I deliberately waited until the furor over the Cambridge incident had died down before discussing it here, now. I figured a lot of folks would assume I was the guy with time wearing a police uniform who would automatically side with the cop.
Nope. It ain’t that.
From President Obama on down, folks saw it as a “racial incident.” I honestly don’t think it was. I don’t even see it as a cop-versus-citizen thing.
This reviewer’s two cents worth is: it looks like a “class” thing to me, in more than one sense of the word.
Harvard professor Henry Louis Gates, who happens to be black, comes home to the nice house he has earned the hard way, in a hired limo. The front door is stuck. He and the limo driver try to push the door open. A neighbor sees two men shouldering a door inward, looking for all the world like a break-in, and calls the police. She does not mention the skin color of the men involved: she can’t see that in the dim light. She’s just a good neighbor reporting what looks like a burglary in progress.
Police respond with alacrity. “Contact” officer James Crowley, who happens to be white, asks the professor for his ID. The Prof offers only his Harvard ID: after all, being a Harvard professor is where his ego is invested. Now, no one has ever shown us in the rest of the world a photo of that ID, but I’ve never seen a college ID that had a residential address on it. A driver’s license with his picture and his address that said “Hello, this is MY house, I LIVE here” would have been nice. Something that merely says, “I’m an important, prestigious person from an important, prestigious place” does NOT say that.
The cop, who was a designated instructor in race relations and racial sensitivity, had HIS ego invested in keeping his community, himself, and his brother officers safe. Put yourself in his place. You are the officer called to the scene of a potential burglary (or even home invasion) in progress. The obvious suspect refuses to cooperate and merely screams at you that you’re a racist cop. You KNOW that if you just take his word that he lives there and you leave, and an hour later the legitimate homeowner calls your chief and says “My neighbors told me that the cops were right there with the guy that broke into my house, but the burglar said he was me, and the cop just took his word for it and left!” your badge will grow wings and fly away.
Professor Gates made a career of studying racial hatred, and of fighting it. He can be proud of that. But if his own powers of critical thinking equal the intellectual horsepower that fueled his career, he can’t be proud of the knee-jerk reaction that made him shout “racist cop,” and “I’ll see your mama outside!”
The Cambridge cop, on the other hand, managed his end of things with professionalism and dignity. HE is not the one who automatically defaulted to racial stereotyping, as the Professor did…and as, sadly, the President did.
Race, my butt. It was about status, and societal “class.” The Harvard professor was accustomed to being the alpha in his world, and was not prepared to obey an appropriate command from a lower-class, blue-collar member of society. Yes, face it: the blue collar is at its bluest on a police uniform shirt. And if the most prestigious members of Boston/Cambridge society didn’t follow a “caste system,” they wouldn’t have become known as “Boston Brahmins,” would they?
Beers in the Rose Garden? Barack Obama’s brilliant sense of media manipulation pulled a rabbit out of the hat on that one. But let’s face reality: this was about a privileged member of the liberal elite, who not only knows the President but mentored him, overbearingly “pulling rank” on a public servant who was trying to keep the professor’s home safe. It’s about a member of the Urban Elite who lacked the “ordinary folks’ common sense” to realize he had just done a very convincing imitation of a burglar.
The deepest of my sympathy in this whole cluster-coitus goes to the black Cambridge officer who was publicly excoriated as an Uncle Tom for being honest enough to speak up for a brother cop who did the right thing. Of the players who got the most coverage, my hat is off to the Cambridge cop who made the controversial arrest. He was the same man who helped the physically handicapped professor down the stairs (see photo below) after the brewskis and the media moment were done … as President Obama strode ahead, leaving both the Cop and the Professor more than symbolically behind him.
In the end, it was the cop who showed “class,” in the best sense of the word.
