Racism Charges Bogus

The issue surrounding the arrest of Dr. Louis Gates, Jr., has escalated beyond reason. Big Media get to report the story any way they want, and they want to make sure that virtually everything points to racist profiling by police brutes. Except CNN's report yesterday already disclosed some details about the incident. I notice that tonight's photos are carefully cropped for the television audiences, showing a white police officer arresting a distressed black man. But look at the wider view taken from the CNN account. Sgt. Crowley is far from the only police officer present, and not all of them are white.

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Gates had just returned from a trip to China when a police officer responded to a call about a potential break-in at his home that was phoned in by a white woman. According to the police report, Gates was in the foyer when the officer arrived.

The officer asked Gates to "step out onto the porch and speak with me," the report says. "[Gates] replied, 'No, I will not.' He then demanded to know who I was. I told him that I was 'Sgt. Crowley from the Cambridge Police' and that I was 'investigating a report of a break in progress' at the residence.

"While I was making this statement, Gates opened the front door and exclaimed, 'Why, because I'm a black man in America?' "

According to the report, Gates initially refused to show the officer his identification, instead asking for the officer's ID. But Gates eventually did show the officer his identification that included his home address.

"The police report says I was engaged in loud and tumultuous behavior. That's a joke," Gates told The Root. "It escalated as follows: I kept saying to him, 'What is your name, and what is your badge number?' and he refused to respond. I asked him three times, and he refused to respond. And then I said, 'You're not responding because I'm a black man, and you're a white officer.'" -- CNN, 7/22/09

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Big Media makes a big deal out of the typical stuff: Mild-mannered black university professor & family man hounded and handcuffed by big, bad police. What they conveniently leave out are picky things like: Why should Sgt. Crowley know or recognize who Professor Gates is? No police officer knows who is going to pull out a weapon - age and location of the suspicious person does not necessarily have a bearing. Why didn't Professor Gates simply cooperate from the start? After all, the Cambridge Police were there on the basis of thwarting a crime. Is that such a terrible thing? Especially since it was Professor Gates's home they were ultimately protecting?

Maybe folks (no race attachment) who exhibit unwarranted, arrogant, provocative behavior against the police should be put on a do-not-respond list for a couple of months, during which time the local police department get to ignore any calls for assistance to that residence. They don't want to stir a riot, after all.

(Photo: the arrest of Professor L. H. Gates, Jr.)