I’m Skip Gates, Bitch!
July 24, 2009 by Deshant Paul
Filed under Politics
Henry Louis Gates, Jr. is a professor at Harvard University, which was recently voted by US News and World Report as one of the best universities in the country, and lives in the surrounding Cambridge, MA-area. When I was composing a look at living African-Americans for Black Heritage month I thought about including Mr. Gates for his popular and influential PBS series African-American Lives which traced the ancestry of famous African-Americans as far back as there is written record for, usually starting when their ancestors first arrived in America most commonly as slaves. Gates has traced his own heritage to a freed Black man named John Redman who fought in the American Revolution. He is an intellectual who has written many works of non-fiction examining the African-American Diaspora.
To make it very clear: Henry Louis Gates, Jr. is not an everyman stand-in for Black people everywhere. He is part of the New England College, liberal elite that the conservative right is always railing against. In one moment all of his education, all of his training, his matriculated and honorary degrees were left to the side of the road and he became, to a Sergeant of the Police Department of Cambridge, what all Black people are in the in the eyes of law enforcement: a nigger.
The news rippled out like a pebble in a pond. And much like a pebble in a pond it was truly nothing out of the ordinary.
“Black man arrested by White officer for being indignant. News at 11.” Yawn. Change the channel. Add the pedigree and the name and now we have something.
“Harvard professor arrested INSIDE his own home for disorderly conduct.” Now we have something. Let’s sweeten that one more time:
“Renowned Black Professor of Harvard University arrested inside his own home for disorderly conduct by White officer in Massachusetts.” Now that is Must-See-TV!
We should know the story by now: Coming home from a long flight he finds his front door jammed. He and his driver, another Black man, attempt to put some pressure on the door so they can put his luggage away and get some rest. Instead a neighbor (who doesn’t know she lives near a Black man! Strike one for her!) calls the police to report a burglary in progress. I don’t want to make this completely about Black vs. White but if a 58 year-old White man had been stopped by the cops entering his own home and then shown his proof of residency that would have been the end to it. Mostly because said hypothetical White man would not have inherited near 250 years of racism and would just be glad the officer responded so quickly and dramatically to an old man with a cane breaking into a house with luggage by his side on a bright afternoon day.
I contend that Henry Louis Gates, Jr. has the right, no, the privilege to be indignant! His property is sacred land. Had the police showed up and perhaps offered a hand to an older gentleman getting into his home once he proved his identity and residence, no harm, no foul. Instead we have a showdown of attitude and anger that ends with the arrest of a prominent Black figure.
What was said inside that house comes down to he said vs. he said but I can assure you it wasn’t polite and obviously didn’t end civilly. Suffice to say that Henry Louis Gates, Jr. ain’t no one’s bitch! When you know you’re in the right it’s easy to get sidetracked by what should be done vs. what could be done and devolve into your basic ‘fight or flight’ instincts. One piece of information that has come out is that when the officer asked him to speak to him outside of the house Gates retorted: “Yo’ momma can speak to me outside!” Fierce and challenging but not really street and threatening, this is because Skip Gates is an intellectual not a fighter. Any reasonable person would have heard that response and recognized its lack of vitriol and simply let the matter be. But of course our trained Cambridge officer has to belabor the point and drag the old man into the street in handcuffs to be witnessed by the entire neighborhood. I’m pretty sure they will recognize him in the future.
It would be easy to dismiss this as “just another case” but you see they have literally messed with the wrong man. Gates is well-connected, well-educated, and well-informed; he doesn’t have any criminal history that can be folded in with this incident like they do so many other cases like this. The charges were dropped but Gates continues to pursue the issue, demanding an apology and promising one of his documentaries to shed light on the subject to an otherwise uninformed public. He has every right to demand the simplest of verbal restitution for such an embarrassing and damning act as to be treated like a petty thug.
We tell our young Black children to do right, stay in school, get an education, make something of yourself. Be a role model! Don’t be another guy or girl on “COPS” getting arrested and pulled out of your home wearing nothing but boxers and a t-shirt; now here we have a role model getting pulled out of his home and arrested and booked like a criminal. Henry Louis Gates, Jr. has a right to be angry, has a right to raise his voice and demand a public apology, and has a right to rest on his degrees and notoriety to garner national attention to an issue that plagues Black men and women all over the country. He has lived through the overt racism of his southern upbringing and the subtle racism of his northern education. He has traveled the world with his intellectual celebrity and made an effort to bring dignity to Black people by exploring their past, much like Alex Haley did with “Roots.” After-all this, to be treated like a criminal, to be paraded out in handcuffs, a 58 year-old man, because he refused to be insulted in his own home on his own property, it’s not just wrong, it’s a reminder to everyone that the system is broken.
