They done arrested the wrong Negro, I’ll tell you whut…. 
Let’s play a game. This will be a game that is more fun for those of you with any knowledge of African American Studies, or famous African American men. Aw hell, who am I kidding. This will be a game for those of you who have ever heard of black people, or know that we exist.
Ready? OK, let’s play.
I’m thinking of a particular black man of note. So, when I say the words, “Notable Black Man” who comes to mind?
(No, not him.)
Try again!
(No, not him either.)
Ok, fine: “Notable ALIVE Black Man”?
(Not him either!)
Try “Notable Alive Black Man Who Isn’t a Reverend”? (Sorry, Sharpton…)
No not him either! (But hey, Denzel… how you doin’… Call me!)
How about “Notable Alive Black Man Who Isn’t a Movie Star”?
No! Try “Notable Alive Black Man Who Isn’t a Reverend OR a Movie Star OR a Movie Director…” ?
Pfft… Seriously? You’re kidding, right? Michael Steele? He’s hanging onto his blackness by the skin of his teeth…
(Nope, but he’s a good one!) Try Black American.
OK: “Notable Alive Black American Man Who Isn’t a Reverend or a Movie Star or a Movie Director”?
or a hip hop artist...
or a sports player…
Give up yet?
OK, maybe this game isn’t that fun for you, but, when I play, if I discount black men who are dead, black men who are reverends, black men who are movie stars, black men who are directors, black men who are rappers or hip hop artists, black men who play sports, and black men who are the current president, I’m pretty much left with three dudes:
1. Cornel West:
2. Henry Louis Gates, Jr.
3. My dad (Oscar Gandy, Jr.)
These three men all have something in common. They’re all academics and scholars: Dr. Cornel West received his Ph.D from Princeton University; Dr. Henry Louis Gates, Jr. received his Ph.D from Cambridge University; and Dr. Oscar H. Gandy, Jr. received his Ph.D from Stanford University.
Dr. West is tenured and a professor at Princeton. Dr. Gates is tenured and a professor at Harvard University, and Dr. Gandy was a tenured professor at University of Pennsylvania (he’s now retired and bird-watching in the Arizona desert with my moms and them).
You see, these here three black men are some beard-sportin’, smart ass motherfuckin’ scholars who earned degrees from ivy league schools, and were or are tenured at some of the best schools in the country. None of these men would ever have a run-in with the law, unless it was for nonviolent protest.
Now let’s remove Dr. West from the equation, since homeboy has dabbled in hip hop and in acting (remember? He was in the Matrix Revolutions and Matrix Reloaded?)
So that leaves us with Dr. Gates and Dr. Gandy.
Now, Dr. Gandy is retired and living a quiet life watching birds, writing books, and fending off coyotes with an umbrella when they are so bold as to interrupt his and my mom’s daily desert walks.
Dr. Gates is the Alphonse Fletcher University Professor and the Director of the W. E. B. Du Bois Institute for African and African American Research at Harvard University.
Now guess which one of these two fine upstanding black American scholars did the dumbass Cambridge Police Department done arrested because the man done locked hisself out of his fancy ass crib and his baby mama weren’t home to answer the door all barefoot and pregnant like she was sposta?
That’s right, y’all. Henry Louis Gates, Jr.–skinny, bespectacled, grey-haired, slacks and Polo shirt-wearing, cane-sporting Dr. Gates, apparently locked himself out of his house after returning home from a long trip to China, and considering ain’t no way a black man, even one not sporting gang colors, wearing pants pulled down to his knees, or with a mouth full of grillz could possibly live in a fancy ass house in Cambridge, his next door neighbor, Mrs. Old White Lady called the po-po on his black ass. (Seriously, next door neighbor lady? You live next to this guy and what, you don’t know what he looks like? Are you so skeered of the niggras, that every time he looked at you, you looked away so as not to inspire that primordial lust that swells deep within every black man’s throbbing loins, a lust which drives all black men to chase after, capture, and have their way with white women who are way above their station? Hide your white women! There be some Harvard professor all up in here! Gorillas in our midst!
Yessir, it’s true. Black Man Laureate, Henry Louis Gates, Jr. was arrested yesterday! I can hardly believe it. It makes me laugh, actually:
A black Harvard professor, who has been named by Time magazine as one of the top 25 most influential Americans, accused police of racism after he was arrested trying to get into his own home.
