Dr. Henry Louis Gates Arrested

[Kevin]

Originally Posted by deepimpact2

Why am i not surprised that you would say something like this?

I don't know. I suppose you could always explain why you are not surprised.

It is a pattern of conduct because it happens around the country more than every 25 years. The issue is not whether the story is plausible. first of all would the neighbor have called if the man was white. Then once the cops SAW his identification and had PROOF that he lived in that house, why did they continue to bother him?

The Time article focused on Cambridge and black Harvard faculty members. It had to reach back 25 years to find a similar incident. Going back 25 years is awfully stretchy if you're trying to make a case for conformity in conduct or having some sort of bad culture.

Gates wasn't being an ass. He was pissed because he was being accused of breaking into his own home.

Oh please. If I get pulled over for speeding, or even have the cops come to my house suspecting I just broke in, I, being a pretty well connected white guy, am not going to take a "Don't you know who I am?" approach. When dealing with law enforcement, that's just dumb. Those guys have wide discretion to make your life difficult, and at minimum, they can set you back a couple hundred bucks by writing you a ticket for disorderly conduct.

My friends and family who are police officers and judges and politicians and attorneys wouldn't think poorly of the cop for arresting me on the spot or further causing me grief. They'd more likely be surprised at my bad behavior than the cop's.

Showing your Harvard ID thinking that'll make the cops go away is Gates being an ass. The cop was being an ass as well. Both parties were acting badly here.

[Munchkin03]

Originally Posted by Kevin

The Time article focused on Cambridge and black Harvard faculty members. It had to reach back 25 years to find a similar incident. Going back 25 years is awfully stretchy if you're trying to make a case for conformity in conduct or having some sort of bad culture.

Showing your Harvard ID thinking that'll make the cops go away is Gates being an ass. The cop was being an ass as well. Both parties were acting badly here.

Cambridge is not a small town (in fact, it's much larger than the town in which I grew up), and they still had to go back 25 years to find a similar incident. Think about that.

I'm inclined to believe--and this is after I experienced a not too dissimilar incident just a few days ago--that everyone could have acted a little better. But that's just me.

[DrPhil]

Originally Posted by Munchkin03

that everyone could have acted a little better. But that's just me.

I agree.

[KSigkid]

Originally Posted by Kevin

Showing your Harvard ID thinking that'll make the cops go away is Gates being an ass. The cop was being an ass as well. Both parties were acting badly here.

The only thing I would say to this is that it was Harvard-owned property, and I would hope/imagine the Cambridge police would be aware of that. By showing his Harvard ID, he may have just been hoping that it would turn on a light bulb with the police, like a "oh, ok, he may actually live here."

Again, maybe I'm being cynical, but I kind of expect most prominent people, in whatever field (acadmics, entertainment, business) to pull the old "let me take down your badge number" routine.

I'm not excusing behavior on either side, but I think there were a lot of factors at play.

Originally Posted by Munchkin03

Cambridge is not a small town (in fact, it's much larger than the town in which I grew up), and they still had to go back 25 years to find a similar incident. Think about that.

Agreed - Cambridge is a fairly large city, over 100,000 residents, and that doesn't include the temporary residents (students, visiting professors, tourists, etc.) who are there on a daily basis. I used to do my daily run through Harvard and Cambridge when I lived close by, and there's always a bunch of people out and about, no matter the time of day (which make it seem even bigger).

[deepimpact2]

Originally Posted by Kevin

My friends and family who are police officers and judges and politicians and attorneys wouldn't think poorly of the cop for arresting me on the spot or further causing me grief. They'd more likely be surprised at my bad behavior than the cop's.

Showing your Harvard ID thinking that'll make the cops go away is Gates being an ass. The cop was being an ass as well. Both parties were acting badly here.

Being a pretty "well connected white guy," it is doubtful you would have to go through this/

And how is showing his Harvard ID a sign of Gates being an ass? They asked for identification. Furthermore, if the house was truly owned by Harvard, then it seems natural that he would also show his Harvard ID. That comment alone indicates that you just believe Gates was being an ass regardless, and that you aren't willing to look at the situation in a different light.

