...however, reading in the police report that he yelled something in reference to how a Black man gets treated in America, sounds like there is a "history" there.
To me, there are three possibilities as to what happened in this case: a) ID was produced and police acted inappropriately, b) ID was not produced, police acted appropriately, and Mr Gates is throwing out the "race card" to try to get out of the situation, or c) police acted appropriately in THIS situation, but Mr Gates behaved out of past frustration. The more that I look at the facts as I have seen them, I am starting to think that Option C is most likely.
Having a lot of diverse friends from many races and cultures, I like to generally think in terms of ways that we are all similar in many experiences that we share. I usually prefer to think of the America of 2009 as being so much easier for me, as a Black man, than it was for my parents. Much more of American society embraces racial equally than ever before. However, we can't forget that we are only one generation removed from government mandated racism, so we can't be completely surprised when racism rears its ugly head today. In my forty years, there have been several occasions where I, and people I know, have been detained by law enforcement when doing nothing wrong. I've had an officer draw his gun on me, thinking I was the criminal, when I was the one reporting the incident. So...it happens...it does happen.
And the unfortunate truth is that when something like that happens, more often than not, the fraternity of police sticks together. This is in NO way an indictment of all, or even most police officers. I'm sure that most of them go about doing their jobs in the proper fashion. However, there are some out there who abuse their authority to perpetuate their racist views, and it's really hard to get one officer to speak out against another. To me, it sounds like Mr Gates may have had some previous dealings with police that may have been unfair, and when this situation occurred, he reacted to his history of treatment, and not so much to the incident at hand.
Again...that's just my opinion. None of us knows exactly what happened in Cambridge. So remember that before you rush to judge either party in the situation.
Friday, July 24, 2009
Police Behavior...Part 1
**Warning: Possible Controversial Opinion**
So I've been reading the details of the Cambridge, MA arrest of the African American professor in his home. I am torn in my feelings, because what I feel is the key to the actions that took place, is in question.
I've read the police report, I've read the arresting officer's account of what occurred, I've even read Mr. Gates' account of what happened, and none of them mentioned that Mr. Gates initially produced ID as to his identity and proof that he lived at that location. Only Mr. Gates' lawyer has stated that identification was produced immediately in the situation. In my mind, that's the key to why the police acted how they did in THIS situation.
As a homeowner, I would think that Mr. Gates would be glad that police were so quick to respond to reports of someone breaking into his home. The police were there to investigate what they believed was a crime, and acted accordingly. If, in fact Mr. Gates did not produce identification, then the police were well within their rights, and did not deserve to be treated how they were treated.
What troubles me is the thought process of Mr. Gates in the first place. He is a professor, so he is obviously a bright man. He was said to have been returning from a trip to China, and "broke in" because he couldn't find his keys. I don't know about there, but in my neighborhood, folks look out for each other, so knowing that Gates was out of town, a neighbor could've been quick to pick up the phone to protect his neighbor's house. How could've it have been handled better? If you are going off to a foreign country, leave a key with a neighbor. If you realize that you are locked out, call the police to get them to help you get into the house.
From all evidence that I've read, Mr Gates could've done so many things differently, to have avoided this particular situation...
So I've been reading the details of the Cambridge, MA arrest of the African American professor in his home. I am torn in my feelings, because what I feel is the key to the actions that took place, is in question.
I've read the police report, I've read the arresting officer's account of what occurred, I've even read Mr. Gates' account of what happened, and none of them mentioned that Mr. Gates initially produced ID as to his identity and proof that he lived at that location. Only Mr. Gates' lawyer has stated that identification was produced immediately in the situation. In my mind, that's the key to why the police acted how they did in THIS situation.
As a homeowner, I would think that Mr. Gates would be glad that police were so quick to respond to reports of someone breaking into his home. The police were there to investigate what they believed was a crime, and acted accordingly. If, in fact Mr. Gates did not produce identification, then the police were well within their rights, and did not deserve to be treated how they were treated.
What troubles me is the thought process of Mr. Gates in the first place. He is a professor, so he is obviously a bright man. He was said to have been returning from a trip to China, and "broke in" because he couldn't find his keys. I don't know about there, but in my neighborhood, folks look out for each other, so knowing that Gates was out of town, a neighbor could've been quick to pick up the phone to protect his neighbor's house. How could've it have been handled better? If you are going off to a foreign country, leave a key with a neighbor. If you realize that you are locked out, call the police to get them to help you get into the house.
From all evidence that I've read, Mr Gates could've done so many things differently, to have avoided this particular situation...
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