Harvard Scholar Arrested for Being Black

[Kelly the Dog]

Just because you think it is dumb Dog doesn't make it incorrect. You don't just take a persons word at face value if you are a police officer responding to a possible B/E at the residence. When the possible suspect refuses to cooperate it doesn't help matters out. Come on Dog, you have to realize that.

You're not thinking of what was going on. It's dumb because it's impossible to believe that a well dressed thief breaks into a house in the middle of the afternoon, is robbing things, starts to make a phone call, hears a knock on the door, looks outside and sees a uniformed cop on the porch and then opens the door for him.

 

That's impossible. And that's why Crowley knew instantly that Gates didn't break into the house.

[Kelly the Dog]

Got it. So it still comes down to an "anti-racist" looking to play the race card any and every single time some white guy says something he doesn't like. Gates (and his attitude of whitey is out to get me) is the real problem here.

 

It's part of the problem, sure. The other half of the problem was it turned into whitey out to get him, and who got him.

[Magox]

You're not thinking of what was going on. It's dumb because it's impossible to believe that a well dressed thief breaks into a house in the middle of the afternoon, is robbing things, starts to make a phone call, hears a knock on the door, looks outside and sees a uniformed cop on the porch and then opens the door for him.

 

That's impossible. And that's why Crowley knew instantly that Gates didn't break into the house.

Well we disagree then on standard police procedure. You just don't take a man's word at face value, period!

[Simon]

So what you're saying is that you want an authoritarian police force which hauls in anyone that they perceive is addressing them with even the slightest disrespect or exasperation to their intonation? Hilarious. I'm surprised guys like you spend so much time railing on socialism and communism since you always go out of your way to excuse police brutality, want to give the government the right to torture, don't believe we should live up to our treaties, and condone invading sovereign nations that have never attacked us. It sounds to me like the U.S.S.R would be your wet dream!

 

If you infuse a sheep with self-importance and hypocrisy, you get a modern conservative.

[Kelly the Dog]

Well we disagree then on standard police procedure. You just don't take a man's word at face value, period!

Fine. So there is very good reason to believe Gates wasnt the thief because he answered the front door on the phone. So the cop should ask for ID. He didn't. He asked him to step outside.

 

Another thing that hasn't been mentioned much is, regardless of what you think of Gates, something had to piss him off. He may be a racist himself but it seems that everyone that knows him says he's a mild mannered guy. He's highly respected. He is not going to go crazy just because there is a white cop on his porch. Something the cop did set him off. It may not be warranted whatsoever. It may be completely stupid, but again, it's impossible to believe it was for no reason whatsoever. Just asking him for ID? I don't think so.

[X. Benedict]

Just because you think it is dumb Dog doesn't make it incorrect. You don't just take a persons word at face value if you are a police officer responding to a possible B/E at the residence. When the possible suspect refuses to cooperate it doesn't help matters out. Come on Dog, you have to realize that.

 

The key word there being "suspect"

 

I guess if the police had reason to believe a suspect was inside the home they have reason to enter.

The policeman's right to be in the house ends when the suspect identifies himself as the lawful resident of the home.

Is a staircase onto a porch surrounded by hedges part of the public's space.

 

You are all a bunch of 4th amendment wimps.

 

And 5th.

[Magox]

Fine. So there is very good reason to believe Gates wasnt the thief because he answered the front door on the phone. So the cop should ask for ID. He didn't. He asked him to step outside.

 

Another thing that hasn't been mentioned much is, regardless of what you think of Gates, something had to piss him off. He may be a racist himself but it seems that everyone that knows him says he's a mild mannered guy. He's highly respected. He is not going to go crazy just because there is a white cop on his porch. Something the cop did set him off. It may not be warranted whatsoever. It may be completely stupid, but again, it's impossible to believe it was for no reason whatsoever. Just asking him for ID? I don't think so.

Hold on a second, how dare you enter the mind of Gates? you are not a black man, you wouldn't understand, according to Sage against the machine's logic.

[Kelly the Dog]

Hold on a second, how dare you enter the mind of Gates? you are not a black man, you wouldn't understand, according to Sage against the machine's logic.

 

It's called empathy.

[IDBillzFan]

Gates thinks it was a racial thing, and others don't see it at all as a racial thing. That alone, to me, explains why there is still a huge racial problem in the country.

