Lusitania with every passing hour; it turns out that not only does Sgt. Crowley teach anti-profiling classes to aspiring cadets, he also tried to revive Reggie Lewis, a Celtic basketball player, from cardiac arrest on the basketball court. On the other hand , there is the Professor Who Cried Wolf, ranting about "racism", when he clearly had racial thoughts about this case from the get-go, displayed a bad temper, and clearly used poor judgement.
Obama's statement just made everything worse; his PR staff is backpedalling furiously now, trying to take the "sting" out of his statement.
The good ship S.S. Henry Gates is taking on water....glub glub...
P.S. I voted for Obama happily, but they all deserve to hava a little egg on their faces for this...
Wow. Obama's approval rating in regards to his statement about the Gates incident has dropped even further to only 17% agreeing with him. I think that the general public is quite burned out about downtrodden black crap. And about 10,000 votes have been cast so far.
My catering job is at a local university, and amongst the staff, no one is supporting Gates or Obama. Right or wrong, they're are really doing a disservice to the black community. I hope that one of Gates' true friends can persuade him to stop his misguided crusade. But the man seems rather pigheaded to me... just as a lot of old men (of any race and culture) are.
Anyway, at work, the way us regular people see it, Gates should have greeted the policeman calmly, showed him his ID and thanked him for his concern and a job well done for responding to the call that the passerby so quickly. And we felt that any person, especially a male person more than a female, regardless of their race would have unnecessarily agitated and annoyed the concerned police officer by immediately accusing him of profiling them by race, age, dress, nationality or even just calling the officer nuts for being concerned about a midday struglgle with a door lock. And to be arrested for disorderly conduct for being difficult with the police officer for no reason and also yelling at him, wouldn't surprise us. And the officer giving Gates a pass on his poor behaviour would only be doing him a favour because of his status as a famous Harvard professor, just as we wonder about Ted Kennedy and the Chappaquick situation. Politicians, celebrities and other VIP's sometimes get those passes, and it's really not fair to the rest of us. They should obey the laws too. And regular average people don't get those favours. If Gates was an average 58 year old man that flipped out on a police officer who was only trying to do his job and help out a suspicious and worrisome situation, of course it should be no surprise that he was be arrested.
Gates' case is going down like the Lusitania with every passing hour; it turns out that not only does Sgt. Crowley teach anti-profiling classes to aspiring cadets, he also tried to revive Reggie Lewis, a Celtic basketball player, from cardiac arrest on the basketball court. On the other hand , there is the Professor Who Cried Wolf, ranting about "racism", when he clearly had racial thoughts about this case from the get-go, displayed a bad temper, and clearly used poor judgement.
Obama's statement just made everything worse; his PR staff is backpedalling furiously now, trying to take the "sting" out of his statement.
The good ship S.S. Henry Gates is taking on water....glub glub...
P.S. I voted for Obama happily, but they all deserve to hava a little egg on their faces for this...
Gates has waited all his life for this type of incident. He has definetly cried wolf! He is an old cantankerous black man with a chip on his shoulder, who has been carrying around a lot of baggage. He is supposedly this acclaimed professor acting hysterical, belligerant and combative, when all he had to do is act calmly, and perhaps thank the officers for their effective service after he should have "offered" to show an id. Mr Gates house had an attempted break in previously, and there was nine previous burglaries in his neighborhood. Yes, Gates is going down in flames, and his attempt to admonish members of the white race is backfiring tremendously. Mr Gates, who obviously believes he has done a lot for his race, has now set it back about 30+ years along with Obama who never should have commented on this, because he didn't have all the facts.
As someone who has had his house robbed by three black men, I suggest even a cursory look at crime data indicates what race of people commit the majority of crime in America.
Almost everytime I have had an encounter with my local police here in Texas and back in Georgia, I have been treated with the utmost courtesy and respect.
Gates has waited all his life for this type of incident. He has definetly cried wolf! He is an old cantankerous black man with a chip on his shoulder, who has been carrying around a lot of baggage. He is supposedly this acclaimed professor acting hysterical, belligerant and combative, when all he had to do is act calmly, and perhaps thank the officers for their effective service after he should have "offered" to show an id. Mr Gates house had an attempted break in previously, and there was nine previous burglaries in his neighborhood. Yes, Gates is going down in flames, and his attempt to admonish members of the white race is backfiring tremendously. Mr Gates, who obviously believes he has done a lot for his race, has now set it back about 30+ years along with Obama who never should have commented on this, because he didn't have all the facts.
As someone who has had his house robbed by three black men, I suggest even a cursory look at crime data indicates what race of people commit the majority of crime in America.
I was also thinking that another possible reason for the clash, is the dynamic between an old man who needs a cane and Crowley who is a lot younger and more fit than he is. Gates is used to getting respect and getting his ass kissed by his students and people like Alexus here. He's not used to anyone, let alone a white person questioning his right to be in his Harvard University owned dwelling. My own mother is like Gates, in the sense that she believes that between adults, whoever is older is looked up to and gets the most respect. As in, at 50 I am an adult, but I will never ever be my mother's equal because she is older than I am.
