It's "Some Black Guy"
This Henry Louis Gates arrest story has just preempted my Michael Vick post, but I guess Vick can wait, seeing as he isn't likely to be doing a whole lot just yet after getting his ankle bracelet off yesterday.
I read the Gates arrest police report earlier, but after chairing a grand jury last year, I figured I might want to wait until more information came out. I went to The Root right away, because you might as well call it "The Blog Skip Gates Built", but nothing was there - my man The Field Negro must have popped over there right when they were finally posting a statement from the Good Post Hole Digger's people.
So we've got two stories. And you know how these "he said, he said" deals work.
Except...
...about three months ago, when the kitchen sink stopped up one evening, I walked over to the neighbor's house to my right in that dusky hour before it got completely dark and knocked on their front door. My neighbors on both sides each have fully stocked professional tool chests, which I have come to see as a sort of tool "library" if you will, places where I could check out specialized tools, like the pipe wrench I was looking for that evening to loosen a too tight coupling underneath our sink.
I knocked once on the door of the house on the right, waited a few seconds, then knocked again. I stood there in front of the full length glass panels that flanked their solid wood door until I figured they must not have been home. The other neighbor answered right away, probably to escape for a few seconds the crying child I'd heard wailing when I knocked on their door, and produced the massive wrench I was looking for in seconds.
I was underneath the sink in the kitchen five minutes later, about to unscrew the u-shaped joint under the sink, when the doorbell rang. S. was doing something that made me the closest one to the door, so I got up, dried my hands, and trudged reluctantly to the front door.
The woman of the house to my right stood there, her feline Puerto Rican eyes flashing concern. "Is everything alright?"
"No," I said. "The damn sink is stopped up."
She turned and yelled to her husband, a white, Seattle bred tree hugger who is nonetheless a pretty nice guy, "they're okay."
Now I was confused. As the husband walked up to the door, the wife explained. "I saw someone at the door earlier. When my husband asked me who it was, I said 'its some black guy.' It didn't come to me that it might be you until after you'd left. Then we wondered why you would be knocking on our door - we wondered if it was an emergency - so we came over."
The husband laughed sheepishly. "I sent my wife to the door. I stood back just in case someone needed to run for help."
I've lived next door to these people since 2006. We don't have as intimate a relationship as we had with our last set of neighbors, who could give us a running account of who was at our house, how long they stayed, and what kind of car they drove, even if it was in the middle of the night. But I make small talk with these people - with the husband at least twice a week while he's outside, and with the wife whenever I run into her, which is a few times a month.
Yet I was "some black guy", just like that.
I guess Dr. Gates has even less of a relationship with his neighbors than I do with mine if one of them can not only mistake him for a burgular, but sustain this belief long enough to call the police, and THEN refuse to intervene when it becomes obvious that the black man in question is the actual owner of the house.
If I was Dr. Gates, I'd save my indignance for her trifling ass.
Gates is probably never home. Probably has a gardener to do his yard, a handyman to do the little things that need doing around a house. Probably gets his car washed at a local detailer. His neighbor may have had a better chance to get to know him through his TV specials than by speaking to him across the hydrangea bush.
But unless she moved there in the last month or two, it's mighty mighty hard to believe that she had NO IDEA what he looked like. Mighty, mighty damn hard.
Me?
I trim our hedges, tackle a few of the things that need to be done outside (so long as they aren't too high off the ground) and wash the cars myself, often while smoking a cigar. Actually, most of the stuff I do outside is while smoking a cigar.
So my neighbors, like it or not, see me and smell my stogie while they are walking the dog, going out to dinner, or welcoming guests into their homes.
My neighbors really had no excuse, even if it was approaching dark, to claim that they had mistaken me for someone else, not with the large, distinctive head shape I've got.
I believe there is something ugly going on between Gates and his neighbor, possibly something that he may not even be aware of.
I'll start the bidding at "she hates his highly educated, often celebrated Afro American guts, and wishes with a blazing fervor that he would just carry his black ass back to West Virginia, or whatever African country his DNA says his ancestors came from."
And Doc, the next time the cops show up, SHOW THEM YOUR I.D. OFF THE RIP!
My Famous Post Hole Digger friend, we've got a long way to go, not only here in America, but around the world, to get to where we actually start living those ivory tower ideals you like to talk about when you are on PBS.