Henry Louis Gates was arrested for disorderly conduct after police said he “exhibited loud and tumultuous behaviour”. He was later released.
The head of Harvard’s WEB DuBois Institute for African and American Studies, shouted to a police officer “this is what happens to a black men in America” according to a police report.
The incident happen last Thursday after a call to police that “two black males” were breaking into Gates’s home near the university campus in Cambridge, Massachusetts.
Later Gates refused to discuss the incident. But his lawyer said he was arrested after he forced his way through his front door because it was jammed. The professor’s colleagues blamed the arrest on racial profiling.
Gates initially refused to show the officer his identification, but later showed his university pass. “Gates continued to yell at me, accusing me of racial bias and continued to tell me that I had not heard the last of him,” the police officer wrote.
His friend and fellow Harvard scholar Charles Ogletree, said: “He was shocked to find himself being questioned and shocked that the conversation continued after he showed his identification.”
Allen Counter, who has taught neuroscience at Harvard for 25 years, said he was stopped on campus by two police officers in 2004 after being mistaken for a robber. They threatened to arrest him when he could not produce identification.
“We do not believe that this arrest would have happened if Professor Gates was white,” Counter said. “It really has been very unsettling for African-Americans throughout Harvard and throughout Cambridge that this happened.”
Lawrence Bobo, professor of Social Sciences at Harvard, said he met Gates at the police station and described his colleague as feeling humiliated and “emotionally devastated.”
“It’s just deeply disappointing but also a pointed reminder that there are serious problems that we have to wrestle with,” he said.
Bobo said he hoped Cambridge police would drop the charges.
Hey Dad, if you’re reading this. Hide your white women Mom. I think they’re coming for you next… you’ve been warned. I’ll start the car…
[Update: This post should be read as well. I made some unwarranted assumptions about the woman who reported Gates.]
The police were difinitely assholes in this one, but what disturbs me more is the neighbor. was she so xenophobic or racist not even to acknowledge her neighbor? That’s really messed up.
BTW, I love watching Dr. Cornell West and the liveliness he brings those discussions when he appears on Real Time with Bill Maher. I’m an atheist myself but he brilliant enough to make me think about why I am an atheist.
I hate neo cons hence I hate michael steele, it’s not even a conservative thing, it’s the neo-con thing. I think he’s just as vapid as Palin. LOVE THE ABLC’S!
He probably used big, intelligent words the dumb ass Mick cops didn’t understand. (I’m a quarter Mick, I can say that “Mick”) I hope those clowns that arrested him are directing traffic now.
I would go shake my fist at the neighbor lady. Idiot!
drgnsldr: My reaction was the same. He’s her neighbor? Had she never seen him before? WTF, lady? Did she assume he was “help” if she had seen him before? Yes, the police handled it badly, but it was her racist ass that started the whole thing.
The first person to come to mind for me was Sidney Poitier. Don’t know why, just popped in there. I know he hasn’t been in anything for quite some time, but he’s a kick-ass actor and he was honored at the Kennedy Center a while back.
The combo of the photo caption and the sub-heading keeps making me laugh, but this is serious business!
Because I already knew where this was going, somehow… (I may be “sykic”) I was thinking Lenny Kravitz for the whole Bank Robber Man thing. I can see maybe not knowing who a professor is, but how can no one not recognize Lenny Kravitz? I’ve never understood that one.
Sykic = Wanda Sykes related?
I must say, I quite enjoyed the Cambridge PD’s press release:
“This incident should not be viewed as one that demeans the character and reputation of Professor Gates or the character of the Cambridge Police Department.”
er, what? you arrest a man in his own fucking house and somehow it’s *his* character that is demeaned?
may you down in flames, cambridge pd. may you down in very hot flames.
I can’t believe the neighbour doesn’t even know who her neighbour is or at least knows what he looks like. And then calls the cops on his ass. Tis a shame. They should publish her name and photo in the paper as she is guilty of being dumb.
Does anyone know what time of day/night this happened?
Because I’m imagining this all occurring in the dead of night, and perhaps his old white lady neighbor just couldn’t tell who was ramming the door? I’m not saying she’s not a racist dumbass. I’m just saying that there’s *possibly* a little room for doubt, depending upon the circumstances.
