Agreed, although I think that the officer, once having determined that the professor did indeed live there (when the prof showed his license and Harvard ID), should have moved on. At that point his investigation of a possible break-in was resolved.
Black Harvard professor arrested at his own house
- Thread starter Galactus
- Start date
So really the way this should have gone down is the cop asking Gates why it appeared he was breaking in to a house, Gates telling the cop that he lives there and showing his identification and then everyone going on their merry way.
Too bad that didn't happen, sounds like one or both of them decided to be an idiot. My money's on Gates, after reading his report of things he comes off like an asshole.
Too bad that didn't happen, sounds like one or both of them decided to be an idiot. My money's on Gates, after reading his report of things he comes off like an asshole.
Yes. And that is why, as I said before, I think the police department owes Dr. Gates an apology--preferably, an apology as public as his arrest.
TheLonelySquire
Vice Admiral
Perhaps the professor should apologize publicly as well for his behavior. I did enjoy the comment his friend made however. (Wrote Lawrence Bobo, Gates' Harvard colleague, who picked his friend up from jail: "Ain't nothing post-racial about the United States of America.") No axe to grind there!
It is foolish to think that there is no ongoing racial problem in the United States. The colleague's quote and your comment demonstrates that quite clearly.
I think that would be the gracious thing to do, yes.
But as a recent movie put it, an apology from Dr. Gates would be "morally praiseworthy but not morally obligatory."
Which is my point. Wasn't there just a thread in here about people who deal with the public acting with respect for the job that they do. It seems like some people expect better behavior from a cashier at Wal-Mart or Kroger than they do from their local police officer.
Doesn't matter if Gates was being a stuck up idiot like many professors of Ivy league schools and Harvard (and I have dealt with many of them personally). The facts are that once he proved who he was the officers should have just left, definitely not arrest him.
If you are ok with the police coming to your house for whatever reason and then taking you to jail simple because of you verbally abusing them, and have committed no crime at all, then we really are in a sad place as a society.
TheLonelySquire
Vice Admiral
There most definitely are problems between the races. No doubt. Just ask the New Haven firefighters.
So what exactly did you mean by "No axe to grind there!"?
Am I the only one who'd be dead grateful to the police for doing their job if they turned out cos a neighbour saw someone breaking into my house? Round here, if a neighbour phoned in the police would give you a call log number for insurance and put you down as a statistic.
If the police actually bothered to come out to check on a perceived break-in, I'd thank them kindly, after explaining the house was my own. Then I'd take a box of chox to the observant neighbour and thank them for taking the time to get involved. I'd feel a whole lot better about going away next time knowing I had such good neighbours.
If the police actually bothered to come out to check on a perceived break-in, I'd thank them kindly, after explaining the house was my own. Then I'd take a box of chox to the observant neighbour and thank them for taking the time to get involved. I'd feel a whole lot better about going away next time knowing I had such good neighbours.
Nice way to extract the facts there. There was an obvious sign of a breaking and entering, so police were called. They didn't see a black man walking into his house and arrest him. They saw a man breaking into a house and there was a confrontation based on miscommunication.
Try not to make every situation the police come to a black man's house a racist reason next time.
I'm with you there. I would have also probably asked the cop's opinion on the front door lock. Nothing appeals more to a person in authority than giving an opinion on something.
Don't get me wrong - the arrest should never have been made. However, this appears to have been a situation that escalated unnecessarily.
Exactly. It can be any number of things. The cop might have been right and the professor was being unreasonable. Or maybe the cop was unreasonable. He might have made a bad judgment call, or just been a total dick. It's not like all cops are nice, outgoing friendly people. Some are just mean and it doesn't matter your or their skin color.
I try not to judge things on the surface (hint hint) but I do find some cops can sometimes let their authority go to their heads and it has absolutely nothing to do with ethnicity of any of the people involved. At this point it does sound like a geniunely bad call. Who escalated it is the issue, not assuming because the man is black he was arrested.
What if the arresting officer were black? Would we still be having this discussion?
The AP story isn't enough to go by. What precipiated the arrival of the police at all? They don't just magically appear. Were they responding to an alarm system monitor call? A unfamiliar neighbor seeing what appeared to be suspicious activity (The man did apparently break into his own house.)?
It could happen to anyone if the homeowner goes indignant and dons an ass hat instead of remaining calm and producing ID with the same address as the home he's standing in.
It could happen to anyone if the homeowner goes indignant and dons an ass hat instead of remaining calm and producing ID with the same address as the home he's standing in.
That's probably the most correct synopsis. Well done!
Nice way to extract the facts there. There was an obvious sign of a breaking and entering, so police were called. They didn't see a black man walking into his house and arrest him. They saw a man breaking into a house and there was a confrontation based on miscommunication.
Try not to make every situation the police come to a black man's house a racist reason next time.
The issue is not them coming to the house. The issue is that they arrested him. Does anyone here think for a second that if Gates was a white man he would have been arrested and taken to jail. When the police got there he was on the phone and had disable the alarm. He raised a fuss, then showed the officer his id to prove his identity. Those are the facts and should have been the end of the incident. Doesn't matter what Gates said after that the cops should have left. Case closed.
Everytime something like this happens I see nothing but excuses pop up to say well it could have some other reason besides race, yet acknowledging that racism is live and well. You can't have it both ways.
TheLonelySquire
Vice Admiral
Nice way to extract the facts there. There was an obvious sign of a breaking and entering, so police were called. They didn't see a black man walking into his house and arrest him. They saw a man breaking into a house and there was a confrontation based on miscommunication.
Try not to make every situation the police come to a black man's house a racist reason next time.
The issue is not them coming to the house. The issue is that they arrested him. Does anyone here think for a second that if Gates was a white man he would have been arrested and taken to jail. When the police got there he was on the phone and had disable the alarm. He raised a fuss, then showed the officer his id to prove his identity. Those are the facts and should have been the end of the incident. Doesn't matter what Gates said after that the cops should have left. Case closed.
Everytime something like this happens I see nothing but excuses pop up to say well it could have some other reason besides race, yet acknowledging that racism is live and well. You can't have it both ways.
Yeah, black man is arrested. It MUST be racial!
