I listened carefully to our president's press conference held at 8PM ET on the topic of health care. I was impressed by his attention to detail and his careful and compassionate analysis of the American health care crisis. He had me. He captured my attention, until the end. He had me until the last question which [seemed designed] dealt not with health care but with an isolated incident that spoke to the arrest of a Harvard professor named Henry Gates, or "Skip" as the president calls him.
I was astonished when the President of the United States criticized the Cambridge police, calling them "stupid" for arresting "Skip." He said he was not there, so he really does not know what happened. The fact is Professor "Skip" forgot his keys, and had to "jimmy" his way into his house. A neighbor called, and cops responded, as they should. They confronted "Skip" and he provided identification. Well, so far so good, but it didn't end there. On the contrary, "Skip" chased the officers, who were satisfied that he was not a burglar, out into the yard and continued to scream at them accusing them of being racists, bigots, and etc. He was out of control, and he was playing the race card. It had nothing to do with race. The police were doing their job and the situation got out of control through no fault of their own. The only party acting "stupidly" here was "Skip" Gates. He should have been shaking the hands of the cops who risked their lives to protect people and property; in this case his property.
The police should not be expected to tolerate behavior that goes beyond the extreme. It matters not to me that Professor Gates is a black man. I am neither a racist or a bigot and my writings will reflect that sentiment, however, this is a case of Professor Gates being black. It has nothing to do with a fair assessment of the facts. The fact is if Gates were white this would not have been news. That is what bothers me about America. There is discrimination on both sides of this fence and in this case the Cambridge police were doing their job. The president should never have commented on an isolated case such as this. It does nothing but feed the right wing crazies in the country and alienate our first responders. I am disappointed in our president. This question should never have been raised and certainly should not have been answered in a forum that spoke to health care and the economy....MM
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I'm disappointed in the 'right' that they wouldn't defend a mans right to free speech in his own home.
ReplyDeleteThe police acted stupidly.
Without having observed the incident, we can only offer opinion based on the version of the story we hear and our own experience. Reading your version,I absolutely concur with your conclusion.I also read a different version which IMO reinforces the negativity. It's my understanding that Gates walks with a cane. If this is so it might cast doubts on the "chase into the yard" version. I've been on the other side too many times to count,profiling is a fact of life. some cops are businesslike, others are jerks. I don't know which category the Cambridge officer falls into. But there's certainly a possiblity that the cop did indeed act stupidly. my opinion.
ReplyDeleteTo clarify if I might-when I say profiling is a fact of life, it's with the understanding that minorities probably DO commit more crimes. So the reason for profiling is logical. Generally cops are experienced and smart enough to very quickly size up the situation, hand your ID right back and say have a nice day. It's the one out of ten or maybe one out of twenty times when they aren't businesslike, when they make racial remarks and when it happens in front of your family,which causes the resentment. That resentment might carry over to the next stop and a businesslike cop will be treated with a lack of respect. That's wrong too, but the thing is that while us private citizens are often jerks we are generally powerless jerks. A copy has to hold himself to a higher standard. To me, maybe they don't weed out the bad apples as much as they could. I know they stick together and with that type of job you almost have to, but I think they really could do a better job of getting the bad apples out.
ReplyDeleteRespectfully,
Al "Oso" Osorio