We should all, Black, White, Latino, Asian, etc. aspire to the level of dignity, prominence, and self-assuredness that Henry Louis Gates, Jr. has achieved in his illustrious career. If for no other reason than the next time we are asked to produce ID while simply walking through a park at night, driving through an affluent neighborhood, or otherwise being where we “don’t belong” instead of kowtowing to the public servants that are meant to protect us, we can raise our voice in a powerful refrain: “I’m Skip Gates, bitch!”
Great article.
quote:
“I didn’t need to be there, I don’t necessarily even need all the facts.”
Well Grumbler, that statement speaks for itself.
You are playing a serious double standard here. You don’t want to be judged solely based on your skin color, but at the same time you justify judging others based on theirs.
BY HIS OWN ADMISSION, Gates was the one who initiated the issue of race in the situation. There was absolutely no basis to assume the cop was racis–in that specific incident. By anyone’s standards, the officer was following proper protocol up to that point.
Again, I reiterate what I wrote earlier, that I agree with those who say the Professor should not have been arrested–and certainly not booked. However, if you read and believe the police reports, you will notice that a crowd had gathered outside the house. Perhaps the officer made the arrest because the Professor had become confrontational, and the cop wanted to prevent the situation from spiraling out of control. If that is the case, the arrest at least has some legal grounds of justification.
I would like to add that the assumptions you make about me personally, as a semi anonymous poster to this blog forum, indicate your level of readiness to pass judgment upon those you know almost nothing about, including your indirect reference to me as being “White.” I have had plenty of interactions with law enforcement personnel that have left me angry and helpless against their authority; however I am certain that my willingness to cooperate with them in each situation, and not my race, was the main reason the situations did not escalate into something it did not need to be.
I am not denying the existence of the historical legacy of racism, originating from slavery, which still has vestiges entrenched in the USA. What I am saying is that in THIS particular instance, the influence of that history may have created a reality inside one man’s mind that probably did not actually exist in physical reality.
Maybe the answer to your question about why you perceive those with “White” skin to be more in support of the irrefutable science that race does not exist as a quantifiable entity lies in your own prejudicial way of thinking. DNA does not differentiate between those with different skin types, hair types, or cultural backgrounds. Genetics is the great equalizer of us all.
Harry, you just appear to be in denial to me. I don’t know what else to say. Am I really going to have to pick apart your argument to spell things out?
“You are playing a serious double standard here. You don’t want to be judged solely based on your skin color, but at the same time you justify judging others based on theirs.”
–I am not judging the officer by his color, I am judging based on his actions: arresting a man because he didn’t like what the man was saying to him, which again, IS NOT A CRIME
“BY HIS OWN ADMISSION, Gates was the one who initiated the issue of race in the situation. There was absolutely no basis to assume the cop was racis–in that specific incident. By anyone’s standards, the officer was following proper protocol up to that point.”
–Gates admitted to asking the officer why he was ignoring his questions as he illegally entered Gates home and yes, he asked if the reason he wasn’t responding was because of race –STILL NO GROUNDS FOR ARREST
–The officer follow protocol up until the point he received proof & verification of residency, after that it should have been over, anything the officer did AFTER that was an abuse of his power and that’s when thngs became heated, according to Gates
“However, if you read and believe the police reports, you will notice that a crowd had gathered outside the house. Perhaps the officer made the arrest because the Professor had become confrontational, and the cop wanted to prevent the situation from spiraling out of control. If that is the case, the arrest at least has some legal grounds of justification.”
–Really, Harry? First of all, Gates was placed in handcuffs on his front porch and second, how “confrontational” was a 58 yr old handicapped man who walks with a cane going to get? Your statement emplies that perhaps they were afraid Gates was going to, what?, attack one of the people in the crowd??? C’mon now. There was never any justification for arresting this man no matter how you twist it.
“I have had plenty of interactions with law enforcement personnel that have left me angry and helpless against their authority; however I am certain that my willingness to cooperate with them in each situation, and not my race, was the main reason the situations did not escalate into something it did not need to be.”