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I just found out a friend of mine, working for a medium-sized company headquartered outside Philly, senior to his colleagues by a few years, the only black guy in the organization, has been paid thousands less than everyone else in his department- all new white hires he had to train. The HR lady is a dittohead shrew, which may be incidental but I'd put her in the illustration.
It never would have come out if the company weren't being merged into one of the biggest companies in the world, and now he has to know it forever. I'm sympathetic to Dr. Gates, I'm glad he refused to show identification, and I'm glad he was arrested for 'exercising authority to enter one's property while black.' I'm also glad the shrew's tenure is coming to an end because she's useless to the new employer. My buddy is essential.
I want to thank the other Barack Obama supporters for helping to force some of these stories into higher positions on earlier pages. This race thing is like a sea monster, with dorsal fins breaking the surface here and there, and I don't think society has had the catharsis yet. Like Republican solutions, we punt.
July 21, 2009 9:20 AM | Reply | Permalink
The Gates breaking into your own home issue and compensation issue pointed out by Joe Monster are things most Whites do not consider. I remember a boss telling me that the financial person had argued that my salary should be lower because I was a bachelor and could live on less money. No other bachelor apparently met my special classification so race likely played a role. The boss happened to be an American Indian and had faced similar issues in his own career. He made sure I got much more than the standard because I was hired for a special skill set.
I made sure to pay attention to those details when I became the boss. Many financial people run the same game on minorities and women.
The Gates experience extends to times when workmen come to your house and automatically assume that you are hired help, not the owner.
July 21, 2009 12:04 PM | Reply | Permalink
Gates grew up in Piedmont, WV, and I lived near there, in a profoundly rural setting, for 20 years. The local community was proud of Gates achievements. I have followed his career for decades. He is an acute observer with a sardonic wit.
He once wrote that when he comes into a room, people still see his 'blackness', not his 'Gatesness', or his 'literaryness'. I guess even when he is in his own home, the cops still see only his 'blackness' and not his 'AP' ness or his 'UPI' ness or his 'Sharpton'ness. Let it be a teaching moment for Cambridge.
A friend of mine who is a retired State cop told me that in cop culture, cops are trained to look for two types of people, citizens--who are well mannered and law observing and deserving of protection and respect--and jerks, who are bad acting skoff-laws who are deserving of harrasment and need to be taught to respect authority. According to my friend, cops are always evaluating their situation in terms of citizen or jerk? If Skip Gates had simply explained the situation in quiet tones and immediately offered his ID, probably he never would have been arrested. But he was pissed, and he gave them some attitude, and the cop on the porch had the little toggle switch that went from 'citizen' to 'jerk' and the handcuffs came out. You should not have to offer ID either on the street OR in your own home--but the 'probable cause' issue gives police a LOT of latitude--and yes, if you raise your voice to them they can and will bust you.
July 21, 2009 12:10 PM | Reply | Permalink
With all due respect, your retired state cop friend may well be unaware of his (and his co-workers') unconscious bias. If gates had been white, his behavior may have been excused as "arrogance," but in a black man was perceived as "attitude."
July 21, 2009 1:04 PM | Reply | Permalink
My retired State cop friend is black. We weren't talking about racial profiling, which is a serious problem--but how to behave in an interaction with a cop to avoid getting a traffic ticket or worse, getting arrested.
I have two brothers, both white, who have been drug out of their homes on separate occasions and STOMPED by cops because the cops were investigating a noise complaint and my brothers were drunk and expressed 'arrogance' to the investigating officers. One brother ended up in the hospital after being denied medical treatment for 6 hours, and the other charged with assault on a police officer,and convicted, even though witnesses testified in court that he had not touched the officers or threatened them, merely asked about why they were at his door. These were separate incidents 20 years apart.
July 21, 2009 1:14 PM | Reply | Permalink
A friend had a prowler at his window watching his wife. She called the cops while he went outside with a baseball bat. The cops showed up, and their main interests seemed to be whether he had any pot plants growing inside and what exactly he was planning on doing with the baseball bat.
