Thursday, July 30, 2009
Kotz / Law and Order For Crimes Against Reality, Henry Louis Gates Got What He Deserved
Posted by Pete Kotz on Thu, Jul 30, 2009 at 5:51 AM
His take has been a common refrain among learned and liberal commentators over the past week. And it's a natural one. It's no secret that cops target blacks more than whites. And pretty much everyone knows somebody who's been pinched for the crime of Driving While Black. With this history in mind, instinct calls for the insti-formula of Racist White Cop Arrests Innocent Black Guy.
Except for one thing: This case had nothing to do with race. But it had everything to do with an entitled professor utterly divorced from the realities of America. Henry Gates was arrested for being a dick. Nothing more.
Before you begin to light me up in the comments section, let's look at this from the cop's perspective, shall we?
The only reason Sgt. James Crowley was at Gates' home is because he's the guy you call when there's trouble. (Or in this case, perceived trouble.) And since that's not such a great job, he deserves a little respect for doing it. But Gates didn't show him any. In fact, the good liberal violated one of the first tenets of lefty theology: Don't look down on a working man just trying to do his job.
Instead, Gates pulled out the Ol' Don't You Know Who I Am Routine, a leading tactic of the entitled class, be they athletes, politicians, or blowhard professors. It's a strategy that says, "You're beneath me, peon," the height of self-regard and condescension. And just to further inflame the situation, he tried to go over Crowley's head, making several attempts to call the Cambridge Police Chief. He even employed the 1972 insult "your mama." (Brother Gates, you may want to leave that ivory tower a little more often.)
Since then, liberal and learned commentators have come to his defense. Gates was in his own home, they argue. He wasn't really a danger to anyone. The cop should have merely taken the abuse. That's his job.
It's a nice argument in theory. But it also shows that the liberal and learned are just as divorced from America as Gates is. Anyone who works a service job knows what it's like to take abuse all day. But unlike the call center worker or the waitress, who just have to take it, cops do not. Which is why if you get too mouthy, there's a good chance disorderly conduct or resisting arrest will soon be part of your permanent record.
Pretty much every kid in America, be he black or white, understands this by age 15. Especially when it's so easy to avoid. We all know the Napoleon cop who's angry at the world and will jack you up for any reason. But they're the small minority. Most are just decent working people who wish to cause you no harm. If you haven't done anything terribly wrong, and you show 'em a little politeness and respect, they will be no enemy.
But Gates' arrogance precluded him seeing Crowley as an equal. He broke out the condescension and even played the race card, despite photos showing a black cop at the scene. And when you behave like this, you're going to get lit up, no matter what color you are. It may not be the law, but it's been a steadfast rule of America for decades.
That's why President Obama is right. This is a teachable moment. Only the lesson's meant for Henry Gates. The next time you encounter the cops, pal, try to at least fake like they're your equals.
Comments (22)
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That is the best article yet on this whole sorry affair. Thanks for cutting to the chase.
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If white people got arrested for being "dicks", the ratio of blacks to whites who have "caught a case" would increase significantly.
I'm a mixed AA women, and I agree with this article. This man [Gates] is arrogant, always has been arrogant and the P.O. did what he was supposed to do. Gates is an asshole and "my community" better start criticizing when deemed necessary otherwise "we" will lose credibility when it comes to other more important issues. Sure, there is profiling but NOT IN THIS CASE!!! Just listen to how "my" community raked Bill Cosby over the coals when he told the truth. Sorry for the parens, I just couldn't resist!
Everything you say is true, and I agree with you - right up to the point of the arrest. The fact that Officer Crowley's reaction was entirely predictable does not make it right.
Just as "incitement to riot does not justify a riot," no verbal abuse justifies a cop using his arrest powers to silence disrespect. Henry Louis Gates acted like a jerk - which is not a crime in any jurisdiction I know of.
Police misconduct used to be much more widespread than it is now. Coerced confessions, arrests for "loitering," and the use of firehoses and dogs on demonstrators were common in my youth. These practices ended (in large part), because society and the courts decided they were no longer tolerable.
We give our police officers enormous power and discretion. We give them badges and guns, and we expect them to badges and guns against us when justified. We have a right, in return, to demand that they use good judgment as well.
Sorry! Should have said "we expect them to USE the badges and guns against us when justified."
Henry Gates was arrested for being a dick.
Given the sort of people who contribute to Pith, it might not be the best idea to insinuate that that's okay. We know many of you oppose the 2nd amendment. Are you now taking on the 4th?
Anyone who works a service job knows what it's like to take abuse all day. But unlike the call center worker or the waitress, who just have to take it, cops do not. Which is why if you get too mouthy, there's a good chance disorderly conduct or resisting arrest will soon be part of your permanent record.