– I never said, these things don’t happen to White people, what I have said is: They happen MORE and consistently to people of color. It’s worthy to clarify, this isn’t about situations that call for police enforcement that don’t go according to how one feels they should, this is about being stopped walking across a street in certain neighborhoods for no good reason, this bout being pulled over and asked randomly if you have ever been arrested. And you are naively, out of touch, if you really believe that people of color don’t consistently get arrested EVEN WHEN they have cooperated fully…which is why these situations tend to escalate so quickly and people are quick to suspect race. BECAUSE IT HAPPENS ALL THE TIME. And often doesn’t matter whether you’ve “played nice” or not. –I don’t know what it will take for you to get that.
“I am not denying the existence of the historical legacy of racism, originating from slavery, which still has vestiges entrenched in the USA. What I am saying is that in THIS particular instance, the influence of that history may have created a reality inside one man’s mind that probably did not actually exist in physical reality.”
–If you say so. But it sure appears by your statements that you are constantly trivializing the effects that a historical legacy of racism and continued practiced prejudices would have on people, which frankly, is insulting.
–As far as, THIS particular instance, Dr. Gates previous experiences (this is not the first time he has had to deal with) created a reality in his mind and since you weren’t there you can’t really speak to what did and didn’t exist in the physical reality, neither of us can, it’s one man’s word against another, but as I said to OverView, history comes down on the side of Gates (that is too well documented to be denied) but, and I repeat, regardless of who “said” what, NO CRIME WAS COMMITTED and Gates is in no way a physical threat to anybody, so there was no legal grounds or justification for arresting. Period. Which is what this article is about. It’s about defending Gates right to be pissed the fuck off for this whole situation.
“Maybe the answer to your question about why you perceive those with “White” skin to be more in support of the irrefutable science that race does not exist as a quantifiable entity lies in your own prejudicial way of thinking. DNA does not differentiate between those with different skin types, hair types, or cultural backgrounds. Genetics is the great equalizer of us all.”
–Actually, let me be clear. One, my comment about the denial of race existence/social-construct wasn’t a question, it was a statement. And based on my experience, I believe that the White people who cling to (or rather hide behind) that crap as reality are the people who are most naive, most in denial, and most unable to deal with race issues in America.
It is much easier to SAY, we are all one, and I don’t see color, and race doesn’t exist than it is to effectually make strides to fix these issues. I consider myself blessed because I have a lot of race conscious White friends who understand the work we all need to do, to overcome these issues. They see color (and rightly so), they understand White privilege, they see the injustice and don’t try to blame it on the victim because he chooses to call it what it is, racism. They don’t (which is worse, in my opinion), trivialize and invalidate his experience (and the shared experience of millions of others) with empty, ineffectual statements about race not existing and being a social construct.
I mean, honestly Harry, what does saying that do for you? what does it change? How does it help to create solutions in the world WE LIVE IN? Does it stop racial profiling or lynchings (which still happen btw)? Will it stop millions of innocent people throughout the country from being arrested for no reason? Does it all, in any way, address, “the historical legacy of racism, originating from slavery, which still has vestiges entrenched in the USA?” or better yet will denying the existence of race and defining it as a social construct make “racial” incidents stop occurring?
The answer is no, it doesn’t do any of those things, so then what good is this information? and why use it as your go-to statement whenever race is the subject? Instead of retreated to this lofty theory, why not work towards a real-time solution to these real issues, real grievances, that real people experience.
At the end of the day, it doesn’t matter what DNA does or does not show. It doesn’t matter that we all originate from Africa. What matters is we live in a country where people of color are treated unfairly more often than not because of racial bias, misinformation, hatred, fear, and prejudice simply because the color of their skin is not white. That is an issue that needs to be addressed & resolved which can’t happen if people keep trivializing it.
Clearly you’ve never been an officer going on a 911 call. It’s dangerous, requires protocol and knowledge.
Referring to the officers as public servants, without gratitude and respect is rampant in this nation.
Escalation is what screaming and indignance can turn out to be in the 911 sector.
Whether someone is a professor, rock-star, or Joe the plumber, they had better control themselves – in the face of a 911 call.
Where is the thank-you for protecting our homes, coming out to help? A robbery could have been taking place.
Please don’t bring race, religion, or status into the mix – there are many decent folks out there, that might have said,”Officer, this is a big mistake and I thank you for trying to protect my home.”
When push comes to shove- the officers have criteria to follow- That is an overview- a balance of common sense that we need as a citzenry to reclaim – no matter who we are.
Hi OverView-
Thanks for your response.
I agree that all our civil servants (that is what they are and there is no shame in that title) should be respected and treated with gratitude…
However, I think it is incredibly naive of you to ignore the long and troubled history between police officers and African-American’s in this country. Many Black people are apt to be indignant because we have cause to be.