A friend walking home just after midnight on a fairly well-lit boulevard in a not a too poor area near a university and a restaurant strip, and a guy tries to grab her, starts chasing her, she's running in the middle of the street, he's yelling "you can't get away", he catches up to her grabs her leather jacket and she slips out and gets home to safety. She can describe him, the direction he ran. The police instead spend 45 minutes asking her why she was walking home alone (she had a fight, if it's any of their business) and the usual inane discussions of what she was wearing. So a bit more than an hour after the attack, probably 55 minutes after they were called, they start cruising the area to see if they can find the suspect. 911's a joke.
July 22, 2009 7:12 AM | Reply | Permalink
It is so sad it's pathetic. It is a problem as old as civilization itself. Who guards the guardians? Who protects us from the protectors.
15 years ago my oldest son was living with a woman who had--shall we say, a tempestuous nature--she was mad at him about something, and physically assaulting him--hurling everything at him that was not tied down, and he was trying to calm her down--and the cops showed up-the neighbor in the apartment next door had called it in. My son was standing there bleeding, covered with bruises, and they took him away for domestic violence and refused to let him get medical attention till my wife showed up and threatened to litigate, hours later. It was inconceivable to them that a woman might abuse a man in a domestic partnership. Stories like this are legion.
July 22, 2009 7:35 AM | Reply | Permalink
CHARGES DROPPED!!!!!
http://www.talkingpointsmemo.com/news/2009/07/charge_dropped_against_henry_louis_gates_jr.php?ref=fpc
July 21, 2009 1:12 PM | Reply | Permalink
That is what I thought. The neighbor has o idea what Gates looks like? How isolated are we becoming?
July 21, 2009 4:48 PM | Reply | Permalink
I had a similar incident in Los Angels neighborhood. But before I explain this we all know the Los Angeles Police department has a reputation.
It was the election of 1988. Poppy Bush was on the ballot for president. I was so excited to be voting--not for Poppy Bush. The ballot box was in my mostly black neighborhood. I cast my vote successfully and started my way to the bus stop. I was young and I couldn't afford a car , the RTD--Rough Tough and Dangerous (as it was called at that time) was my only escape.
It was a rather cool November evening. I can't remember if I was wearing a jacket or night but I had to move around to keep my circulation going to keep warm.
I noticed that unmarked Los Angeles police cars started circling the block. On one of their circles they headed toward me. I was standing in front of 7-11. Somewhere in their heads they came up with I was trying to rob the store. That wasn't good enough. They stopped the car, jumped with weapons drawn, and my face was smashed into the hard cement. All I remember was get down or we'll shoot.
I was suspected of robbing a the 7-Eleven. As I was on the ground, they said, we watched you and you looked like you were about to rob that store. After finding no gun (not even a weapon), the story changed. I looked like I was high and or selling drugs. Wrong on both accounts. I was livid. I got up off the ground and confronted the LAPD who had made such a stupid mistake. I asked for this badge number. I told him he better get his commanding office out there, NOW! I made sure that I let him know that I worked with a law firm and they would here from me.
Oh the police and their infinite wisdom!
By the way I read the Field Negro all the time!
July 21, 2009 5:02 PM | Reply | Permalink
Yeah, I was once driving a beat up van in not the greatest neighborhood late at night, this car was right on my ass for some time, very close, I decided to make some distance, not too fast but enough to get the point, and then the lights went on. "Why are you driving fast?" "Because it's a dangerous neighborhood and some unknown car was tailing me for several blocks." Show ID, etc. "Why were you so close to me?" "We had a report about a van. Now get out of here." Note the warmth and respect.
I once got stopped by police with another guy late at night at a bus stop in Vegas. Our crime? Dressed too nice and the wrong complexion to be taking the bus. Reverse profiling at its best.
July 22, 2009 7:46 AM | Reply | Permalink
If it you makes you feel any better a friend of mine and I were pulled over in Jersey one night on the way home from a jazz club in Philly. Sven was driving and Rt. 70 jogged to the right about 10' at one spot. The driver of the car next to us, evidently new to the road, over corrected and came into our lane and Sven had to jerk the wheel to the right to avoid getting sideswiped. The cop must have only seen the last move and the next thing we knew the cherries were lit up behind us.
Sven was a 60 year old Dane with a pronounced accent. The officer, a kid in his 20s who had probably never been out of NJ, asked him his name and chuckled in disbelief, as if he was sure Sven was drunk when he replied "Sven Hansen".
