Weighing in on the Henry Louis Gates Mess
Wednesday, July 29th, 2009
This Thursday President Obama will be hosting a “Beer Summit” at the White House along with African-American Harvard professor Henry Louis Gates, and Sergeant James Crowley, the Cambridge, Massachusetts police officer who arrested him for disorderly conduct. This presidential boys’ beer night was prompted when it became apparent that the president had spoken hastily in asserting that the Cambridge police had “acted stupidly” in the arrest. According to the White House, “weather permitting, they’ll probably sit at the picnic table, behind the Oval Office.” In case you were wondering Sgt. Crowley has asked for Blue Moon beer, while the president will be drinking Budweiser. No details have been released on what Prof. Gates will be drinking, although it is reported that he likes Red Stripe.
While the Obama administration is describing this as a “teachable moment”, one has to wonder if any real learning will actually take place. Anyone with half a brain can see this is nothing more than an attempt by the president to save face. And when it’s all said and done does anyone really imagine either of the three will actually see eye-to-eye on the issues that precipitated this public embarrassment?
As much as I would love nothing better than to weigh in myself on all this silliness, the reality is I can’t. You see I’m a white man. And as such any opinion I might have would only be misconstrued or misinterpreted because of my whiteness. On the other hand, there are those who I think are perfectly positioned to be able to give a clear, unvarnished perspective.
I love La Shawn Barber. She’s a Southern California-based freelance writer, a born again Christian, an independent conservative, and by the way, don’t call her “African American.” She hates that term. If you must refer to her race, call her “black. Here’s what La Shawn has to say:
“Frankly, it’s embarrassing. A so-called intelligent man, Harvard professor, respected scholar and all that, shouting at police and invoking racism where there was none. In that moment, he embodied the stereotype of the loud and ignorant-sounding black person shouting racism whenever something negative happens to him, even if the whole thing is his fault.”
“Lucia Whalen was accused of calling the cops because the men were black, not because they appeared to be breaking into a neighbor’s house. The lack of racial reference on the 911 tape tends to refute that. Unfortunately, the lack of racist behavior on the cops’ or Whalen’s part will not change the minds of people who believe that Gates, who should know better, is some sort of oppressed martyr. Idiotic.”
“Going off on the police, no matter how angry you are, is an ignorant thing to do. And anyone who, at this point, given all that’s come out about this incident, still believes Gates was the victim of racism is willfully ignorant.”
La Shawn is not alone. Other black Americans are stepping forward to decry the sudden rush to judgment by those who have been quick to play the race card. Several black fellow officers have come forward in support of Sgt. Crowley.
Then there’s this from retired military General Colin Powell who weighed in Tuesday on CNN’s “Larry King Live”:
“When you’re faced with an officer trying to do his job and get to the bottom of something, this is not the time to get in an argument with him. I was taught that as a child. You don’t argue with a police officer. I think he should have reflected on whether or not this was the time to make that big a deal.”
So there you have it. Now I could never say any of these things, you see, because I’m a white man. I’m happy, however, to defer to those who can.
