Machismo and the Gates incident

[Forkboy]

THE ARREST of Henry Louis Gates Jr. by a Cambridge police officer is playing out along racial lines. But it’s also about power and machismo - on both sides.

Gates, a noted Harvard scholar who is African-American, was busted for a bad attitude. That isn’t grounds for a mug shot. But, black or white, sometimes it leads to one.

Earlier this year, a Wellesley businesswoman was arrested after a run-in with a state trooper at Logan International Airport. The trooper asked Margaret Greer, a 57-year-old portfolio manager, to move her Mercedes because it was obstructing a bus lane. She refused and sped off, hitting him with her car’s side mirror. Greer was charged with assault and battery with a dangerous weapon. She ultimately apologized and agreed to perform 200 hours of community service to resolve the charges.

Then there was the case of Randi Goldklank, the now ex-general manager of Channel 7, who went on an alcohol-and-prescription-drug-fueled tirade at Logan. As she was taken into custody, threatened to call a news crew and put the arresting trooper on TV and “ruin his life.’’ She, too, apologized.

In the Gates incident, there was no physical contact, drugs, or alcohol. All Gates did was allegedly shout at a police officer.

http://www.boston.com/bostonglobe/editorial_opinion/oped/articles/2009/07/23/machismo_and_the_gates_incident/

[LooseWilly]

1. The problem I have with police machismo is that they carry guns.

If they can't handle their machismo instincts, they shouldn't be carrying guns... or they should only be on SWAT teams that don't interact with the public except in scenarios that have reached a tense enough status that machismo is no longer really an issue.

And from another interview I saw with Gates, it sounds like his side of the "machismo" scenario envisioned in this article was spurred on by nervousness and fear in the face of police coming to his home and asking him to step outside... and for a black man who has studied race in the US extensively and is in his 50s... that seems like a perfectly reasonable underlying reason to be nervous when the police approached him as a suspect, rather than as the upstanding citizen that a Harvard professor expects to be treated as.

Tumultuous behavior in one's own home is hardly grounds for arrest, especially when the officer wasn't responding to a call about disturbing the peace, but rather suspected burglary... which makes me think that the only cause of any tumultuous behavior was the presence of the officer... and arresting a person for behavior that an officer himself inspires seems to be giving the police rather more overreaching power than I personally feel comfortable doing (and apparently more than the department which dropped the charges feels comfortable doing).

[Mimosa]

2. Great article, Forkboy

As somebody who's mainly native american, I perceived a 'class' conflict in this incident. Gates comes from the most insulated privileged level of accademia. He may long ago have suffered some abuses but I doubt he did on that day. Trying to push open a door and possibly breaking the jamb would be far more expensive than to simply call a locksmith. But he chose the dumb way to get into his house.

That aside somebody here at DU posted an article about Officer Crowley. Officer Crowley has a distinguished record including teaching sensitivity courses and had performed CPR on basketball legend Reggie Lewis, who'd collapsed on the court.

I sympathise with cops a lot of the time. I've seen some go way over the line. But they have a unique job in which they are often perceived with animosity and risk their lives each day they are on duty. People never seem to want to give them the benefit of the doubt until they themselves have to call the cops.

[EFerrari]

4. Um, Gates went in with a key through his back door when the front door

was jammed.

He and his driver were checking out the front door to see if it could be opened at all.

So, no, there is nothing "dumb" about that at all.

But you go right ahead defending the freaks that arrested this man for being in his own home.

[Gwendolyn]

3. Elder beligerance...yeah!

[EFerrari]

5. Gates' lawyer's statement is here:

Statement on Behalf of Henry Louis Gates, Jr. -- by Charles Ogletree

This brief statement is being submitted on behalf of my client, friend, and colleague, Professor Henry Louis Gates, Jr. This is a statement concerning the arrest of Professor Gates. On July 16, 2009, Professor Henry Louis Gates, Jr., 58, the Alphonse Fletcher University Professor of Harvard University, was headed from Logan airport to his home Cambridge after spending a week in China, where he was filming his new PBS documentary entitled “Faces of America.” Professor Gates was driven to his home by a driver for a local car company. Professor Gates attempted to enter his front door, but the door was damaged. Professor Gates then entered his rear door with his key, turned off his alarm, and again attempted to open the front door. With the help of his driver they were able to force the front door open, and then the driver carried Professor Gates’ luggage into his home.

Professor Gates immediately called the Harvard Real Estate office to report the damage to his door and requested that it be repaired immediately. As he was talking to the Harvard Real Estate office on his portable phone in his house, he observed a uniformed officer on his front porch. When Professor Gates opened the door, the officer immediately asked him to step outside. Professor Gates remained inside his home and asked the officer why he was there. The officer indicated that he was responding to a 911 call about a breaking and entering in progress at this address. Professor Gates informed the officer that he lived there and was a faculty member at Harvard University. The officer then asked Professor Gates whether he could prove that he lived there and taught at Harvard. Professor Gates said that he could, and turned to walk into his kitchen, where he had left his wallet. The officer followed him. Professor Gates handed both his Harvard University identification and his valid Massachusetts driver’s license to the officer. Both include Professor Gates’ photograph, and the license includes his address.

Professor Gates then asked the police officer if he would give him his name and his badge number. He made this request several times. The officer did not produce any identification nor did he respond to Professor Gates’ request for this information. After an additional request by Professor Gates for the officer’s name and badge number, the officer then turned and left the kitchen of Professor Gates’ home without ever acknowledging who he was or if there were charges against Professor Gates. As Professor Gates followed the officer to his own front door, he was astonished to see several police officers gathered on his front porch. Professor Gates asked the officer’s colleagues for his name and badge number. As Professor Gates stepped onto his front porch, the officer who had been inside and who had examined his identification, said to him, “Thank you for accommodating my earlier request,” and then placed Professor Gates under arrest. He was handcuffed on his own front porch.

Professor Gates was taken to the Cambridge Police Station where he remained for approximately 4 hours before being released that evening. Professor Gates’ counsel has been cooperating with the Middlesex District Attorneys Office, and the City of Cambridge, and is hopeful that this matter will be resolved promptly. Professor Gates will not be making any other statements concerning this matter at this time.

Dayo Olopade interviews Henry Louis Gates Jr.

Lawrence Bobo asks what do you call a black man with a Ph.D.?

Karen Grigsby Bates on when apologies aren't enough.

http://www.theroot.com/views/lawyers-statement-arrest-henry-louis-gates-jr

[Gwendolyn]

7. Lol, belligerent, cranky, old man.

Hope he gets laid. :)

[EFerrari]

8. I hope you're never arrested in your own home

because you didn't kiss ass enough.

[Gwendolyn]

9. No chance of that.

:)



Edited to add: Shouldn't have said that. I respect my elders who have gone before me. I do hope he gets laid though as he seems to need it. He's lonely obviously.

[Number23]

11. That one doesn't exhibit much sensitivity when the people in question have too much melanin.

[bliss_eternal]

6. Call it whatever you like.

I call it "blaming the victim." Good for you, way to go.

:eyes:

[Forkboy]

10. I hope that's directed at the writer and not me.

:shrug: