Outrageous, Mr. President

Notes of Concern…

…..Jackson Blair

OUTRAGEOUS ,MR. PRESIDENT

Someone on your street sees a person forcing his way into your home. He goes to his telephone and reports to the local police that he has seen someone forcing open your door.

The police dispatch a car to the address. The officers in the police car know only that there has been a report of a break in at a certain address.

They arrive and proceed to the front door. They are greeted by a man. They ask to see his identification.

Up to this point all of this seems quite normal and ordinary and appropriate. Most homeowners would be delighted to know the police had been called, and had responded, to a report of a break in.

Not this owner.

He is Professor Henry Louis Gates, Jr of Harvard University. He is a renowned black writer,teacher and leader. He has a pretty good opinion of himself and of his public persona. I guess he thinks a police officer should know how important he is as well as knowing who he is, without prior introduction.

The police do what police should do, they ask for some identification proving he is, in fact, the owner of the home.

Professor Gates refuses to provide the identification.

OK readers, why don’t you think about how this should be handled. What do you think the police should do? Perhaps they should say “we are so sorry we bothered you Mr. unidentified Sir and we are delighted to leave without knowing who you are.”

Then they could radio back to the police station and report that they had indeed found an unidentified man on the front porch of a home reported to be burglarized but they didn’t want to offend the guy so they just left.

In this scenario if the man was a burglar, or murderer, or rapist, he is free to continue on the course he has set.

Did the professor thank the officers for coming, explain the situation, proffer his ID and then close his door.

No he did not.

He yelled at them, and said “this is what happens to a black man in America.” And then he added: “you don’t know who you’re messing with.”

I make no claim to have any inside information on how black men in America are treated. I know one currently resides at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, one sits in the Senate of the US and numerous black people serve in the Congress, a black man is a Supreme Court Justice, and recently a black woman was Secretary of State, following a black man in that position.

Frankly, I don’t think that has any application here. I do know from the reports I have read that the police seem to have acted in a reasonable fashion. Their purpose in being at Professor Gate’s front door was to protect him, his family and his property from a possible intrusion.

Now the second part of what the professor had to say is much more of concern to me. The threat of using his clout, his contacts, his power to bring down wrath upon the officers, now that is another matter entirely. It is neither reasonable, appropriate, or laudatory.

But that is just what Professor Gates did.

When was the last time a sitting President of the United States commented on the actions of local police officers responding to a reported burglary?

That would be never!

For one reason, it is not something that would attract the attention of a president.

Another reason would be that juries in potential lawsuits are difficult to empanel because they would know the preference of the President of the United States for an acquittal prior to the trial.


But the overriding issue would be that none of us want the leader of the Free World, managing wars on two fronts and a crumbling economy at home, to insert himself in such a situation.

Imagine you are the officer in question here.

Sgt. James Crowley, acting in his official position as a law enforcement officer, answered the telephone dispatch. The man he encountered refused to cooperate, yelled at him, and then accused him of being a racist. The Sergeant arrested the man.

Up until then, probably an uneventful night for the Cambridge, MA police.

Professor Gates brought on the dogs.
The comedian Bill Cosby commented on the arrest.
The President of the United States commented on the arrest.
News organizations around the world covered the incident.

Do you think they suggest Professor Gates might have overreacted? Did they counsel their friend to loosen up a bit? Did they suggest that the police were simply doing their duty? Did they suggest this was a tempest in a teapot?

Nope.

They attacked the police.

Do you think the professor acted maturely?
Do you think the police officer made a mistake?

Well, the day I am writing this column the results of this situation are in the news.

The professor has been released from custody.
All charges have been dropped.
The professor demands an apology from the police sergeant.

The sergeant refuses to apologize.

From where I sit, the professor owes the sergeant an apology and the President of the United States needs to focus on real problems.