Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
Oh please. Who on Earth, especially in our ultra safety concerned society, especially in a predominantly middle and upper middle class town like Cambridge, would have someone living next to them that they could not even recognise?
The woman who made the call was apparently from Malden. She was not a neighbor.
You don't know what Gates said or what he did. I don't understand why you insist on this being a case of racial profiling--or how you can insist on this--if you weren't even there.
It's the same mindset that moved Booker T. Washington to say:
Quote:
There is a class of colored people who make a business of keeping the troubles, the wrongs, and the hardships of the Negro race before the public. Having learned that they are able to make a living out of their troubles, they have grown into the settled habit of advertising their wrongs-partly because they want sympathy and partly because it pays. Some of these people do not want the Negro to lose his grievances, because they do not want to lose their jobs. - Booker T. Washington
If Henry Louis Gates Jr. was White, this would not have even made any headlines in the mainstream media. And Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton would be nowhere to be found.
I am not beating you over the head with anything - just pointing out that there may be other reasons why you have a negative view of Gates.
You can obviously ASSume whatever you would like about the officer, but that sort of diminishes your ability to complain about the assumptions that others are making about the officer. Additionally, it also highlights the ASSumptions you are making about Gates, since you obviously believe he behaved inappropriately and that he was "harrassing or verbally abusing" the officer.
~ButterBrownBiscuit~
Pot kettle black? And are you and a lot of liberals making ASSumptions that the cop was guilty of racial profiling? BTW the arresting officer was Carlos Figueroa, a Hispanic. And from this picture in the Boston Globe, there was a black policeman present also.
And another ASSumption and stereotype that you have is that all burglars are young and scruffy looking. Doesn't it make sense for a daytime robbery for a smart criminal to be neatly dressed just like someone from the nice neighborhood you are trying to thieve? Con artists dress like their victims. And with this terrible economy, break-ins have increased. As to age, just an initial google search turned up a 1922 in the NYT about a 72 year old man arrested for a home burglary. He's called a "second story man" which I believe means that he was good at climbing up into second floor windows.
Professor Gates does live in a nice part of Cambridge (as well he should) and as such, the area is well patrolled by the police. And remember, his house was successfully broken into earlier. But the front door and the back area is very visible from the street. So anyone struggling and trying to force the front door open with his shoulder could attract attention from a passerby. And being a woman, I understand why she might not want to call out to a suspicious acting man and instead call 911.
Isn't it just too contrived, this whole set-up? Read the whole story.
This jerk simply contrived to get some publicity for the show he just finished taping.
The biggest enemies the black community has are white apologist/enablers and phony black intellectuals/leaders like this moron.
I would think the apologist and enablers are the one who believe there is a valid reason for an innocent man to be arrested from inside his own home, and charged with nothing. I call this expedient Moral and ethical pretension. now the the police are in on it? publicity for a PBS special? now that's rich
We do not know if profiling was at work. However, it seems reasonable to at least explore this possibility. As I have mentioned before, there could have been possible profiling with the neighbor who reported this incident. That is not crying wolf, that is simply examining the situation in a critical way.
I would like to hear more about the situation, and definitely more from the neighbor. I mean, it is surprising that the neighbor did not recognize Skip Gates as the owner of the home. Moreover, he was returning from a trip to China. I would assume that a driver was bringing him home, that the driver carried his luggage up to the door, and that he was carrying his laptop, as many academics travel with them.
Given that the neighbor was so diligent in her observation, one would wonder why she did not see the luggage. Here, I am not saying that profiling definitely occurred. But, because of some unanswered questions, it is reasonable to critically examine this as a possibility.
The claim that the neighbor would not have called the police if it were white men forcing entry into this house is dubious. The claim that the police only came to investigate because it was a report of black men forcing entry into this house is dubious.
Yes it is crying wolf. The more people hear about this kind of thing, especially when the charges are dubious, the less they will pay attention to it.
Ok, lets all go ahead and continue to 'critically examine' this incident. Just know that you are diluting the effectiveness of the racism charge. People are already starting to tune out. This charge just does not carry the weight that it once did. The controversy surrounding this incident contributes to that.
I would think the apologist and enablers are the one who believe there is a valid reason for an innocent man to be arrested from inside his own home, and charged with nothing. I call this expedient Moral and ethical pretension. now the the police are in on it? publicity for a PBS special? now that's rich
The police had a valid reason for investigating the break in. Gates was arrested for verbally abusing the police in the performance of their duties. I don't get the controversy. I've seen lots of white guys thrown into the back of police cars in hand cuffs for mouthing off to the police.
But, but, but... I been told on these very pages that if you dress like a gangster rapper you should expect to be pulled over by the police! Based upon that new found knowledge Gates has only himself to blame!
Exactly! Proof that there was no profiling going on. Thanks o!
What has Cambridge learned from this?
1. If you are Black , don’t live in a yellow and white bungalow that looks like only an old white lady should own.
2. If you are a white Policeman most African American Thugs stop wilding around age 52
3. If you are a concerned citizen, most break-ins occur after sundown and without the aid of a cane
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