He was about ready to get him out of the car and give him a breathalyzer, or make him hop on one leg or some stupid trick, when I explained to him, "Officer he's Danish, that's how he talks and Sven is how his name is pronounced." At which point he shined the flashlight in my eyes and asked me too if I'd been drinking. I told him I had a couple of beers since dinner, not that it mattered, neither of us were drunk, and I wasn't driving anyway. Disgruntled he wasn't going to make his quota he let us go with a warning.
I hate to generalize but some cops aren't the sharpest knives in the drawer.
Years ago Miles Davis's manager had to call the Malibu police dept to tell them there's a black man who lived in town, who owned a Ferrari, he's Miles Davis, a famous jazz musician and he'd appreciate it if they'd stop pulling him over every time they saw him in his car.
The NJ State Police just last year came off 10 year long federal monitoring by consent decree with the U.S. Department of Justice for racial profiling. One of the witnesses was a black dentist who'd get pulled over every morning on his way to work driving on I-95. Every morning. I'd want these clowns to consent to bringing me donuts at my office every day if they pulled that crap on me.
July 21, 2009 6:23 PM | Reply | Permalink
Perhaps the difference is that I, like Mr.Gates, was in my own neighborhood. It was simple. The police could have avoided the whole situation by asking me for id and after seeing the id ask me what I was doing on that corner. I would have told them I just finished voting. I would have shown them proof of my claims. Instead they leap to conclusions based in racist assumptions.
I almost got shot that night.
July 21, 2009 6:55 PM | Reply | Permalink
Those cops sound like real creeps. Stupid ones at that 1849. You're evidently standing at a bus stop in front of the 7-11, as noticeable to them as they are to you as they drive by. Waiting for a bus and hopping up and down to stay warm isn't behavior anybody would normally associate with getting ready to rob a store.
July 21, 2009 7:35 PM | Reply | Permalink
Seconded. Guess they got their training watching Starsky and Hutch, or maybe Bad Lieutenant. Certainly too stupid to be on the force. And if they were trying to arrest people breaking into 7-11's, they certainly blew it by intercepting someone before a crime had been committed.
July 22, 2009 7:53 AM | Reply | Permalink
My favorite encounter with the police - once some friends and I were speeding to a concert in another town and we were late. The cop pulled me over, and I told him sheepishly, yes officer, I know, too fast, trying to get to the concert, will slow down. The cop asked if I was with some blue car that they saw ahead. "Yes sir" I lied, thinking that maybe they'd let us go not wanting to ruin our concert with friends. I quickly gulped that hope down when he got on the horn and put out an APB for a blue vehicle "suspected to have weapons in the trunk". Don't know where he pulled that one out of, the only thing we had in our trunk was wet ski equipment. Never underestimate the imaginations of our men in blue.
July 22, 2009 8:00 AM | Reply | Permalink
You know I really was thinking along those lines. It has amazed me that none of the stories I was hearing about this incident went into any detail regarding the caller who dialed 911. Who is this person? Does she/he live in the neighborhood? If so, for how long? I understand that a community is supposed to look out for itself but I think this incident, although it might not be that rare, may highlight some of the basic failures within our community and culture. If this officer was truly an officer of this community maybe just maybe he would know this community and the people that make it up. And if that was not possible maybe just maybe the officer could deduce that the situation was one of mistake. Maybe just maybe we could have officer that choose to go down a path of non-escalation. Maybe we need to here an officers portrayal, maybe a whole bunch but I, although I am white, have witnessed and experienced police not following procedure and/or escalating a situation. I realize they have a tough job but I think the fact that their motto is "to protect and serve" and the fact that I do not know my officer/officers for my neighborhood speaks volumes about our community and its culture. I don't believe we need a big overburdening government but we do need a wise government. One that understands and has discourse about how best to achieve "more perfect union" We need more involvement, more discussion and decisiveness, and a culture which celebrates inclusiveness and difference.
July 21, 2009 6:31 PM | Reply | Permalink
I don't know about this whole post...my personal experience, well...I was coming home from college, admittedly, unexpectedly. Didn't call ahead, it wasn't a holiday weekend or anything, just wanted to see the family. I didn't at the time have a key for the (new) house, so I rang the bell.
Inside the house, I heard my father say, "Who is it?"
