I don’t consider Obama’s coming-together invitation dangerous. The incident is a product of the apartheid that the neocons have created and are maintaining to build a case for their continuing existence.

I firmly believe that all polarization in our society has been developed and maintained by a combination of neo-conservatives and a corporate media whose profit margin and audience depends on conflict, rile, and spectacle.

That is the dangerous combination we face. It brings a cultural paralysis that neocons savor. It reduces critical issues to sound bites and makes possible the emergence of an empty-headed demagogue like the female equivalent of George W. Bush, Sarah Palin.

Neocon strategy is based on propaganda and probability, certainly not on reason or issues. It’s like quantum-level manipulation of truth to suit your theory.

RobertinWestbury, August 1 at 12:26 am #

Amen and absolutely! This is an issue that demands all persons of conscience to step up and speak out, loudly!

“The president can not even admit that he was wrong, which by the way he has never done. Saying that he should have “better calibrated” his words, what the hell is that.  You calibrate electronic and mechanical equipment, not speech.

Obama’s true colors are showing through. 20 years in the Rev. Wright’s church did have an affect.”

Nonsense! 

There is no call to ‘admit’ you’re wrong when you aren’t wrong.  Gates may have been belligerant, but he broke no law, and posed no threat.  A man’s home is his castle, and if he can’t raise his voice in his own home then how free are we? 

The officer had no call to arrest him.  He was entirely out of line. 

Thus, the police acted stupidly. 

Why in hell would he ‘admit’ he was wrong?  He hit it right on the money… 

When he said he would have better calibrated his words he meant he would have said the same thing with more diplomatic language. 

Personally, I appreciate that he used the language he used… 

This debate to me isn’t so much about race….  it’s more about the abuse of police authority.

Very well written (and thought provoking article).  I originally suspected race was a factor. Then after the first few days of reports I dismissed it in this case and just saw it as a cop wrongly arresting someone because he didn’t like his tone (as some of you say, he got uppity).  I still did not see that as racist because, as someone else pointed out here, that happens to all races.  I’ve seen it happen to white people too.  It’s a matter of the police abusing their authority. 

But this article does point out that Crowley lied about the caller identifying the two men as black.  And when he claimed that he does open himself up to the charge of racism. 

But I do think there are too many people who cry ‘racism’ too quickly, and misjudge people’s actions incorrectly.  I’ll give you an example. 

I love to walk.  But I am a slow walker.  And often when I’m walking on a path or sidewalk and someone is coming up behind me, I’ll step off the path or sidewalk to let them pass.  This prevents them being slowed down, and it prevents me from feeling rushed. 

A year or so ago, it was just dark… and I was walking home from the store.  And I could hear someone coming up behind me.  So, as I usually do, I stepped off the sidewalk to let him/her pass.  I say him/her because I did not know if the person was male/female, black/asian/white/hispanic, child/adult, gay/straight, etc and etc…  And, as I stepped out of the way, I turned sideways, and a young black man passed me.  And as he passed, he said, “What it’s a problem for you to have a black man walking behind you?”  I said, “Nope, I’m just slow and don’t want to slow anyone up.”  And he sort of grunted a “Hmph..”  and kept going. 

But I felt really bad about that.  Why would he just assume I was uncomfortable with him being behind me?  I didn’t even look behind me.  And he had to know that he was gaining on me. 

So, I am not too quick to jump on the ‘racist’ bandwagon when it’s charged.  I think sometimes it’s a matter of someone jumping to that conclusion.

The Rev. Shockley writes:
•  “We now know from her statement and the recordings that Sgt. James Crowley manufactured a conversation with the caller that never took place—using words she never said. Crowley wrote in his report that the witness said “she observed … two black males with backpacks on the porch.””
So, Sgt. Crowley lied, (fabricated a report) just like these guys have been doing since it became illegal to just lynch black folks for being in the wrong place at the wrong time. The Rev. Shockley seems surprised by the fact that Sgt. Crowley didn’t consider the other perfectly valid explanation that the resident of the home was simply trying to enter his home.  No doubt the Sgt DID consider that, and it pissed him off. Why would he make up a police report if he wasn’t covering his racist tracks? (or trying to).

Actually, the Rev. Shockley does get right to the answer there, same as it’s always been…

•  “To show Gates that he had total control over his status, Crowley lured Gates out to the porch, dangling the prospect of restoration with a sly “I’ll speak to you outside.” As soon as he stepped outside, Gates reports, Crowley said, “Thank you for accommodating my earlier request.” He then placed Gates under arrest. Crowley had decided to show Gates the enduring truth of the 1857 Dred Scott decision in which the Supreme Court stated that blacks had “no rights which the white man was bound to respect; and that the Negro might justly and lawfully be reduced to slavery for his benefit.” So for one brief moment, Sgt. Crowley shackled Gates with the chains of history.”

That’s it….in the nutshell of history..

