A prosecutor is dropping a charge against prominent Harvard University professor Henry Louis Gates Jr. after Cambridge, Massachusetts, and the city’s police department recommended that the matter not be pursued.
In a joint statement, Cambridge and the police department said they made the recommendation to the Middlesex County district attorney and the district attorney’s office “has agreed to enter a nolle prosequi in this matter,” meaning that it will not be pursued.
Gates was arrested last week on a charge of disorderly conduct after a confrontation with an officer at his home, according to a Cambridge police report./p>
So much for a post-racial, America…
As a civil rights lawyer, I do not even know where to begin on this humdinger of a textbook ‘racial profiling’ case…
Notwithstanding the racial profiling adages of ‘driving while black’ or ‘flying while brown’, the recent case of Harvard Professor Henry Louis “Skip” Gates is something that should be of concern to all Americans.
First of all, Dr. Gates is the director of Harvard’s W. E. B. Du Bois Institute for African and African American Research — who had returned from China last Thursday to his Cambridge home and discovered his front door jammed.
And the rest is racial profiling history…
For many males of color in America today, this tragic story came as little surprise and was clearly indicative of the fact that our nation is still far from being ‘post-racial’ (even with you in the White House, Mr. President)
To highlight the tragic absurdity of Professor Gates’ case, imagine for a moment, if you will, if the case hypothetically involved a Washington DC police officer instead:
Police Officer to Dispatcher: “African-American male…About 6′2″…Seems to be trying to enter a residence at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW…Oh wait…He lives there…”
Link back to original article here.
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Arsalan Iftikhar
Contributing Editor, Islamica Magazine
Founder, TheMuslimGuy.com
arsalan@themuslimguy.com
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It seems the whole thing was not all that "racial" as much as it was a mis-understanding on the parts of both the Police and Mr. Gates." Why, everyone is jumping the the race card about this situation is beyond me, espcially, after, hearing what went down on both their parts. The Officer was answering a call to a possible break-in, Mr Gates does not understand why Police are ording him out of his own house because he is not aware that a neighbor called in a possible home invasion. I think both parties are guilty of over-reacting and mis-understandings and not much more.
Racial bias is alive and well but this was not a case of it as far as I can see. What is more interesting is that everyone has jumped on the "racial profiling bandwagon" in this situation just as Mr. Gates has. Mr. Gates called wolf as an angry over-reaction to Police Officers answering a call to a possible home invasion. Now, what if there really was a possible home invasion? Like, there is no possibility of that happening in Cambridge, MA,? Get a grip folks.
There are plenty of cases of racial profiling that need attention, I suggest they be taken care of while the Police Officers and Mr Gates recognize their own over-reactions and take responsibility for them. And, I suggest, the news media check out the facts before spreading mis-information across the airwaves.
I would appreciate hearing the perspective of a police officer in this matter, and the types of judgement calls he or she must make every day regarding personal and societal safety.
Our society is full of people who live their lives outside of safe and respectible ethics and morals, and we count on these officers of the peace to keep them in check. We owe them a debt of gratitude and respect.
Growing up, my childhood was less than ideal, and yes, I have been in the back of a police car with handcuffs more than once. But I don't have a bent against the police. In fact I thank them for doing their job when I get the chance. A few months ago I was pulled over for having a burned out tail light. It gave the officer a chance to verify that my driver's license, registration and insurance were all up to date, and that I hadn't been drinking. I was told to have the light repaired and was sent on my way. I thanked the officer for doing his job in making my town a safer place to live.
We all like to make assumptions about people's motives and suggest that people behave a certain way because of something that we project onto them. I did not for one second assume that I was being pulled over for no reason other than to be hassled by 'the man'. I had every intention of complying with the officer's requests, and to not get beligerent and question the officer's motives. I fully understood HE WAS DOING HIS JOB. He was doing his job so we (all of us) can live our lives in peace and freedom.
The next time some breaking news story comes up about police being accused of beating someone, or harrassing someone, or racially profiling someone, ask yourself "For how long would I like to trade places with him, and deal with the drug-addled, emotionally unstable, ethically and morally bankrupt, and lethally-armed maniacs who have absolute and total disregard for society?" Better yet, why not spend a few hours some evening visiting your city's lock-up facility and just 'hang out' with some of the 'regulars' to get a flavor of what these police officers deal with on a daily basis. Oh yeah, now there's some good times…..
I think Rann bae is right. There is just a simple misunderstanding that led to a ntional issue. The aftermath of the arrest of Henry Louis Gates, Jr. saw some very negative fallout and accusations of racism more after President Obama remarked about the incident. Then there were repeated requests to hear the Gates 911 Call. The Gates 9/11 call has been released, and there isn't mention of the race in the call. Gates was trying to get into his own home after returning from a trip, and the door was jammed. In the process of trying to gain access, police were called thinking it was a burglary. Gates apparently became hostile to officers, and was booked for that reason, charges having later been dropped. No suits have been filed, but no one needs payday loans to get the Gates 911 Call transcripts.