Professor Henry Louis Gates and the Police: An Opportunity for Guilford County Schools

A story appeared in the News and Record this morning that gave an account of a spat between Professor Henry Louis Gates of Harvard and local police.  The N&R wire story described Gates as the nation's "preeminent black scholar", or something like that.  He was reported to have been aggrieved because police had allegedly engaged in racial profiling against him.

Gates had been attempting to break into his own house, and apparently a neighbor called police.  In addition, an alarm apparently sounded.

A few thoughts come to mind:

1. I do not know upon what basis the news media designates Gates as the nation's preeminent black scholar.  It would seem to me that there are probably many black scholars across our vast nation, in various fields.  Was there some type of systematic, objective ranking that placed Gates at the top of this particular group?

2. The police were attempting to protect Gates' property.  Gates should have been grateful that the police responded and were trying to protect his property.  Instead, he is reported to have behaved in a disorderly way and protested.

3. The police could easily have been criticized if they had not responded to the call sufficiently.

4. With the nature of our local scene here in Greensboro, a comparable incident could easily have occurred here.

5. Gates' reported reaction was precisely the wrong way to respond to police.  When citizens interact with police as they are trying to do their job, it is very important to be cooperative, deferential and respectful.  The police represent civil authority, and bucking against them makes little sense.  A college professor and "scholar" who is advancing in years, of all people, should know that.

6. This episode reminds us of the need to teach young people; and represents an opportunity to derive a public schools curriculum locally that includes instruction on proper behavior and attitude toward police.  It is an important civic lesson that people should be respectful and cooperative when interacting with the police as they attempt to do their jobs; and that the police are trying to help citizens.  If those lessons are not imparted in the home, it is important they be shared in the schools at various stages of kids' education.  Guilford County Schools would do well to adopt such a curriculum if it does not already have one in place.  It would not require a lot of time; but is nonetheless justified because it is obvious that disordered relations with and attitudes toward police can be a huge problem.

Comments

[brandonB]

1. The article states Gates refused to show ID. From what I understand, every adult citizen is required to carry ID at all times and has an obligation to present that to any officer at any time.

2.The article state that the officer refused to reveal his name and badge number. I don't know how they do things up north, but here in Greensboro, all uniformed patrol officers display their name tags and badges with numbers included, on their shirt. Maybe the officer was wearing a jacket?

3.If he was disturbing the peace by confronting the officers the way he did, then why does he expect not to be arrested for that? Because he is black?

4.He was shocked that he was being questioned? After what the neighbor observed and reported?

5.Another Harvard prof says he believes Gates wouldn't have been arrested if he were white? I'm white, and I was arrested years ago for talking trash to a black officer(AJ Blake)who was cuffing a friend without announcing the charges. Maybe I have a case?

I guess we are to assume that no black officers were present and that a black officer would not have arrested the man for breaking the law by disturbing the peace. Right? I guess we are to assume that a black officer would not bother with investigating a reported prowler. Right?

[jaycee]

Gates apparently has no idea what "racial profiling" means. Perhaps, with his exalted educator background, he can do some research.
*Hint* It has nothing to do with being the focus of a citizen's complaint when you're observed engaging in suspicious activity.

[Roch101]

"From what I understand, every adult citizen is required to carry ID at all times..."

Sigh.

[Joe Guarino]

Jaycee, the folks at the Manhattan Institute have demonstrated fairly well that racial profiling is a myth.

Roch and Brandon, while carrying an ID is not mandatory, Gates did ultimately produce one, after some initial resistance according to the account to which I linked. And Brandon, you otherwise make some good points. I have to wonder about the circumstances of the officers' alleged refusal to identify themselves, and what the scene may have been like at that point.

[Fred Gregory]

UPDATE: Charges dropped

http://www.boston.com/news/local/breaking_news/2009/07/charges_to_be_d.html

[Joe Guarino]

Interesting, Fred. In some cases, wild accusations of racism, magnified by the media, are effective. But perhaps everyone decided the charges were not worth pursuing.

[Beau D. Jackson]

"""I do not know upon what basis the news media designates Gates as the nation's preeminent black scholar. It would seem to me that there are probably many black scholars across our vast nation, in various fields. Was there some type of systematic, objective ranking that placed Gates at the top of this particular group?"""

Some Black folks carry thier "race card" with them every where they go because they know that most people, white or black, don't want a scene, and they have the likes of Sharpton, Jackson, and the NAACP to back them up no matter how frevilous. Beau

[brandonB]

..sigh..

If you are an adult and can not produce ID on demand, you can be taken to jail until your ID is verified. This is of course, up to the officer. I spent one hour chained to a bench until my ID was brought downtown for this very reason.