Ardee, thanks for the reply, but I believe that you have missed my point.  I am not being critical of Professor Gates, I am on his side in this debate.  Sargent Crowley was wrong to arrest the professor on his property after ID was produced, and this officer had broken mutual respect by handcuffing Professor Gates after they both stepped outside on the professor’s front porch.  This case—a strong brew of class, culture, race, age, and authority—fermented and into a news event that should have never happened.  Now in the aftermath of this potent drama, updated reports reveal that this Sargent may have padded the truth after all, which has left us with the assumption that he may have felt a need to exercise his authority over an angry and uppity university professor who happens to be black by arresting him.  Yes, race has always been a problem in a number of law enforcement agencies around the country, but racism and prejudice are not only restricted to white officers.  Skin color, poverty, homelessness, and mental illnesses are what I consider to be the four highest categories for police abuse and excessive force.  In the last 3 categories all racial groups have been the recipients of excessive policing, as mentioned earlier by Coloradokarl concerning his dealings with officers. I would have loved to see President Obama use that poignant moment of his meeting with Professor Gates and Sargent Crowley in the Rose Garden as a new beginning in igniting citizens to create and participate in community dialogs focusing on how we can improve race relations in the U.S., especially among law enforcement and the most-vulnerable people.  With that said, would you please free me from the handcuffs now?

Jonathan5052, July 31 at 12:45 am

Racism has been in the U.S. well before it was a country, and there is NO WAY for us to eliminate 400 years of overt racism against minorities in less than a century!
...........................

I am certain you did not mean this to reflect an acceptance of, or an inevitability of, racism in our culture. Yet that is what you seem to come down for, as does every poster who blames Professor Gates’ temper for this incident.

It comes down to nothing more or less than this;” that uppity nigger should know his place when speaking to a white cop”. I am sorry for the strength of my reply but I feel it necessary. Gates stood up for hundreds of years of mistreatment and harassment by the police,and, in fact, by the very culture in which we live.

Had there not been such a history of racism inherent in our institutions the confrontation would not have taken place, but there is and I applaud Gates for refusing to act like a ‘Tom’. Until and unless we the people understand that treating blacks as second class citizens, excusing police prejudices as a part of a difficult and stressful job, perpetuates prejudice, we are doomed to live in the same swamp.

Coloradokarl, great point:

“Losing ones emotions to anger always gets one trouble from police. I have been kidnapped, tortured and generally abused a few times by police and I AM WHITE. Being a Sober hard working taxpayer with a cool head now gives me the edge to take control away from law enforcement (to a point)....”

A police officer’s job is high stress, a macho field.  But had Mr. Gates displayed a calmer attitude with the officer, he might have bypassed an international news story.  I do agree that there is BOTH a class and race thing going on in this country: The incident between Sgt. Crowley and Professor Gates was a mixture of the two, and it’s a shame that so many people no longer get it! As I see it, had the Professor been white, no arrest would have occurred.  A citation, probably, but no arrest. The dominant U.S. culture is still uncomfortable with angry “uppity” black men speaking their minds—no need for us to sugarcoat the issue!  Racism has been in the U.S. well before it was a country, and there is NO WAY for us to eliminate 400 years of overt racism against minorities in less than a century!  The civil-rights movement was marching at its best about 40 years ago, but we continue to deal with Neo-Nazi groups, Klan spinoffs, corporate racism and covert glass ceilings, black-on-black violence, lack of affordable housing for the poor and homeless, increasing gun and gang violence among young people today, excessive imperialism from Washington to the rest of the world, and the rose-colored glass syndrome of the New Right and its supporters, who say it’s no longer about race, it’s all about class!  Why does the ostrich keep burying its head in the sand?  Our President did not do much talking in the Rose Garden with the 3 men at the center of the debate, and every citizen should be actively involved right now in a national discussion on class, race, and the police overstepping their bounds, hosted and emceed by Mr. Obama himself, a man of color who should lead our country into regularly-scheduled town meetings to guide us into finding creative ways to actually improve race relations in “colorblind America,” which, by the way, has never done away with color or made itself blind.

Thank you Rev. Shockley for this erudite article. You’ve described the motivations of the officer extremely well; I only hope you’re wrong about this new “Joe the Plumber” because I really want him to go away. Police cause my blood pressure to rise.

coloradokari, I’m white & have also suffered police abuse. I recommend “Busted: A Citizen’s Guide to Law Enforcement Encounters” on YouTube. We need to be in control and not let the police trick us with their little games.

One comment about whether stepping outside your house increases risk of arrest: sometimes you DO want to step outside (with your key in pocket) and shut your locked door, especially if you’ve guests and perhaps someone has contraband. Shutting & locking the door prevents the excuse of “plain sight” that police like to use to gain illegal entry. Remember the Constitution still provides a greater degree of citizen protection inside their own homes. Often it is better not to step outside: remain calm and weigh the pros and cons carefully.

