The Professor, the Policeman and the President
Before I start, in the interest of full disclosure, I am married to a retired Chicago police officer, who happens to be black. His first question, upon hearing about the Gates situation was, "Wonder what would have happened if the professor had been white and the police officer black."
Anyone who's aware of the ugliness and role of race in this country knows what would have happened. The officer would have been written up, reprimanded, probably suspended and required to attend "attitude adjustment" training. I could regale you with stories of the role race plays in the CPD, but I'll refrain, except for one instance. As late as 2004 when Cliff retired, roll call found black officers seated on one side of the room; white ones on the other. There were a few white officers who black officers considered "okay," but they were few and far between, and the trust was never total. In 2004.
As for Gates, let's get real. A police officer comes in your house, without your permission or invitation, and gets upset when you get upset. Last I heard, "disorderly conduct" doesn't include a bad attitude or anger or even words one might consider distasteful or disrespectful. There's no allegation that Gates threatened the officer, physically or otherwise. There's no allegation that he was a danger to the public. The officer didn't like his attitude and Gates made the mistake of not shutting up when told to do so. He didn't display that "yessa, Massa" attitude the officer clearly expected and ultimately demanded.
This was clearly a case of a white officer determined to put an uppity Negro in his place. And a Harvard professor who wasn't going to stand for it. Unbelievably, the police officer officially, in the written report, now lists the reason for asking Gates to come outside as "poor acoustics in the kitchen." He claims he entered the house because he was "concerned" about the safety of Professor Gates. He asserts Gates was belligerent, was "yelling so loud I couldn't hear myself read his ID," and immediately made race an issue. As Cliff has often asserted, a piece of paper will lay still for just about anything. One "P" word we haven't heard yet is "professional." In any work situation, there is the person on the job, who supposedly is the "professional" and there is the person being served: the client or the patient or the public. Bottom line, the person who should have been professional was not; instead he was apparently determined to show Gates who was the boss. Shame on him. And shame on all the teary-eyed, back-slapping, huggy-muggy, horribly, terribly offended officers who lined up to appear on the morning yakkity yak shows to support him.
As for the president, he's black. In America. Gates is his friend. Of course he's going to react. And, I agree wholeheartedly -- the police acted "stupidly." He should not apologize. Case closed. Now, can we all take a deep breath and get on to something important -- like the Iraq and Afghanistan wars, health care, Wall Street crooks -- some of those things? Please?
Anyone who's aware of the ugliness and role of race in this country knows what would have happened. The officer would have been written up, reprimanded, probably suspended and required to attend "attitude adjustment" training. I could regale you with stories of the role race plays in the CPD, but I'll refrain, except for one instance. As late as 2004 when Cliff retired, roll call found black officers seated on one side of the room; white ones on the other. There were a few white officers who black officers considered "okay," but they were few and far between, and the trust was never total. In 2004.
As for Gates, let's get real. A police officer comes in your house, without your permission or invitation, and gets upset when you get upset. Last I heard, "disorderly conduct" doesn't include a bad attitude or anger or even words one might consider distasteful or disrespectful. There's no allegation that Gates threatened the officer, physically or otherwise. There's no allegation that he was a danger to the public. The officer didn't like his attitude and Gates made the mistake of not shutting up when told to do so. He didn't display that "yessa, Massa" attitude the officer clearly expected and ultimately demanded.
This was clearly a case of a white officer determined to put an uppity Negro in his place. And a Harvard professor who wasn't going to stand for it. Unbelievably, the police officer officially, in the written report, now lists the reason for asking Gates to come outside as "poor acoustics in the kitchen." He claims he entered the house because he was "concerned" about the safety of Professor Gates. He asserts Gates was belligerent, was "yelling so loud I couldn't hear myself read his ID," and immediately made race an issue. As Cliff has often asserted, a piece of paper will lay still for just about anything. One "P" word we haven't heard yet is "professional." In any work situation, there is the person on the job, who supposedly is the "professional" and there is the person being served: the client or the patient or the public. Bottom line, the person who should have been professional was not; instead he was apparently determined to show Gates who was the boss. Shame on him. And shame on all the teary-eyed, back-slapping, huggy-muggy, horribly, terribly offended officers who lined up to appear on the morning yakkity yak shows to support him.
As for the president, he's black. In America. Gates is his friend. Of course he's going to react. And, I agree wholeheartedly -- the police acted "stupidly." He should not apologize. Case closed. Now, can we all take a deep breath and get on to something important -- like the Iraq and Afghanistan wars, health care, Wall Street crooks -- some of those things? Please?
posted by Debra Hope @ 7:25 PM
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