Never let it be said that things don't balance out in this country. They do - even when the imbalance is particularly lopsided.
Even though the incident happened over a year ago, people barely remember it and it lasted only six minutes, a report into the arrest of Harvard professor Henry Louis Gates Jr. by Cambridge police Sgt. James Crowley has been released by the 12-member Cambridge Review Committee, the body commissioned by city leaders to figure out what went wrong.
What they officially found was that both men screwed up; that both could have been a little more cool and that their choice of words could have been different.
So does this mean that every time there is a news-making, racially-tinged police incident we'll get a report telling us how things should have gone? Will there be a play-by-play review of every step and near-step taken?
It's been an entire year, and my opinion stands: the cop harassed Gates in his home and arrested him illegally. I can't say he was maliciously racist, but Gates should never have wound up in cuffs after he had complied with Crowley's request and was not suspected of committing any crime.
Others feel that Gates' belligerent attitude should have got him 50 years hard labor and that Crowley should have been awarded a Medal of Honor for putting the "African American Lives" host in the stockade. Both men feel they are right, and haven't had anything to say about the report, which was released earlier this week.
So it doesn't look like there will be any legal precedents set, no vast changes in the judicial landscape nor beers passed out at the White House. It is what it is and neither man is apologizing.
Since this incident, there have been harsher occurrences between less notable civilians and police that have gotten people knocked on their behinds or has even cost a child its life. There's no telling how or what the good people of Cambridge, Mass., like to spend their tax dollars on. If life is so good there that they can spend it on minor infractions that take up valuable police time, then more power to them.
The rest of us who have to find a way to utilize police for our benefit and work to put any government agency in its proper position within society. But that becomes a joke when a little tiff between a professor and the cops ends up in lager at the White House and a full report from the local government.
25-June-10 - Democratic Congressman Paul Kanjorski is getting heat from Republicans for making comments that sound like he doesn't respect black people.
25-June-10 - Democratic Congressman Paul Kanjorski is getting heat from Republicans for making comments that sound like he doesn't respect black people.
22-June-10 - If you think that Sarah Palin and her Tea Party followers only endorse white Republican wing nut wackjobs, you're wrong. Sometimes she endorses black Republican wing nut wackjobs.
21-June-10 - The children's grandmother and legal guardian, Katherine, recently had a sit-down with U.K. newspaper the Daily Mail and revealed some heart-tugging facts about how her grands (Prince, 13; Paris, 12; and Blanket, 8) still grieve the loss of their famous dad.
18-June-10 - Angela Lowe, the widow of R&B singer Sean Levert, who died suspiciously six days after being jailed back in March 2008, has settled her lawsuit against Cuyahoga County in Ohio and the umbrella company that oversees medical care at the jail.
16-June-10 - I know I'm supposed to be all outraged about the Seattle cop punching the teen in her face because I'm black and stuff like that, HOWEVER, I don't know whether it's because I'm a jaded '80s baby tired of young people's lack of respect for authority or I'm just insensitive, but I think the girls in this video absolutely deserve what they got.
15-June-10 - Jarretta Hamilton is angry and unemployed. The 39-year-old teacher was fired last April because she had sex before marriage and wound up pregnant. Now she has broken her silence and has gone public.
12-June-10 - I am not quite sure what to make of the ruffled YouTube video that is now scouring the web out of Paterson, New Jersey, where an officer inexplicably grabs a man, turns him around and puts pepper spray in to his eyes twice.
11-June-10 - Indianapolis Police Chief Paul Ciesielski called for the firing of a white officer who's been charged with repeatedly striking a 15-year-old biracial boy in the face during an arrest. The attacks allegedly occurred after the boy had been subdued by other officers.
09-June-10 - Gary Coleman's ex-wife, Shannon Price, is up to her post-hubby's-death antics again. As if masterminding the sale of Coleman's pre- and- post-death photos wasn't enough, now the merry widow has managed to get in to Coleman's home and take practically everything that wasn't bolted down! Click Here for the Complete Story
09-June-10 - Todd Bridges, who co-starred with Gary Coleman on the popular sitcom "Diff'rent Strokes,"is livid about both Globe Magazine's and Shannon Price's involvement in Coleman's death photos.
From what I saw of the tape Gates should've been thankful that someone was watching his house.
Here's a man who studies racial issues. Don't tell me he didn't have a chip on his shoulders when that white officer asked for an ID. Gates became belligerent when all he had to do was comply. Maybe Gates was tired, he had just gotten home from traveling, but he was very irritated.
In my home I feel I can address anyone in any fashion I see fit. once it was found out that this was the prof's home the cop should have left , it was obvious Dr. Gates was not a burgler. The real issue here how dare a Black man talk to a white man that way, he should have been a grateful negro, shuffled his feet and yes sir all the while I dont think so .