Mas,
Gates has stated that he turned over both his Harvard ID and his Massachusetts driver’s license. That may or may not be true, as the police report (available on thesmokinggun.com) states that Gates only showed Harvad ID. But either way, Officer Crowley’s own report states that before Gates was arrested, Crowley “was leaving the residence” and believed (but had not confirmed) that Gates was the legal resident. It seems to me that Crowley believed the question of verifying Gates’s status as legal resident was essentially resolved, otherwise why would he have told Gates that he was “leaving the residence and if he had any other questions, he could ask them outside”?
Gates’s arrest for disorderly conduct strikes me as more a matter of ego on the cop’s part than a sincere desire to enforce the law and protect the public. Gates’s disorderly conduct was solely directed at Crowley. Having established to his satisfaction that Gates was the legal resident, Crowley’s business at the home was finished. If he had simply left, Gates’s disorderly conduct probably would have ceased. Nobody likes to get yelled at, and I don’t think that Crowley deserved the treatment he got from Gates, but IMO, it’s a cop’s responsibility to be “the bigger man” in a conflict, just like it’s my responsibility as a carrier of a firearm to avoid any possible accusation of “guilty mind”.
If all Gates had done was yell at Crowley, and Crowley’s leaving would have stopped the yelling, then Crowley should have just left.
Amen, Mas. I really think most of us who read this magazine and subscribe to this blog knew it was a class thing. Gates and Obama are elitists, statists, if you will. Us poor minions can’t be expected to survive on our own. And what’s the deal here anyway? When a uniformed or identified police officer tells you to do something, you do EXACTLY what he says, period! But when you truly believe you are a superior being, this common sense is lost. Both Gates and the President owe Crowley and every police officer a public apology. Correct me if I’m wrong, but they didn’t get one. It doesn’t matter how much spin and keg parties are thrown, the apology didn’t happen.
Fantastically well said.
I could not agree more as you hit the nail on the head better than any other article I have seen so far.
The picture is wonderful and poignant..I wish that got more publicity, but it never will.
Mas,
Excellent analysis on this incident.Probably the first one I’ve read since the media spun it into a discussion on racial profiling,which simply doesn’t apply to this situation in any way.
Many of the prominant African-American civil rights advocates such as Jesse Jackson & Al Sharpton tend to cause incidents like this to flare up,because without all the controversy,Jackson,Sharpton & others become irrelevant.
In regards to racial profiling & to get off point myself, I’m not so sure racial profiling is necessarily a negative thing.I’ve been pulled over twice and my car searched while visiting a friend who lived in a predominantly Black neighborhood ,because I was a “Young White Male in a Nice Car” driving though a “poor,Black neighborhood” and to the Police,that’s usually a good sign of someone looking to buy drugs as they explained to me & which is probably true most of the time.
If 100% of airline hijacker’s are of middle eastern decent,should LEO’s give equal attention to an odd acting elderly White Woman as they would a suspicious acting young Male from the Middle East? Serial Killers tend to be White Males of a certain age,so should LE ignore that fact? If the facts support the profile & it’s done in a lawful way,then what’s really wrong with it if it helps the Police do their job & keep us safe?
What does “I’ll speak with your mama outside” mean anyway?
The Cambridge cop with the low profile was the most impressive personality of the lot! Next would be, Officer Crowley who it appears was just doing his duty. It makes me wonder what he will teach now to diffuse a similar situation. I don’t think the president had all the facts when he proposed the, “Grog Party” I think these class struggle issues are more common, and frequently misconstrued to be racial or something other than what they really are. The professor was wrong, and the incident should be seen for what it was!
The whole Cluster-Fornication makes me mad.
I’m mad that the president (uncapitalized on purpose), got himself involved in something that he shouldn’t even be involved in. I really think he has more important things to deal with than this. He’s probably using it as a “diversion” away from the Health Care Reform and Second Bailout.
Of course it was done as a way to pander to the minority vote, IMO. People like Sharpton, Jackson and others need a controversy to justify their existance in this world. They should’ve been rolled up and stored away in the attic with the old dining room rug years ago
As far as the professor. If he’s so all-fired known and respected why the heck had I never heard of him before this?