Most us us have been given tickets we didn’t deserve, or followed for no reason, or stopped randomly and asked for ID out of the blue –and I am talking about good people, not your average “thug” but hard working citizens like myself, who haven’t been in any trouble, who are clean and presentably dressed etc and who obviously don’t look like criminals…much like it had to be obvious that this 58 yr old man with a cane did not look like a burglar. (in broad daylight, no less)
To say that it not about race or status is absurd. Read the newspaper, talk to your neighbors, sit down and listen to the experience of some of your Black friends if they are willing to tell you the truth.
Tell those 65 7yr old Black & Hispanic kids that got kicked out of pool last week bc of the color of their skin that it’s not about race. Yes, there are good people out there of EVERY race but to act as if the problem doesn’t exist is not going create solution or change.
what will create change is when people can have an open dialogue about the issues that exist in a way that doesn’t include invalidating centuries of shared and lived experience as something that should just be “got over”
in terms of the Gates case, yeah he was indignant –but that’s not against the law and I partly agree with you, it may not be wholly about race & status but it is about control.
Nationwide, police officers have real issues with people asking them questions, holding them accountable when they appear to be off base, and in short, talking back but I reinerate, that is not against the law. Cops should not be allowed to haul people in and arrest them simply because they don’t like their tone or what they are saying –that’s an abuse of the law, I have personally experience it, as have many people of color I know and it’s not right and more importantly, it’s not legal.
yes, officers have a criteria to follow, I believe it goes something like this:
receive call of possible burglary -check
respond to said call – check
arrive to find an older individual in house having tea, officer states the reason for being there, request to see id and proof of residence – check
so far, so good…
said individual produces requested documents – check
officer then says, well thank you sir, obviously a mistake has been made, sorry to have disturbed you…
older individual says, no problem, thanks for responding so quickly…
obviously those last two things did not take place, there was clearly some break down but regardless, after the id and proof were given that should have been the end of it. No law had been broken (someone speaking to you in a manner you don’t like is not a crime –if it were, I’d have a handful of officers behind bars)
Police officers want to be respected, then don’t mis-use the badge. Respect is earned especially when for every good cop out there there are a slew rogue, control freak, power-crazed ones out there ruining there good name.
If anything, this officer should have been the bigger person and showed more sensitivity as why a Black man in America might mistake his actions…if in fact, his actions where on the up and up, which you and I will never truly know bc we weren’t in there and we don’t know what was said to provoke who…but history comes down on the side of Gates and that is something that is too well documented to be denied.
Listen, most of the people of color I know, think Gates was probably talking mad shit. But we know how cops do and we know, right or wrong, they will arrest you without cause just to prove their in control, and so it’s probably “best” to just shut the hell up, especially if you don’t have the money or connections to get your ass out of it like Gates did –but we also believe that, that isn’t right (or legal for that matter) and that Gates had every right to be indignant.
And you are living with blinders on if you seriously believe that Black or Hispanic people don’t get arrested/hassled MORE than White people in this kind of scenario.
this article came out today in the New York Times http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/32136369/ns/us_news-the_new_york_times
and really supports my major point. check it out.
I understand the dilemmas faced by officers responding to 911 calls, and I don’t take these lightly. However, the stance often taken to remind us that the Cambridge officers were responding to a 911 call and that there is a certain protocol that must be followed, misses altogether what I feel is the more salient point, which is the American black man’s status as a perpetual suspect.
My brother in law is a laser surgeon. As a doctor he used to carry a pager at all times. One day, dressed in a finely tailored suit and buying a birthday gift for his daughter on his way home from the hospital, the toy store clerk called the police when she was supposed to be wrapping the already purchased gift. She thought his pager was a gun and believed, irrationally, that he was going to rob the store. So while the good doctor waited for the gift wrap, the local police showed up and gruffly asked him to step outside for questioning, in his own neighborhood! My brother in law refused and demanded an explanation.
When my 60+ year old father was getting gas in Palm Desert, CA, when driving his Porsche, the gas station attendant called the police for no other reason than that there was a black man in an expensive car. Within moments SEVERAL squad cars descended on both of my elderly parents!
These are are not isolated occurrences for either of these men, and this kind of thing happens to black men all over the country – to ordinary, non-threatening, law abiding citizens.
It doesn’t happen to just anyone. At 60+ years of age, why was my father a threat to anyone by simply driving his car into a gas station and pumping gas?