[Roch101]

"If you are an adult and can not produce ID on demand, you can be taken to jail until your ID is verified."

Some states have laws that require you to identify yourself to a law enforcement officer if he has reasonable suspicion that you are involved in some criminal activity. That is significantly different from your notion that adults must be able to "produce an ID on demand." You seem to have The United States of America confused with Nazi Germany.

[brandonB]

There is no info I posted that is false. Yes some states have laws.... In other words, if you can not prove who you are to a cop when they demand ID, you can be detained until your ID is determined. I have been involved in a situation where I was detained downtown until my ID was brought down there. On the other hand, I have been in a situation where the officer drove me home and let me go inside to grab my ID to show him. It's up to the cop. BTW, Blake is the one who locked me up for no ID, and it was a white cop(Nix) who allowed me to retrieve me ID from inside the house. Blake must be a racist.

[Thomas]

"...represents an opportunity to derive a public schools curriculum..."

These comments indicate another area schools could address.

[Fred Gregory]

Common sense from, of all places, the Washington Post

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/07/21/AR2009072102782.html

[Stormy]

Well, Obama has waded into this controversy now. In his presser last night, he made a point of planting a question about this matter, so that he could rant about it.

In spite of saying twice that he did not know all the facts, he proceeded to accuse the Cambridge Police Department of acting stupidly. So, what does he base his judgment on then? Obama purposely involved the presidency in what was a local matter.

Can there be any doubt now that he did sit in Rev. Wright's Church for 20 years and listen to those racist "sermons" or more accurately rants? Barack Obama showed last night that he is clearly not post-racial, and coupled with his speech at NAACP, that he is not a unifier, but a racial divider.

[Roch101]

"There is no info I posted that is false." -- brandonB

This is false:

"every adult citizen is required to carry ID at all times and has an obligation to present that to any officer at any time." -- brandonB

[brandonB]

Explain to me Roch, if "some states require you id yourself", how do you accomplish that without your state issued id? Maybe a blockbuster card? Atm card? What forms of ID are the police required to accept as proof?

[Joe Guarino]

Stormy, you are absolutely right about Obama's comments. He is way off base. And he is proving nearly every day all that we had feared about him.

[Roch101]

brandon, is every adult citizen required to carry an ID at all time and obligated to present it to any officer at any time?

No. No state requires one to carry an ID at all times, as you erroneously said. No state requires one to present an ID to any officer at any time, as you erroneously said. In some states, one may be required to identify oneself to an officer who has reasonable suspicion that one is involved in criminal activity, such identification may be accomplished through a variety of means.

A simple, "I didn't know that" will suffice instead of the tiresome defense of ignorance.

[jaycee]

Well, it's official...Obama has decreed that white police are "stupid."
And today the White House said that you didn't really hear what we all know we heard!
So who ya gonna believe...the White House or your lyin' ears??

[Joe Guarino]

Jaycee, the Cambridge policeman is sticking to his guns and defending himself. He probably knows he is at risk right now because of all the racial politics that surround the incident, and because of the way Gates and Obama are grandstanding. I hope he survives this thing. I still have not seen one piece of credible evidence that suggests he did anything wrong.

[brandonB]

"In some states, one may be required to identify oneself to an officer who has reasonable suspicion..."

And if you dont, you CAN be taken to jail. The whole point is that Gates is obligated to verify his ID to the officers who were investigating a break in at his property.

[Bubba]

And now we know that the police officer involved is an expert on understanding racial profiling.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090723/ap_on_re_us/us_harvard_scholar_disorderly

This whole situation is an obnoxious use of the "raaaaaaacism!" card to excuse bad behavior on the part of an elite African American academic.

That sort of standard operating procedure is getting VERY tiresome.

You will notice that the Thug-in-Chief has backed off his contribution to the nonsense on this issue, too.

[Bubba]

Here's more on Gates' rapidly dissolving rationalization:

"MEANWHILE PROFESSOR GATES KEEPS DIGGING: Law enforcement sources have told ABC News that the conversation between Gates and the police officer was transmitted over Crowley's open police radio and that Gates can be heard yelling. As I said yesterday, yelling at police officers who are trying to do their job is a low percentage move, and it's likely that the more Gates presses this matter, the worse he will look."

And what does Gates say?

"Gates, though, refuses to let the matter rest. In a phone interview from Martha's Vineyard, he stated: 'I believe the police officer should apologize to me for what he knows he did that was wrong,'

Gates added that if the officer 'admits his error,' then 'I am willing to forgive him' and 'to educate him about the history of racism in America and the issue of racial profiling; that's what I do for a living.'

How magnanimous of the creep!

I dare say Crowley knows more than the "academic" jerk does about the subject.

