“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.

“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.