Exactly. This is a perfect example of someone yelling "racism" for the headlines, when this really has nothing to do with racism. It's like Jeneane Garafolo telling Olbermann that the tea parties were "straight up" racism. What that does is water down the real racial problems out there, like Barbara Boxer thinking the way to deflect cap-n-trade criticism from the President of the national black chamber of commerce is to roll out conficting opinions from the NAACP. THAT, to me, is "straight up" racism. And it gets lost on people because after a while, crying "racism" is a lot like crying "wolf."

 

I still believe, though, that one day our country will see people not as a color, but as Americans. And who knows, maybe we'll even elect a black person to the White House one day.

[SageAgainstTheMachine]

Hold on a second, how dare you enter the mind of Gates? you are not a black man, you wouldn't understand, according to Sage against the machine's logic.

 

That's right, you don't understand, and neither does Kelly and neither do I. You may understand what happened, but you don't understand Gates' motivation and you shouldn't judge a man for something you don't understand, unless that man actually does something wrong.

[YellowLinesandArmadillos]

Just because you think it is dumb Dog doesn't make it incorrect. You don't just take a persons word at face value if you are a police officer responding to a possible B/E at the residence. When the possible suspect refuses to cooperate it doesn't help matters out. Come on Dog, you have to realize that.

Understood, but as a someone who is suspicious of police because of their reputation, you don't just take their word at face value either and the police need to understand that as well.... especially with the professor being a black man of some affluence and standing.

 

Always amazes me how arrogance and distrust on both sides can result in such a mess and you wonder why the middle east is so intractable.

[Dwight Drane]

GG, Kelly, and LA have it.

 

This is not a Black vs. White issue.

 

This is Litigious, Cantankerous, Tree-hugging, elitist pansies vs. Common sense and respect

 

Wrong time for the professor to go into character. If you have a problem with authority, acting like an ass when the cop is actually trying to protect your property is not the best time to rant.

[YellowLinesandArmadillos]

GG, Kelly, and LA have it.

 

This is not a Black vs. White issue.

 

This is Litigious, Cantankerous, Tree-hugging, elitist pansies vs. Common sense and respect

 

Wrong time for the professor to go into character. If you have a problem with authority, acting like an ass when the cop is actually trying to protect your property is not the best time to rant.

True, but if the officer isn't listening to you than protesting verbally as long as swearing is not involved is not on one's own property, against the law either. So the professor should not have been arrested. Admit it, the both the professor, despite my empathy for his motivation, and the officer acted stupidly and make no mistake about it, what this boiled down to was about pure power.... which is why we fought the British and declared Independence.

 

Common Sense and respect goes both ways... and just because one is not respectful doesn't mean the other shouldn't be.

[murra]

True, but if the officer isn't listening to you than protesting verbally as long as swearing is not involved is not on one's own property, against the law either. So the professor should not have been arrested. Admit it, the both the professor, despite my empathy for his motivation, and the officer acted stupidly and make no mistake about it, what this boiled down to was about pure power.... which is why we fought the British and declared Independence.

 

Common Sense and respect goes both ways... and just because one is not respectful doesn't mean the other shouldn't be.

 

How is this at all related to us fighting the british to declare independence? They don't have any power? They have the presidency for christ's sake.

 

We should overlook the white v black thing entirely, and stop allowing black people to use it as an excuse, it's getting sad and pathetic.

[Magox]

True, but if the officer isn't listening to you than protesting verbally as long as swearing is not involved is not on one's own property, against the law either. So the professor should not have been arrested. Admit it, the both the professor, despite my empathy for his motivation, and the officer acted stupidly and make no mistake about it, what this boiled down to was about pure power.... which is why we fought the British and declared Independence.

I don't disagree with part of what you say, it is the stupid race card accusation that is bothersome. This guy Crawley, according to what I have read is a well respected cop, has led an examplary career and was even appointed by a former black police chief to give (are you ready?) racial profiling classes to other police officers.

 

Gates's actions was a non progressive one, it is divisive and all it has done is incite bad feelings, which is very sad in itself, but now Crawley will forever be seen by a few mindless llamas, (and I'm not calling you or some other posters here that I have argued with on this matter) as a racist. The damage has all ready been done, no matter what the real truth is.