I have to disagree with you here Pete. When said mouthiness occurs in your own home, where you are legally entitled to be, it is clearly an abuse of law enforcement power to make an (illegitimate) arrest that becomes part of someone's permanent record. Police offers are entitled to respect and deference as they performa a difficult and dangerous job, but they are not entitled to gratuitous (and legally dubious) police powers of arrest to express their disappointment when that respect doesn't live up to their expectations. It is not illegal to be a dick, unless your dickishness concretely threatens public order.
There's a great post on a similar disorderly conduct arrest in DC at http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/07/29/disorderly-conduct-conver_n_246794.html
Sorry but you are completely wrong on this one. This was abuse of power, plain and simple. You admit that what the police did was "not the law" but that it happens (and I'll add disproportionately to minorities) so we should just deal with it?? What country do you think we live in? I don't personally agree with Professor Gates reaction, but he should NOT have been arrested for it.
Professor Gates was in his own home and once he proved that fact, the police should have left it at that. They didn't and this ridiculous situation is the result. I'm very disappointed in President Obama for basically retracting his statement, but that's politics.
I guess I'm not arguing that it was legally right, maybe not even morally right. But the interesting thing to me is we expect cops to behave on theory rather than reality.
You can't expect someone to take abuse like this day after day and never react. At some point, it's going to get to them, just like it would me and you.
Moreover, dicks like Gates know they can abuse cops precisely because they're not supposed to react. He'd never do this to a regular person on the street, because he knows he'll get his ass kicked. So he gets brave only when it's safe enough.
I may be in the minority here, but I don't expect cops to be made of stone. It's like expecting them to be unhuman, which may play well in theory, but is foolish when applied to real life.
So Pete,
You don't think you would have acted like a "dick" had a cop came to your door and accused you of breaking in? You must be a pretty tame individual.
If you arrested everybody in Boston who acted like a prick, you might have 10% of the population that wasn't in jail.
You can't expect someone to take abuse like this day after day and never react. At some point, it's going to get to them, just like it would me and you.
I hear this argument repeated often about cases like this.. that "he should have known better" or "how could he not expect that"..
Expecting something or not doesn't change the facts about whether or not it was legal or moral.
Kotz: "But the interesting thing to me is we expect cops to behave on theory rather than reality."
Putting aside the tortured syntax (what does "behave on theory" mean?), this is absurd on it's face. Cops are selected, trained, and sworn to hold themselves to a different standard.
"You can't expect someone to take abuse like this day after day and never react. At some point, it's going to get to them, just like it would me and you."
So by your logic, if Crowley had had a really really bad day up to that point, it would be understandable if he snapped and beat Gates unconscious with his night stick? We should expect and accept police abuse of power because they get yelled at sometimes? AYFKM?
"He'd never do this to a regular person on the street, because he knows he'll get his ass kicked"
A regular person on the street wouldn't enter his home and arrest him. How can you not get this??
In Wednesday morning's Tennessean,twenty-four hours before this Pith item appeared, columnist Clarence Page wrote an op-ed piece under the headline, "Scholar showed 'contempt of cop' before his arrest."
In the column, Page wrote, "[A]ccording to Crowley, Gates was yelling at him in front of his fellow police officers. In long-standing police-civilian etiquette, that's contempt of cop. You disrespect the police officer and the officer has ways of showing you that he has the longer billy club."
It's a fair point and perhaps what Pete Kotz---who surely reads the morning daily--meant to say, too.
"Long-standing police-civilian etiquette" isn't the same thing as the law.
You've obviously never been the victim of police abuse of authority. So you have no problem with the uppity man getting arrested in his own home. I get that.
Really? A small, elderly, and ill man in his own home gets uppity with a cop and gets ARRESTED!? You're really justifying this?
Obama was right the first time. The police acted stupidly.
In the end, it's pretty simple: Was Gates breaking a law? If the answer is no, then arrest is not deserved. Being a dick and disrespecting a cop is not a crime. It's just not.
And sorry, but race cannot be totally discounted here. If they kept stats of people arrested for being a dick, somehow I doubt whites would lead the category.
And who doubts that if Gates were to sue for unlawful arrest, he'd have a darn good case.
"According to his police report, Sgt. James Crowley said the professor was "yelling very loud" and "accusing me of being a racist."
Complaining that the "acoustics of the kitchen" made it difficult to communicate, the officer said he "told Gates that I would speak with him outside."
Once on the front porch, the officer arrested Gates for being loud and abusive in the presence of several neighbors who had gathered on the sidewalk."