Also, I lived in Boston for 5 years. When I lived off-campus, I couldn’t have picked half of my neighbors out of a line-up. Anyone who has lived in an east coast city knows the whole “urban blinders” thing. But I lived in a crappy, cheap student-infested part of town where no one stayed in the same place for more than a year or two. I’m guessing the good Dr. Gates has lived there for a while. Ok, the window of doubt for the neighbor is inching closed…
seakat-
it was at 12:30 in the afternoon.
Well, dammit. There goes that theory.
Ok, neighbor lady gets a brick.
The police are not required to jump through hoops. The police are allowed to come on any property to check out a report. Your suggestion that they go throught some long investigation before going up and knocking on a door means that many burglars would be long gone.
runescape money
(shhh! i think we might have a soft-spoken troll! don’t scare it! they’re hard to catch!)
I <3 Cornel West. As drgnsldr said he’s great every time he’s on Real Time with Bill Maher.
I can not read drgnsldr’s name without calling him Dr. Gnsldr in my head. Makes me laugh ALL DAY LONG.
(Editted for relevance) I, too, love powerful black men.
I always read it as “dragon solder” like the metal-working technique. I’m converting to your version, as it’s much funnier.
No disrespect intended, Dragon SoldIer. If it helps, I imagine you as a super-hot dude in desert camo pants and no shirt. :P
um… who suggested that the police need to jump through hoops? exactly what are you talking about?
i’m interested to see where anyone said that.
if a cop comes to my house and says “we got a report of a burglar,” and i say, “oh, i live here… i was just locked out of my house and trying to find a way in”, and they say “show i.d.” and i do so… that should be the end of it.
but, of course, that’s not the end of it for many black folks.
i’m actually surprised and sort of appalled at how many intelligent (white) people i’ve spoken to about it who say stuff like “yeah, well i bet he got uppity, or angry, or he was looking for a fight” and who automatically assume the cops were in the right and gates was in the wrong. wake up, people.
cheers,
stm
and for the record, as between gates’ version of what happened and the version told by the cop who is surely in a shitstorm of trouble and trying to cover his ass and avoid getting sued, yeah, i believe gates.
stm, for those people who are subjected to that not being the end of it, I would refer them to that one show on whatever channel called “The Riches” or something – about white people who take over lives of other people and live in their shit. I’m not sure it’s 100% relevant (irrelevance appears to be par for the course today), but if you squint your eyes it makes sense. Once they refer to that show, they can say, “That ain’t me bro, look for the whitey”
Also, just to play devil’s advocate, here, can you imagine how PISSED Dr. Gates would have been if:
*A neighbor had called in a report that she witnessed someone forcing open the door to his house while the professor was in China
*The police officer TALKED to the robber and believed him when he claimed that it was his house?
Seriously, then we’d be all “What? You think that all black men look alike?? You didn’t even ask for an ID?”
STM – didn’t see your post when I wrote this. I’m reading it now and hope that I haven’t just stirred a pot when it shouldn’t have been stirred. :(
I’ve yet to invent a drink made of gin in order to be called Dr. Gin Slider,I should do that soon though because that name sounds like it should be a double entendre. Or perhaps you guys make me think dirty thoughts, this grunt likes the smart ladies.
Ok, I’ve read stm’s post now.
I totally agree that Dr. Gates should have been able to show his ID and the officer should have apologized for bothering him and it should have ended.
I believe that the fact that Dr. Gates is black resulted in the officer making a snap decision.
Partially because of racial profiling, and yes, partially because the neighbor’s described “two black men” breaking in and, as such, Dr. Gates fit the description of one of the purported robbers.
I can imagine that if you’re tired, cranky and jet-lagged and an officer starts banging on the door and demanding that you PROVE who you are in YOUR OWN HOME, that even the most even-tempered among us would get a little cranky.
Seriously, the point at which the Dr. showed his ID, the officer should have apologized profusely and tiptoed away. TMIMO
seakat-
you know i love when you stir the pot.
:)
I’ll stir your pot anyday, stm.