BOSTON -- The Cambridge cop accused of being a racist after he arrested African-American scholar Henry Louis Gates, Jr. has actually taught a class in racial profiling at the Lowell police academy since 2004.
Sgt. James Crowley, an 11-year veteran of the Cambridge Police Department, has instructed hundreds of police recruits on racial profiling for the past five years as an academy instructor at Middlesex Community College.
He was handpicked by for the job by former Cambridge Police Commissioner Ronnie Watson, an African-American, according to Sgt. Thomas Fleming, director of the Lowell Police Academy.
And our Governor Deval Patrick disappoints me with his released statement about this incident. He is a personal friend to Gates AND Obama, so he shouldn't be making any statements with his governor hat on. And now we know that Gates' nickname is "Skip".
Quote:
Patrick said he reached out to “Skip” Gates, a personal friend, after the arrest, but said he only left a message and hasn’t talked with him. He has spoken with Gates’ lawyer, Charles Ogletree, but not Cambridge Police Sgt. James Crowley, the arresting officer.
“What’s troubling about this, in some ways, this is every black man’s nightmare and a reality for many black men,” Patrick said. “You ought to be able to raise your voice in your own house without risk of arrest.”
But what about yelling at a police officer and accusing him of being a racist? And I still find Crowley's version of what happened a lot more believable that Gates' version. Maybe it's because I've encountered so many angry black people in real life and on this board with a chips on their shoulder about what life has dealt them and their people. It never takes much to set them off on a rant.
But two white men wouldn't have overreacted to the police officers the way Gates did. And what about the house having been broken into before, which was why the door was so difficult to open? And most break-ins happen in broad daylight while people are at work.
I'd like to think that anyone seeing anyone of any colour, age or sex breaking into a house, even in full view of the street would raise red flags and ask the police to check it out.
What about a case of domestic abuse where there is a restraining order present? What if an estranged spouse or s/o is trying to break-in to vandalize or abduct their child? At least the police could run a check through their database to make sure the person locked out is legitimately allowed to be there. Heck, if it were my white boyfriend locked out, I'd still hope there'd be witnesses and a followup visit from the police. There's just too many tragic domestic abuse and other dysfunctional family crap going around these days. So I still say better safe than sorry.
So basically, you want the police to ignore any and all suspicious activity on the part of all black people? Sorry, you can't guilt trip me into agreeing with that policy... ever.
And while Gates is a great scholar and academic, there are many great ones in the area thanks to the presence of Harvard and MIT. Just because he happens to be black, doesn't make him the best one. And because you are black, you appreciate his focus on African American studies. However, his area of expertise isn't adding to the quality of life of non-blacks. But it's your personal choice to choose your favorite scholar. I just prefer to appreciate those that have made their achievements in more practical sciences like medicine.
So you want us to turn a blind eye to black people acting suspiciously (but it's okay if that suspicious acting person isn't black?), but a great scholar of African studies who happens to be black gets to be put on some pedestal. No way,I'm not going to do it.
And I was very disappointed that Obama made the statement that he did today. I understand that they are longtime friends, but as our president, he should have stayed out of this. And saying what he said makes the situation a lot worse. What a lot of us saw as a simple misunderstanding and not a racial incident just got escalated. And I consider what Obama did as a sign of weakness in his character. Just like all that Rev. Wright nonsense. I'm so glad that I didn't vote for him both times.
I hope that there's some sort of rally for support of that police officer, and if so, I'm going to attend it. I've lived most of my life in the area and I think that the Cambridge police do a fine job. And don't confuse them with the Harvard police that have had a few issues with racial profiling, but since the campus is surrounded by the diverse city it's in and the students are known to be mostly from rich families, I don't see what the big deal is with having a security force that is trying to be diligent about protecting all of its students.
Regardless of anyone's race, I think that anyone who has ever been a victim of a crime, whether it's being thieved or assaulted, would agree that they'd prefer a police force that is trying to prevent crimes instead of solving crimes after the fact. Except for Professor Gates...
Well now that no one takes Jesse Jackson or Al Sharpton seriously anymore, Gates can take over as the mouthpiece of the black community.
There is no way a [black] person of color will get certain white people, or Asian, or any other ethnic group, to understand the situation since whites don't have a clue. As many people in the African American community know, whether you have a Ph.D or you're president of the US, many will still consider you a "N".
You are free to express what you THINK, but kid yourself that it's even near the truth, and I don't mean the truth of only this situation.
Wow. Obama's approval rating in regards to his statement about the Gates incident has dropped even further to only 17% agreeing with him. I think that the general public is quite burned out about downtrodden black crap. And about 10,000 votes have been cast so far.
My catering job is at a local university, and amongst the staff, no one is supporting Gates or Obama. Right or wrong, they're are really doing a disservice to the black community .
You're not in a position to say whether he's doing a service or nonservice for the black community. Leave it to those in the black community to decide. I'm sure the majority understand exactly what Obama means. I admire Obama for going out on a limb with this statement and once again, showing how much it is possible, given his situation, to be nonpolitical, but truthful.
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This is truly laughable...