[Joe Guarino]

Bubba, the police report also has been posted online for all to see, and it certainly implicates Gates' behavior. But the news that the police officer involved is a "profiling expert" is quite a revelation; as is the news of the radio transmission.

It is pretty amazing to me that some folks are trying to make the case that the police officer did wrong; and implicitly, that Gates' reaction was somehow justified.

[Fred Gregory]

The death of Reggie Lewis

" A Brandeis University police officer, James M. Crowley, desperately tried to save his life after Boston Celtics star Reggie Lewis collapsed. Crowley was a certified emergency medical technician when he performed cardiopulmonary resuscitation ( mouth to mouth ) on Lewis, to no avail, after the player’s heart stopped on July 27, 1993. He was only 27 years old. Lewis had shown symptoms of heart problems in the preceding months(including collapsing during the opening game of their first-round playoff series with the Charlotte Hornets), and the cause of his death was subsequently attributed to hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, a structural heart defect that is considered the most common cause of death in young athletes."

Yeah, sure, showing signs of racism even back then. Give me a break !! !

Bubba Gates and his friend BHO are both jerks.

[Bubba]

More:

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/us_harvard_scholar_arresting_officer

"For five of the past six years, Crowley also has volunteered alongside a black colleague in teaching 60 cadets per year about how to avoid targeting suspects merely because of their race, and how to respond to an array of scenarios they might encounter on the beat. Thomas Fleming, director of the Lowell Police Academy, said Crowley was asked by former police Lowell Commissioner Ronny Watson, who is black, to be an instructor.

'I have nothing but the highest respect for him as a police officer. He is very professional and he is a good role model for the young recruits in the police academy,' Fleming said."

But that didn't stop another knee-jerk gang member from yelling "raaaaaaaaaacism!":

"But Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick, once the top civil rights official in the Clinton administration and now, like Obama, the first black to hold his job, labeled the arrest 'every black man's nightmare.'

The governor told reporters: 'You ought to be able to raise your voice in your own house without risk of arrest.' "

Why are these so-called "leaders" such arrogant asses?

[Fred Gregory]

Bubba,

I forgot to mention that Reggie Lewis was a black man.

[Joe Guarino]

It appears, gentlemen, that we have a situation akin to the unfolding of the GPD fiasco, compressed into a time frame of two or three days.

[brandonB]

Dead on Joe. Also, though I haven't heard the recording of the radio transmission, I'm not suprised that a recording popped up, if not a video. In this day and age, people ought to know by now that when someone is causing a scene anywhere, there is a good chance of it being recorded.

[cheripicker]

Roch, for God's sake! Why don't you start coming out and just offering your opinion in these discussions straight out instead of lying in the grass waiting like a snake for someone to make the slightest little error, relavent to the discussion or not, making your passive-aggressive nitpicky corrections, and then slithering back off into the tall grass again. You're such a pissant.

[Bubba]

Cheri, we all do our part to humor Roch and his personality disorder.

Conventional therapy doesn't work for him.

[Stormy]

cheripicker,

Roch must wait for the opportunity to utilize his Alinsky Rules for Radicals. If he engages in honest dialogue, he can't nail someone for an insignificant "error". He must lie in wait to launch an attack to enable his cause. Would that be something like Skippy Gates would do?

[brandonB]

I made no error and my comments are relevant. If you start raising hell with a cop who is trying to ID you, then you deserve what you get. Roch is right, you do not have to carry ID, in some states. But, I can't think of any other way to ID myself, as required by law, to a curious officer without an ID. Of course, I could use my student ID, a passport, maybe alibrary card, but who carries all of that and not there ID? Either way, it's a clever way to highjack the thread and draw attention away from the fact that Gates had no right to be angry, and he should've been thankful that the police took the time to verify that he was who he says he was. He is entitled to no special treatment just because he is our great nation's preeminent black scholar.(of ethnic studies, of course).

[cheripickr]

If I may correct myself Brandon, "perceived" error would have better expressed my point. As far as relevance is concerned I was referring more to his attack style than than the relevance of your own statements.

[Bubba]

and now, the Thug-in-Chief calls the arrest "unneccessary".

Translation: Blacks should not be held accountable for unruly behavior in all interactions with authorities.

[jaycee]

The aggressor in this case was Gates, not the police officer.
Gates chose to escalate the situation and turn a routine encounter into a confrontation.
Gates could have handled himself in the same level-headed manner as the police, but instead he chose to force this event straight down the path to an ugly end--black rage against white authority.
Now, he's playing the black race card and trying to "victimize" himself in the same time-honored tradition of Jesse Jackson, Al Sharpton, Marion Barry, and Obama.
If Gates is looking for someone to blame he only has to look in the mirror.
It would be in Gates' best interests to do now what he should have done then---keep his f'in mouth shut.
On the plus side, though, this event has unmasked Obama as the true racist he is. In an unscripted moment the other night (which horrified his handlers, I'm sure) Obama stepped away from the TOTUS and expressed his true feelings of hate, anger, and racial bias against white people and police.
I'm betting somebody bitch-slapped Obama backstage right after that moment in history.

