Sgt. Crowley, Professor Gates and the Silliness of Race

This past week I have tried (emphasis on the word try) to watch our President deal with his battle to push through a serious health care initiative. I have been reading about the criticism he has taken for his handling of the economy and I have tried (there's that word again) to watch him deal with the criticism. President Obama even gave a press conference on public education and the achievement gap this past week. All of this has taken a back seat to the incident that led to Harvard Professor Henry Louis "Skip" Gates being arrested on his own front porch. The racial pundits smelled blood in the water and they pounced. The police officer and the Cambridge Police have been vilified. CNN is running the story into the ground and the clarion call has been, "even with a Black President racism still exists and you to, can become a victim even if you are a Harvard Professor." Well yes, no matter the heritage of the president, when you have a multi-ethnic, multicultural, multi-linguistic, multi-sexual preference, multi-religious (did I forget anyone?) society you will have racism. You can beat it down to its lowest form but you will indeed have issues of discrimination in a democracy such as ours. Now instead of having serious debate/dialog over these issues I am constantly watching theater. That's what this issue has become. It has become a racial mountain that in actuality is a misunderstanding mole hill but because there seem to be many so called activists who want to prove beyond a shadow of a doubt we still live in a racist society, this mole hill, has become a media mountain and a kind of racial litmus test/reality TV Show. Even our president clumsily entered the fray. So here is what I propose. I promise to get as close to the facts as possible if you, the reader promise to judge this issue on the FACTS! Judge this particular case, not any other case dealing with racial profiling, police miss-conduct or anything else for that matter. Sound like a plan? Good, let's begin.

From what I have read, seen and heard, professor Gates came home from a long trip from China. There was some issue with his front door and he tried to jimmy it with the help of his driver. He went into his own home through the back door. Whilst this took place his neighbor, who I assume did not recognize Gates, called the police, suspecting a breaking and entering was taking place. By the time Gates was is in his residence Sgt. Crowley is there to meet and greet him. Gates is of course startled and the Sgt. explains why he is there and asks to see some ID. Again from what I have seen, heard and read Crowley never taunted Gates, drew his weapon or his baton. He never insulted professor Gates or used a racial epithet to describe the professor. At some point Gates asks the question, "Why do you want to see my ID is it because I am a Black man living in America?" I am still a little fuzzy on when exactly this was asked but it was indeed thrown out. You remember the phrase "sticks and stones will break my bones but names will never hurt me?" I hate to break it to you but that's a myth. This question thrown out by Gates is a verbal stick and a spoken word stone. Once that question is dropped the dynamic of the encounter now is forever changed and I am still wondering why it had to be asked? Sgt. Crowley realizes who Gates is and that he is indeed the owner of the house. Gates asks for the Officer's name. The police report indicates that the Sgt. tried to give his name repeatedly but Gates kept shouting at him and talking over him. The officer asked professor Gates to step out on to the porch to continue the conversation in public. It is alleged that Gates may have thrown another verbal stone about the officer's mother. Gates is still angry about what has transpired and is still yelling. The professor is in fact still asking for the Sgt.'s name and badge number. The Sgt. tells the professor he has given him the information already and warns him that he could be arrested if he does not stop shouting. Gates continues to yell and a second and third warning is issued and then Gates is taken into custody.

This, in my humble opinion seems to be the most plausible re-telling of what transpired between Gates and Sgt. Crowley. Crowley was not out to roust an African American and Gates was not an innocent bystander who was hauled away to jail like a street thug. President Obama weighed in on the situation but alas he only got it half right and he used the wrong verbiage. BOTH Gates and Crowley acted silly. They did silly things and turned a miss-understanding into silly racial theater. I understand that professor Gates was tired. He came home from a long trip only to deal with a jammed door. Hey I get bitter after an hour long flight so I understand the professor just totally not wanting to deal with a police officer or any other visitor in his home after his trip from China, but this cannot excuse being a bit belligerent to a police officer. And yes, I understand where Sgt. Crowley was coming from. He answered the call, got to the house, questioned professor Gates and was verbally abused until he just could not take it anymore and arrested him. Maybe he should have been able to hold back or walk away but he didn't. This, in my estimation was what happened. This was not; I repeat NOT a racial rousting of an upstanding African American community member. This was a miss-understanding between two adults that has spilled into our psyches as some type of example for how far we have or have not come. This incident can't be used and should not be used by fair minded people to debate race in America. Did we elect our first Black President? Yes we did. Does racism still exist in America? Yes it does. Have we come a long way in our society when it comes to sanctioned discrimination? You bet we have. Do we still have further to go? Yes indeed, right again. Have we come a long way in discussing these issues? Hmm...well in my mind we always seem to take a few steps forward and then quite a few back. We seem to really love stories where we come together but we go into a manic frenzy when things fall apart. As a society we are at times the voyeurs on the road to democracy and we can't help but watch the racial accidents on the highway be they real or fake.

My hope is that Gates and Crowley can come to some sort of understanding and that each one can muster up the courage to apologize to the other. Gates says that this incident is a "teachable" moment. I am not sure what he feels it has taught him but if he is the outstanding, academic scholar I know him to be, I hope it has taught him that he can't use issues of race to deal with being tired and/or having a bad day. He can't use our history of race in this country to shield the fact that he may have let his tiredness and a bad temper get the better of him. I hope Sgt. Crowley learned that even when all of your buttons are being pushed at the same time, you may have to just walk away. As a teacher, I know first hand that this is easier said than done. My other hope is that we as a society can pick up our coats and hats and leave this racial theater. We have bigger issues to deal with and these issues affect African Americans and ALL Americans. We need to help our President push through his health care agenda. We will have to pull together with regards to our economic situation. The time is now to get serious about education reform. We need to end programs that don't work and expand the regular public and public charter schools that in fact, do work and support the principals and teachers who make them work. To do these things we will need to stop looking at society's roadside, faux racial accidents. Oh yes, and when real issues of racism, bigotry and hate come along, let's deal with them together, openly and honestly, as a society and as a nation. Don't be fooled or led astray by the title of this piece. I don't think real racism is silly. This country's 400 year old love affair with white supremacy was not silly and the dismantling of those policies was serious business. Issues of discrimination and hatred are never, ever silly. But when racial mountains are made out of miss-understanding mole hills, silly is indeed what these issues become.