My own mother replied, "It's some Chinese guy!" I said, "Hey it's me!"
Upon proving that I was indeed their oldest son I was let into the house. At which time, the dog my sisters had acquired at summer camp, bit me.
Who was it that said, "Family are the people who have to take you back?
July 21, 2009 8:25 PM | Reply | Permalink
Read "The Misunderstanding" by Albert Camus. Quite a pleasant little story.
July 22, 2009 6:13 AM | Reply | Permalink
Follow that with 'In the Penal Colony', by Kafka. Happy days!
July 22, 2009 8:15 AM | Reply | Permalink
Sounds like this incident is just unfortunate. While Gates might not like being subjected to questioning in his own home, police received a call and were bound to investigate it. And to ask him for identification lest they walk away leaving a burglar in someone's house.
Have you ever attempted to break into your own house? Looks kinda suspicious to everyone but you. Funny that, for a smart guy, he didn't think of that before losing his temper.
July 21, 2009 11:55 PM | Reply | Permalink
I like Diogenes Jr.'s remarks because I am interested in how to avoid getting beaten, electrocuted or killed by police.
Police are trained to control "the" situation. But the door of a home provides ambiguity because persons are still assumed to have some freedom from coercion in their own homes. So police logically want people to step outside. It seems to me that relinquishing what little presumption of protection we have by remaining inside is reasonable precaution.
As I write this my wallet is in front of me at my desk. If a police officer were to arrive at my door, and I knew it was the police I probably would be sure to take my wallet. However if it was just a knock on the door, I don't think I would. In that case the police demand to produce identification would necessitate police entry into the house to retrieve my papers.
Submitting to police domination is the requirement of our law and society. Diogenes Jr. suggests that it may improve our chances of not being harmed if we submit immediately. I think he's right about that, but our chances of being harmed are still great.
Surely race is a factor in this situation. The many comments on blogs about what a "jerk" Gates is seem to me illustrative of that. There seems no tension over a police officer entering ones home demanding several forms of identification.
From Sgt. Crowley's report it seems surprising that Crowley entered the home without back up. I doubt that's standard procedure and it suggests that the officer felt threatened in no way by Gates. When backup arrived they entered the house as well and from Sqt. Crowley's own report it's then that Crowley escalated the situation telling Gates he would talk to him only outside and when Gates went to the porch Crowley arrested him.
The charge was disorderly conduct: Gates behavior was tumultuous. Being outside where others could see Gates was important to make that stick.
Sgt. Crowley is surely well trained, but entering the home without back up seems a mistake, especially when Gates was plainly visible to him from the glass beside the door. His entering the house uninvited unnecessarily escalated the situation. Then knowing that Gates was the legal resident in his home--Gates having produced two forms of picture identification when demanded--Crowley seems to have lacked discretion in arresting Gates.
Gates should not have stepped out of his door. But it seems clear to me who was the biggest jerk in this situation.
July 22, 2009 1:10 AM | Reply | Permalink
I didn't quite call Gates a jerk, I called him a bit of an idiot, especially for not recognizing that a house broken into and reported is still a break-in to a cop responding, no matter that Gates is the one that broke in and lives there. From various peoples' stories, we've established that Gates is a bit naïve in thinking that cops are nice to non-blacks.
July 22, 2009 1:22 PM | Reply | Permalink
Umm,folks, the woman who fingered Gates wasn't a neighbor. She wasn't even a local. Just happened to be walking down the street at the time. Got it off of NPR's Morning Edition. I'm not defending her leap to a stupid conclusion, I'm just saying she's not the only one, apparently, capable of that feat.
July 22, 2009 1:15 AM | Reply | Permalink
Did Gates show his ID as he and his spokesman state, or did he refuse getting angry as the AP apology story seems to imply?
There are quite a few white people around here who break into homes - actually, they like apartment buildings and are quite able to clean out all the apartments in one go. I would certainly hope if someone saw a white person jimmying his way into my apartment they would call the police to verify that that person jimmying is in fact me.
The idea of arresting who did show ID, whether they were angry or not, swearing or not, would be very stupid indeed, short of actual assault on an officer. Of course in the days of tasering, we seem to have made police over the Constitution, and talking back is a criminal offense, or at least enough to get you taser stunned and possibly taser-killed.