[Joe Guarino]

In some respects, the most fascinating aspect of this whole incident is the manner in which Obama became unmasked. He showed the whole country who he really is; and all the artifice melted away.

Now what are we supposed to think about this magnificent president who, we are told, transcends race?

[brandonB]

I still find it hard to believe that, even if he is sympathetic towards Gates and his cause, that Obama would be so ignorant as to say something like that. The same goes for the Cambridge mayor who called to apologize to Gates.

[Dr. Mary Johnson]

There's a good discussion thread on this story over at the Raleigh N&O. I put in my two cents there.

[Joe Guarino]

Isn't it just a bit ironic that the victim card is still being played even though a black man has been elected president of the United States-- and the president himself is one of those playing the card!

[Stormy]

Joe,

We should all be appreciative that Obama showed himself for who he really is, a cheap racist Chicago thug politician. Many of knew that for a long time, but now he has revealed himself. He has stepped out from behind the curtain. Now, the question is will that big group that calls themselves "independents" realize that they were duped in November? Obama is NOT what they were getting. The Far Left does not care. because he is what they wanted. The Right knows it was right.

[Stormy]

The worst part of this incident for Obama is that it is a non-forced turnover on his own 1-foot line. He shot himself in the foot unnecessarily, and he will not admit that he spoke hastily. His ego will not allow him to apologize or even say he spoke in haste. It will be left to Bobbie Gibbs to sputter and try to justify. This could be Obama's real Waterloo.

[brandonB]

I find the part about "this is what happens to blacks in America" especially amusing. The nations preeminent black scholar, in a country with a black president, in a town with a black mayor, is essentially comparing his situation, police asking his ID during an investigation, a fairly routine procedure, with the situation black people faced after reconstruction. It's really disgusting.

[cheripickr]

I love this guy: Unpretentious, no agenda or allegiance, questions everything, plain-but-well-spoken, uses his own brain to come to a conclusion, doesn't care which way the cards fall. That's the path to wisdom (and truths if there are any). I think I can retire now. (Now what was it I used to do?)

[brandonB]

Thanks, I try. It's nice to have so many others to bounce ideas off of.

[Bubba]

"Isn't it just a bit ironic that the victim card is still being played even though a black man has been elected president of the United States-- and the president himself is one of those playing the card!"

Actually, it's to be expected.

Some people have obviously assumed Obama's election has given them tacit approval, authority, and entitlement to tell lies about imagined incidents of racism.

[Stormy]

Is this guy just dense? So, he invites Crowley over for a beer; how does he know Crowley even drinks? I know, he is Irish, so he drinks..a lot What would he offer Gates? He seems to think that he can comment at will on any matter and make it all better.

From Jake Tapper:

President Obama said he hopes this can be a “teachable moment” – where “instead of pumping up the volume” American can focus on how to improve relations between police officers and minority communities.

“Whether I were black or white, I think that me commenting on this and hopefully contributing to constructive, as opposed to negative, understandings about the issue is part of my portfolio.”

Obama said at the end of his conversation with Crowley there was a discussion about Crowley and Professor Gates coming to the White House to have a beer together.

President Obama has not spoken to Gates yet and there is no time yet scheduled for their beer get together, although White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs indicated that the meeting would likely happen.

[Joe Guarino]

I really hope Crowley does not participate in that. But it is an obvious attempt by Obama to contain the damage associated with what he said.

[Bubba]

"I really hope Crowley does not participate in that. But it is an obvious attempt by Obama to contain the damage associated with what he said."

There was press flunky Gibbs suggested the idea of getting together for a beer came from Sgt. Crowley.
we shall see.

Meanwhile, police organizations are solidly supporting Crowley and the Cambridge Police in no uncertain terms.

http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0709/25381.html

I caught the audio of the noon news conference on XM's Fox feed. Five spokespeople from various police groups got up one after another and made it clear they were NOT going to let the nonsense go unchallenged.

This is a huge political and social blunder by the Race Card Carrier crowd, and it's most famous member, the Thug-in-Chief of the United States.

[Bubba]

I don't listen to Limbaugh much these days, but I understand Rush used the term "President Nifong" in reference to the our chief national thug today.

How appropriate!

[jaycee]

Indeed, Bubba.
Sgt. Crowley has been "Nifonged" by the POTUS.