Obama: Police "Acted Stupidly" in Prof Arrest

the liberal special interests get involved.

This article provides a unique perspective: Skip Gates, please sit down | Salon

Since I'm not a member of a minority, I'm not willing to say how I'd react. I'm a small, sweet-looking, upper-middle-class, white woman constantly followed around by children, puppies and animated butterflies. I did, however, have a very unsettling run-in with a physically and verbally abusive police officer when I was in my early twenties. Luckily another motorist stopped and, having a witness, he left me alone. It took me many years to get over that. It was such a SHOCK to me -- first being attacked by an authority figure I was raised to trust, and then given my rather elevated economic status, being confronted or accused AT ALL. That's why the above article really made me think.

Is this for real? What were you pulled over for? :idontno: Sorry about your run-in, but I have lost something in the translation.

SneakyPete is a woman! Who knew? 😀

Henry Louis Gates: Déj?* Vu All Over Again - Stanley Fish Blog - NYTimes.com July 24, 2009, 6:18 pm
Henry Louis Gates: D?j? Vu All Over Again
written by Stanley Fish July 24, 2009, 6:18 pm

I?m Skip Gates?s friend, too. That?s probably the only thing I share with President Obama, so when he ended his press conference last Wednesday by answering a question about Gates?s arrest after he was seen trying to get into his own house, my ears perked up.

As the story unfolded in the press and on the Internet, I flashed back 20 years or so to the time when Gates arrived in Durham, N.C., to take up the position I had offered him in my capacity as chairman of the English department of Duke University. One of the first things Gates did was buy the grandest house in town (owned previously by a movie director) and renovate it. During the renovation workers would often take Gates for a servant and ask to be pointed to the house?s owner. The drivers of delivery trucks made the same mistake.

The message was unmistakable: What was a black man doing living in a place like this?

At the university (which in a past not distant at all did not admit African-Americans ), Gates?s reception was in some ways no different. Doubts were expressed in letters written by senior professors about his scholarly credentials, which were vastly superior to those of his detractors. (He was already a recipient of a MacArthur fellowship, the so called ?genius award.?) There were wild speculations (again in print) about his salary, which in fact was quite respectable but not inordinate; when a list of the highest-paid members of the Duke faculty was published, he was nowhere on it.

Book smart but no common sense?

Genius Award should be rescinded. :roll:

This article provides a unique perspective: Skip Gates, please sit down | Salon

Since I'm not a member of a minority, I'm not willing to say how I'd react. I'm a small, sweet-looking, upper-middle-class, white woman constantly followed around by children, puppies and animated butterflies. I did, however, have a very unsettling run-in with a physically and verbally abusive police officer when I was in my early twenties. Luckily another motorist stopped and, having a witness, he left me alone. It took me many years to get over that. It was such a SHOCK to me -- first being attacked by an authority figure I was raised to trust, and then given my rather elevated economic status, being confronted or accused AT ALL. That's why the above article really made me think.

I had a similar experience.....City of Atlanta cop......I have an apology on the Mayor's letterhead. But, had to go to court, blah, blah, blah. Cop was pulling the 'privileged living in certain zip code little white chick thang.' I was traumatized.

A week or so ago I had a lifeguard come out to the second sandbar to 'check' on me. I was not in distress and showed no signs of distress. He came out because he assumed I was like many others he'd seen who got in over their heads and should not be out there.

Rather than be defensive and argue with the guy about leaving me alone, I understood why he came out and thanked him several times for doing such a good job.

To Bob, who said when Gates moved to North Carolina he was mistaken as a servent. I assume it was a prodominantly 'white' neighborhood and that servents were a regular occurence there. So for someone to mistake Gates as a servent is not racism or even wrong. It is just the human mind working.

When I was in junior high school the basketball team was called to go for an away trip. I was on the team but was not allowed to leave the class because the 'substitute' teacher did not believe I was on the team. Even when the other kids insisted that I was indeed a team member, the teacher would not allow it. (I eventually just left the class)

I was upset but did not consider it racism. After all, it was an abberation for me to be on the team. It just IS that way. If a white guy tells you he is a running back in the NFL you might laugh to yourself.

When I go back to my hometown and visit my friends 'in the hood' I know not to look at the neighbors in their yard, who are selling drugs. Why? Because I am white and they may think I am 'the cops'. So my buddy doesn't want my line of sight to stray and have them wonder what's going on. I do not consider that racsim or some sort of crazy profiling. It is statistics. What am I doing there? I don't belong. I do not fit there. I am not a common sight. It just is!

We should not want to rid ourselves of this form of profiling. It is how the mind works. The mind recognizes differences and more times than not it is useful. And the times where it offends someone they should not take it personally. They should understand that they fall in a statistical realmn. It is unfortunate, but the way it has to be. Just like me with the life guard and the basketball team.

