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From Moriba Jackson on Facebook
Harvard professor Henry Louis Gates Jr., one of the nation’s pre-eminent African-American scholars, was arrested Thursday afternoon at his home by Cambridge police investigating a possible break-in. The incident raised concerns among some Harvard faculty that Gates was a victim of racial profiling.
Police arrived at Gates’s Ware Street home near Harvard Square at 12:44 p.m. to question him. Gates, director of the W.E.B. Du Bois Institute for African and African American Research at Harvard, had trouble unlocking his door after it became jammed.
He was booked for disorderly conduct after “exhibiting loud and tumultuous behavior,” according to a police report. Gates accused the investigating officer of being a racist and told him he had “no idea who he was messing with,” the report said.
Gates told the officer that he was being targeted because “I’m a black man in America.” [To read a copy of the police report, click here]
Friends of Gates said he was already in his home when police arrived. He showed his driver’s license and Harvard identification card, but was handcuffed and taken into police custody for several hours last Thursday, they said.
Gates, 58, declined to comment today when reached by phone.
The arrest of such a prominent scholar under what some described as dubious circumstances shook some members of the black Harvard community.
“He and I both raised the question of if he had been a white professor, whether this kind of thing would have happened to him, that they arrested him without any corroborating evidence,” said S. Allen Counter, a Harvard Medical School professor who spoke with Gates about the incident Friday. “I am deeply concerned about the way he was treated, and called him to express my deepest sadness and sympathy.”
Counter, who had called Gates from the Nobel Institute in Sweden, where Counter is on sabbatical, said that Gates was “shaken” and “horrified” by his arrest.
Counter has faced a similar situation himself. The well-known neuroscience professor, who is also black, was stopped by two Harvard police officers in 2004 after being mistaken for a robbery suspect as he crossed Harvard Yard. They threatened to arrest him when he could not produce identification.
That incident was among several that ignited criticism from black students and faculty, highlighting the prejudices that many black students say they continue to face at Harvard.
“This is very disturbing that this could happen to anyone, and not just to a person of such distinction,” Counter said. “He was just shocked that this had happened, at 12:44 in the afternoon, in broad daylight. It brings up the question of whether black males are being targeted by Cambridge police for harassment.”
Cambridge police would not comment on the arrest, citing an investigation into the incident by Middlesex District Attorney Gerard T. Leone Jr. A spokesman for Leone said Gates is scheduled to be arraigned on Aug. 26 and said the office could not provide details on the arrest until that time.
Friends said Gates is being represented by Harvard Law School professor Charles Ogletree, who has taken on previous cases with racial implications.
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Very interesting scenario!
I wonder what will be the right and wrong of all this; or is it possible to reach, or see perhaps, that there may have been a resonalble misunderstanding on both Gates and the officer’s part. Perhaps Gates misunderstood himself as being the accused following Crowley’s initial inquiry and/or perhaps Crowley could and did not take into consideration that Gates’ initial response was understandable given the circumstances. Better yet, perhaps at some point, we can ALL begin to set aside this idea that race has to be so relevant in today’s society. I mean what’s the difference between blondes and brunettes?
Oscar Carter
Creating A World Community
http://www.creatingaworldcommunity.com
Why didn’t the professor react respectfully to police officers. They were doing their job. In photos seen in the newspapers, there was a black officer at the scene. Has anyone asked him what happened. If he thought there was racial profiling why did he allow the arrest to go forward. The professor got angry, mouthed off and was arrested.
He was arrested because he was raising hell instead of calmly and respectfully assisting the officers. I have been pulled over and was firmly innocent of the line of questioning. I was quiet, calm, and showed respect for the officers until which time I was allowed to leave.
i would call it black racism.
it was a simple and reasonable (men are trying to get in and have problems – how does it look from outside?) request – to identify yourself.
however, such “prominent” professor (did he loose his manners in the classroom?) behaved himself as a scandalous person. probably it was just his age combined with luck of general attention (usual case for geriatric patients in mental institutions – make big noise from nothing).