I agree with you Mr. Gray. I believe that these officers are being TAUGHT this "I'm in charge" attitude in training academies. I've encountered it too many times, heard of it too many times, read about it too many times for it to be a coincidence.
There is a barrier and boundary between the PUBLIC and your home which law enforcement no longer respects or even acknowledge.
gates has issues. clearly. black men need to stop whining every time law enforcement does its job. everyone's not "out to get you". gates could have simply told the officer that his door was jammed and the officer probably would have helped him. who knows? by acting the way he did, gates showed that he is yet another black man with a chip on his shoulder, ready to fight a world which has WAY bigger fish to fry (war, economy, terrorism). if you guys are that sensitive about (perceived) racial profiling, then have your white wives and girlfriends drive you around and jimmy your locks. that'd save law enforcement a headache, and the rest of us as well. in the end, there's no such thing as a bad audience.
Gary I believe you are wrong Dr, Gates was ask to come out on his porch to be arrested. Please review the incident. There were pictures of him accepting awards all thru the house a good cop would have notice .Thank you for being civil after all you and I will never meet so why resort to name calling wait you did call me an idiot and you spelled you're your and I'm a idiot.
I wasn't going to open this article and read it but I already read most of what interest me. I became bored with this story when gates capitulated. The police were out of line, as usual in most places in america but they are representatives of the government and they have their marching orders to keep the people fearful and in check. That is why you do not see hard-core civil disobedience like you see in europe and the rest of the world, in this country, since the "dog-days" of the civil rights era. Stupid, racist police. The ones they need to be watching, like the members of Congress; Wall Street, the corporations,lobbyist, union officials, they ain't watching and they are the real criminals.
Comments: (10)
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By: Ed on 7/01/2010 11:24PM
Gates was wrong,but since he won't man up a commission is appointed and BOTH are found at fault.A dabba da,a dabba dee.
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By: Focus on 7/02/2010 12:14AM
From what I saw of the tape Gates should've been thankful that someone was watching his house.
Here's a man who studies racial issues. Don't tell me he didn't have a chip on his shoulders when that white officer asked for an ID. Gates became belligerent when all he had to do was comply. Maybe Gates was tired, he had just gotten home from traveling, but he was very irritated.
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By: charles on 7/02/2010 7:13AM
In my home I feel I can address anyone in any fashion I see fit. once it was found out that this was the prof's home the cop should have left , it was obvious Dr. Gates was not a burgler. The real issue here how dare a Black man talk to a white man that way, he should have been a grateful negro, shuffled his feet and yes sir all the while I dont think so .
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By: gerald on 7/04/2010 12:42AM
You jerk,I bet when a peace officer ask you a question your mouth will get you in trouble.
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By: MS PEGGY on 7/02/2010 9:23AM
I agree with you Mr. Gray. I believe that these officers are being TAUGHT this "I'm in charge" attitude in training academies. I've encountered it too many times, heard of it too many times, read about it too many times for it to be a coincidence.
There is a barrier and boundary between the PUBLIC and your home which law enforcement no longer respects or even acknowledge.
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By: charles on 7/04/2010 1:45AM
Thank you. finally a voice of reason. I have a feeling some of these other comments were made by the enemy.
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By: Mirza on 7/02/2010 10:00AM
I think that the instances of police abusing their authority are becomming too frequent and something needs to be done about it.
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By: ldm on 7/02/2010 10:45PM
gates has issues. clearly. black men need to stop whining every time law enforcement does its job. everyone's not "out to get you". gates could have simply told the officer that his door was jammed and the officer probably would have helped him. who knows? by acting the way he did, gates showed that he is yet another black man with a chip on his shoulder, ready to fight a world which has WAY bigger fish to fry (war, economy, terrorism). if you guys are that sensitive about (perceived) racial profiling, then have your white wives and girlfriends drive you around and jimmy your locks. that'd save law enforcement a headache, and the rest of us as well. in the end, there's no such thing as a bad audience.
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By: charles on 7/04/2010 1:30AM
Gary I believe you are wrong Dr, Gates was ask to come out on his porch to be arrested. Please review the incident. There were pictures of him accepting awards all thru the house a good cop would have notice .Thank you for being civil after all you and I will never meet so why resort to name calling wait you did call me an idiot and you spelled you're your and I'm a idiot.
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By: rasfanta on 7/04/2010 4:05PM
I wasn't going to open this article and read it but I already read most of what interest me. I became bored with this story when gates capitulated. The police were out of line, as usual in most places in america but they are representatives of the government and they have their marching orders to keep the people fearful and in check. That is why you do not see hard-core civil disobedience like you see in europe and the rest of the world, in this country, since the "dog-days" of the civil rights era. Stupid, racist police. The ones they need to be watching, like the members of Congress; Wall Street, the corporations,lobbyist, union officials, they ain't watching and they are the real criminals.
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