CAMBRIDGE, Mass. (AP) ? 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. Sgt. Leon Lashley says Gates was probably tired and surprised when Sgt. James Crowley demanded identification from him as officers investigated a report of a burglary. Lashley says Gates' reaction to Crowley was "a little bit stranger than it should have been."

Asked if Gates should have been arrested, Lashley said he supported Crowley "100 percent."

I don't find that surprising. They're both on the same team. Hey guess what, Gate's attorney supports Gate's position!!!;-)

A week or so ago I had a lifeguard come out to the second sandbar to 'check' on me. I was not in distress and showed no signs of distress. He came out because he assumed I was like many others he'd seen who got in over their heads and should not be out there.

Rather than be defensive and argue with the guy about leaving me alone, I understood why he came out and thanked him several times for doing such a good job.

To Bob, who said when Gates moved to North Carolina he was mistaken as a servent. I assume it was a prodominantly 'white' neighborhood and that servents were a regular occurence there. So for someone to mistake Gates as a servent is not racism or even wrong. It is just the human mind working.

When I was in junior high school the basketball team was called to go for an away trip. I was on the team but was not allowed to leave the class because the 'substitute' teacher did not believe I was on the team. Even when the other kids insisted that I was indeed a team member, the teacher would not allow it. (I eventually just left the class)

I was upset but did not consider it racism. After all, it was an abberation for me to be on the team. It just IS that way. If a white guy tells you he is a running back in the NFL you might laugh to yourself.

When I go back to my hometown and visit my friends 'in the hood' I know not to look at the neighbors in their yard, who are selling drugs. Why? Because I am white and they may think I am 'the cops'. So my buddy doesn't want my line of sight to stray and have them wonder what's going on. I do not consider that racsim or some sort of crazy profiling. It is statistics. What am I doing there? I don't belong. I do not fit there. I am not a common sight. It just is!

We should not want to rid ourselves of this form of profiling. It is how the mind works. The mind recognizes differences and more times than not it is useful. And the times where it offends someone they should not take it personally. They should understand that they fall in a statistical realmn. It is unfortunate, but the way it has to be. Just like me with the life guard and the basketball team.

it's not "my" article. i posted the piece to offer the view of the frustration minorities must feel being stereotyped by whites even after gaining some measure of material success. unless you've been followed through stores, prejudged as a servant, or profiled as a potential criminal, there's no way you can competently comment. what whites see as beligerence many times is frustration from minorities reliving a tiring scenario. to say that a minority is not perceived as belonging in a neighborhood is the epitome of thoughtless racism. to justify racism by saying perceptions work most of the time only perpetuates a very real problem in this country.

A week or so ago I had a lifeguard come out to the second sandbar to 'check' on me. I was not in distress and showed no signs of distress. He came out because he assumed I was like many others he'd seen who got in over their heads and should not be out there.

Rather than be defensive and argue with the guy about leaving me alone, I understood why he came out and thanked him several times for doing such a good job.

To Bob, who said when Gates moved to North Carolina he was mistaken as a servent. I assume it was a prodominantly 'white' neighborhood and that servents were a regular occurence there. So for someone to mistake Gates as a servent is not racism or even wrong. It is just the human mind working.

When I was in junior high school the basketball team was called to go for an away trip. I was on the team but was not allowed to leave the class because the 'substitute' teacher did not believe I was on the team. Even when the other kids insisted that I was indeed a team member, the teacher would not allow it. (I eventually just left the class)

I was upset but did not consider it racism. After all, it was an abberation for me to be on the team. It just IS that way. If a white guy tells you he is a running back in the NFL you might laugh to yourself.

When I go back to my hometown and visit my friends 'in the hood' I know not to look at the neighbors in their yard, who are selling drugs. Why? Because I am white and they may think I am 'the cops'. So my buddy doesn't want my line of sight to stray and have them wonder what's going on. I do not consider that racsim or some sort of crazy profiling. It is statistics. What am I doing there? I don't belong. I do not fit there. I am not a common sight. It just is!

We should not want to rid ourselves of this form of profiling. It is how the mind works. The mind recognizes differences and more times than not it is useful. And the times where it offends someone they should not take it personally. They should understand that they fall in a statistical realmn. It is unfortunate, but the way it has to be. Just like me with the life guard and the basketball team.

how neat and clean it must be to have been born into the proper statistical realm. the unfortunate folks just need to be understanding that this is their lot in life.

how neat and clean it must be to have been born into the proper statistical realm. the unfortunate folks just need to be understanding that this is their lot in life.

yes, unless you can change the "statistical realm" you were born into.