Because he was black in a fine car.
quote:
“I don’t want to make this completely about Black vs. White but if a 58 year-old White man had been stopped by the cops entering his own home and then shown his proof of residency that would have been the end to it. Mostly because said hypothetical White man would not have inherited near 250 years of racism”
To the contrary, it seems you do want to make it about Black vs. White, because the fact is that there is no story if the racial aspect is not played out by those wanting to exploit ad nauseum that tired angle. Thank goodness the President does not share this attitude and has invited both parties to the White House to talk it out and use it as a “teachable moment” to move forward, instead of dwelling in old worn out conflict dynamics of race baiting.
This is really about a battle of two egos, one armed with a gun and a badge, the other armed with a historical angry race victim mentality consciousness. It’s obvious the Professor should not have been arrested, but in that moment, based on the facts provided, at appears he had no grounds to initiate hostilities by accusing the officer of racism, when clearly the officer was responding to a potential burglary call. How would you feel if you were a cop who showed up to crime scene and someone started calling you racist for no apparent reason?
If a white man had exhibited the same kind of random personal verbal attack based on nothing but appearances on a cop who was simply doing his job, I guarantee that the man would also have been arrested–no doubt in my mind. Do only dark skinned people get hassled by cops? Please, get real. All I can say is that I wish I had videotape of some of my own past interactions with police officers. By the way, according to the police report, the 2nd officer on the scene who witnessed at least part of the exchange has a Hispanic name–and he supports the 1st cops account.
Re: inheriting 250 years of racism–why stop at 250 years of history? Why not take it back further and incorporate 2500 years into your identity consciousness, or better yet, 25,000 years, when our common ancestors were way more similar than many people would be comfortable admitting? Why arbitrarily choose the 250 year limit? I have an idea why: because if one admits the scientifically, DNA verifiable evidence that we all come from a common ancestry (in Africa) then the legitimacy of identifying with and belonging to a victimized group–or vice versa, an oppressive group–is no longer a viable option, because the truth is that race does not even exist; it’s a social and cultural construct.
It’s time for all the assumptions and judgments about each other to end. We are all the same.
Harry-
For the most part I will let the contributing author respond to you, as I am sure he can say more as a hard-working Black man. I will say this though:
1.) I find it interesting to note that the people who consistently refer to race as a non-existant social construct are most often White…
2.) You can say what you will about the centuries of oppression and the need to get over it –but until you are CONSTANTLY followed in department stores, pulled over for no reason, stopped on the street and asked for ID and if you have ever been arrested (out of the blue), passed up for jobs you are completely qualified for, denied loans and the list goes on…I don’t really feel you have a basis for this level of the discussion. It’s like an alcoholic who won’t recognize that he has a problem –how then will he ever recover?
3.)This is what you need to get Harry: Black people are indignant, suspicious, and perhaps often over-reactionary in our dealings with police officers because of the long and continued history of brutality, injustice, and most importantly, HEAR THIS, the widespread abuse of the law to keep us in our place.
This is important because this is exactly what happened in the Gates case. And, as a Black woman, I didn’t need to be there, I don’t necessarily even need all the facts. Why? BECAUSE I HAVE LIVED IT. This is a shared experience among most, if not all, Black folks and the reason why most of us are coming down on the side of Gates.
The cop was NOT simply doing his job, if he were, the moment Gates produced the proper ID as the home owner, that would have been the end of it. What got Gates in trouble is that he did what so many police officers nationwide don’t like: he talked back –it’s as simple as that. He was not willing to be treated like a criminal in his own house and said so, maybe too much but that’s really not the point. The real point is this: As you said, it was a battle of ego’s and this is why the sargent is wrong and owes Gates an apology: It is NOT against the law to be indignant. You may not like but it’s not an offense. And this cop, like so many before him decided to (ab)use the law to one up Gates but it doesn’t work like that or at least it’s not supposed (but tell that to the many American’s all across this country have been arrested but don’t come with famous background of Gates) –the law isn’t here for cops to shut people up or to show they have control. It’s here for them to serve and protect. Period. And cops need to stop using it to prove who’s dick is bigger.
Gates was mouthing off, the cop should have been the bigger person or perhaps maybe even understanding as to why a Black man in America would overreact (if that was the case bc no one knows what was said inside his house)to a police officer considering the long history of that trouble relationship.
and the end of the day, he had no legal basis for arresting Gates. Period.
this article came out today in the New York Times http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/32136369/ns/us_news-the_new_york_times
and really supports the major point n my earlier response to your comment. check it out.
LOL right on man!