OK, I’m mad and not making much sense tonight, so I’ll stop typing. This incident makes me respect our president even less, and I didn’t have much for him as a person before this. Very few people make the hair on the back of my neck stand up. The Obamessiah did when he gave his victory speach on election night. In fact only three people, the president being the third, make my hair stand up. Two of them have since been executed by the state.
I will treat him as a human being, but not much else and I will use all legal means at my disposal to see that he doesn’t get a second term.
Take care and stay safe, Biker
Massad,
As usual, your analysis and response to this issue is right to the point and accurate(like your whole career). This issue with Gates and the police was way overblown, thanks to our President. What would have been broken down into a class incident eventually was made a race super incident by the President and his comments.
Like Alan Greenspan, I hope you will always be around to explain things for the common LEO’s. The general public has to be informed intelligently about the tough and thankless job that our men (and women) in blue do to keep us safe. The thin blue line that keeps us safe from anarchy is getting thinner.
God bless you and all the fine men and women in law enforcement.
Ted Dixon
Cincinnati, Ohio
Well said. I see this country moving farther away from one another racially under the Obama presidency rather than drawing together from it. Sometimes I wonder if we aren’t seeing the same things our founding fathers saw in the early 1770’s. Our elected leaders see us as people to be ruled over like a pompus monarch would rather than represent us as we have elected them to do.
Some of my closest friends through life have been people from ‘other’ cultures so to speak. Because I have taken the time to learn and cultivate their friendship. Hel, I even told my Mother she didn’t have to come to my wedding because she didn’t like the fact my Best Man was Puerto Rican. But of course the easiest route for most people is to not try to understand each one another but to find fault and not take the responsibility for their own actions.
If it was a legal issue then why not let IA deal with it and be done. It only proves that it was a “class” issue by the President becoming involved. Why else have some “beers” with the common folk ? Seems to me, even when in the company of the supposed leader of the free world, that the lowly working man wasn’t quite good enough to break out the Coniac, Wild Turkey, or even some Arbor Mist…LoL…..If it were me, I’d like to think I’d say “I’ll just have a glass of water, thanks” and then deliberatly not drink it.
Because thats right..no class
I agree with your view as usual sir, good insight…and pix
Thanks for mentioning and posting the photo. I had seen it elsewhere, but wondered if it was a photoshop. The photo is a perfect example of “a picture is worth a thousand words.”
We will never know what the truth is in this matter. The Spin Drs. are out in packs. We do know a little politeness on everyone’s part goes a long way.But in the end it does show that hatred hangs in the air over all of us.So many problems swept under the rug.I have never been treated so rudely by people of different races as I have in the last few weeks.I am starting to think the partisan attacks by BOTH the DNC & RNC is having a larger effect on race relationships than it is having on politics.I hope I am wrong.But do not think so.The chickens are coming home to roost.Respect the badge.The person behind it can be removed if they do not live up to it.But respect the badge.Only the Bill Of Rights and Constitution deserve more respect.
Mas, I was wondering when we would hear from you on this matter. Very well said! I believe, as another blogger said, that this incident NEVER should have gotten the publicity that it did. If it were a cop and a local black businessman it would not have gotten national publicity. Rather, it would have merely been a local incident not seen in other than the local paper. However, since Mr. Gates obviously DOES believe that he is of the “elite” class for his position and presdential “association” he blew this up out of proportion, thinking it was a “racial opportunity.” Worse, the President got publicly involved… What a great chance to show that he is a “good buddy” to the “regular” people by having a beer and talking things over. Excuse me, I have to go vomit.
There is no doubt in my mind that Mr. Gates is an arrogant jerk but it his his right to be an arrogant jerk in his own home. Once Crowley determined that Gates was was in his own home he should have left, no matter how rudely Gates was behaving. Gates was not a threat to anyone so it was a violation of his civil rights to arrest him for speaking his mind, no matter how much of a horses ass he was making of himself.