It applies to anyone, not any one color. :roll:

yes, unless you can change the "statistical realm" you were born into.

It applies to anyone, not any one color. :roll:

i believe you actually meant that

My husband takes off duty officers, mostly Sargeants, with him 3X a week for the past 25 years for security purposes for his business when they collect money. Most of them want to do their 20 years peacefully and stay under the radar regarding the inter-police politics. But then there are some that do go into it to become cowboys, have inferiority complexes and want a job with power. He's riding with one now temporarily until his steady officer comes back. :roll:

He was responsible for having a moving violation rule changed regarding commercial vehicles because 1) it produces a large revenue stream for the dept in fines, 2) so it makes it easier for them to pull over commercial vehicles to check for illegals riding in them. He was able to push his racial profiling agenda in a legal manner. So, yes, it exists, but on the flip side, at least here, in a situation such as this, many officers have told my husband when ID is required, you request it from everybody to avoid any air of racial profiling, even a 4 yr. old boy, they told him jokingly.

I'm not sure how long the Professor has lived in his neighborhood, but he could have simply provided the ID, asked who called so he could thank them personally for being "neighborly", and called it a day. The neighbors probably do not know who he is because he may not be a sociable kind of guy, they may be racists themselves, (hence maybe where his original frustration may have stemmed from) or he is a snoot. :idontno:

If you don't think AA do not racially segregate themselves, take a trip to Martha's Vineyard in the summer, particularly Oak Bluffs where middle-upper class AA professionals stay; and MV is about as liberal as one can get. Matter of fact, several Harvard Professors summer there. A friend just returned (whose AA) and told me that they were dismissive of other AA who they didn't feel had the same credentials. She was not invited a to party that another family she was visiting was invited to and thought she would be also.

exactly, as a point of clarification - northeast liberals- particularly in the ivy league circles we run in- refer to themselves as not being racist. that does not mean they aren't racist and i have many anecdotes to prove otherwise. that is simply their self-perception and ideology. i rarey have seen it in practice. many policies that liberals support are in fact, dependent upon the belief that minorities are incapable of standing on their own two feet and competing on equal footing. it's important to understand that many of the folks i've met, worked with and befriended in these circles come from very WHITE worlds where they have hardly encountered a minority outside volunteer work. that's just the truth. i have experienced FAR LESS segregation in my neighborhoods and workplaces in the south than I ever did in the north or on the west coast. to me, that's an indicator of whether people are racist or not..just something to think about.

p.s. oak bluffs in martha's vineyard bills itself as one of the first african american resort cities. it also looks like obama and family will be spending their summer vacation in this african american enclave.

I wasn't there, so don't know what happened, but I do find it interesting that most who have expressed outrage at the police action are themselves displaying a bias based on preconceived ideas of law enforcement officers.

p.s. oak bluffs in martha's vineyard bills itself as one of the first african american resort cities. it also looks like obama and family will be spending their summer vacation in this african american enclave.

That is a rumor. If the first family does go, speculation is it will be West Chop (my favorite since it is sounds like Pork Chop)

It really sounds as if both sides overeacted here, cooler heads should have prevailed but I appreciate the fact that conservatives always come to the defense of law enforcement.

wasn't that scene just awful?

exactly, as a point of clarification - northeast liberals- particularly in the ivy league circles we run in- refer to themselves as not being racist. that does not mean they aren't racist and i have many anecdotes to prove otherwise. that is simply their self-perception and ideology. i rarey have seen it in practice. many policies that liberals support are in fact, dependent upon the belief that minorities are incapable of standing on their own two feet and competing on equal footing. it's important to understand that many of the folks i've met, worked with and befriended in these circles come from very WHITE worlds where they have hardly encountered a minority outside volunteer work. that's just the truth. i have experienced FAR LESS segregation in my neighborhoods and workplaces in the south than I ever did in the north or on the west coast. to me, that's an indicator of whether people are racist or not..just something to think about.

your statement taken at face value in an antiseptic vacuum would seem plausible. given the backdrop of our cultural history of apartheid and slavery, you ignore the realities that brought us here. that you say this coming from the south, is all the more confusing.

It really sounds as if both sides overeacted here, cooler heads should have prevailed but I appreciate the fact that conservatives always come to the defense of law enforcement.

Actually, since this raid was carried out under the supervision of Janet Reno, conservatives were probably not too supportive of the stormtroopers depicted in this particular Kodak moment.

You could always go dredge up some Rodney King footage on youtube if you really want to open some divisions here.

Actually, since this raid was carried out under the supervision of Janet Reno, conservatives were probably not too supportive of the stormtroopers depicted in this particular Kodak moment.

You could always go dredge up some Rodney King footage on youtube if you really want to open some divisions here.

Exactly my point.