[Dwight Drane]

True, but if the officer isn't listening to you than protesting verbally as long as swearing is not involved is not on one's own property, against the law either. So the professor should not have been arrested. Admit it, the both the professor, despite my empathy for his motivation, and the officer acted stupidly and make no mistake about it, what this boiled down to was about pure power.... which is why we fought the British and declared Independence.

 

Common Sense and respect goes both ways... and just because one is not respectful doesn't mean the other shouldn't be.

 

The cop didn't have to arrest him, but there were a few factors that added up to him pulling the trigger. By stating 'Do you know who I am?...you don't know who you're messing with!", the professor loses all credibility in claiming bias. He himself tried to establish his own person to be of more importance than "an average citizen". That is also a passive threat to the cop, hinting that the cop is going to see some retribution for the confrontation.

 

Also, the cop was leaving and all was fine....until Gates belittled the officer in front of multiple officers from multiple jurisdictions, as well as the now gathering public. How do you save face when you are a supposed community figure and you take it up the rear from someone in front of so many people? If nobody was there he probably keeps walking and mutters "jerkoff" to himself. He was challanged multiple times by Gates and it was one too many times. Have you ever seen a baseball manager get thrown from the game even after the arguement as he was in the dugout? Same idea. Use the original heat of the moment to debate/complain.....but once peace is established, do not flame up the situation once again. That is what got Gates arrested.

[ExiledInIllinois]

I am not totally faulting the officer (he just made a bad judgement call) and actually the homeowner got the whole pissing contest started. IMO, the officer should have just left instead of pulling out the trump card: disorderly conduct. There is a reason to arrest people for disorderly conduct, yet it is sometimes a BS charge that within a given situation can be easily diffused or handled differently.

 

Basically a power trip from the homeowner that was worsened by the officer's own power trip.

 

Respect is earned... And cops today are having a hard time earning it from anybody. The profession would have been served a lot better IN THIS SITUATION than forcing that respect down one's throat with a disorderly conduct arrest. Again, I am not saying disorderly conduct is not legit tool for an officer to pull... Just not in this case.

[YellowLinesandArmadillos]

How is this at all related to us fighting the british to declare independence? They don't have any power? They have the presidency for christ's sake.

 

We should overlook the white v black thing entirely, and stop allowing black people to use it as an excuse, it's getting sad and pathetic.

Because Independence was about respect and power and what one could do on one's own property by a controlling authority and on a micro scale so is this. The professor appears to have acted badly and I have run in the African American's just looking for a fight... that happens. I may not be the reason for their resentment, but I am in front of them at the time. It is still my responsibility to act respectfully because that is my side of the street.

 

Once I stoop to the level of comparing sizes of our anatomy, all is lost and nothing good can come from it. The police are there to serve and protect. That is their job and that is what we pay them to do. There are two parts to their job and if they forget the first part they should resign their appointment.

[ExiledInIllinois]

Also, the cop was leaving and all was fine....until Gates belittled the officer in front of multiple officers from multiple jurisdictions, as well as the now gathering public. How do you save face when you are a supposed community figure and you take it up the rear from someone in front of so many people? If nobody was there he probably keeps walking and mutters "jerkoff" to himself. He was challanged multiple times by Gates and it was one too many times. Have you ever seen a baseball manager get thrown from the game even after the arguement as he was in the dugout? Same idea. Use the original heat of the moment to debate/complain.....but once peace is established, do not flame up the situation once again. That is what got Gates arrested.

 

I can't agree more and this makes the officer inadequate.

 

And there in lies your problem.

 

His job is to serve... Even in the face of what he had to deal with... Not puff up for his peers. He is not serving his peers, they are not his "customer."

[ExiledInIllinois]

Because Independence was about respect and power and what one could do on one's own property by a controlling authority and on a micro scale so is this. The professor appears to have acted badly and I have run in the African American's just looking for a fight... that happens. I may not be the reason for their resentment, but I am in front of them at the time. It is still my responsibility to act respectfully because that is my side of the street.

 

Once I stoop to the level of comparing sizes of our anatomy, all is lost and nothing good can come from it. The police are there to serve and protect. That is their job and that is what we pay them to do. There are two parts to their job and if they forget the first part they should resign their appointment.

 

Bingo!