The airwaves are filled with the news that the esteemed Dr. Gates, a Professor at Hahvad don't ya know, was arrested for entering his own house and then having the gall to be put out when a cop hassled him in his own home.  Everyone in the media and across the land is horrified, but while I join them in horror I'm also glad this happened to Professor Gates of Hahvad.

I'm not happy that the Prof. was put through the indignity and humiliation of being arrested in front of his neighbors on his own property for no reason at all.  I'm glad Prof. Gates was arrested because unless it is someone like the renowned historian it never makes the news and nobody cares that this sort of thing happens thousands of times daily in the United States, maybe hundreds of thousands of times daily.  But because the typical object of such mistreatment is "just some black guy" or "just some black woman" it isn't "newsworthy."  Only when something like this happens to someone who has scratched and clawed his way to the upper crust of society is it newsworthy and thus brought to the attention of the majority white population in this country in a way that the injustice of it is simply unquestionable.  Anyone other than an unassailable man like Prof. Gates and it's just unimportant.  Why?  Because it is such an everyday and ordinary thing that it's little more than a "Dog Bites Man" story.  What does that say about the land of the free and the home of the brave?

The news stories say that the cops claim Prof. Gates was essentially irate and loud and angry when told to step outside and produce ID, but Gates through his Hahvad attorney denies this.  But ya know what?  I hope Prof. Gates was indignant and angry and loud and even insulting to the police who dared violate his right to be left the fuck alone!  He was in his own home for God's sake!  Whatever happend to the idea that a man's home is his castle?  I guess I missed the fine print that said this rule only applies if it is a white man's home.  He had every right to be angry, livid even, and while it is never advisable for anyone to be at odds with a cop my guess is that not only would the good Doctor Gates not have been questioned in the same manner upon the arrival of the cops had he been white, but even if he had been questioned and he had gotten irate with the cops, if he was white it is unlikely it would have ended in his arrest.  And that is important not just to Prof. Gates.  This is important for our country to realize, face, and do something about.  No citizen of the United States should ever have to put up with that sort of treatement based on their appearance but millions have to put up with precisely that and worse daily!

The Professor, of course, will survive this incident and perhaps some good will come of it (I pray this is so), but the millions of nobodies out there who are black and minding their own business and put through the same bullshit, and that is what it is, often have very different circumstances to contend with.  Sometimes, some of those nobodies get beaten, some mercilessly, sometimes those nobodies get killed for not being docile enough when harrassed, for not being submissive and quietly putting up with the humiliation of having to produce ID on their own property or just for walking down the street or just for crossing the path of a white cop having a bad day.  In my opinion, such inequality is the sine qua non of injustice and a signpost pointing toward very deep and pervasive problems that must be corrected.

Is this racism?  You bet it is and this sort of "incident" is emblematic of the most pervasive and problematic aspects of racism because of how and when and where it typically plays out.  There are some basic premises in our culture that are so infused with racial bias and blatant racism that most of the people in our society don't even recognize how pervasive these basic assumptions are.  For example, it is axiomatic that blacks and whites in the same circumstances receive very different treatment not just fom policemen, but from sales people, bankers, teachers, administrators, clerks, even from people who are their customers!  Black people are treated so often to subtle and not so subtle hostility, disrespect and suspicion from whites that it is staggering.  Even more staggering though, is how often whites are absolutely unaware of how biased they are and how badly they are treating their fellow citizens solely because they are black.

If most whites are honest, they don't have to give this too much thought to realize how true it is and how easy it is to notice if one pays attention and is looking for it.  The most pathetically sad thing about this is, however, that most whites don't ever give it any thought at all.  The harsher judgement, cold, distant treatment, the lack of giving a person the benefit of the doubt, the assumption that a black person is somehow a threat are things that are so common there isn't even any thought involved when they are activated.  These sorts of racist underpinnings in the daily life of our culture in America run so deep it is astounding.  But this is not news to our African American brothers and sisters who have to put up with this day in and day out forever. 

Imagine being subject to this kind of treatment every day of your life.  Then imagine how absurd it must sound to an African American when white people say they don't understand why blacks can't just "get over it".  If it were in the realm of possibility I'm quite sure the black citizens of America would gladly "get over it", but the many white people harrassing them, treating them constantly with suspicion and humiliating them won't let them get over it!  Of course not all white people are like this, but there are far too many who are and there are many others who even view themselves as progressive and enlighted who might, if they were more aware of their behavior think twice before doing some of the things they do or saying some of the things they say.  Far too few white people understand the grating, grinding, humiliating nature of these deeply embedded set of racist assumptions that victimize innocent people daily all across our land.  Sure things are not as bad as they used to be, but they are still bad when it is commonplace that any of our citizens are subject to and must endure this kind of treatment.

A few years back another African American Professor and well respected academic went through a similar situation and it received some attention in the media.  That was Prof. Gerald Early who had the temerity to be window shopping in a tony suburb of St. Louis in his tweed jacket while waiting for his wife to get out of a meeting at the Junior League, an exclusive women's organization.  Naturally, the police harrassed this obviously threatening and suspicious man and arrested him.  His real crime?  Being in the wrong part of town and being black after sunset.  It's a slightly different tale than that of Prof. Gates because Gates was in his own home and still got the treatment!  But as inexcusable as this incident was, I say again that I'm glad Prof. Gates got arrested because it brings this pervasive problem to light in a way that our ADHD corporate media will cover and the vast millions of indifferent whites cannot ignore. 

Had Prof. Gates just been Henry Gates, a nobody and certainly had he been a poor man, not only would this not have made the news, but it's likely that Henry Gates would have ended up being convicted of disorderly conduct and either having to be locked up, pay a fine or both for having the unmitigated temerity to believe his home was his castle, that no policeman has the right to order him to do anything on his own property if he isn't bothering anyone.

Perhaps this will lead to some white people and some in the media becoming more aware of this genuine and ubiquitous problem in our country.  And maybe, just maybe, if we chip away at this, over time, it might become newsworthy when this happens to some nobody who was doing nothing wrong but had the gall to express his indignation at being treated like a criminal suspect instead of being given the beneift of the doubt as would likely be the case if only he was a white person dealing with a cop.  The day I look most forward to though, is the day that this sort of thing could never take place because all people regardless of what they look like are treated with the same respect, tolerance and decency that every human being deserves.  How long will we have to wait for that day?  Nobody knows how long it will be, but until that day arrives every single one of us regardless of race is diminished every time such injustice is done to anyone whether it is a Prof. Gates of Hahvad or "just" an innocent nobody.