Did the arresting officer refuse to provide name and badge number? I imagine that officers take this as a kind of threat, and they shouldn't be allowed to. Some posters elsewhere were saying he could get it from the dispatcher or police report, but sometimes these are mistakes and they can be covered up. When danger is cleared, officers should identify themselves.
July 22, 2009 6:59 AM | Reply | Permalink
You always have to consider the psychology of cops, and the role of cop culture. The type of personality that wants to wear the uniform, carry a gun and a badge, has mixed motives. People are stinkers, and give them the authority of the state and a tazer and there is automatically a volatile situation.
I was driving home from a meeting after work one evening where I had a coule of drinks. A couple. I wasn't drunk, I was on a rural road, and I was over the speed limit when a cop passed me going the other way. He hit his lights, but before he had time to stop and turn around, I beat it down the road and passed a few cars to get some distance between us. Well he caught up with me, passing around curves and up hills to do it, and when I pulled over, he approached the car one step at a time with his service revolver in his outstretched hands. Step out of the car! Lie down! Place your hands behind your head. Once he saw I was unarmed and determined I wasn't a fugitive from justice, he proceeded to give me a field sobriety test--as I was balancing on one leg touching my nose--my wife and kids drove by! The cop didn't take me in. My kid came running up to see what was going on, and you could see the cops whole psychology change in a minute. Once he realized the trouble I was in at home, he became sympathetic, and let me off with a warning. He could have written several tickets. At no time was I belligerent or surly--but cordial and cooperative.
Look at the high speed chases cops undertake--they LOVE to play that 'Cop Game', they LIVE for a little action, and the chance to be the big hero, defeat evil, prove their mettle--and if you do ANYTHING to suggest that you want to play the Cop Game, too--brother, you are in for it. And it is hard to turn that psychology around.
July 22, 2009 7:49 AM | Reply | Permalink
I must say, Gates is a bit of an idiot. From what he's describing, he and his driver were messing with the door trying to jimmy it open, he got in the back, the door was still stuck and the driver used his shoulder to pop the door open. So to an observer, it might look one helluva lot like a break-in.
http://tpmcafe.talkingpointsmemo.com/talk/blogs/oleeb/2009/07/im-glad-prof-gates-got-arreste.php
Well, Mr. Harvard Professor, this part of the narrative I'm sure was true: "A house was just reported broken into, the front door is broken in, and the guy inside I just ran into would likely be the one who did it."
So what was the cop's first big sin - he asked Gates to come outside ("would you step outside on the porch", instead of asking if there's a problem. Sorry, I think cops try to get anyone out of the house to be safer in finding out if anything's going on. Black or white. (I don't recall any cop ever being very polite on introduction, "how's the weather? you live here?") And the front door seemed to look like a front door broken open because it was.
So he does show him his ID, refuses to answer another question by the cop, doesn't say what it was. And then he asks for the cop's name and identification, that he wanted to file a complaint:
Yes, he would have done it if you were a white person. Cops are pretty good at distrusting and disliking anybody.
I don't approve of taking Gates in - even if he were yelling at them - and I don't approve of the officer not identifying himself or the other officer not identifying him - *ONCE* the danger of potential break-in has been defused. I don't think a police officer has an obligation to identify in the middle of an emergency. However, asking should not bring tasing or arrest.
July 22, 2009 7:47 AM | Reply | Permalink
Crap, I pasted the wrong link.
Here's Gates on his arrest:
http://www.theroot.com/views/skip-gates-speaks?page=0,1
July 22, 2009 8:48 AM | Reply | Permalink
Thanks for that. It's an interesting interview. Even though it's clear that, with his bronchial infection, it is unlikely he was raising his voice, it is clear that he played into the whole 'cops and robbers game' by accusing the cop of acting in an improper and racially motivated manner--and the cop probably felt a little intimidated by that and probably also wanted to make him suffer for making him feel intimidated. There is a time and a place to 'fight for your rights'. Skip grew up in a community where everybody knew everybody. His behavior suggests that he did not know the dance moves anyone has to make when confronted with that kind of power inequity. When I, an unarmed man, is facing an officer of the law with a pistol, I demure. I don't accuse him of misbehavior and threaten to have his badge. That is one my top ten list of things no to do.
July 22, 2009 10:18 AM | Reply | Permalink