Proof that racism is alive and well Options

[THECHICKEN]

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090722/ap_on_...cholar_analysis

It took less than a day for the arrest of Henry Louis Gates to become racial lore. When one of America's most prominent black intellectuals winds up in handcuffs, it's not just another episode of profiling — it's a signpost on the nation's bumpy road to equality.

The news was parsed and Tweeted, rued and debated. This was, after all Henry "Skip" Gates: Summa cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa graduate of Yale. MacArthur "genius grant" recipient. Acclaimed historian, Harvard professor and PBS documentarian. One of Time magazine's "25 Most Influential Americans" in 1997. Holder of 50 honorary degrees.

If this man can be taken away by police officers from the porch of his own home, what does it say about the treatment that average blacks can expect in 2009?

Earl Graves Jr., CEO of the company that publishes Black Enterprise magazine, was once stopped by police during his train commute to work, dressed in a suit and tie.

"My case took place back in 1995, and here we are 14 years later dealing with the same madness," he said Tuesday. "Barack Obama being the president has meant absolutely nothing to white law enforcement officers. Zero. So I have zero confidence that (Gates' case) will lead to any change whatsoever."

The 58-year-old professor had returned from a trip to China last Thursday afternoon and found the front door of his Cambridge, Mass., home stuck shut. Gates entered the back door, forced open the front door with help from a car service driver, and was on the phone with the Harvard leasing company when a white police sergeant arrived.

Gates and the sergeant gave differing accounts of what happened next. But for many people, that doesn't matter.

They don't care that Gates was charged not with breaking and entering, but with disorderly conduct after repeatedly demanding the sergeant's name and badge number. It doesn't matter whether Gates was yelling, or accused Sgt. James Crowley of being racist, or that all charges were dropped Tuesday.

All they see is pure, naked racial profiling.

"Under any account ... all of it is totally uncalled for," said Graves.

"It never would have happened — imagine a white professor, a distinguished white professor at Harvard, walking around with a cane, going into his own house, being harassed or stopped by the police. It would never happen."

Racial profiling became a national issue in the 1990s, when highway police on major drug delivery routes were accused of stopping drivers simply for being black. Lawsuits were filed, studies were commissioned, data was analyzed. "It is wrong, and we will end it in America," President George W. Bush said in 2001.

Yet for every study that concluded police disproportionately stop, search and arrest minorities, another expert came to a different conclusion. "That's always going to be the case," Greg Ridgeway, who has a Ph.D in statistics and studies racial profiling for the RAND research group, said on Monday. "You're never going to be able to (statistically) prove racial profiling. ... There's always a plausible explanation."

Federal legislation to ban racial profiling has languished since being introduced in 2007 by a dozen Democratic senators, including then-Sen. Barack Obama.

U.S. Rep. Danny Davis, D-Ill., said that was partly because "when you look at statistics, and you're trying to prove the extent, the information comes back that there's not nearly as much (profiling) as we continue to experience."

But Davis has no doubt that profiling is real: He says he was stopped while driving in Chicago in 2007 for no reason other than the fact he is black. Police gave him a ticket for swerving over the center line; a judge said the ticket didn't make sense and dismissed it.

"Trying to reach this balance of equity, equal treatment, equal protection under the law, equal understanding, equal opportunity, is something that we will always be confronted with. We may as well be prepared for it," he said.

Amid the indignation over Gates' case, a few people pointed out that he may have violated the cardinal rule of avoiding arrest: Do not antagonize the cops.

The police report said that Gates yelled at the officer, refused to calm down and behaved in a "tumultuous" manner. Gates said he simply asked for the officer's identification, followed him into his porch when the information was not forthcoming, and was arrested for no reason. But something about being asked to prove that you live in your own home clearly struck a nerve — both for Gates and his defenders.

"You feel violated, embarrassed, not sure what is taking place, especially when you haven't done anything," said Graves of his own experience, when police made him face the wall and frisked him in Grand Central Station in New York City. "You feel shocked, then you realize what's happening, and then you feel it's a violation of everything you stand for."

And that this should happen to "Skip" Gates — the unblemished embodiment of President Obama's recent admonition to black America not to search for handouts or favors, but to "seize our own future, each and every day" — shook many people to the core.

Wrote Lawrence Bobo, Gates' Harvard colleague, who picked his friend up from jail: "Ain't nothing post-racial about the United States of America."

Obviously race related...

[blaarg]

The part of the story that I found to be the most upsetting is when the cop entered the home without Gates' permission -- following him when he went to get his ID. Isn't that illegal?

Also, Gates' holds no grudges for the person who originally called in the break-in. He was on CNN last night for the "Black in America" series, and said that he owes someone a fruit basket.

Finally, I think it was a good point discussing how people find the police officer's report believable as opposed to Gates' perspective. I mulled that over for a while.

[Hartmann]

The part of the story that I found to be the most upsetting is when the cop entered the home without Gates' permission -- following him when he went to get his ID. Isn't that illegal?

Since it was called-in as a burglary it is my understanding that the cop does not need permission because the call is probable cause.

Also, Gates' holds no grudges for the person who originally called in the break-in. He was on CNN last night for the "Black in America" series, and said that he owes someone a fruit basket.

Finally, I think it was a good point discussing how people find the police officer's report believable as opposed to Gates' perspective. I mulled that over for a while.

