<p>"Harvard professor Henry Louis Gates Jr., one of the nation's pre-eminent African-American scholars, was arrested Thursday afternoon at his home by Cambridge police investigating a possible break-in. The incident raised concerns among some Harvard faculty that Gates was a victim of racial profiling.</p>
<p>Police arrived at Gatess Ware Street home near Harvard Square at 12:44 p.m. to question him. Gates, director of the W.E.B. Du Bois Institute for African and African American Research at Harvard, had trouble unlocking his door after it became jammed.The arrest of such a prominent scholar under what some described as dubious circumstances shook some members of the black Harvard community.</p>
<p>He and I both raised the question of if he had been a white professor, whether this kind of thing would have happened to him, that they arrested him without any corroborating evidence, said S. Allen Counter, a Harvard Medical School professor who spoke with Gates about the incident Friday. I am deeply concerned about the way he was treated, and called him to express my deepest sadness and sympathy....</p>
<p>racists imo nothing else. i mean, why would the possiblity of a person being a burglar, change wether the person is white or black? no difference imo.</p>
<p>The story I read in the paper this morning made it look pretty bad. He wasn’t arrested until long after he showed them his various ID. Also, I would be pretty sheepish if I were the neighbor who called the police.</p>
<p>For those of you who may not know, Gates is THE most prominent African-American Studies scholar in the world, a ubiquitous media figure, and actually one of the crown jewels of Harvard’s faculty (not the only one, but certainly one of them). He’s on TV all the time. He’s not a young man. It is hard to imagine what the Cambridge police thought they were doing.</p>
<p>Whether a black man in this situation is more likely to be perceived as a burglar that a white man is certainly a topic for discussion. But it should have been pretty easy after a few minutes for the officer to ascertain that he was speaking with the occupant of the house. Dr. Gates’ demeanor is really irrelevant here - once it was determined that there was no crime in progress, the officer’s job should have been done and the appropriate action would have been to say “Thank you sir, I’m sorry for the interruption” and leave. The officer acknowledged that even after he had determined Gates was lawfully in the residence, he "was quite surprised and confused with the behavior he exhibited toward me.’’ I think the officer is going to be even more surprised and confused with the backlash that hits him today. I don’t believe that late-August arraignment is going to happen; I’d set the over-under on the amount of time required to drop these charges at 24 hours.</p>
<p>Police officer(s) showed a very poor judgment and acted in a very deplorable manner that shows lack of understanding and respect for human beings who are of other color. He should be asked for reasons that showed such a bizarre behavior. </p>
<p>However, today’s media driven frenzy world, the officer(s) could be trying to get the cheap 15 minutes fame. Who knows?</p>
<p>The police get a call that it looks like two people are breaking into a house (and it turns out that one of them is, albeit his own). Police go to the house and the person inside says that he is not coming out to talk to them and initially refuses to provide id info. How exactly was the police officer supposed to know that the person he could not see, that refused to come to the door was the esteemed professor vs a person who broke in to the house? What would the police have said to Gates if they decided to take the word of the unknown person in the house and then it turned out that they left the house and the person inside had been a burglar. So, Gates finally comes to the door ****ed off and shows his id and starts berating the police officer for trying to investigate whether Gates’ home is being robbed. I admit, it sounds like a mess from there - but the facts up to that point paint Gates as an ass.</p>
<p>I read the police report and it appears that when the Cambridge cop told Gates he was investigating a neighbor’s report of a break-in, Gates’ response was, “Why, because I’m a black man in America?” The cop could be lying, but that response seems in character for Gates. In assuming the white cop must be racist, Gates is proving he’s racist, and the drama that followed is a direct result of his racism. I do not have an affinity for cops, and like Gates I at one time lost my freedom for being surly to cops, but I fail to see an issue that could not have been remedied with simple civility.</p>
<p>The article I read claimed that when police arrived at the house, Gates was in the process of forcing the door open. The officer asked for ID, and Gates refused, making the comment about this being what happens to black men in America. My response was, “Why didn’t he just provide his ID?” That rendering made it seem that Gates was provoking a situation.</p>
<p>Both of them are to blame. Gates should not have insinuated that the officer was a racist, and the police officer should not have handcuffed Gates for insulting him.</p>
<p>Hanna - actually I would disagree. Gates actions were ill-tempered and ill-advised, but legal. The police officer’s reaction was over-the-top, but also “legal”. The charge of “disturbing the peace” was stupid and would never have stood up in court (hence the quick dismissal), but it was not likely illegal.</p>
<p>I was recently stopped by a police officer on suspicion of a crime and I found the episode amusing. I later saw or read a description of the culprit and I did not match him in height, weight or age. We were both white however. By being reasonably courteous I was able to conclude the entire matter in about 5 minutes. I suspect Professor Gates could have done the same had he chosen to.</p>
<p>Verbally assaulting an officer of the law is illegal.
An officer who arrests someone who is verbally assaulting him is following protocol.
An officer who does not is exercising discretion, feeling kind, or being lazy.</p>
<p>HORSE CRAP!!! Gates was wrong… I am black and have been in that same situation many times, waaayyy more times than Gates, at least 11 times. Each time I am at my house, and from an officers point of view, one that has no clue as to who you are (we love making assumptions about everyone should know this famous person or that famous person, or that they should know that I am the one who lives there) they want to know, “Hey who are you? Do you live there?” and I am happy as hell that they do this…and I want them to continue to do this. </p>
<p>Maybe if he had gotten to know his neighbors, they would not have called the police on him…oh, oh… black people are famous for ignoring their neighbors (and then wonder why something like this could happen)</p>
<p>Maybe if he had gotten to know the police that are responsibile for protecting his neighborhood, they would have recogonized him right away (no, no… black people do not want to get to know “the man”)</p>
<p>I live in a mixed black and white neighborhood…we have neighborhood meetings every month…the neighboorhood is about 49% black, 49% white & 2% other… our neighboorhood monthly meetings have 2 black people attending and 15 whites…at those meetings we meet the police leadership that report on crime in our neighboorhood (myself and one other black woman attend this meeting, that sucks, but reflects how blacks treat their neighbors)</p>
<p>Henry Louis Gates Jr is an A-Hole… I no longer will respect the man that I thought could understand why this could/would happen, and then give advice to other blacks about how to diffuse confrontations with the police. His actions and statememnts will cause a hell of a lot more deaths of blacks…</p>
<p>The cops received a 911 report of a break-in in progress which id’d 2 black males. A patrol car responded. The cops asked him what he was doing and asked him for id. Instead of complying with these standard and reasonable requests, the eminent prof refused, and launched into a tirade of racial comments and accusations. That’s enough to get you legitimately arrested in any jurisdiction. In addtion, it probably earned him a charge of resisting arrest without violence. I understand that when he hired a lawyer, the lawyer negotiated a deal whereby the city and the learned prof BOTH dropped their claims against one another. If the Prof had not been a knee jerk reactionary race-motivated ass, none of this wouldve been necessary. But then again, that’s what he teaches at Harvard. I understand he is now writing a book about race and law enforcement. I wonder if mass has one of those victm laws broad enough to confiscate the pocket change he will make off his race-baiting diatribe. Enough of this racial crap. It’s a new millenium.</p>