Wait, that sounds dirty…
haha.
i’m just really appalled that a lot of people in the media and even my friends and whatever don’t seem to get that the only reason the cop pressed gates after gates explained the sitch and showed his harvard i.d. is because he’s black.
the.
only.
reason.
and then it turns into a situation where i feel like my only response is “this is just what it’s like being black in america” which sounds like that old annoying saying “it’s a black thing, you wouldn’t understand” when ultimately, that’s exactly what it is. and then i feel like i’m excluding people of other color (of no color?) from a conversation about race that i desperately want people on this blog, or people in the world in general to have.
this isn’t just me spouting off.
this is me truly and deeply troubled to my core about the state of race relations in this country. troubled to the point that it brings me to tears sometimes.
I’m sorry. :(
it’s not your fault. i’m just depressed.
Now I’m feeling a little teary, myself.
Sorry, hon. Wish I could give you a hug.
thanks, KWL. it’s nothing half a bottle of scotch won’t fix!
I think possibly the worst part about this story is that however the cops were responding to him, the history was there for Gates to assume it was racial profiling. We live in a society where the default expectation of minority groups is that they are being discriminated against–and that’s because most likely they are.
So, no, Dr. Gates can’t just assume that the cops are being extra thorough in doing their job, and thank them for their attention to detail and be calm and joking and invite them into the house (once he gets in) to show them his pictures and things and prove its his, as I might do it if was me. If it was me, my assumption would naturally be that they were just giving me a hard time the way cops to, and treat them cordially to make them be nice and go away.
My cousin would tell me stories about being followed around in a store because she was black. If someone was following me around in the store, my reaction to them would be to make eye contact and smile and see what the issue was…did they think I needed help with something? Did I look familiar to them?
And that’s the part that I can’t relate to because I’ve never been racially profiled, so even my assumptions about why people are approaching me the way they are approaching me are different. It would be laughable to me that anyone would think I was a suspect to anything. I’m a white woman. We just don’t make the suspect rounds that often (which is why they make a big deal about it whenever we do).
Because the moment that assumption is made–by either party–it exponentially grows the racial tension in the situation.
Dr. Gates assumes they are racial profiling him and responds angrily. They assume, because of his race, he is suspect, so they respond defensively. The tension grows and never gets a chance to diffuse.
Me? If they said a white woman was seen breaking into the house (even two white women) I’d be like “yep, totally am, but it’s my house, so…” and laugh and be silly, and…yeah.
It’s like, thanks to all the history on both sides…that’s not even an option.
Random end of the day thought…how deeply racism changes the way people interact. A could-be funny anecdote turns into an anger-inducing situation that makes people everywhere who’ve been there want to cry…
Hobo – SO well-said.
thank you for that, thehobo.
i’ve seriously spent most of the day alternatively pissed off and sad.
and will hopefully spend the rest of the evening drinking my way out of a bottle of glenlivet.
Hobo,
Your post made me put myself in Mr. Gate’s position. Although I’m hispanic, I have not recieved anywhere near the amount of profiling and discrimination because I am very light skinned and practiced english so often that I wouldn’t have an accent. The history of racism in this country runs very deep, but with the exception of the native americans no other race has historically recieved the same level of cruelty. So even though I technically am of color, I have only recieved that discrimination when I have identified myself as hispanic, or when I have been surrounded by my exteneded family(we range from pasty to black and everywhere in between). Add to that the fact that Dr. Gates grew up in the time where the authorities could not be trusted to serve justice, the indignation he recieved from such treatment would put me in a foul state. I can imagine that Dr. Gates very likely handled it better than I could of.
I think it is the honor bound duty of our generation to bridge the gap of suspicion and stereotype no matter how much or little of it is left, that has permeated past the civil rights movement. Not only in regard to race, but to gender and sexual orientation as well. The laws should not have to change in regard to whom merit their protection, we should be looking to the law as a refuge, not an obstacle. Unfortunately, the civil rights acts have been weakened by the xenophobia of the past, and those who wish to further the movements of racial or cultural discrimination are using the holes in the civil rights acts to further their efforts. I think it’s time the word ‘objective’ is placed in the constitution. As in “any discrimination not found to be objective in it’s legal function, form and process is unconstituitional” Nit-picking who gets protection doesn’t get us anywhere, it just makes new scapegoats and doesn’t fix the problem of racism and xenophobia. Few people understand this better than Dr. Gates and his ilk.
i would like to marry the commenters on this blog, straight mormon style. women, men, cats. whatever. i’m marrying all of you.
Hi. My name is Glen. Glen Fiddich.
I approve of this message.
psycho killer! qu’est-ce que gates!
he’s like a black chucky doll!