So wait, he holds no grudges against the person who called-in the break-in but thinks the cops profiled him? Isn't that a little oxy-moronic? "Hey, there's a black man going into that house, better call the police" = good. Cops showing up and arresting someone based on the call and sorting it out at the police station = not good.

What I find interesting is the President commenting on the case and saying "the cops acted stupidly" in arresting Gates. How about we wait until an investigation is done on the conduct of the officers before we start throwing fuel on a potential powder keg?

I honestly think the cop made a mistake in a tense situation, but I do not think he acted the way he did due to racism. Gates also handled this poorly and should have never brought race into the equation. Had he been a white guy and falsely arrested, this story wouldn't even be news.

[blaarg]

So wait, he holds no grudges against the person who called-in the break-in but thinks the cops profiled him? Isn't that a little oxy-moronic? "Hey, there's a black man going into that house, better call the police" = good. Cops showing up and arresting someone based on the call and sorting it out at the police station = not good.

More like "hey there's a man forcing his way into the house, better call the police" which seems reasonable, and Gates understands this. Gates said, while giving an interview, that if someone was breaking into his house at the time he was giving the interview, he would hope the same person would again call police.

[Hartmann]

More like "hey there's a man forcing his way into the house, better call the police" which seems reasonable, and Gates understands this. Gates said, while giving an interview, that if someone was breaking into his house at the time he was giving the interview, he would hope the same person would again call police.

So it's ok for someone to call the police but not ok for the police to question the validity of someone legally being allowed in the house after said phone call?

[Inferia]

So it's ok for someone to call the police but not ok for the police to question the validity of someone legally being allowed in the house after said phone call?

I think the problem here is how the situation was handled after the cops responded to the call. The stories are different between the two parties. Furthermore, the following problem is some people believe the cop's story over that of Gates', which may or may not suggest racial overtones. It is okay for someone to call the cops, it is okay for the cops to respond, but it is not okay for the cops to arrest a guy at his own home without a serious issue, and I think that's what the debate is about.

I'm not sure what the right course of action is for Gates, it seems like the Media likes to pick up on these type of news, especially when it involves someone as prominent as Gates. Though, Gates seem to have done his part to fan the flame, which may or may not be what he should be doing. I think in the end, it does one of many things, one get people to talk about race, this I think is not a bad thing. I understand the need for cohesiveness and an end to divisiveness, and I believe this can not be accomplished without discussing the issues. On the other hand, frequent discussions on differences, may result in a lot of tension, but I think in the long run this may be a more beneficial thing.

I don't know if this is a right analogy, but I always bring up issues we have in the relationship with my boyfriend. He doesn't, or didn't I should say, want to deal with for a long time. In the end, I think he felt too that it was important to deal with it earlier on than later when it might be too late or more difficult to deal with. Of course, our issues are private and personal, so it's not something that's worth going to the media about. But there are issues that are important, and prevalent in society. Maybe Gates is too quick in deducing this down to a race-based issue, but that means it's also too quick to deducing it down to not a race-based issue... I don't know when the "right" time it is to talk about this, but I guess it's happening now, so that's why people are talking about it.

[Hartmann]

I think the problem here is how the situation was handled after the cops responded to the call. The stories are different between the two parties. Furthermore, the following problem is some people believe the cop's story over that of Gates', which may or may not suggest racial overtones. It is okay for someone to call the cops, it is okay for the cops to respond, but it is not okay for the cops to arrest a guy at his own home without a serious issue, and I think that's what the debate is about.

I'm not sure what the right course of action is for Gates, it seems like the Media likes to pick up on these type of news, especially when it involves someone as prominent as Gates. Though, Gates seem to have done his part to fan the flame, which may or may not be what he should be doing. I think in the end, it does one of many things, one get people to talk about race, this I think is not a bad thing. I understand the need for cohesiveness and an end to divisiveness, and I believe this can not be accomplished without discussing the issues. On the other hand, frequent discussions on differences, may result in a lot of tension, but I think in the long run this may be a more beneficial thing.

I don't know if this is a right analogy, but I always bring up issues we have in the relationship with my boyfriend. He doesn't, or didn't I should say, want to deal with for a long time. In the end, I think he felt too that it was important to deal with it earlier on than later when it might be too late or more difficult to deal with. Of course, our issues are private and personal, so it's not something that's worth going to the media about. But there are issues that are important, and prevalent in society. Maybe Gates is too quick in deducing this down to a race-based issue, but that means it's also too quick to deducing it down to not a race-based issue... I don't know when the "right" time it is to talk about this, but I guess it's happening now, so that's why people are talking about it.

I agree with your post but do have an issue with considering what Gates is doing as "discussing the issue" as he is more of accusing rather than discussing. And for the President to insert his opinion before an investigation is done is completely inappropriate and does nothing to add to the "discussion".

Your analogy is a good one though and I agree that it is too soon to say it wasn't a race based issue, just like it's too early to say it is.

There is definitely racism in the U.S. but there is also self-segregation and reverse racism (New Hampshire firefighters). My wife sees the self-segregation everyday at work and in part blames the education system. We have made race so important when taking tests and applying for college because the data on the back end is so important (funding, accredidation, etc.) that race is still a focus. The recent stats that show more mixed racial children being born makes me wonder what the future holds. At what point do we stop caring about race on a form?