I smile at the police and speak very respectfully: it’s worked well many times. I know, shocking insincerity…my bad!

Let me second Ardee’s comment, since he is more tactful than I am.  And let me say that Crowley’s explict lying on his report is standard police conduct to justify the unjustifiable.  As all trial attorney’s know, the police lie routinely on the witness stand and one who tells most of the truth is a refreshing change. 

That the Progressive commenters on TD take as gospel Crowley’s assertions, and even the media’s apologetics involving his assertions, indicates the enormous amount of racism and identification with oppressive authority of progressive leaders and truthers.  Which goes a long way to explaining why the American people are so deluded, clueless and braindead.  they are following the lead of Mainstream Progressives, whose presuppositions agree with those of mainstream Conservatives.

Hopefully, while President Obama is having a beer with Professor Gates and Sgt Crowley, President Obama will get to the bottom of just what was going on in Sgt Crowley’s mind that prompted him to arrest Professor Gates in his own home.

This incident could be YOU, or me, or anyone that law enforcement feels the need to put in their place; I do not believe the Gates arrest was about black or white—- I believe that it was and is about power and control, and that enforcement authority exercises power and control for the American Aristocracy and the Professional Middle Class, and that the American Aristocracy and the Professional Middle Class expect the support of law enforcement, and that law enforcement expects the support of the American Aristocracy and the Professional Middle Class, as a quid pro quo for their support of the American Aristocracy and the Professional Middle Class.

Professor Gates expected the police, law enforcement authority, to be public servants and that his rights would be respected as an upstanding member of the public; Professor Gates was wrong, and got caught up in a quid pro quo over power and control—- the real story here is power and control—- and the role of the police law enforcement authority power and control, as a quid pro quo to enable power and control by the American Aristocracy and the Professional Middle Class, over the United States as a whole.

I am most appreciative of this disclosure by Reverend Shockley, especially in the light of the apologists for Sgt. Crowleys actions we find here.

Regardless of whether or not Professor Gates responded angrily to the officer, and any black man in America surely understands such anger, this incident is simply repeated far, far too often around this nation to simply blame Gates’ temper.

hello. this sensitivity to racial bigotry could have deprived my youth of ‘All In The Family’. figures of criminal reality determine the training our police undertake. if you think their training needs to be changed, then say so. it is my opinion this was a staged event to play, as a distracting trump card, when popularity for the risen star was on the wane, and garnering passage of tremendous more tax dollars from the public: was dangerously teetering on the precipice. take away as much attention from health care reform as is necessary to squeak it through.

yes, it’s amazing the number of stories of this sort of false arrest that never include later complaints filed, much less lawsuits or threats of law suits against the police ...

In the pre-civil rights south, minorities were kept silence because the potential retribution for “saying anything” was so great and the actual retribution for any real or perceived “act” was potentially so devastating—Emmett Till, anyone?

I’m doubtful Obama is going to give the nation a refresher course on our constitutionally guaranteed rights ... Instead it’s gonna be Rodney King—Can’t we all just get along—“go along to get along” all the way ...

A great article! If you don’t mind I would like to share a similar situation I have experienced in this so-called post racial country. I bought a house in a predominantly white neighborhood; about a month after moving into the new house, I made the mistake of going for a walk. Ten minutes into my walk a patrol car pulled up behind. The cop asked me, “Is everything, OK?” I asked him, “Why in God’s do you think everything wasn’t OK?” I was growing incensed by the second. I said to him that the only reason why he stopped me is because I am a Black man walking through a white neighborhood. I also made it my point to duty to let them know (hoping the a-hole who made the call was hearing me) that I am a way more upstanding citizen and positive contributor to society than they ever will be. I told them about my service in two branches of the Armed Forces; everything I could think of to let them know that in my mind I was better than they are. Oddly enough, the officer let me vent, and then he said with an awkward smirk, “Look, you really cannot blame me. We got a call that a suspicious man was walking around the neighborhood, so we have to follow up.” He welcomed me to the neighborhood and then he drove off. I turned around and went home. I was upset up to the point where, I wanted to fight both the cop and everyone in the freaking neighborhood. Looking back, I did not handle it well and the cop handled it superbly. He realized the racial profiling involved and he did not want to be a part of it, so he calmed me down and left. Who knows, maybe if he had taken exception to my belligerence, let his ego get in the way, the situation would escalated and I could have be shot.

As a last note, until people stop using race a predictor rather than a descriptor Black males and Latinos will forever be profiled in this country.

I have been lured out of my house and then arrested, I have had a cop lie to a Judge and then of course lost the minor case I had NOTHING to do with. The judicial system never believes the defendant over the cop. Knowing ones rights sets the cop straight in most cases. Losing ones emotions to anger always gets one trouble from police. I have been kidnapped, tortured and generally abused a few times by police and I AM WHITE. Being a Sober hard working taxpayer with a cool head now gives me the edge to take control away from law enforcement (to a point)....