<p>@Dross, that is fine, he can exercise his rights, and I agree with you, that (and his other actions) probably ****ed of the cop so much to the point where he arrested him. But if I white man did the same exact thing to Sgt. Crowley, I am sure he would have been arrested. This has nothing to do with race. Get over it. </p>
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<p>There is a difference between agreeing and fully supporting:
“A black police officer who was at Henry Louis Gates Jr.'s home when the black Harvard scholar was arrested says he fully supports how his white fellow officer handled the situation.”</p>
<p>and if that is not enough: “Asked if Gates should have been arrested, Lashley said supported Crowley “100 percent.””</p>
<p>And do you really expect me to believe this man is racist? </p>
<p>“Crowley is a police academy expert on understanding racial profiling and has taught a class on the subject for five years at the Lowell Police Academy after being hand-picked for the job by former police Commissioner Ronny Watson, who is black” -MSNBC</p>
<p>"The Cambridge cop prominent Harvard University professor Henry Louis Gates Jr. claims is a racist gave a dying Reggie Lewis mouth-to-mouth resuscitation in a desperate bid to save the Celtics [team stats] superstar’s life 16 years ago " -Boston Herald</p>
<p>-If this guy is racist, than all white people must be racist-</p>
<p>You are a suspect? I think you are overreacting. I am a Middle Easterner living in a post 9-11 world, and I have never felt significantly discriminated against by the police or society as a whole. Every person who I have met, who racially profiled me, soon lost their racist leanings after getting to know me. There have only been a few people who have actually done that. I would say around 1 out of every 40 persons I have met. </p>
<p>By claiming white society is racist, you are racist!</p>
<p>Thats interesting, given your ardent support of Gate’s account as the unquestionable truth.</p>
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<p>If the tapes prove the officer’s story, they will show that the officer did in fact give his information, but was spoken over/ignored by Gates.</p>
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<p>What about black cops? Something along the lines of your reasoning that the black officer on scene is just saying “what he has to say” :rolleyes:
I have a lot of black friends who are cops, and you’d be surprised at the crap that they put up with. Even they get the “you’re only pulling me over because I’m black” line :rolleyes:. Or worse, they get called race traitors (because they’re cops) and other ridiculous things. It just seems that a certain percentage of the black population is raised with an inherent distrust and even hate of cops (or anyone in uniform).</p>
<p>Breaking News:
Apology to the Police-
President Obama has called Sgt Crowley. He also has invited Sgt Crowley and Prof Gates to the White House so they can have a beer together.</p>
<p>Also, at Sgt Crowley’s request - Obama has made a plea to the Boston Press to please get off the Sgt’s lawn.</p>
<p>“First question: What’s the alternative at this point? Just walk away and not allow Gates to continue? Then he’s accused of disrespect.”</p>
<p>Yes. Who cares if he’s accused of disrespect? He should be worried about being accused of wrongful arrest. Gates would complain about the supposed disrespect to his wife over dinner, and none of us would have ever heard about it. This was a story because there was an arrest.</p>
<p>Officer Crowley did not hand cuff Prof Gates, another person did. Have you looked at the stills, there were at least 3 cops, and 1 was AA. There are also standbyers…let’s be real now, those on lookers and other cops have been interviewed. Crowley won, otherwise Obama would not have called him and also said Professor Gates made mistakes too. Obama ate crow today.</p>
<p>Oh, I see. And what is the officer going to say when Gates goes to the media, and Deval Patrick and screams that “and when I complained, he wouldn’t even listen, wouldn’t give me his badge number (remember, Gates said he never heard the officer identify himself), etc.” What the report says is that the officer told Gates he was going to leave, and that Gates could talk to him outside if he wanted to continue the conversation (or in this case, the rant).</p>
<p>I don’t get why people don’t understand that there is a mistrust of law enforcement from the majority of the Black community, rather than arguing that it is silly and doesn’t exist.</p>
<p>We are always wary and all the points and counterpoints aren’t going to change that. What appears logical to some of the non-Blacks posting is an exercise in futility.</p>
<p>Let it go. I have no clue what is going to change it because there will always be racists. It’s nice to think that it doesn’t exist, until you are a victim, then your perpective is forever changed.</p>
<p>Actually, I am glad this happened. It can now serve as a prime example of falsified racial profiling. But compared to the current economy and unemployment rate, yea, this should not even be spoken of.</p>
<p>I think we should just stop this really. I mean the president called both party and both has started to whine down and aren’t really making comments anymore. Gates isn’t bothering with this anymore and so isn’t Crowley. It’s the public and the media.</p>
<p>“what is the officer going to say when Gates goes to the media”</p>
<p>The question is, what’s the media going to say? They’d say, “No story here, Prof. Gates.” Can you give me an example of a national media blitz being sparked by a police officer allegedly walking away while a citizen was trying to talk to him? I sure can’t think of any.</p>
<p>If there’s no arrest, no beating, no seizing of property, there’s no story. At a bare minimum, you’d need an accusation that the officer used the “n” word to make it on the evening news.</p>
<p>That doesn’t mean you can label everyone of being racist. I understand why the black community is apprehensive toward the police. I understand why African Americans fear racial profiling (because they are being racially profiled, even in today’s society; however, that does not give African Americans the right to label every/majority of white cop to black man arrests as being racial profiling.</p>
<p>“even if everything the cop says is true, Gates broke no law and therefore he ought not have been arrested”</p>
<p>Bears repeating yet again. It’s why you don’t need to know whether Gates’s version or Crowley’s version is closer to the truth. Crowley’s own version shows the arrest was unjustified.</p>
I think that is what the tapes will show, as well, and I still don’t think Professor Gates should have been arrested. I think that dropping the charges was the correct thing and it was absolutely wrong to arrest the Professor. I also think the Professor and his supporters were wrong in trash talking the cop, just as I think the Professor’s condescension was unseemly.</p>
Nobody is actually saying any such thing. We all know it exists and have said so. Almost every poster has said that it is justified and understandable. Because it is. The question really is whether it is possible for anyone to protect and serve black men, with that being the case. As Dross has pointed out, white police can’t do it, and black police are just as corrupt as white ones, so who protects black men? Keeps them and their property safe? If the tapes show that Officer Crowley’s version of events is actually correct, one has to wonder if it is possible for black men to receive appropriate police services. Whatever the outcome here between these two men (I STILL think it’s a man thing), unhooked black Americans will be the losers.</p>