They both let their egos get the best of them.
Mas, thanks again for making me think. I had not yet thought of it that way, instead going with the masses and thinking it was indeed a race issue. I think there is definitely some of that in there, but the class card may very well have been a part of it. Once again you have done your job and made me use my brain a bit more than I did before. Thank you.
As I see it:
Crowley was in the right to not accept a Harvard ID as proof of residence, and to continue to question Gates.
Gates was a jerk for being so offended that an officer would dare to question his identity (even though he had a completely valid reason to do so).
Crowley had no reason whatsoever to apprehend Gates. Facing an admittedly aggravating citizen (and I agree 100% that Gates’ conduct was motivated nearly entirely by class) he lost his temper and arrested him for the classic “Contempt of Cop.” It is rude, disrespectful, and contemptible to spew hatred at a cop for doing his job – it is not, however, illegal.
All racist idiocy, presidential meddling, and media frenzy since then aside, the core of this fight came down to two otherwise reasonable men losing their tempers over a misunderstanding, and one of them having the authority to arrest when that happened.
Nice work. I completely agree, right up to the “hats off” for the arrest that was in no way justifiable, not just “controversial”.
My hat was off for the cop showing up in good time (I just wish the cops in my neigborhood would show up when the crack dealers are intimidating the neighborhood and there is a dirve through crack market running in the parking lot – now THERE’s REAL classism!).
After that, I threw my hat in a ditch for the bad arrest. Then I tromped on the hat for his willing participation in Obama’s stupid beer trick. Screw it that he seems to be helping Gates down the steps (don’t buy it).
The cop showed his true colors by trying to show his power over Gates by arresting him for something that is not a crime – the only hat Crowley, or any cop, for that sort of stupidity is due is the dunce cap.
BikerRN,
Your announced choice to deliberately uncapitalize “president” was gramatically correct. The word “president” is always uncapitalized unless it is the first word of a sentence or unless it is used as part of a title, such as President Obama or President Reagan.
Let’s start with the start of the story. Can neighbors not positively ID each other visually? Who does a B&E in this way (front door)? Instead of rushing headlong into a situation, why not take a minute to understand what’s going on?
I realize that certain high placed officials would have us calling government as soon as we think something is amiss. This is the mindset that leads to “inciting a panic” when one carries openly, where that’s legal.
Why don’t professionals have a duty to independently verify the information that a nervous Nancy called in with?
[…] the police officer asked Mr. Gates for his identification he presented his Harvard professor ID. Most, if not all, college IDs lack any mention of a resident address. Being the card didn’t […]
Mr. Ayoob thank you for taking a look at the other side of this issue. All that the media has been covering is the racist angle and I didn’t once hear about the fact Mr. Gates only presented his Harvard ID.
Likewise that picture talks a million words as I doubt a racist man would help a black handicapped man down a flight of stairs.
Well said, Mr. Ayoob!
In the complex forms that human interaction takes, power and influence are close to the top of the list. Mr Gates may, or may not have acted in a disorderly manner according to some, but he certainly acted with active disrespect, and goading. No doubt, he used his power as a member of a famous institution. The officer also used his power.
The media hyped the entire thing as an issue of race. People love this sort of stuff, and the media spoon feeds it to us, but I agree-it wasn’t about race.
The other important class issue here is that cops don’t make enough money to live in Cambridge. It’s an expensive, expensive neighborhood; the class divide is pretty wide there.
I think this is the best article written about the incident and what really went on behind the eyes of everyone involved. The thoughts they more than most probably had on both sides. Of course it was our now famous president who stole the media show and turned it into a campaign circus of sorts. My question is “Would Obama do the same if it had been the other way around and the officer was black and the man entering the house was white?” probably not, it would have been an everyday occurrence to all involved.