[SydneyK]

Originally Posted by deepimpact2

you aren't willing to look at the situation in a different light.

Hello, Pot. Meet Kettle.

[DaemonSeid]

But you know what....that's not what he was arrested for...he was arrested for disorderly conduct not the B and E as reported. What's the possibility that had he remained calm and simply showed that he lived there that he would have been left alone...

O wait...someone already said that.

Supposed he wasn't so jet lagged, maybe he would have been of a calmer mind...

O Wait...someone said that too.

Deepimpact...please stop trying to fit square pegs into round holes...the charges have been dropped. Cambridge has moved on and Mr. Gates probably will also...this reads like a series of unfortunate events in which he was in the right place at the right time but with the wrong frame of mind.
If you want to get mad about something, have fun with this. Click if you dare.

[SWTXBelle]

I listened to the NPR interview with the attorney (also a Harvard prof.) representing Gates. Here's the link - http://www.npr.org/templates/rundown...n.php?prgId=46

It sounds as if the police did the right thing in responding to the call, but for WHATEVER reason, went over the line once Gates had complied and shown identification, which the police obviously accepted since they did not arrest him for breaking and entering. Ogletree (the lawyer) strikes me as having the right take on this - he's not threatening some huge lawsuit, but wants to use this incident as an opportunity to teach police how to better interact with the public in similar situations.

eta - I never considered the fact that the door had been messed with(and that the police didn't deal with that at all) before reading http://angryblackbitch.blogspot.com/ - And I've got to remark that I'm somewhat amazed the police didn't know with whom they were dealing, or at the very least consider that arresting a Harvard professor for "disorderly conduct" given that he had cooperated and done what the officer requested would NOT turn out well. My brother is a police officer, and no one is more sympathetic than I to the legitimate concerns of an officer while doing his/her duty - but looking at the definition of "disorderly conduct" and the officer's report, I'm stumped.

I am reminded of when, 7 mths. preggers, I locked myself out of my house in searing Houston heat and had to climb in a back window. The cops came after a neighbor called - but not for 30 minutes! I wasn't mad at having to explain myself, but I was a bit perturbed at the response time. If I HAD been a burgler, I could have been on the road with time to spare by the time they showed up!

[Kevin]

Originally Posted by deepimpact2

Being a pretty "well connected white guy," it is doubtful you would have to go through this/

I've never really had a run in with the cops, but I lead a pretty boring life. I don't think I've ever done anything to draw attention to myself in that fashion.

And how is showing his Harvard ID a sign of Gates being an ass? They asked for identification. Furthermore, if the house was truly owned by Harvard, then it seems natural that he would also show his Harvard ID.

They clearly didn't need his school ID to figure out that he was the proper resident of the home. Drivers licenses in just about every state have the home address printed on them. That was more than enough.

That comment alone indicates that you just believe Gates was being an ass regardless, and that you aren't willing to look at the situation in a different light.

I don't see what sort of different light there could be. He was belligerent towards a police officer. His race probably had no bearing on the fact that he was arrested... but you can go ahead and assume otherwise if you like.

[deepimpact2]

Originally Posted by Kevin

I've never really had a run in with the cops, but I lead a pretty boring life. I don't think I've ever done anything to draw attention to myself in that fashion.



They clearly didn't need his school ID to figure out that he was the proper resident of the home. Drivers licenses in just about every state have the home address printed on them. That was more than enough.



I don't see what sort of different light there could be. He was belligerent towards a police officer. His race probably had no bearing on the fact that he was arrested... but you can go ahead and assume otherwise if you like.

1. if the house is owned by harvard, then yes, he would need to show that as well.

2. Apparently it wasn't enough because the cops continued to haggle him about it.

And yes, a different light would be thinking that maybe, just maybe, this isn't such a simple case of being belligerent towards a police officer.

[DrPhil]

Originally Posted by deepimpact2

And yes, a different light would be thinking that maybe, just maybe, this isn't such a simple case of being belligerent towards a police officer.

...nor a simple case of racial profiling and racism towards a Black male Harvard professor.